Sigmund Freud
His theories started in the late 1800’s/ turn of the century
Many people did not like his theories or agree with him
Peoples mindsets at this time about children and their development (especially with
sexuality) were closed minded
Freud believed that many of the stages of development related back to a child’s
sexuality and the parents didn’t want to hear this. It was considered socially
unacceptable.
Structural Model of the Psyche
Freud believed there were 3 aspects to our personality.
Id - the set of uncoordinated instinctual trends
Ego - the organized, realistic part
Super Ego - plays the critical and moralizing role
Id
We are born with our Id
The id is instinctual (unconscious), you just do it.
Allows us to get our basic needs met
Little children go on reflex/impulse
Cause = reaction
Wet diaper = crying
Hungry = crying
Example - Dropping toys from a highchair. People may think it is done on purpose but
it has a lot to do with instinct.
Ego
Ego develops after the Id
Based more on the principle of reality
Ego has more reasoning than the Id
Decision making center
No so much based on morality yet.
Doesn’t yet think to themselves: Are my actions going to hurt something
or someone?
Examples- throwing objects / pulling the dog or cats tail / climbing up high
Super Ego
Develops after Ego – usually by age 5
Development of morality
We often refer to this as our conscience
Aims for perfection
Represents our reasoning for doing right from wrong
Punishes our bad behaviour with feelings of guilt
Decision making
Example - Angry at someone
Id – wants to hit them – pummel them into the ground
Ego – No, I can’t hit them because “I could get hurt”
Super Ego – No, I can’t hit them because it is morally wrong
You can relate the process to a decision making scenario where you would have an angel
on one shoulder and a little devil on the other
The angel = your Super Ego
Devil = your Id
Your Ego helps you to evaluate and weigh the pro’s/con’s and make the
decision
Freud believed that the majority of what we experience in our lives, the underlying emotions,
beliefs, feelings, and impulses are not available to us at a conscious level. He believed that
most of what drives us is buried in our unconscious, out of our awareness due to the extreme
anxiety they caused. While buried there, however, they continue to impact us dramatically
according to Freud.
Our conscious makes up a very small
part of who we are. In other words, at any
given time, we are only aware of a very
small part of what makes up our
personality; most of what we are is buried
and inaccessible.
The final part is the preconscious or
subconscious. This is the part of us that
we can access if prompted, but is not in
our active conscious. Its right below the
surface, but still buried somewhat unless
we search for it. Information such as our
telephone number, some childhood
memories, or the name of your best
childhood friend is stored in the
preconscious.
Because the unconscious is so large, and because we are only aware of the very small
conscious at any given time, this theory has been likened to an iceberg, where the vast
majority is buried beneath the water's surface.
Erik Erikson compared to Freud
- Refer to Freud / Erickson Socialization Chart Handout
Erickson – social
Freud – emotional / sexual
Freud’s theory is only up to adolescence and then his stages don’t change (they are all
genital)
Erickson’s theory goes goes through 8 stages that span until later adulthood
Erickson believed that each stage presents a crisis or conflict that an individual must
resolve before moving on
How we deal with these stages in our lives shapes our personality
Freud’s Psychosexual Stages
Freud proposed that there were 5 stages of development. He believed that few people
successfully completed all 5 of the stages. Instead, he felt that most people may stall at one
of the stages, which prevented them from moving onto later stages.
Oral
Passive / Aggressive
Fixated on being fed
Put objects in mouth (soother, feet, fingers)
Babies have to suck – it is believed that if they don’t get enough sucking they turn
aggressive (as seen in monkey movie)
Dr. Spock disagreed with Freud. He believed that nothing should be put into their mouths
because it gave them buck teeth.
Signs you are stuck at oral at stage – excessive use of oral stimulation (chewing nails,
drinking, eating, smoking)
Anal
Become interested in their bodily functions
Find out more about themselves and their body at this time
Toilet training likely happening at this time – problem could occur if they are still in “Id”
stage
Some children don’t understand voiding. They think it is a part of their body
that goes into the toilet. Some will cry/scream the first time the see it.
When toilet training is learned it represents the first time the ego is able to win out over the
Id.
The biggest advice experts give is not to stress the child. We are an
obsessed culture with toilet training (special pull up diapers with a wet strip,
musical toilets, rewards, etc…
Children will eventually be toilet trained. There aren’t many adults out there
that are not toilet trained.
Phallic
Boys
Based on the Greek tragedy of Oedipus
Oedipus was Greek Trojan of war. When he came back from war, his father had been
told that a man with one sandal was going to take over his kingdom.
Oedipus left home not knowing he was adopted. He ran into his father and did not
know it was him. His father saw that he had only one sandal on and he lunged at him.
The fight resulted in his father losing his life. He then married his mother.
Freud took this legend and called it the “Oedipus complex” where little boys fall in love
with their mother. This can be seen when little boys say things to their mothers like “I
love you…I want to marry you…I’m going to live with you forever”
Oedipus conflict - the boy begins to have sexual desires for his mother, and sees his
father as a rival for her affections. The boy begins to fear that his father is suspicious of
his longing for his mother, and that the father will punish him for his desires. That
punishment, the boy fears, will be castration, which brings us to the second critical
episode for this stage.
Castration anxiety. The fear of castration make the boy anxious. This anxiety begun
with the fear of punishment from the father leads to the boy thinking that the father
hates him eventually becomes unbearable and the boy renounces his sexual feelings
for his mother and chooses instead to identify with his father, and hopes to someday
have a relationship with a woman (though not his mother) just like dear old dad has
with his mother.
Girls
The story for girls is slightly different. The girls version of falling in love with their mother is
called the “Electra Complex”.
After the oral and anal stages, the focus changes for girls, from the mother to the
father, when the girls realize that they don't have penises, so they develop penis envy.
This realization coupled with the knowledge that her mother doesn't have a penis leads
to her thinking her mother unworthy, and becoming attracted to her father, as he does
have a penis.
Just as with boys, girls begin to suspect the same sex parent knows about their
attraction to the opposite sex parent, and they hate them for it. These feelings go round
and round for awhile until the point when the girls renounce their feelings for their
fathers and identify with their mothers.
Latency
From about age 7 until puberty
In this stage all of these sexual feelings get repressed – a period of rest where no
developmental events occur
Our brains are quite advanced because around this time we suppress these feelings to
focus on the learning that goes on in these years.
Need to stay focussed on elementary school, reading, writing, math, etc…
Genital
Begins at puberty involves the development of the genitals
libido begins to be used in its sexual role
Almost like kettle boiling over. Feelings have been suppressed for so long. Id pops
back out for a little while with all of the oral, anal, phallic, genital influences (sexual
attitudes)
feelings for the opposite sex are a source of anxiety, because they are reminders of
the feelings for the parents and the trauma that resulted from all that
Oedipus and Electra comes back out and you may find that you will fight with your
same sex parents more often
As you mature, your Super Ego begins to take control again.
Think about how you act now in grade 12 compared to how you acted in
grade 9. (Emotions more under control, not making out in the school
hallways, etc…) /your super ego is more developed and lets you know
that those actions are inappropriate.