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The [[unconscious ]] [[sense ]] of [[guilt ]] is an ego [[state ]] resulting from [[conflict ]] between the aims of the [[superego ]] and those of the ego.

As a [[psychoanalytical ]] term, according to [[Jean Laplanche ]] and Jean-Bertrand Pontalis (1973), the "unconscious [[sense of guilt]]" developed a more specific [[meaning ]] over [[time ]] than when it was first used simply to designate a [[feeling ]] in the unconscious aroused by an act considered reprehensible. Its current definition implies an unconscious [[relationship ]] between the ego and superego expressed in [[subjective ]] phenomena from which, in extreme instances, any [[conscious ]] [[perception ]] of guilt is entirely [[absent]].

The term itself appeared for the [[first time ]] in Sigmund [[Freud]]'s article "Obsessive Actions and [[Religious ]] Practices" (1907b). "We may say that the sufferer from compulsions and prohibitions behaves as if he were dominated by a sense of guilt, of which, however, he [[knows ]] [[nothing]], so that we must call it an unconscious sense of guilt, in spite of the [[apparent ]] [[contradiction ]] in [[terms]]" (p. 123). However, the basic [[idea ]] had been adumbrated much earlier, in the second part of Freud's "The Neuro-[[Psychoses ]] of [[Defence]]" (1894a).

In accepting the hypothesis that the sense of guilt arises simultaneously with the gradual [[development ]] of the superego, it is important to stress that they both imply a [[social ]] [[dimension]], and that the superego also owes its [[existence ]] to [[external ]] factors and represents the [[demands ]] of [[society ]] to the ego. In addition, the superego not only [[frustrates ]] certain tendencies of the ego, but also can divert [[aggression ]] at it. When it does so, it manifests as a [[repetitive ]] sense of culpability and expiation. In addition, as Freud wrote in The Ego and [[the Id ]] (1923b), "One may go further and venture the hypothesis that a great part of the sense of guilt must normally remain unconscious, because the origin of [[conscience ]] is intimately connected with the [[Oedipus ]] [[complex]], which belongs to the unconscious" (p. 52).

The sense of guilt appears to dominate [[instinctual ]] [[life ]] not only by acting to deny [[gratification]], but also by leading to an increase in [[libido ]] and thus the provocation of masochistic [[pleasure]]. [[Psychoanalysts ]] see [[moral ]] [[masochism ]] as an expression of an unconscious sense of guilt.

Unconscious guilt is one of the most powerful factors in the gratification of [[passive ]] [[libidinal ]] wishes. [[Narcissistic ]] [[patients ]] should be helped to acknowledge the unconscious [[self]]-criticism and guilt that underlie their hostile demands for [[love]]. They must come to see how they [[project ]] their [[thoughts ]] and attitudes in [[order ]] to regain self-esteem. What is in fact a deficiency of the superego is largely manifested as self-destructive [[refusal ]] to acknowledge guilt, thereby provoking an obvious disorder of ego functioning.

Trying to [[help ]] such patients become aware of their unconscious guilt reveals characteristic patterns. One often encounters solid [[resistance ]] to acknowledging guilt or even accepting its existence, and frequently such patients use [[projection ]] as a [[defense]]. An intense battle is waged with the aim of warding off unconscious guilt, of keeping it silent and hidden. [[Analysis ]] of [[dreams ]] may be useful achieving a degree of acceptance.

Inasmuch as unconscious guilt [[acts ]] as a [[form ]] of "[[signal ]] [[anxiety]]," we might expect it to produce defenses against a [[subject]]'s wishes. This indeed turns out to be the [[case]], and the inhibitions one observes are its [[clinical ]] manifestations, seen by some as representing a "signal function" that announces the [[presence ]] of guilt. But the most important characteristic of the unconscious sense of guilt is that it deploys defenses against passive libidinal wishes, in contrast to guilt caused by [[active ]] and [[aggressive ]] libidinal aims.

The origin and [[nature ]] of unconscious guilt, and the way in which it affects [[psychological ]] development are both unresolved issues. Some psychoanalytical tendencies are distinguished by the [[treatment ]] techniques they employ to deal with the sense of guilt. Some [[analysts ]] focus interpretatively on the [[necessity ]] to "liberate" the [[patient ]] from guilt, which they consider pathological and to which the patient is seen as submitting out of masochism. [[Other ]] analysts, in sharp contrast, believe that the [[denial ]] of guilt is central to all [[neurotic ]] conflict, and that guilt itself is due to aggressive [[fantasies ]] against [[objects]]. This controversy arises from a conflation of two distinct [[ideas]].

Grinberg (1965), from a [[Kleinian ]] perspective, has suggested distinguishing "persecutory guilt" from "depressive guilt." This [[distinction ]] permits a better [[understanding ]] of the [[dynamic ]] of the sense of guilt and thus fosters a broader understanding of the [[content ]] and quality of [[object ]] relations, as well as reactions to different stimuli and the normal or pathological [[process ]] of [[mourning]].

Persecutory guilt appears very early in life, and is associated with a weak and immature ego. It develops in parallel with the [[anxieties ]] of the [[paranoid]]-schizoid [[position]], or in the wake of some [[frustration ]] or of a failure of depressive guilt. Despite its early [[appearance]], persecutory guilt has an important influence upon subsequent psychological growth and plays an important [[role ]] in the development both of inhibitions and masochistic attitudes and behaviors. Despair, resentment, [[fear]], [[pain ]] and self-reproach are the [[symptoms ]] of persecutory guilt, as are a [[compulsion ]] to [[repeat ]] and a tendency to "act out." Extreme cases occur with [[schizophrenia]], [[melancholia ]] and pathological mourning.

To the extent that persecutory guilt diminishes, pain and [[suffering ]] caused by object [[loss ]] will increase, along with a more or less depressive manifestations. Concern for self and object, [[responsibility ]] and, in the final analysis, the capacity for reparation will also increase. These [[feelings ]] [[represent ]] a form of depressive guilt which predominates in the normal process of mourning and in activities requiring [[sublimation]].

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