Abstract

LUONGO, Luiggi; GARRONI, Sergio; PORTILLO, Roland  and  SANTANA, Aliana. Los niños maltratados de Caracas: una aproximación psicoanalítica. RFM [online]. 2006, vol.29, n.2, pp.137-142. ISSN 0798-0469.

This article is a compendium of the results of a research regarding physical abused children and their families in the Caracas metropolitan area, lead by AGALMA, Center for Psychoanalytic Research and Analysis, psychoanalytic research team. This research has only taken into account the parents’ and other family members’ physical abuse of the children. The sample of this research reveals the existing causality relationship between child abuse and a disturbance of the symbolic function of the Name-of-the-Father within the structure of the family group. Nine conclusions or categories were established related to the research criteria: parental function, appraisement of the parental figure, the child’s position in the parents’ desire, abuse subjectivation, abuse restrain, questions asked related to sex or gender differences, position in the cognation structure, mother-child dyadic relationship separation, capacity for asking oneself questions. This research shows how the symbolic function of the Name-of-the-Father has, in some cases, been represented by the violence expressed in physical abuse on children.

Keywords : Child abuse; Name-of-the-father; Family structure; Violence; Symbolic function; Maltreatment.