Knowing The Inner Policeman: The Superego, Origin And Function
Do you know what the superego is? We all sometimes feel that inner voice that blames us, criticizes us, prohibits us and judges us for certain behaviors, causing us great anxiety.
…the superego ends up identifying itself (…) with what I call the ferocious figure, the figures that we can link with the primitive traumas, whatever they may be, that the child has suffered.
For Freud the superego It is formed with the closing of the Oedipus because, when the child renounces the satisfaction of his Oedipal desires, he introjects the prohibitions that his parents have made and identifies with them, internalizing them. He distinguishes, however, the boy’s process from that of the girl. In the first, Oedipus is stopped by the fear of castration, while in the girl, the realization of being castrated gives rise to her attraction to the father whom he perceives as possessing the penis that she longs for. For Freud, the girl never completely resolves the Oedipus complex. I consider it interesting to highlight that the identifications that occur are not exactly with people but rather with the superegos of the parents, with their repressive and punitive parts. In this way, traditions, value judgments, etc. They are transmitted from generation to generation, since the son introjects all these commands, making them part of himself and therefore he will transmit them to his descendants.
It is important to understand the fact that the conflict of the Oedipal scene consists of an opposition between the law that prohibits and the supposed consummation of incest. He conflict from which the superego results, it is not situated between the law and desire, but between the law and the absolute enjoyment of incest. In other words, the superego does not cancel the desire but rather it remains very present but prohibited. In this way, when the child accepts and therefore incorporates the paternal law that prohibits enjoyment with the mother, it is split into two parts, one in which the desire remains and another, identified with the paternal law, which prohibits it. This event marks the repetition of the three fundamental gestures of the exit from Oedipus: give up to forbidden enjoyment, keep your desire and save his penis (or his physical integrity).
the endlessly renewed imprint of these three gestures on the self. In this way, the superego represents the renunciation of a forbidden enjoyment, the exaltation of the desire for an impossible enjoyment and the defense of the integrity of the ego not only against the threat of castration, but also against the danger of the terrible enjoyment of incest..
JD Nasio
What are the functions of the superego?
These are the basic functions of the superego: prohibit (enjoyment), exalt (desire) and protect (ego integrity) which regulate the movements of the ego, spite (hatred) at forbidden enjoyment, attraction (love) for impossible enjoyment, repulsion (fear) at the terrifying enjoyment. It is important to note that the functions described above are carried out unconsciously, so the self may not have any awareness of the forces that are dominating it and, yet, be irremediably controlled by them.
As previously stated, there are several versions about the moment in which forms the superego We have seen that for Freud, the renunciation of the loving and hostile desires typical of the Oedipus complex gives rise to the formation of the superego, which is later reinforced with different social and cultural elements such as education, religion or morality. There are other opinions in this regard, such as that of Ferenczi, who believed that there are educational patterns prior to Oedipus, for example the imposition of having to control the sphincters, which predispose the formation of the superego.
Also notable is the position of Melanie Klein, who places the emergence of this psychic instance in a very early period since she states that, through the introjection of a good breast (which satisfies the child’s desires) and a bad breast (which frustrates the child), due to his absence) in a psyche context still unable to discern the difference between inside and outside, between baby and mother, etc. and accompanied by infantile sadism that is at its peak, causes a repressive instance of great cruelty to be generated.
