Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

IDENTITY FORMATION DIFFICULTIES IN IMMIGRANT ADOLESCENTS: THREE CASES FROM GERMANY

  • Article
  • Published:
The American Journal of Psychoanalysis Aims and scope

Abstract

Adolescence is a period of instability caused by biological changes and restructuring of the personality. An immigration background renders the process of identity formation even more difficult or fragile, with an additional burden coming from persecution and harassment. Three case studies of mentally disturbed adolescents with different immigration backgrounds illustrate the problems in diagnosis and psychotherapy. All three cases share a common feature—the particular influence of the native country on the psychic disorder of the adolescent, be it a suitable target of narcissistic self-aggrandizement, a reactivated metaphor of the past or a deposited conflict. I point out and discuss the danger of diagnostic colonization and activation of perpetrator-victim constellations—such as the Nazi past in the present. Offering a transcultural transitional space as a container yields a therapeutic approach to the different worlds of these borderland adolescents.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Winnicott (1965) does not say strange gesture as in German translation but describes the mother as “not good enough” or “deficient” (p. 145).

References

  • Akhtar, S. (1995). The third individuation. Immigration, identity, and the psychoanalytic process. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 43 (4), 1051–1084.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Anagnostopoulos, D. C., Vlassopoulos, M. & Lazaratou, H. (2006). Forced migration, adolescence, and identity formation. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 66 (3), 226–238.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berenstein, F. J. & Puget, J. (1997). Lo vincular. Buenos Aires: Piados.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berry, J. W. (1997). Immigration, acculturation, and adaptation. International Journal of Applied Psychology, 46 (1), 5–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhabha, H. K. (2000). Die Verortung der Kultur. Tübingen: Staufenberg Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blos, P. (1962). On adolescence. New York: The Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Casey, B. J., Jones, R. M. & Hare, T. A. (2008). The adolescent brain. Annals of the New York Academy of Science, 1124, 111–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ermann, M. (2011). Identität, Identitätsdiffusion, Identitätsstörung. Psychotherapeut, 56 (2), 135–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Erikson, E. H. (1950). Childhood and society. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fraiberg, S., Adelson, E. & Shapiro, V. (1975). Ghosts in the nursery. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 14 (3), 387–421.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Glaesmer, H., Wittig, U., Brähler, E., Martin, A., Mewes, R. & Rief, W. (2009). Sind Migranten häufiger von Störungen betroffen? Eine Untersuchung an einer repräsentativen Stichprobe der deutschen Bevölkerung. Psychiatrische Praxis, 36 (1), 16–32.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grinberg, O. L. & Grinberg, K. (1990). Psychoanalyse der Migration und des Exils. Munich: Verlag Internationale Psychoanalyse.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jensen, L., Arnett, J. J. & McKenzie, J. (2011). Globalisation and cultural identity. In S. J. Schwartz, K. Luyckx & V. L. Vignoles (Eds.) Handbook of identity. Theory and research (pp. 285–301). New York: Springer Science.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • KIGGS - Robert Koch-Institut, Bundeszentrale für gesundheitliche Aufklärung. (Eds.) (2008). Erkennen – Bewerten – Handeln: Zur Gesundheit von Kindern und Jugendlichen in Deutschland. Berlin: RKI.

  • Keilson, H. (1979). Sequentielle Traumatisierung bei Kindern. Stuttgart: Enke.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kernberg, O. (1975). Borderline conditions and pathological narcissism. New York: Jason Aronson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kohte-Meyer, I. (2006). Kindheit und Adoleszenz zwischen verschiedenen Kulturen und Sprachen. Eine kulturelle Perspektive in der Psychoanalyse. In E. Wohlfahrt & M. Zaumseil (Eds.) Transkulturelle Psychiatrie —Interkulturelle Psychotherapie (pp. 82–94). Heidelberg: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laub, D. & Auerhahn, N. C. (1993). Knowing and not knowing: Massive psychic trauma. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 74 (2), 287–302.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mahler, M. S., Pine, F. & Bergmann, A. (1975). The psychological birth of the human infant. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maiello, S. (1999). Encounter of an African healer: Thinking about the possibilities and limits of cross-cultural psychotherapy. Journal of Child Psychotherapy, 28 (2), 217–238.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mann, M. A. (2006). The formation and development of individual and ethnic identity. Insights from psychiatry and psychoanalytic theory. American Journal of Psychoanaysis, 66 (3), 211–234.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marcia, J. E. (1966). Development and validation of ego identity states. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 3 (5), 551–558.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nadig, M. (2006). Transkulturelle Spannungsfelder in der Migration und ihrer Erforschung. In E. Wohlfahrt & M. Zaumseil (Eds.) Transkulturelle Psychiatrie–Interkulturelle Psychotherapie (pp. 68–89). Heidelberg: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Özbek, T. & Wohlfahrt, E. (2006). Der transkulturelle Übergangsraum – ein Theorem und seine Funktion in der transkulturellen Psychotherapie im ZIPP. In E. Wohlfahrt & M. Zaumseil (Eds.) Transkulturelle Psychiatrie – Interkulturelle Psychotherapie (pp. 170–176). Heidelberg: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Özkan, I. & Hüther, G. (2012). Migration: Traum oder Trauma. In I. Özkan, U. Sachsse & A. Streeck-Fischer (Eds.) Zeit heilt nicht alle Wunden (pp. 173–186). Goettingen: Vandenhoeck.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2008). PISA 2006. Die Ergebnisse im internationalen Vergleich- Naturwissenschaftliche Kompetenzen für die Welt von morgen. Bielefeld: Bertelsmann Verlag.

  • Portes, A. (1997). Immigration theory for a new century. Some problems and opportunities. International Migration Review, 31 (4), 799–825.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pumariega, A. J. & Cagande, C. (2013). Editorial: Globalization and child and adolescent mental health. Adolescent Psychiatry, 3 (1), 1–3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pumariega, A. J. & Rothe, E. (2010). Leaving children or families behind. The challenges of immigration. American Journal of Orthochildpsychiatry, 80 (3), 506–516.

    Google Scholar 

  • Samuels, A. (2002). The hidden politics of healing: Foreign dimensions of domestic practice. American Imago, 59 (4), 459–481.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seiffge-Krenke, I. (2012). Therapieziel Identität. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharabany, R. & Israeli, E. (2008). The dual process of adolescent immigration and relocation: From country to country and from childhood to adolescence—Its reflection in psychodynamic psychotherapy. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 63 (2), 137–162.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Streeck-Fischer, A. (2014). Trauma und Entwicklung –Folgen in der Adoleszenz. Stuttgart: Schattauer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Volkan, V. D. (1988). The need to have enemies and allies. From clinical practice to international relationship. New York: Jason Aronson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Volkan, V. D. (2010). Psychoanalysis and international relationships: Large-group identity, traumas at the hand of “others,” and transgenerational transmission of trauma. In H. Brunning & M. Perini (Eds.) Psychoanalytic perspectives on a turbulent world (pp. 41–62). London: Karnac.

    Google Scholar 

  • Volkan, V. D., Ast, G. & Greer, W. (2001). Third Reich in the unconscious: Transgenerational transmission and its consequences. New York: Brunner-Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winnicott, D. W. (1965). Maturational processes and facilitating environments. London: Hogarth Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yilmaz, H. B., Dalkilic, A., Al-Mateen, C., Sood, A. & Pumariega, A. (2013). Culturally informed care of the Turkish-American child, adolescent and family. Adolescent Psychiatry, 3 (1), 39–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Psychoanalytic University Berlin, Stromstrasse 2, Berlin, 10555, Germany

    Annette Streeck-Fischer

Authors
  1. Annette Streeck-Fischer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

1Annette Streeck-Fischer, M.D., Ph.D., is a Professor at Developmental Psychology and Diagnostics at International Psychoanalytic University (IPU), Berlin; a Training and Supervising Analyst, Lou-Andreas-Salomé-Institute, Goettingen; and the President of the International Society of Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (ISAPP), 2011–2015.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Streeck-Fischer, A. IDENTITY FORMATION DIFFICULTIES IN IMMIGRANT ADOLESCENTS: THREE CASES FROM GERMANY. Am J Psychoanal 75, 438–453 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1057/ajp.2015.43

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/ajp.2015.43

Keywords

Search

Navigation