The article addresses the way that adolescents imagine the future with regard to the present, and take ownership of the present time through contemporary environmental problems. By means of two clinical vignettes, the authors will attempt to show how adolescents apprehend the end of the world: planet and institution are brought together. What capacities do adolescents have to project themselves into the future, based on the things that have been handed down to them and their ability to transform these things?
At the request of a juvenile court judge from the Tribunal of Brasilia, the department of Social Psychology of the federal University as set up a project with two hundred youngsters the justice system and their families. Entitled “ Project Phoenix ”, this work aims to reinforce the capacities of families and adolescents to protect themselves against the violence and the hold of the favela, or slum. Exchanges within the group foster recognition of each person’s resources. This article written by Maria Fatima Olivia Sudsbrack, professor and initiator of this project, analyses the process itself through more than a year with these youngsters and their families. Through her first-person account and her analysis, she opens up some paths for French educators.
Revue semestrielle de psychanalyse, psychopathologie et sciences humaines, indexée AERES au listing PsycINFO publiée avec le concours du Centre National du Livre et de l’Université de Paris Diderot Paris 7