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This book is a compilation of papers written during the many years the author, professor of adolescent studies at the University of Buenos Aires, has devoted to research and teaching on
this subject. It embraces several stages of her work and, inevitably for a book of collected papers, involves a certain amount of repetition of ideas. However, the overall result is an all-encompassing effort to cover the multiple aspects of the stage of life that goes from childhood to adulthood, elaborating a metapsychological framework (Freudian metapsychology) in its strictest sense.
Adolescence has been a topic of growing interest since the work of Stanley G. Hall. Throughout the twentieth century it was commonplace to say that adolescence constitutes a field for interdisciplinary and multi-professional work. This the author reflects in one of her key concerns: the multi-determination of adolescent symptoms and patterns of behaviour. Thus the book ranges from the initial review chapters centering on biology, to the middle and final parts of the book addressing psychoanalytic theory, in which she presents the intrapsychic elaboration of adolescence together with issues involving the socio-cultural access to adulthood. Clinical material, detailed narratives and texts written by adolescents themselves, such as letters and poems, help to illustrate the author's argument.
One of the key features of this books is its faithful adherence to Freudian ideas: starting with the book's opening comments, Freud is quoted from among his many references about adolescence. These quotations are then compared with our current understanding of adolescent development. Freud's genius is shown in the very real relevance that his views, formulated a century ago, still have for us today. Professor Quiroga has a thorough knowledge of Freudian texts, and she explores in depth complex concepts such as deferred action (Nachträglichkeit), casting considerable light on them as she does so. Her own metapsycholo