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Our study explores the process at work in a group setting with children of latent age, focusing on the development of 8-year-old Rolland. The aim is to illustrate the non-linear transition from an initial despotic position, defensive against powerlessness and the risk of control, to more flexible identification positions marked by ambivalence. The dormancy of incestuous oedipal desires and the emergence of tender motions attest to a better integration of the libidinal part of the superego, without its cruel and hostile part being completely resigned. During the group process, Rolland’s recognition of his difficulty in giving up, a corollary of his difficulty in adapting, marks the beginning of a shift from omnipotent control of objects to their fantastical investment and the ability to daydream. The outcome of identification for this patient on the threshold of puberty at the end of treatment remains uncertain, however, and depends on the ordeal of adolescence, which alone will reveal the possibility - or otherwise - of non-traumatic, symbolic after-shocks.