From the beginning of time, the myth of themonster has pervaded most cultures. Creaturesfrom folklore, such as werewolves, vampires,

and gorgons, were the embodiment of society’sdeepest fears, threatening the moral fabric socarefully woven by our ancestors. Nowadays, themonster myth has been deconstructed and diluted,romanticised through cinema, TV series, videogames and urban fantasy novels. The 21st-centurymonster is no longer to be feared, yet many of usbelieve a far more dangerous creature lurks amongus: the feral adolescent.

According to the media, since the murder oftwo-year-old James Bulger in 1993, our society hasbeen plagued by a new type of predatory creature:the subhuman teen monster, the transgressor ofmoral rules, the wild and uncivilised hooded demon.

The word ‘youth’, in the press and in the publicimagination, seems to have become synonymouswith senseless violent crime and street terror.Indeed, research shows that some of the mostcommonly used words to describe adolescents in themedia include feral, monsters, inhuman, and evil1.

Undoubtedly, sensationalism and the demonisationof youth sell newspapers, but these labels obfuscatethe truth and only succeed in deepening our fears.If we really want to get to the heart of the problem,we need to embark on a more refined explorationof the teen-monster myth. Only then will we beable to map, negotiate and navigate the innerterritory of the troubled teen. It is only by venturinginto the inner lair of the so-called feral adolescentthat we stand a chance of safely uncovering thedeep hurt that lies beneath his antisocial persona.

Into the monster’s lairIt is no coincidence that monsters such as vampires,werewolves, flesh-eating zombies and othersupervillains have enjoyed a renaissance in popularteen culture. Indeed, there are similarities betweenantisocial teens and these fictionalised creatures.And it would be foolish to deny the existence ofan animal instinct, with which many troubledadolescents appear to be driven. But we must notconfuse behaviour and identity. These adolescentswere not born evil. The ‘monstrous’ behaviourexhibited by challenging young people oftenconceals a deep and painful emotional wound;

just like the mythical monster, they are a productof neglect, abandonment and abuse.

From whence cometh the beast orsupervillain?The Beast Folks on The Island of Dr Moreau2, alongwith Dr Victor Frankenstein’s uncivilised creature3,and more recently Dren from the movie Splice4,highlight that monsters are not born, they aremanufactured. Whether created by a self-centred,narcissistic scientist in a bleak laboratory, or by amorally ambiguous geneticist in Dr Moreau’s Houseof Pain, it is the parental failure of their creatorsand society’s prejudice that turn the creatures intomonsters.

It is easy to look at these fictional monsters andonly see destructive forces driven by animal instinct.But it is important to remember their origins:victims rejected by their creators, deprived of themost basic human needs, and equipped with noother developmental skills than an innate instinctto survive. The similarities to the background ofthe antisocial adolescent are obvious: ‘monstrous’behaviour triggered by a troubled background,raging against society, and surviving on a diet ofomnipotence.

A more contemporary and notorious fictionalcharacter, who shares similar characteristics withboth the mythical monster and the troubled teen,is the ever-present superhero, or, to be more precise,his angry counterpart: the supervillain.

An exploration of these characters’ origins alwaysreveals a painful truth hidden to others, distressingdetails of a traumatic past, and a childhood taintedby abandonment, loss, isolation, and emotionaldeprivation.

But unlike his mighty counterpart who workedthrough his trauma and became enriched with adeeper level of awareness, the supervillain neverhad the opportunity to merge with the warmth ofa good-enough other and heal his wounds. Instead,he remains stuck in the nightmare of his painfulpast. From the sinister Darth Vader to the sadisticJoker (Batman’s nemesis), the supervillain’s alliancewith the darker side, his need to constantly disruptsocial order, and his rigidly worn mask are nothingbut a false front, an omnipotent and domineeringfaçade that hides any trace of vulnerability, allowing

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Monsters, feral teensand the rage to feel aliveDavid Taransaud believes we must sensitively act as hostage negotiators,using creative means to make contact with adolescents’ Wounded Self

‘The 21st-century

monster is nolonger to be feared,

yet many of usbelieve a far more

dangerous creaturelurks among us: the

feral adolescent

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him to conceal his real identity and thus protectinghis Self from further potentially traumatic andpainful experiences. Sadly, like the antisocialadolescent, the archaic coping strategies uponwhich the supervillain relies obscure his view ofthe world and cut him off from sources of supportand emotional closeness.

Arguably the most famous angry superhero, anddefinitely one of the most popular with teenagers,is The Incredible Hulk. Originally inspired by thenarratives of both Frankenstein and Dr Jekyll andMr Hyde, the graphic novel of the The IncredibleHulk5 and, more recently, the Ang Lee movie6 bothtell the story of Bruce Banner, a socially ineptscientist who, after being exposed to gammaradiation, transforms into a raging green behemotheach time he feels threatened. Frequent flashbacks,though, show a haunted past full of domesticviolence, and severe physical abuse. Thus, the gammarays are not solely responsible for his unstoppablerage but merely amplify the fear and hurt Bannerexperienced during his early life.

Again, like the antisocial adolescent, this fictionalgreen monster is not just a mindless savage, but awounded survivor and a misunderstood outcastunleashing his inner beast whenever he is remindedof the unbearable feelings of insecurity andvulnerability he experienced in his early years. Hisrage is not the rage of a monster, but that of avulnerable, frightened and helpless child. It is therage to feel alive, a desperate way of coercingothers into a) helping him heal his wounds and b)providing him with the parenting he never received.

So the journey and the hurt of the monsterparallel in many ways the experiences of theantisocial adolescent. And the increasing presenceof such creatures in youth culture provides us witha valuable tool for finding a way into the troubledadolescent’s inner world and helping him return toa more creative way of living.

‘Omnipotent Self’ versus ‘Wounded Self’As we have seen, the monsters on our screensthrive on a seemingly inexhaustible supply ofomnipotence that drives them to boundlessdestruction. Yet, when we look at the backgroundsof these creatures, we can see that these gruesomedisplays of omnipotence are nothing but theoutgrowth of a painful past. The antisocial teenalso shares this desire for omnipotence, a mask ofpower that he puts on when he feels threatened.Deprived of love, safety and warmth in his formativeyears, it is as if the challenging adolescent had noother option but to bury the more vulnerable partsof his Self – his Wounded Self – and, in order tosurvive, learn to rely on a substitute: an illusory,powerful Omnipotent Self.

‘I was the slave, not the master, of an impulse,which I detested, yet could not disobey … I hadcast off all feelings,’ laments Dr Frankenstein’screature5. Similarly, for most troubled teens, theirmonstrous behaviour is nothing but the remnantsof a traumatic early history when the world onlycontained two polarised positions: strong and all-powerful, or weak and helpless.

The child deprived of love, empathetic attunementand appropriate maternal care experiences acutehelplessness. In the process, he develops a fearfulview of the world, which he perceives as beingpopulated by dangerous creatures, where the weakis at the mercy of the strong. In such a Darwinianworld, he quickly learns that the only way tosurvive is by being on top of the food chain, aking amongst beasts. But there is a price to bepaid to attain such a powerful position. In orderto survive, he must tuck away key elements of hisreal Self, the parts that have not been welcomedby others and that he perceives as shameful andtoo weak to survive in such an oppressive world.In other words, his vulnerable, needy and love-seeking Wounded Self.

Unable to escape from the harsh reality in whichhe’s living, the frightened and emotionally starvedchild takes refuge in fantasy. He lays aside his needto love and be loved, banishes his relational needsto an emotional wasteland, and, to compensate,unconsciously signs over all control to a mighty innerrescuer, a controlling and false Omnipotent Self.

Once ‘he’ has been invited in, this OmnipotentSelf takes over the inner world and quickly buildsemotional contact boundaries that protect thechild against further potential hurt, rejection orhumiliation. This is a relief for the terrified child,as, through this alliance, he gains the illusion ofsafety, believing his powerful new-found saviourwill protect him against the evil of his world.

But this is nothing more than a Faustian bargain,for his survival has been purchased at an extravagantprice: the inability to live a full and creative life.The Omnipotent Self initially provides a source ofcomfort for the frightened child, and allows himto survive emotional starvation and intense distress;but in exchange, he demands total control, forbiddingrelational needs, while keeping the wounded partsof the individual well hidden under a cloak of shame.

So, in order to survive, the child not onlydisowns aspects of his Self and surrenders to amore Omnipotent Self, but he also internalises theoppression he experiences. Like the mythical vampire(or werewolf) whose ‘birth’ originates from an abuseof power and contamination, the child’s WoundedSelf is banished to the darkest pit of the psyche,while the Omnipotent Self gradually identifies withthe ‘monster’ to whom the child had originally

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‘His rage is not therage of a monster,

but that of avulnerable,

frightened, andhelpless child

fallen prey. In other words, the spirit of the abuserfinds its way inside, invading the child’s innerworld, where he subordinates, controls and oppressesthe vulnerable aspects of the Self.

Needless to say, the Omnipotent Self and theWounded Self do not work as a team; they areessentially a match made in hell, dividing thepsyche, and creating inner and outer conflicts forthe adolescent (and those of us around him), as hisearly relationship dynamics get replayed internallyand externally in a world which he still believes tobe a hostile place populated by heartless people.

So, while the Omnipotent Self is labelleddangerous, soulless and evil by society, the WoundedSelf of the traumatised adolescent remains unseenby the world, undeveloped, frozen in a state ofsuspended animation, yet still longing to berecovered and gently warmed back to life by astrong, confident and caring other.

How do we befriend the beast?It is not surprising, therefore, that the antisocialadolescent relates so strongly to the fictionalcreatures that frequently appear on our screen.But they share more than just a label and apainful past: they both seem to embody contrastingvalues. Vampires, werewolves, the Minotaur, theGorgon and many others are anthropomorphiccreatures, half human and half beast, dwelling inthe murky region between animal and man, and,like the untamed adolescent, it is their wild animalside that is in charge, undermining the shamedand wounded aspects of the Self while forcefullydictating the individual’s behaviour. In other words,the tormented, cursed and emotionally starvedindividual submits to the will of the wild beast, or Omnipotent Self, while, for the sake of survival,his aching Wounded Self remains hidden.

Yet, in spite of his dictatorial regime, theOmnipotent Self’s only agenda is to protect itswounded counterpart. So he acts as a fierce sentinel,a mighty Cerberus, highly vigilant, ready to attackanybody whose behaviour resembles that of theoriginal abuser or the dynamics that were playedout in the individual’s early environment. This meansthat he must never allow anybody to get too closeto the fragile Wounded Self for fear that the hurtand humiliation experienced in the past might findits way into the present. Any breach in the relativesense of security the Omnipotent Self has establishedautomatically triggers an alarm that is promptlyanswered, giving rise to a protective aggressiveresponse.

It can therefore be seen that the relationaldynamics of the inner selves of the adolescentparallel those of a hostage situation, with theOmnipotent Self in the role of the hostage-taker,

and the Wounded Self as the hostage. This impliesthat, in order to build a relationship with theOmnipotent abductor and eventually open thelines of communication with the captive WoundedSelf, we need to model our approach to that of ahostage negotiator.

Hostage negotiationThe basic principles of hostage negotiation7 can beapplied when forming a working alliance with thetroubled teen. As in any real hostage situation, arapport must be built with the hostage taker orOmnipotent Self in order to bring about asuccessful result.

If we adopt the role of punitive authority figure,call in the SWAT team, and rush in all guns blazing8,our intervention is likely to turn into a bloodyrescue mission and inevitably do more damagethan good. Our initial goal should be to establish a climate of understanding and trust before anymeaningful dialogue can take place. In other words,our role is that of a hostage negotiator, and asnegotiator we must fight our inner urge to act outour own impulses, and demonstrate that we are notonly robust enough to validate the adolescent’somnipotent fantasies, withstand attacks and surviveintense feelings, but also vulnerable enough toinvite a meaningful relationship.

Of course, like any negotiation, it will take time,effort, courage, and considerable resilience in orderto befriend the hostage-taker or Omnipotent Selfand build a relationship of trust with the troubledadolescent. However, if we create a holdingenvironment; acknowledge and validate theadolescent’s initial resistance to our attempts atcommunication; regulate our own impulses topunish, surrender, ignore or rescue; and insteadremain firm, fair and grounded when under attack,we stand a good chance of fulfilling our missionand eventually of being allowed free – or at least‘supervised’ – access to the Wounded Self. This inturn will allow both the Omnipotent Self and thecaptive Wounded Self to cooperate in relation tous, and gradually, we can hope, with each other.

The monster metaphorOf course, our initial interactions with the omnipotenthostage taker are not likely to go smoothly. Theadolescent under the spell of his omnipotentfantasies has learned to depend on a very rigidattitude; he is defended against openness, explorationor intimacy. He perceives everything and everyoneas a potential threat and he is entirely opposed toallowing adults into his world or openly discussinghis experiences with us. Revealing the existence ofhis survival kit and exposing his vulnerable WoundedSelf is a risk he is highly unlikely to take.

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However, metaphors, analogies, and symbolicexpression allow us to safely sneak through theprotective rampart and gently peel away the layershe has wrapped around his hurt. Metaphors providethe adolescent with an indirect and non-threateningway of sharing aspects of his inner world withoutus being directly subjected to the aggressive anddictatorial interferences of his Omnipotent Self.

The challenging adolescent intuitively understandsthe concept of symbolic expression, and instinctivelyrelates to the monster metaphor, not only becauseit loudly echoes his experiences and the fragmentedand chaotic nature of his inner world, but alsobecause it empowers him. The monster metaphorprovides the adolescent with some healthy distancefrom his personal history; moreover, it allows himto articulate his terrifying past experiences, shareaspects of his inner landscape, voice his hurt, andfully express his fears and his deepest yearningswhile saving face.

Thus, the fictional monster is not only an epitomeof lawlessness and a symbol for the loneliness ofthe aching soul concealed beneath layers of shameand hurt, but also a metaphor of transformation, a symbol of togetherness, and a sign of hope. Byexploring the polarities inherent in the myth ofthis ambiguous creature in our practice9, we canhelp the adolescent to reconnect and safelyacknowledge feelings and thoughts he had beendefended against, develop empathy for the unlivedpart of his psyche, narrow the gap between hisdivided selves, support him in connecting theseemingly unconnected, and gradually bring abouthealing and reconciliation in his internal world.

ConclusionOn old maps, cartographers used to mark obscureand uncharted territories with the words Hic monstrasunt – Here be monsters, together with sketchesof formidable imaginary creatures. This primevalfear of the unknown still influences the way inwhich we look at ourselves and others, and has abig part to play in the sometimes negative way inwhich challenging adolescents are perceived.

Like the mythical monster, the feral adolescentis not only misunderstood but also demonised bysociety, branded with hurtful labels and epithetsthat achieve nothing except to confirm his earlyimprinted and long-held belief that he is unwanted,unlovable and an outcast. With such developmentaland societal conditioning, it is no wonder that theadolescent comes to define himself as evil, whichinevitably increases the likelihood that he willengage in antisocial behaviour. So rather thanjoining the angry mob and baying for blood, wemust aim to provide the challenging youth withthe parenting he never received.

Haunted by the ghost of his past, and stuck in a permanent state of hypervigilance, whileconcealing his aching Wounded Self behind layersof self-protection, the dynamics played within the adolescent’s inner world dramatically echoWinnicott’s10 belief that sometimes to hide is a necessary evil, but to never be found is acatastrophe. Thus, the antisocial adolescent is nota soulless savage – his reality is just different fromours. He is a survivor, desperately trying to find astrong and caring other: one who will be robustenough to venture into his inner world, face hispersecutory inner figure, and, like Winnicott’sgood-enough mother, help to facilitate hisomnipotent fantasies and, ultimately, find thebeauty within the beast. For as Dr Frankenstein’screature painfully confesses: ‘The love of anotherwill destroy the cause of my crimes.’ �

David Taransaud is a registered psychotherapeuticcounsellor (UKEAPC) for adolescents, with more than 10 years’ experience working with challenging youth.He practises in London and frequently presents workshopsand courses on building empathic relationships withtroubled adolescents. His current research focuses onthe use of metaphors and symbols found in youthculture, and he is author of You Think I’m Evil: practicalstrategies for working with aggressive and rebelliousadolescents (Worth Publishing, 2011).

References

1 The Independent. ‘Hoodies, louts, scum’: how mediademonises teenagers. www.independent.co.uk/dayinapage/2009/March/13

2 Wells HG. The island of Dr Moreau. London: PenguinClassics; 1896 (new edition 2005).

3 Shelley MW. Frankenstein or the modern Prometheus.Camberwell, VIC: Penguin Books; 1818 (new edition 2009).

4 Natali V. Splice. Optimum Home Entertainment, 2009.

5 Lee S, Kirby J. The Incredible Hulk. Marvel ComicsUniverse; 1962.

6 Lee A. Hulk. Universal Studios, 2003.

7 Greenstone JL. The elements of police hostage andcrisis negotiations: critical incidents and how to respondto them. New York: Haworth Press; 2005.

8 Swindon Advertiser. Asbos? Just kill the little pests:new film tells of vigilante’s brutal lesson for unrulyyobs. 14 November 2006.

9 Taransaud D. You think I’m evil: practical strategies for working with aggressive and rebellious adolescents.London: Worth Publishing; 2011.

10 Winnicott DW. Deprivation and delinquency. London:Routledge; 1984 (new edition 1990).

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