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.
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.
Rather than sexual intercourse, Freud became more interested with the way in which things feel good to the skin. To fill his interest, he established the psychosexual development theory in 1905, which served as the center for the psychoanalytic sexual drive theory. He claimed that sexual drive is not only present in adults, but in toddlers and infants as well. Within the theory, there are five different stages; the oral, anal, phallic, latent, and genital stage. During his research, Freud discovered the large effects that past experiences can have on personality development.
Freud’s theories broadly encompassed the issues of life, sex and aggression. The five stages of his psychosexual development theory include the oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital stages, were first published in the “Three Essays on the Theory of sexuality” (Freud 1905). In the first stage of personality development, the libido is centred in a baby's mouth. This Oral stage occurs from birth to about one year and the libido is focussed on either the pleasure oral sucking or the in hurting by biting. An example of this is the reality of breast feeding and the motivation of such behaviour can only be speculated upon.
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.
More importantly, out of this theory was where Freud developed his concept of the Oedipus and Electra complexes. Originating from the Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex, these theories state that children are jealous or their same sex parent and desire to sexually be with the parent of the opposite sex. When boys discover the anatomical differences between males and females, they fear that females are castrated males and that their incestuous thoughts will cause their father to harm them (Freud, 1962). The superego intervenes and instead the boy tries to emulate his father to have a better chance of eventually winning his mother over. These complexes supposedly remain with individuals for life and one is continually trying to resolve this conflict in their adult relationships (Hall, 1954).
Freud also believed that fixation to a developmental stage happens if that child gets either tool little of too much pleasure throughout the duration of one particular stage. People who experienced some discrepancy in the pleasure equilibrium during the oral stage would for example smoke, bite or suck their nails or have a need to chew gum. The second developmental stage at around the age of 2 years is called anal, the reason because at this stage toddlers are learning to control their bowel movements. It is at that stage that children start to learn that
Gentlemen, please begin.” Freud : “Hello and many thanks, I will begin with saying that the human personality is part of the unconscious mind & that is fueled by an underlying reservoir of feeling. Personality is developed through stages, and throughout life, beginning at infancy.” Piaget : “Agreed. I have been exploring the roots of our varying knowledge base, and found them to be intertwined deep within childhood. Personality develops and changes, just as a child’s perception changes transitioning into adulthood.” Freud : “Piaget, surely you have had a slip. My findings conclude that the same, unquestionable, repressed sexual desires can be observed from infancy through to adulthood.
Smoking, drinking too much alcohol and excessive eating have been linked to oral fixation in adults. Anal Stage · The anal phase is marked by the beginning of toilet training when the child is aged between 18 months and 3 years old. She must learn to control his bowel movements, along with other aggressive desires. At this stage, the child derives pleasure from eliminating and retaining feces and begins to realize the power this gives her over her parents. Freud believed that anal fixation results from parents being too strict with children during toilet training.
Psychodynamic Theories Psychodynamic theories are those propounded by Sigmund Freud, which further describe the conflict among instincts, reasons, and conscience. Although many different psychodynamic theories exist, they all emphasize unconscious motives and desires, as well as the importance of childhood experiences in shaping personality. Psychodynamic theory is a view that explains personality in terms of conscious and unconscious forces, such as unconscious desires and beliefs. Psychoanalytic Theory The psychoanalytic theory focuses on the role of experiences, the unconscious, and emotions that shape one’s personality. It is based on three main assumptions: 1.