Since it offers a way of erotizing aggressiveness, war is a representation that can go so far as to be attractive in adolescence. Because it associates the pleasure of destructiveness with an exacerbated narcissistic demand, it can be a source of considerable sexual arousal. The therapist’s theoretical and clinical work aims to open up outlets other than the passage to the act for fantasies that are as murderous as they are self-destructive.

Adolescence, 2026, 44, 1, 9-12.