THE CONTROL OF ACTING OUT IN THE PSYCHOTHERAPY OF DELINQUENTS
Abstract
1. Acting out is antithetical to psychotherapy.
2. It is a form of behavior that is particularly prominent, if not central, in the delinquent.
3. Attitudes and activities of individuals and agencies that are actively and concurrently involved in some form of relationship with the delinquent may tend to encourage or discourage his acting out.
4. Some of the attitudes and activities of the various individuals and agencies concerned with the delinquent may themselves be in the nature of an acting out which bears a reciprocal relationship to the acting out of the delinquent.
5. The understanding of the dynamics of these attitudes and of the activities on the part of these individuals and agencies is as important as the understanding of the intrapsychic dynamics of the delinquent. The two are inextricably linked.
6. Increased dynamic understanding of these attitudes and activities by all those concerned with the rehabilitation of the delinquent could lead to modifications in the interrelationships of all the component units of the total situation, so as to bring about a diminution in the possibility of acting out.
7. The control of acting out would tend to bottle-up anxiety which, allowed no easy outlet in the accustomed channels, would act favorably in the development of a true psychotherapeutic situation.
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