The primal scene schema is a construct based on Freud's classical formulations of psychosexual development. Primal scene fantasies are here regarded as expressions of the primal scene schema, with crucifixion fantasies and their alternates constituting an important class of primal scene fantasies.

The primary form of the primal scene schema is expressed in the child's double identification, simultaneous or alternating, with the copulating parents. A sadomasochistic interpretation of the sexual act is an expectable and usual concomitant of this identification. This primary form of the primal scene schema serves as the mental framework for male–female ambiguity as well as for normal expressions of psychic bisexuality.