Deviant juveniles’ group thinking: a quali-quantitative analysis of the minutes of group therapy sessions in a day centre

Abstract

The present paper studies the minutes of the sessions of a psychodynamic group therapy in a day center for juveniles on probation, to the end of evaluating their content and the role of peer deviant effect. A clinical analysis has identified four themes concerning anxieties, defenses, the role of the therapist and group identity, stressing the importance of the restructuration of delinquent self, as an alternative to the development of a deviant identity. The relevance of the four themes has been the object of a content analysis of the minutes based on the “co-occurrences” of words, with the help of the software “T-LAB”: the analysis has supported the clinical results. Boys were characterized by self fragility, general distrust, oral starvation and depression, and defended themselves using idealization and denial (i.e. manic defenses), which supported the criminal acts and helped escaping the sense of guilt; moreover, the therapeutic experience was characterized by the positive antidepressive valence of the group and the negative influence of drugs as well the culture of the gang. Finally, the present research allowed us to add to the previous ones further characteristics of the boys’ experience: the defensive function of cannabis as a way of escaping problems, and the rooted need of flying away from psychic pain, even at risk of life. Moreover, the relevance of technical modifications in the therapeutic method (object of a parallel research) has been supported by the present study.