The Anti-Social Tendency

The awesome characteristic of delinquency is its obduracy: for the time that it lasts, it is stubborn and impenitent. Paradoxically, in its very act of wrong doing, it carries with it an unswerving sense of rightness. In the moment of stealing, there is a mark of justification—‘it's mine’. In the strike of violence, there is a sound of vindication—‘that settles it’; and in the course of deception, there is a note of defiance—‘why

not?’. The delinquent act, in other words, has purpose. It is making a statement, standing up for something and not letting be. With this in mind, rules will be broken and those who uphold them confounded. It is no surprise that the delinquent is a thorn in the side of the reformer and therapist: by definition, non-compliant; in effect, destructive; and, for the most part, lacking remorse or inclination to change.

In the face of such complexity Winnicott's concept of the anti-social tendency is a source of much needed illumination and comfort. In this concept, Winnicott drew on his deep appreciation of the nature of deprivation and on his passionate regard for the existence and the emergence of ‘the true self’ (1960: 148). He also understood adolescence well — its essential indeterminacy and its rejection of ‘false solutions’ (1961: 84). On the basis of these insights, he could see the antisocial tendency, and the delinquent act that ensued, as something positive, self-affirming and, above, all, hopeful for the individual. The young delinquent was not to be regarded as feckless, bad or evil, but as an individual seeking to rectify that which did not feel right inside.

Winnicott expressed his position most succinctly in the following passage.

First, I must try to define the word psychopathy. I am using the term here (and I believe I am justified in doing so) to describe an adult condition which is an uncured delinquency. A delinquent is an uncured antisocial boy or girl. An antisocial boy or girl is a deprived child. A deprived child is one w