This article discusses problems of social adjustment experienced by children of immigrant families in Italy. Such difficulties, which take the form of anxiety and depression at the intrapsychic level and antisocial behavior at the social level, are related to conflicting injunctions these young people receive. The first injunction, which originates in the family, demands that they not adjust to the host society; the second, which is of societal origin, prohibits them from being themselves, especially in terms of their culture of origin. Possible rehabilitation actions are suggested, and theoretical remarks related to script theory are offered.
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