Embodiment and the Perversion of Desire.

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Psychoanalytic Theory
• Psychopathology

Background:

• Classical definitions of perversion focus on specific behaviors.
• A contemporary understanding views perversion as a quality of psychic functioning and relating to others or the self.
• This shift necessitates exploring internal psychic structures and phenomenological positions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To offer a contemporary definition of perversion as a mode of psychic functioning.
• To contrast this with classical behavioral definitions.
• To illustrate perverse modes of experiencing through internal psychic positions and phenomenological schematics.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual analysis and definition refinement.
• Development of schematics illustrating healthy versus perverse phenomenological positions.
• Case study analysis (Laura) to exemplify perverse modes of being and relating to one's body.

Main Results:

• Perversion is defined as a quality of being toward others and internal objects, or one's body.
• A perverse psychic mode involves splitting or dissociation of affective, embodied, and pre-reflective self-experience.
• Gendered patterns suggest males are more prone to objectifying others, while females objectify their own bodies.

Conclusions:

• The proposed definition offers a new framework for understanding perversion beyond mere behavior.
• Internal psychic positions and the integration/fragmentation of self-experience are key to identifying perverse functioning.
• Further research can explore the proposed gender differences in objectification patterns.