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From Free Speech to IS – Pathological Regression of Some Traumatized Adolescents from a Migrant Background in Germany
Author(s) -
LeuzingerBohleber Marianne
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
international journal of applied psychoanalytic studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.314
H-Index - 15
eISSN - 1556-9187
pISSN - 1742-3341
DOI - 10.1002/aps.1499
Subject(s) - radicalization , islam , fundamentalism , ideology , identity (music) , psychology , the imaginary , indoctrination , unconscious mind , social psychology , sociology , terrorism , psychoanalysis , law , political science , politics , aesthetics , history , philosophy , archaeology
Islamic fundamentalism is a contemporary dangerous form of extreme restriction of “free speech”. In Germany, 700 Islamists from Germany are fighting in Syria and Iraq, including a number of women. Most of the German Islamists' personal histories highlight the importance of their radicalization in the course of their adolescent search for identity. Many youth who turn to Islam are socially isolated, and do not succeed in forming relationships to friends and love‐objects. Many experience a severe adolescent crisis. They are won over by the Islamic State's powerful message of a return to the “Golden Age” of Islam. Why is this Islamic ideology so fascinating for them? What imaginary worlds and emotions are activated by it? Why is the rigid restriction of “free speech” so attractive for some of them? These are questions psychoanalysis can address. Here I explore some unconscious sources of Fundamentalism and the process of radicalization in adolescence. We analysts must explain what we understand of their radicalization so that teachers, social pedagogues and social workers can better recognize and reflect upon the problems some adolescents in their charge may encounter in the process of restructuring their age‐appropriate identity. Supervision by well‐trained child development mental health professionals can help pedagogues to better understand unconscious determinants of what derails their students' adolescent development.