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. Freuds’ case study on child development, “Analysis of a phobia in a 5 year old boy”, more commonly known as “Little Hans” will be used as a resource to investigate Freuds’ conclusions, in particular in relation to phobias and their role in development, castration anxiety and the Oedipus Complex. By way of contrast and comparison, Lacans’ stance on the
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.
While this can certainly be helpful to a therapist working with a client it cannot be taken for granted as there could be other explanations for the client experiencing problems which I would like to develop further. Even though Freud called the developmental stages psychosexual, the sexual does not actually have anything to do with sex but with receiving pleasure. So in the first stage approximately during the first 18 months of a child’s life he is experiencing everything through his mouth and the stage is therefore called oral. The baby gets a lot of pleasure out of sucking at the mother’s breast and we can see that babies of that age are putting everything into their mouths. 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.
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.
During his research, Freud discovered the large effects that past experiences can have on personality development. He used this theory and its stages to prove how such experiences can affect one’s behavior later in life. If one of these stages is not completed successfully then the person will experience fixation; being fixed in that stage until successful completion. According to Freud, fixation can lead to an unhealthy lifestyle. Beginning with the oral stage, it is commonly completed between a child’s birth until they are eighteen months old.
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.
My findings conclude that the same, unquestionable, repressed sexual desires can be observed from infancy through to adulthood. These fixations are as intense and primitive as the sexual desires of my adult patients. Children could be no different.” Piaget : “I doubt these two exceedingly different stages of life are so similar. I’d like to hear your take on an infant having repressed sexual desires. The theory confounds me.” Freud : “It is about sensory interpretation, and wither or not
It is long and complex, causing the human being to pass through many stages in life before completely understanding the notion, let alone his or her own sexuality. Freud's psychosexual stages of development explain the learning of sexuality in correlation with the following life stages: early childhood, childhood and adolescence. In the beginning – the phallic stage What should first be recognized is that children do not acknowledge the presence of their sexual organs until early childhood, between the ages of three and six years old. During this stage, family remains the center of the child’s life although other children begin to play an important role. Strength and mobility develop and children take a small step towards independence.
Others are called mini theories; these on the other hand deals on a limited aspect of development for instance social and cognitive growth. A major theorist such Sigmund Freud outlined the various stages of development in children where growth transformations occur. He called it the psychosexual stages of development, which largely emphasized on the significance of childhood experiences and events. Freud’s stages included oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital stages. All the stages involve the fulfillment of libidinal desires that play significant roles in adulthood.
Humans develop throughout their life span, while Freud said that our personality is shaped by the age of five. Erikson’s eight stages of personality development are characterized by basic life conflicts. In each stage, Erikson believed people experience a conflict that served as a turning point in development. Erikson also believed that a sense of competence also motivates behaviors and actions. During these times, the potential for personal growth is high, but so is the potential for failure.