This article aims to communicate the results of a research executed at Medellin. This research had as institutional affiliation the Faculty of Psychology and Social Sciences of University Foundation Luis Amigo. The objective of the research was to identify unconscious intrapsychic factors of representational type that have contributed to conform the configuration of the subjectivity of young people between 14 and 17 and that influenced the choice of non-violent and non-self-destructive lifestyles. The methodology was qualitative, involved in-depth interviews and focus groups with teen persons in the Comuna 13 of Medellin City. The results showed that these adolescents displayed in their representation of themselves high marks for their skills and potential and that this assessment is directly related to sublimation opportunities that allow them to desexualize libidinal thrusts and use them in activities that are compatible with the culture. Similarly, it was found that these teenagers went through a typical identity crisis, but in this crisis were able to establish an ego ideal that promotes non-violent activities and the assumption of a clear and accepted cultural role. © Revista Colombiana de Ciencias Sociales.