Difficulté de l'accompagnement du vieillissement en institution centré sur le sujet

“Identity homeostasis”. My hypothesis presents the following view : the psychic equilibrium of the subject is a function of the internal and external determinants which endow him with the most personal and unique character traits as distinctive as fingerprints themselves: namely his identity. This balance, necessary to the healthy operation of the psyche, I have named “identity homeostasis”, to draw attention to the fact that it analogous to its biological counterpart in human beings. It is language (specifically the spoken word) which shapes the “identity” of the subject: the vital entity which is progressively induced by linguistic communication. According to my hypothesis, the spoken word is assumed to have primacy over the written word. It is concerned to show how learning words and their sounds gradually prepare the child to respond to the environment in which he/she has been placed. Amongst the identifying determinants, it is necessary to assign to the spoken word (the instrument of socialization) an importance equal to the social component itself. It is this social component in tandem with spoken word which, in my hypothesis, determines the identity of the subject. The spoken word has a dual significance for me: it “speaks” to me because I understand it and, reciprocally, it expresses everything I mean by the very fact of allowing me to express myself. And through that, and by means of that, my humanity is reducible: that is to say, it is diminished if my ability to speak is impaired, or if conversation around me becomes less frequent; furthermore, it disappears if spoken words are withdrawn (from my environment). We postulate that: in order to exist, the human needs “to become what others 'speak' him to be”. We really are enmeshed in the linguistic relation which rules in and rules out. He who receives the spoken word takes his own place, and simultaneously, assigns a place to someone else. Linguistic transactions open the door to the disciplines which enable us better to understand how we build our social identity in relation to the social identity of others.