The counsellor and alienated youth

This article is based on the writer's experiences with intelligent young men aged from 16 to 19 who rejected the values of home and school and disassociated themselves from contemporary society. It is argued that behaviour which appears to be self-destructive to the outsider, serves important funcdons for these individuals. Their alienated behaviour masked an intuitive attempt to avoid the most damaging form of alienation - alienation from oneself Some account is provided of the processes which occur when this is the case and the strategies used in creating satisfying identities.