I have tried to show the usefulness of considering the superego as a functional concept, an organization of functions that have a genetic continuity from early childhood. This perspective makes it more meaningful to trace the internalized elements of the superego from the earliest stages to the synthesis and relative autonomy of the superego at the time of the oedipal resolution.1

A developmental approach brings into awareness early and regressed forms of the superego in conflict. In citing examples from child observation, I have illustrated how we might consider the earliest components of the superego as deriving from inhibitions and prohibitions of aggression in response to activities and ministrations of the loved and feared parental figures.