His work on sexuality and perversions led to the wider theory of sexuality whereby he differentiated the sexual aim (the desire for pleasure) and the object (the person or thing used to fulfil the desire). He asserted that sexuality is more than just genital copulation between adults and this work is the background to his theory on infantile sexuality. He emphasised particular erogenous zones as being of primary importance at different stages of infancy. Each stage impacts in three significant ways: physical focus where the child’s energy may be concentrated and their gratification obtained; psychologically through demands being made of the child by the outside world as he or she develops – either doing too much or not enough of what is ideal;
Freud believed that it was possible to link the psychosexual stages of development with adult neuroses. Freud identified that if the psychosexual stages of development where in any way interrupted at a certain time, then this would cause problems in later life. “Psychosexual development according to Freud proceeds as a series of interactions between dispositions and environment, mediated by a developing ego.” (Freud & Horney, Grossman,1986, p5) Thus, Freud stated that there were different stages of psychosexual
In 1905, Sigmund Freud proposed that psychological development in childhood takes place in a series of fixed stages. These stages are called psychosexual stages because each stage represents the fixation of libido (sexual drives or instincts) on different areas of the body. As a person grows physically certain areas of their body become more important as sources of potential frustration, pleasure or both. Freud believed that life was built around tension and pleasure. Freud also believed that all tension was due to the built up of sexual energy and that all pleasure came from its discharge.
In late pre-school years a child then develops what is called asuperego, or simply put, a conscience. At this stage values are internalized, andthe intricate connection between the id, ego, and superego ensues. The superegocomes into account when the id and ego desire to be expressed. In order for thechild to successfully continue developing, Freud believed that at each stage oflife, tension need be expelled. This was possible through pleasure of differentorgans of the body including the mouth, anus, and genitalia.
The state of conscious that is most involved in controlling behavior is the ego, as it serves as the mediator between the id and the super ego. According to Freudian theory Steve would not be aware of why he interacts with women on only a sexual basis, because he is acting a lot from his unconscious id instincts. 3.) The type of Freudian psychic energy that motivates Steve’s relationships with women is libido, which can become attached to an object known
Freud devised the concept of ego defence mechanisms (denial, repression, displacement) as a means to combat “intra-psychic ” (an imbalance of the three concepts of personality).“The Structure of personality” consisting of the ID; sexual drive; energy; libido, the ego or “the conscious self” and the super-ego, which can be considered as ones conscience or morals that have been devised by internalising a parental figures ideologies. During the oral stage of development (0-18 months) ones ID is situated in oral gratification, more specifically, breast feeding . Should the impulse be over gratified or neglected, the individual may inevitably suffer from oral fixation and an over dependency in relationships . Speculation from this model can be contested , due to the fact that Freud did not directly study infants, but rather adults who approached him with neurotic disorders (often extreme cases), calling to question the validity of the model . The later stage of anal retention and exertion describes the concept that at this age (18m-3yrs) children are given their first opportunity to exert control over their environment and over gratifying this need has been suspected to result in hygiene issues and OCD behaviour .
In The Three Essays, Freud outlines his theory of libido. Freud believed that sexuality was a key component of childrens’ development and that we develop in stages as our sexual energy shifts around the body. Looking at children, Freud claimed that a number of practices which looked innocuous, but were really forms of sexual activity (thumb-sucking being a primary example). The Essays also include the concepts of penis envy, castration anxiety and Oedipus Complex. It is the aim of this essay to explore Freuds’ argument for a psychodynamic perspective on development; establishing whether there is indeed evidence that child development can be linked to sexual urges, particularly an unconscious level.
3. Personality is shaped by the manner in which children cope with sexual urges. According to psychoanalytic theory, personalities arise because of attempts to resolve conflicts between unconscious sexual and aggressive impulses and societal demands to restrain these impulses. The Iceberg Theory The metaphor of an iceberg helps in the understanding of Freud's topographical theory. Only a small amount 10% of the iceberg is visible (conscious awareness) whereas the other 90% is beneath the water made up of subconscious and the unconscious.
"Explain the concept of Freud’s argument of the Id, Ego and Super-ego and also the meaning behind the Oedipus Complex" (12) Freud’s theory on how the mind works is triggered by the 3 separate aspects of our brain, which are called the Id, the Ego and the Super-ego. The Id represents a part of our brain, which focuses on instant pleasure through ‘needs and wants’. However, although the Id demands, it often doesn’t get what it wants, meaning it becomes frustrated with the reality of what does happen. The result of reality is called the Ego, which keeps the Id at a distance from controlling what the body actually does. Most of the time, the Ego controls what the body does and finds itself satisfied with the limitations of reality, unlike the demanding Id.
This resulted in Freud doing further research into psychosexual development and caused Freud to believe that personality develops through a series of childhood stages. This essay will look into the stages of Freud’s psychosexual development theory and how it relates to the development of personality and childhood experiences that his patients occurred. Freud’s theory stated that awareness is divided into three sections of consciousness, Conscious, Pre-Conscious and Unconscious. Freud’s view of the human psyche was displayed as an iceberg metaphor. The conscious is shown as the first 7th of the human psyche and is the awareness we have when we are awake.