Resumo

ALTOE, Sônia; SILVA, Magali  e  PINHEIRO, Bruna Soares. The fickleness of emotional ties in the lives of sheltered children and adolescents. Rev. psicol. polít. [online]. 2011, vol.11, n.21, pp.109-122. ISSN 2175-1390.

The article analyzes the institutional practices of public shelters as far as the numerous relocations experienced by children and adolescents, considering a clinical psychoanalytic practice with this clientele. Such a refection is based upon the notion of helplessness considered by Freud as the structural psychic apparatus. Helplessness is inherent to the situation of dependence into which the human baby is born, thus leading it to the need for communication and the construction of a psychic apparatus built on the child's relationship with others. Some cases were selected to illustrate the specificity of this clientele and the legal and operational challenges arising from it. The author investigates how the situation of social vulnerability, unstable personal relationships and weak family bonds are related to the concept of helplessness.

Palavras-chave : Sheltering; Children; Adolescents; Helplessness; Psychoanalysis.