UNDERSTANDING AND TREATING SEX OFFENDERS FROM A SELF-PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE - THE MISSING PIECE

This paper contrasts the view of sex and aggression from the perspective of classical psychoanalytic drive theory (traditional Freudian psychoanalytic thinking) with self-psychological theory (as formulated by Heinz Kohut), which provides a new psychoanalytic paradigm. In addition, the self-psychological formulation of voyeurism and exhibitionism, which are seen as disintegration or breakdown products of the fragmenting self, will be applied to understanding sex offenders. Two case descriptions will illustrate the application of self psychology in the understanding and treatment of sex offenders. © 1990 Human Sciences Press.