Aspects of Extra- and Intro-Punitive Expression in Mental Illness

Abstract

The terms extrapunitive and intropunitive were introduced by Rosenzweig (1938) to denote two of the possible ways in which an individual might react to frustration or blame. He defined the extrapunitive reaction as: “When the individual tends to blame the external world, reacts with anger and hostility, and psychologically defends himself by what the psycho-analyst describes as the mechanism of projection. An ego which fears blaming itself thus gains security by blaming others instead”.