The General Theory of Sexual Perversion1

The subject of perversion is one which has been by no means neglected by psycho-analysts, yet in view of the central importance given to it so early by Freud in the theory both of sexuality and of neurosis, it is perhaps surprising that even more attention has not been directed to it. One reason for this may be found, paradoxically enough, in the very fact that Freud wrote a masterpiece on the subject at such an early stage. His Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality(6), published exactly half a century ago, is an outstanding example of his genius, for in that work he had the insight to perceive clearly the intimate connection between the manifestations of early sexuality, of adult sexual perversions, and of neurosis and psychosis. I think the essence of the book may be expressed by saying that perversion represents the persistence into adult life of elements of infantile ('polymorph-perverse') sexual activity at the expense of adult genitality, these infantile strivings having failed to undergo the normal transformations of puberty, and having failed also to succumb to the defence mechanisms that would have converted them into neurotic symptoms. Or, to use Freud's own famous phrase, 'neuroses are, so to say, the regative of perversions'. Thus, perversion is represented as the persistence of the infantile. Looked at from the point of view of the Three Essays, perversion is seen as a vicissitude of instinct, or to express it in later terminology, as an id phenomenon. In the Three Essays Freud seems to regard it as a more or less direct manifestation of component sexual instincts, and therefore scarcely capable of further reduction.

It is this aspect of Freud's early formulation which I think may be responsible for the relative sparseness of psycho-analytic writings on the subject, for it conveys the impression that little more can be said; and perhaps even more important, it suggests that the therapeutic outlook is a gloomy one and hence tends to discourage cl