Ce travail de thèse est consacré à l’étude de la subjectivation et la transmission de la fonction paternelle dans les situations de maltraitance des enfants pris en charge par l’Institut Colombien de Bien-être Familial (Caldas centre zone nord). Pour cela, nous avons formulé trois objectifs spécifiques. 1. Identifier les contenus et les processus psychiques de la fonction paternelle. 2. Différencier parmi ces contenus ceux qui se répètent d’une génération à une autre de manière inconsciente de ceux qui ont été transformés. 3. Reconstituer le contenant psychique familial à partir des contenus psychiques identifiés chez les parents et chez les enfants des familles pris en charge par l’Institut Colombien de Bien-être Familial (Caldas centre zone nord). De sa part, le point de départ de cette thèse a été mes vécus en tant que psychologue dans certaines institutions à visées psychosociales à l’attention des enfants, des adolescents et des familles. C’est là que naît l’intérêt pour la thématique du père et son influence psychique chez les enfants, notamment dans les cas des enfants qui ont subi de la maltraitance. En outre cet intérêt, il y a celui qui a surgi à partir de la recherche que j’ai réalisée au cours de mes études de master. Le sujet de cette recherche était les imaginaires sociaux de la réélection présidentielle en Colombie d’Alvaro Uribe. C’est ainsi que dans sa première partie, cette thèse s’occupe d’analyser le père en tant qu’une institution sociale qui s’est formée au cours de l’histoire du monde occidental. En ce sens, l’analyse est centrée sur le fondement de cette institution qui est compris pour nous en termes d’imaginaire social du père. Cet imaginaire est abordé notamment à propos de la société colombienne. C’est donc dans le cadre de cette société que cette thèse se demande aussi qu’est-ce que la maltraitance et sa prise en charge par l’ICBF. Cela dans l’intention de faire une approche critique aux discours du patriarcat qui traversent des institutions sociales fondamentales en Colombie tels que l’église catholique et la famille. Le chapitre deux de cette première partie vise à faire une reconstitution théorique du concept de fonction paternelle du point de vue de la psychanalyse, spécifiquement chez Freud et chez Lacan. Voilà pourquoi, nous proposons passer de parler de la catégorie d’imaginaire social à celle de fonction paternelle dans la perspective psychanalytique. Dans ce même chapitre, les concepts de subjectivation et de transmission psychique sont développés. La deuxième partie de cette thèse commence avec la description du processus méthodologique. Cette thèse a donc une approche clinique en tant qu’elle étudie ce que les sujets dévoilent de leurs subjectivités dans leurs productions discursives. De l’approche clinique, notamment celle de la clinique psychanalytique, nous ne reprenons pas uniquement son intentionnalité et sa méthodologie de compréhension de l’autre en tant que sujet de l’inconscient. Nous en reprenons de manière particulière la fonction donnée à la parole comme voie d’accès aux positions subjectives. Dans cette logique, le recueil de données, son enregistrement et l’analyse des témoignages comportent un processus global, celui de la production du discours. Il s’agit d’une logique qui nous a permis en tant que chercheurs d’envisager les productions discursives aux niveaux de l’énoncé mais aussi de l’énonciation, pour le dire dans des termes psychanalytiques, au niveau du contenu manifeste et au niveau du contenu latent. Pour réussir cet objectif, nous avons de ce fait utilisé la méthode de l’analyse de discours notamment ce qui concerne l’analyse de l’énonciation. / This thesis is about the subjectivation and psychic transmission of the paternal function in cases of child abuse intervened by the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (Caldas, northern zonal center). This thesis focuses on three objectives: 1) identify the contents and psychological processes of the paternal function; 2) differentiate which of these contents are repeated from one generation to another unconsciously and which of these are transformed; and 3) reconstruct the family psychology based on the psychosocial contents identified in the parents and in the children of the families intervened by the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (Caldas, northern zonal center). The starting point of this thesis was derived by my experiences as a psychologist working at various institutions dedicated to the psychosocial care of children, adolescents and families, which sparked my interest in the subject of the father’s psychological influence on children, specifically in situations of abuse. In addition, another interest resulted from my research during my master's studies was the investigation of the social imaginaries of the presidential re-election of Alvaro Uribe. Chapter 1 of this thesis raises the concern with analyzing the father’s psychology, as a social institution that has been constituted throughout the history of the Western world. In this sense, the analysis focuses on unveiling the foundation of this institution, as the social imaginary of the father, which is particularly prevalent in Colombian society. It is then in this context that this thesis is also asked about the problem of child maltreatment and the intervention by the ICBF. This, with the intention of making a critical approach to the discourses of patriarchy that go through fundamental social institutions in Colombia, such as the Catholic Church and the family. Chapter 2 of this thesis is dedicated to the theoretical reconstruction of the concept of Paternal Function from the psychoanalytic theory, specifically from the perspectives of Freud and Lacan. Under this logic, discussion will move from Social Imaginaries to that of Paternal Function. In this same chapter, the concepts of subjectivation and psychic transmission are developed. Chapter 3 of this thesis begins with the description of the methodological process. It is then a thesis that has a clinical perspective since it reveals their subjectivities through their discursive productions. From this clinical, psychoanalytic perspective more precisely, the methodological logic will be utilized, but its intention to understand the other as a subject of the unconscious. Within this logic, the collection of data, its registration, and the analysis of the collected testimonies, are understood as a global process, that is, the production of discourse. This logic allows researchers to consider the discursive productions at the level of the enunciation, but also at the level of the enunciation, or to put it in psychoanalytic terms, at the level of the manifest content and at the level of the latent content. To achieve this goal, the method of discourse analysis will be utilized, especially the analysis of enunciation.

The co-occurrence of domestic violence (DV) and child maltreatment is high. Response to both problems has historically been via two different systems. However, child protection workers are increasingly asked to respond to this co-occurrence since research has identified that exposure to DV can negatively impact on children and that child maltreatment often co-occurs with DV. This study looks at child protection systems response to families affected by DV by using two research methods. First, a systematic review was conducted using research papers focusing on child protection workers response to families experiencing DV. Second, a critical discourse analysis of current Australian child protection policies was conducted. Findings from the systematic review show that child protection workers' response to abused mothers went from treating them as 'mad' in the 1980s, to labelling them 'failure to protect' in the 1990s and early 2000. These findings showed continued focus on abused mothers rather than on perpetrators of DV. Some contradictions were found around child removal data. However, important links were found between re-notification of children and subsequent removal. Findings from the Australian policy analysis revealed that most policies referred to DV as a child protection issue and used a feminist definition of DV. However, not all states had detailed guidelines on how to intervene safely and effectively with families affected by DV. Discussions and recommendations focus around the pressing need for more DV expertise within child protection systems. It also discusses the issue of responsibility placed on abused mothers while perpetrators of DV remain invisible. Finally, it discusses the response to children exposed to DV compared to the response to children exposed to DV who are also victim of direct child maltreatment. The key recommendations of this study are to have DV expertise within the child protection systems, to empower abused mothers rather than blaming them, which implies putting the responsibility back on the perpetrator of DV and to have resources and systems in place before responding to child exposure to DV as child maltreatment per se.