[Puberty ritual of a Tamil girl in France and psychopathology]

Abstract

What place should be given to puberty? In France, it is an intimate act that belongs only to the young girl. In Sri Lanka, it is a family and collective act that is ritualized and celebrated. Young girls born into Tamil families living in France have to make these very different logics cohabit. Analyse of a young girl's great suffering at puberty and its methods of reconstruction, which take into account the ways of doing and thinking about puberty here and there.

Keywords: Sri Lanka; Tamil; Tamoul; migration; miscegenation; métissage; puberty; puberté; ritual of first menstruation; rituel des premières règles; thérapie transculturelle; transcultural therapy.