The phantom of repetition and mother/ daughter relationship

Abstract

The current investigation, conducted through case studies, aimed to verify the interference of family standards and beliefs in the process of differentiation of young women. The group was composed of seven young women, all of them attending the COF Center of Orientation to the Family - and residing in Salvador, state of Bahia, Brazil, who showed emotional problems associated with family life. Semi-structured interviews with the participants, together with the participants' attendance reports, provided the empirical basis for the study. The analysis of the collected material was made by grouping the contents into subject themes. The theme that stood out fear of repeating their mothers' life history - unfolded into: absence of paternal figure; lack of credibility concerning the male figure; sexuality problems and conflicts with the mother. These youths' struggles focused preferably on study and professional targets; the young women felt responsible for sharing family expenses, and often took roles belonging to their parents. Overloaded by these situations and feeling incapable of dealing with them, these youths were seriously hit by the incidence of psychosomatic symptoms that exposed the dramatic conflicts they were living with. Hence, it is concluded that the liberalization possibility open to new generations within an urban and individualistic society conflicts, in these cases, with the still traditional ideals where the standards and beliefs point towards a logic of reciprocity and solidarity of kinship ties.