This paper presents the partial results originated from a field survey accomplished by the NIPIAC/UFRJ in 2002, with 39 young people of the community of Bom Retiro in the Municipality of Duque de Caxias in the state of Rio de Janeiro. This survey deals with a qualitative analysis of interviews in which the objective was to discuss the search for new ideals and identification characters, particular to the subjective work of adolescents, in the peculiar context of the young people who were interviewed. In order to have that, we set the following questions as starting points: how the young perceive themselves and their current moment; which characters they indicate as their subjective references of identification, both in the personal and in the public scope; and finally, what are their perspectives for the future. The concepts of social representation, as defined by Moscovici, and the ideal self, constructed by Freud, are used to reflect upon the data, supposing a resourceful articulation between both.
adolescence; family; society; ideals