NUMBER 573• 19 AUGUST • ADULTS AS ENEMIES
INDEX

	In his classic book Wayward Youth, August Aichhorn (1935)  described how, form the first encounter, he carefully constructed a basis for trust with youth woh wiewed adults as enemies: If a child is in open conflict and expecting an attack, he is disappointed. I do not ask him what he has done, I do not press him to tell me what has happened and in contrast to the police or the juvenile court, I do not try to pry out of him information which he is unwilling to give. In many cases where I feel the child wants to be questioned so that he can come into opposition with me, I say that he may hold back whatever information he wishes; that I understand that one does not want to tell everything to a person one has met for the first time. When I add that I would do likewise he is usually willing to fall into a conversation in line with his interest... He feels, rather than understands, that I am not an authority with whom he must fight but an understanding ally. (p. 129)
	LARRY BRENDTRO & MARY SHAHBAZIAN Brendtro, L. & Shahbazian, M. (2004) Troubled children and youth: Turning problems into opportunities. NY: Research press. p. 173

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  
References

Aichhorn, A. (1935) Wayward Youth. New York Viking.

Pg 129 (2004). My independence, Kevin's story. In L. Brendtro & M. Shahbazian In Troubled Children and Youth: Turning Problems into Opportunities.

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References

Storr, A. (1963) The integrity of the Personality, London: Penquin.

Fairbairn, W. R. (1952) Psychoanalytic Studies of the Personality, London: Tavistock.

Jahoda, M. (1958) Current Concepts of Positive Mental Health, New York: Basic Books.

Balbernie, R. (1966) Residential Work with Children, London: Pergamon.

Halmos, P. (Ed.) (1965) The faith of the counsellors, London: Constable.

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