This paper broaches the discomfort caused by adolescents both in their families and in the relationship of modern civilization with ideals. This would seem to be because they adeptly make differences rise to the surface, and confront the Other at the center of his or her foundation and divisions, at the cross point between the singular and the collective. This difference, which is stimulated by the growth process and exacerbated in the context of immigration, can be constructive when it is recognized as a bearer of otherness. But it can result in disaster when perceived as a threat and when no longer surrounded by symbolic references. This can be seen in daily clinical practice with many teenagers considered to be in rupture with social bonds and who take on a deficient self-image that has been passed on to them by the social and/or parental Other.
Adolescence; disparity; social and family ties; deconstruction/reconstruction