“In the name of friendship, be my enemy”

The author explores our psychological need for enemies and the contribution this makes to overt conflicts in the external world. Enemies serve as an opposite from which we can differentiate ourselves either as a individual or as a group; they help us to define our physical ad psychological boundaries. Enemies provide a target ad an outlet for our aggression and also for the projection of the shadow. They also provide the stimulus to individuation, through the heroic encounter with the enemy inn the unfamiliar world outside the home, particularly in adolescence. The psychic integration of “self” ad “enemy” is explored as the outcome of individuation.