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The term [[prohibition ]] has been borrowed by [[psychoanalysis ]] from everyday [[language]], where it is used either as an adjective to describe something we are not allowed to do, say, see, think, or be; or substantively to refer to the [[law]], social constraint, moral education, and so on, on which this [[prohibition ]] is based.

[[Psychoanalytic ]] [[language ]] gives a more precise meaning to the term, however.

[[Prohibition ]] can present itself to the subject as external, and be internalized as a result of its associated dynamic of conflict; it can also result from structural requirements inherent in the mind.

In every case the formulation of the [[prohibition ]] and its operation can be partially or totally unconscious[[unconcious]], even when the resulting conduct and its justification are explicit.

The concept appears early in [[Freud]]'s work and can be found in the Studies on Hysteria (1895d), where the subject, driven by desires prohibited by morality, consciously forms "representations that are irreconcilable" with that morality, and then refuses them satisfaction, doing away with them by making them unconscious [[unconcious]] through repression.

"The etiology of hysteria almost inevitably can be traced to a psychic conflict, an irreconcilable representation, which prompts into action the defense of the ego and provokes repression" ([[Freud]], 1896b).

From the very outset, then, the notion of [[prohibition ]] is inseparable from the drive-defense conflict, which will constitute the core of [[psychoanalytic theory]].

Initially, that is to say, within the framework of the first topography and the first theory of drives, [[Freud ]] studied the [[libidinal ]] origins of the conflict and its [[treatment ]] through [[repression ]] (these are the texts on metapsychology from 1915) as well as its educational ("Little Hans," 1915), sociological and ethnological (Totem and Taboo, 1912-1913a) origins.

The formulation of the Oedipus complex then focused attention on the [[prohibition ]] of incest.

Subsequently, the formulation of the second topography led to a redefinition of [[prohibition]].

Here, the [[ego ]] appears as prey to conflicts where it is torn between "three masters": the [[id ]] and its libidinal demands, reality and adaptive requirements, and a [[superego ]] that is essentially defined as an agent of [[prohibition]].

(However, to this must be added the more positive functions of the [[ego ]] ideal, which condenses all the moral values the [[subject ]] claims to hold.)

Although throughout his work [[Freud ]] presents the incest [[prohibition ]] as the heart of the conflictual dynamic, he also discusses prohibitions [[prohibition]]s that affect other manifestations of [[sexuality]], primarily [[masturbation ]] and the [[satisfaction ]] of the partial drives drive]]s or compound instincts [[instinct]]s ([[voyeurism]], [[exhibitionism]], [[anal ]] [[pleasure]]).

Generalization of the limitations created by these prohibitions [[prohibition]]s can lead to serious inhibitions of thought.

Moreover, it has been shown how the [[repression ]] of the drives [[drive]]s can lead to serious reaction formations, especially when [[aggression ]] is poorly integrated.

 ROGER PERRON See also: Censorship; Conflict; Deprivation; Ethics; Incest; Law [[law]] of the father; Oedipus complex; Taboo; Transgression.

* [[Freud]], Sigmund.

* [[Freud ]] Sigmund, and Breuer, Josef. (1895d). Studies on hysteria. SE, 2: 48-106.

[[Category:Psychoanalysis[[psychoanalysis]]]]

[[Category:Sigmund [[Freud]]]]