Introduction to Psychosocial Studies

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What is psychosocial studies? How can this type of approach help us to a better understanding of the self and society? Psychosocial studies is a combination between psychology and sociology. By putting psychology and sociology together we get two slightly different viewpoints and understandings about the self and society. In psychology people such as Freud, Maslow and Rogers play an important role in understanding the self, whereas society can be explained by sociological figures such as Durkheim in sociology. The psychologist, Freud’s theory of personality suggests that our personality is structured by the interactions of our id, superego and ego. The id being our pleasure principle; it is the selfish part of our self and causes us to desire things such as food and sex. It is an unconscious part of our personality and present from birth. The superego is our morality principle which we develop from three to six years old, it helps us to define the difference between right and wrong and Freud suggested that it is often in conflict with the id. Finally, the ego is the reality principle which balances out the demands from the superego and the id. The fact that all the principles develop at different stages of childhood suggests that Freud believed that our self and identity develops early in life and once it is developed there is no going back and changing it. Freud is often criticised for his lack of evidence to support his theories, though because they are based on the unconscious they are practically impossible to investigate. He is also criticised for his major emphasis on the individual and neglecting the influences of people around them. Maslow stated that people have certain needs in life and need to accomplish these needs to reach self actualisation, which is achieving one’s full potential. He put forward the idea of the hierarchy of needs which can be
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