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For individuals with an antisocial tendency, authority is often experienced as unbearable for the ego, producing in return a reflex of opposition to the rules and laws that they encounter. By exploring the appropriable and abusive aspects of different ways in which parental authority is exercised, the authors propose considering revolt as an attempt by these young subjects to keep their identity, their true self, alive. The abusive authority is thus likely to result in an eradication of psychological potentials, which will later be expressed by destructiveness. The article discusses the possibility of this hopeful appeal being taken into consideration within psychotherapy, to bring those potentials back into play.