The idealization of innocence A new phenomenon in late adolescence?

摘要

Late adolescence is atime of evaluation in every person's biography, revealing the extent to which one is able to pursue an autonomous life. Crucial for this step in development is the ability to find access to one's own aggression. Expansion of the oedipal theory by the Swiss psychoanalyst Judith Le Soldat is helpful in understanding the inner world of adolescents. In her theory, the child's act of castrating the parents, as well as the moment of acquisition and empowerment, play central roles. This internal psychic configuration is massively reactualized during late adolescence through the monstrous act of pursuing one's own development as opposed to the family's stability. An ostensible escape from this internal dilemma is idealizing the position of innocence, which, in turn not only leads to an arrest in development but also to the phantasma of not having been furnished with the necessary equipment to master the upcoming task. Idealization of innocence in the context of Judith Le Soldat's theory can be understood as regression before the act of castration.