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"Concerning Specific Forms of Masturbation" (originally published asÜber Spezifität der Onanieformen) is a 1922essay byAustrianpsychiatrist andpsychoanalystWilhelm Reich. It was written while he led the Vienna Outpatient Clinic for sexually related problems and is an early work in his career which was to develop around the subject ofhuman sexuality.
In the seven and a half page essay Reich accepts the prevalent notions on the roles of unconsciousfantasy and the subsequent emergingguilt feelings which he saw as originating from the act itself. Reich built on papers written by other professionals of his time; however, he decided to probe deeper into the myriad variations of both female and malemasturbation.
The essay was presented to the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society on October 10, 1922, and was published in theInternationale Zeitschrift für Psychoanalyse in 1922. It formed the basis for Reich's later views on the role of genitality in the therapy of neuroses.[1]
Reich's work with patients at the clinic was often related to problems of diminishedsexual potency, orimpotence. He therefore decided to look closer at such factors as (1) where do they masturbate? (2) when do they masturbate? (3) with what materials do they masturbate? (4) with what fantasies do they masturbate? (5) how often do they masturbate? (6) in what bodily posture do they masturbate, and is that posture related to any childhood event or events? and (7) with whatfurniture do they masturbate, and whatassociations does the act have with that furniture?
From surveying these aspects Reich wanted to separate out healthy forms of masturbation from unhealthy ones.
Only the first of these types indicated a strong inclination towards the opposite sex. The second type shows a strongautoerotic component. The third and fourth types were both considered by Reich to indicate pathological processes. In the third type, he noted that this form was mainly practiced by males with female attitudes, and he gave a poor prognosis for these patients.
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