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By reference to a case the author describes the mechanism of displacement which helps the adolescent to obtain a normal development for his sexual instincts. In puberty the Ego is threatened by dangers arising from the Super-Ego, Id and the outside world. The defence mechanisms are directed against the impulse and against the object. In normal development the defence against the impulse should not succeed. If the impulse succeeded in breaking through in relation to its original object incest would be the result. Therefore the impulse can only become conscious if the object changes. The mechanism which the Ego employs in this defence against the incest object is displacement. The author proposes to call this special case of displacement which belongs to normal development in puberty, 'Wegverlegen.'
The author further demonstrates that in some cases of her own and some described in literature, as a result of the failure of this process of displacement in puberty, anxiety was displaced from the incest object to the street with a resulting agoraphobia. In agoraphobia not the impulse itself but the product of the defence is displaced. Instead of incest anxiety agoraphobia results. The difference between 'Wegverlegen' and displacement is to be seen in the fact that 'Wegverlegen' means the final abandonment of the incestuous impulses whilst in other types of displacement infantile strivings can still be detected and the process can be undone.