Page - 169 - in Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Puberty and Adolescence - The Inner Worlds of Teenagers and their Parents

Lost by the wayside – overstepping limits 169 crash with the balloon, he finds constructive solutions. During the feedback after- wards, R. is quite overwhelmed by the praise and appreciation he receives from the other participants and the trainers. He was able to undertake positive tasks for the group and thus showed a new, positive self -image. During the time between October and June of the following year, R. participated in all the sessions and made good use of the various exercises and discussions. In the final session, the participants worked with an array of puzzle pieces with words on them describing how the individual perceived the group. The partici- pants were then asked to choose the two pieces whose descriptions represented their feelings. R. selected the two puzzle pieces “solidarity” and “protection”. For him, the group has come to embody these characteristics. He felt well -treated by them – even when they often criticized what he said. As a farewell, the trainers write each participant a letter. In R.’s letter, they rec- ommend that he should trust and believe in himself more. During the sessions, he has encountered his positive sides, and he must use these experiences as a point of departure. R. takes his letter, reads it twice, and then puts it back in its envelope (Staudner -Moser 1997, 114). R. leaves the group room and this last session as all the others do: relaxed, cool, with a cigarette in his hand and a general group goodbye (Staudner -Moser 1997, 115). In these nine months, R. has had an opportunity to reflect on himself and his life. Using his lifeline drawing, he was able to verbalize his experiences and give words to his loneliness and abandonment. Protected and accepted by the group, he was able to speak about his experiences of loss. Remarkably, he could dem- onstrate new, non -violent solutions in conflict -fraught scenes when he was sup- ported by the group. He often became the mouthpiece for group resistance and refusal, where his arguments found considerable support. He also often managed to convince the trainers to change their program. Both case studies demonstrate how differently the two adolescents B. and R. worked through their early experiences of neglect. Even though they were sen- tenced for similar crimes, they developed differing psychic mechanisms for cop- ing. Their emotional development shows how important it is to utilize the time in prison in order to let them experience what it means to reflect on motivations and acts of violence, instead of the prisoner’s inner embitterment and belligerent reactions. From the psychoanalytic standpoint, how can we understand the apparent con- tradiction of violent adolescents depicting themselves as helpless little animals (e.g., a bunny)? These adolescents are traumatized from their experiences of deprivation and violence in early childhood. In particular, protracted humiliation, neglect, intimi- dation and a lack of empathy or consideration for the child hinders him from cre- ating a stable inner world with positive, loving inner objects (internalized images