INDEX OF QUOTES
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[Aichhorn (1951) founded his institution in 1918, admitting boys who had been severely deprived and brutally abused. He made the environment as enjoyable as possible, and staff were enjoined to be affectionate, permissive and non-aggressive, even in the face of aggression from the boys. This deliberate break in the usual cycle of aggression and retaliation provoked crises in the children.] The experience that their own aggression did not evoke retaliation was new for these children; it was unexpected and provided the essential corrective experience. When aggression was not met with counter-aggression it ceased to be satisfying and in fact led to intense outbursts of frustration and misery, and the first inklings of a guilty conscience. Aichhorn describes a regular sequence of behaviour shown by the asocial and aggressive delinquent boy in response to this permissive environment: an increased sense of his own power, more frequent and more violent acts of aggression, followed later by tears of rage when counter-aggression was not forthcoming, then a period of sensitivity and, finally, conforming behaviour. The emotional crisis which most boys experienced, and which was often deliberately provoked by the staff, contributed to the change from delinquency and unconcern for other people to increased tolerance of frustration and affectionate relationships with others. In time this group of serious delinquents established their own standards and values in the home and all of them later became adjusted in society. |
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August, A. (1951) Wayward Youth. London: Imago