ABSTRACT
This chapter explores a number of specific environmental experiences that can meet with a particular disposition in the child and go on to develop a perversion characterised by self-harm and the annihilation of vital aggression. Sexual pleasure is obtained through specific mental images linked to the idea of dominating and possessing a person, or, on the contrary, of being dominated and possessed. Alfredo habitually inflicts severe bodily punishment on himself whenever he makes a mistake. A patient of mine, Elvira, was unable to experience pleasure in her relations with her boyfriend unless she imagined him having sex with another woman. A child sexually abused by an adult suffers a catastrophic attack on his trust in the world that threatens his capacity to believe in the good dependence of human objects. Sexual abuse is the most serious form of adult betrayal of a child and is destined to produce a series of inhibitions in the personality of whoever suffers it.
