The author proposes that the term “ pre-puberty ” be replaced by that of “ Almost-pubertaire ”, referring to the work of both Gutton and Jankélévitch. Indeed this formulation seems more appropriate to bearing witness to the particular dynamic that is in play during this time of life. No longer really a child, not yet adolescent, the subject of this in-between is more than ever confronted with the question of being, whose fundamental expression remains the inability to know what is to come.
The increasing number of requests for the institutional management of adolescents indicates either that adolescent crises have become more severe, or that the present forms of family organization render these families incompetent to manage the adolescents by themselves. This demand may be explained in part by the lack of procedures marking the passage to adulthood. Much adolescent behavior, in fact, re-enacts failed attempts at initiation rites. Work with adolescents can only be enriched and improved by knowledge of rites of passage practiced by traditional societies. The framework for containing violence and sexuality offered by these rites, the procedures for affiliation with the adult world which they implement, the re-elaboration of the symbolic which they impel, etc., make it possible to shed light on certain barriers that confront institutions for adolescents on a regular basis.
Adolescence, septembre 2002, 20, 3, 489-498
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