Adolescence in Conflict with the Law: The Intensity of Life History in Act

This study approaches infractional acts of teenagers from the perspective of their life history of conflicts with the law and the meanings assigned by them to the perpetrated acts. Semi-structured interviews were performed with four teenagers with lawsuit in process for having committed infractional acts. The data were analyzed using content analysis and interpreted with psychoanalysis contributions. In the life history of these teenagers four final categories showed evidence of extreme and recurring experiences of neglect and violence towards parental figures. The fragility of teenager’s psychological resources to assign meaning to the experience of being confronted with boundaries and the impossibility to experience and recognize the law as a protective condition contribute to the production of transgressive acts.

adolescence; law; abandonment; psychoanalysis