When the punitive superego arises by splitting of the ego during early interpersonal conflicts, it is the result of direct anger to the self for maintaining the situation of dangerous opposition to the parents; and since this process extricates the child from the external danger, it persists as a specific defense mechanism. This concept is believed distinct from one in which the superego forms from identification with parental figures, from that in which aggression is turned against the self, and, finally, from the Kleinian theory of persecuting internal objects. It is seen as making a clear distinction between repression and superego function, and as accounting for the prevalence of both anal traits and sexual inhibition in obsessional patients. In analyzing the superego it is important to distinguish between the patient's putting the analyst in the role of his superego and then alternating this with taking the role of the superego himself and putting the analyst in the role of the child.