FREUD AND HIS IDEAS
Sigmund Freud, a Viennese physician who lived from 1856 to 1939, strongly influenced the formation of
modern psychology and was one of the major intellectual figures of the twentieth century. The impact of
his ideas has been felt in art, literature and philosophy, as well as in social sciences.
Freud did not only study human behavior in theory; he set up his own practice in treating neurotic
patients. He invented a therapeutic technique called psychoanalysis, during which the patients were
encouraged to talk freely about their lives, particularly what they remember of their childhood
experiences. Freud came to the view that our behavior is governed by the unconscious part of our mind.
He held that the ways of dealing with anxieties which people develop in childhood persist throughout life.
Most of these early childhood experiences are lost to our conscious memory, but they form a basis on
which our self-consciousness is established.
According to Freud, infants have urges they cannot control, because they are essentially helpless and
dependent of adults. They demand that these urges be satisfied immediately, which of course cannot
always happen. On the contrary, infants need to learn to control their urges with the help of adults: to
sleep and feed at regular intervals and so on. This produces the first frustration in an individual’s life,
which is repressed into the unconscious mind. The infants progressively learn to control their urges, but
they remain as powerful motives in the unconscious.
In Freud’s view, infants have needs not just for food and drink, but for erotic satisfaction as well. The
word ‘erotic’ here refers to a need for close and pleasurable bodily contact with others, preferably parents.
Freud distinguished several typical stages in child development. He paid particular attention to the stage
at around age four or five, when most children are able to separate from their parents and enter the wider
world. He called this stage the Oedipal stage, and focused on the psychological processes in young boys.
Since they have ‘erotic’ wishes towards their mothers (in the above sense), at this stage they come to
realize that mothers ‘belong’ not only to them, but to their fathers as well. This causes intense antagonism
towards the father. Freud called this feeling of desire towards the mother and of hostility towards the
father the Oedipus complex. At the same time, boys realize that such feelings are undesirable and repress
them into the unconscious, whereby the Oedipus complex is resolved. This marks a major stage in the
development of the autonomous self, because boys detach themselves from the dependence upon their
mothers. They come to identify with the father and assume the masculine identity.
Freud held that something of a similar process takes place in girls, but he did not describe in as much
detail. Since he based much of this theory on his own experience, he did not take into account the
psychological processes found in girls. Little girls repress their erotic desire towards the father and
overcome their unconscious rejection of the mother by striving to become like the mother, to become
feminine. In Freud’s view, an unresolved Oedipus complex strongly influences later sexual relationships
in life.
Freud’s theories have been widely criticized and have often met with very hostile responses. In his own
time, the public was appalled by the notion that children have erotic wishes; that little boys can have
erotic feelings towards their mothers. Also, his theory of the unconscious was attacked, because man was
perceived as a rational being, not controlled by urges and desires. During the 1960s, feminists rejected
Freud’s theory because it was directed almost exclusively towards male experience, while female
development and psychological processes were omitted. Freud was and still is criticized for his methods,
which were often called unscientific: he based his conclusions on isolated case studies and his own
experience, but claimed these conclusions to be universal (e.g. the Oedipus complex in young boys).
Much of his theory is still impossible to prove or disprove, like the concept of the unconscious mind. Yet
Freud’ ideas continue to have powerful influence on modern psychology and psychotherapy, even if they
are not entirely acceptable.
Adapted from: Giddens, A. (1990).Sociology. London: Polity Press (pp. 70-71)
READING COMPREHENSION
I Mark the following statements as T or F.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Freud’s academic background was psychology.
Freud studied human behavior only theoretically.
Most of our childhood experiences are stored in our conscious memory.
Freud held that our development is built upon controlling and repressing our urges.
Female development was of no interest to Freud.
The Oedipus complex has no influence on later sexual relationships in life.
Freud’s theories are often criticized for being too subjective and untestable.
II Complete the following sentences, choosing one of the words below.
Freud’s idea was that the unconscious mind contained repressed memories of early childhood
__________________(1) and emotions. These were contained in one of the two unconscious parts of the
personality, the _________________ (2) and superego. However, these were prevented from
___________________ (3) through to consciousness because the ego, the part of personality which was
in ___________________ (4) with reality, developed defense _____________________ (5) to protect
itself.
However, Freud found that the unconscious mind would show in cases when the ____________________
(6) was off guard, such as in a disguised ____________ (7) in the person’s dreams or in
_________________ (8) of the tongue, or in the way the person interpreted ambiguous pictures.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Contacts
conflicts
Ego
ibid
Building
breaking
Contact conflict consent
apparatus
mechanisms
ego
superego
person
form
tips
pits
contents
id
bringing
mechanics
id
dress
slips