In the theories to which we now turn, there is some aspect
of the deviant act that cannot be understood as simply a deviant impulse breaking
through the controls. According to these theories, some impulse or wish, which may
or may not be deviant according to current social norms, runs counter to the
conscience or some other internal demands of the personality. Whether expressed
or contained, it gives rise to anxiety or guilt. The deviant act is a device contrived
by the personality to protect itself from this anxiety or guilt. Such devices are
variously called psychodynamic mechanisms, mechanisms of adjustment, or mech-
anisms of defense. They do their work mostly by concealing from the actor his
unacceptable wish. Therefore the actor does not know and resists exposure of the
"true meaning" or function of the act. If he knew why he did it, he would again
stand face-to-face with his unacceptable wish. It requires the skilled analytic tech-
niques of the trained psychiatrist or psychologist to bring its "true meaning" to
light. These mechanisms come largely from psychoanalytic theory, but many
explanations of deviant behavior in these terms make little use of the other para-
phernalia of psychoanalytic theory. Indeed, they have become so widely assimilated
into modern thinking that very few of us fail to make use of them in explaining the
behavior of our friends, our associates, and especially our enemies.

The mechanism of displacement or substitution allows
some expression to the unacceptable wish, but neutralizes the anxiety or guilt that
would otherwise result by substituting for the target or even the form of the act
some other target or form that, on an unconscious level, means the same thing to

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