ABSTRACT
The maternal pattern of overprotectiveness creates the illusion of an ideal world for their sons, which sabotages the consolidation of a separate identity. Independent, gratified mature identity becomes possible when there is a balance between aspects of the personality that emphasize its individuation—a "doing" emotional attitude—and those that emphasize its fusion with the other—a "being" emotional attitude. The interviews showed a pattern of muteness on the fathers' part relative to sons, and it is important to understand its significance for the latter. The psychoanalytic literature has not expanded on the emotional influence of the absent father figure on children in general, and sons in particular, even though Freud stated that in his perception, the father holds a vital function in founding the son's sense of confidence. The author emphasizes that this parental dynamic can have a series of consequences, beginning with the possibility of military service suspending or severing parts of the maturation process.
