SIGMUND FREUD
PSYCHOANALYTIC APPROACH
Sigmund Freud
(1856-1934) Vienna,Austria founder of the Psychoanalytic Approach, which
emphasizes the unconscious aspects of the mind, conflict between biological
instincts and society’s demands, and early childhood experiences. Freud was
intrigued by the abnormal aspects of the mind, he believed the key to
understanding the mind and behavior rested in the unconscious mind. He compared
the human mind to an iceberg, the conscious mind was only the tip of the
iceberg, the portion above water. The unconscious was the huge bulk of the
iceberg, the portion under water. As if we were unaware of the things that mold
our behavior and personality.(1917) Freud believed the unlearned biological
instincts influenced the way people think, feel, and behave,( especially sexual
and aggressive impulses conflicting with society’s demands) were the chief
environmental contributions to our personality.
FREUD'S STRUCTURE OF
PERSONALITY
According to Freud
personality has three structures the id, ego, and super ego.
ID is the structure
of personality that consists of instincts, which are individuals reservoir of
psychic energy. The ID is completely unconscious ( the part of the iceberg
under water ). It has no contact with reality, it works according to the pleasure
principle, which is a Freudian concept that the ID always seeks pleasure
and avoids pain.
EGO the structure of
personality which deals with the demands of reality. According to Freud the EGO
abides by the reality principle, which tries to bring the individuals
pleasure within the norms of society.
SUPER EGO The ID and EGO has no morality, they do not
consider what is wrong or right. The SUPER EGO is the structure of personality
that is the moral branch of personality
Freud has a defense mechanism, which is when the ego calls on a number of strategies to resolve the conflict between the demand for reality, wishes of the id, and constraints of the super ego which include…..
REPRESSION ( The master defense mechanism )
The ego pushes unacceptable impulses out of awareness and
back into the unconscious mind
Example. A young girl was sexually abused by her uncle.
As an adult she can’t remember anything about the traumatic experience.
RATIONALIZATION
The ego replaces less acceptable motives with more
acceptable ones.
Example. A college student does not get into the
fraternity of his choice. He says if he would have tried harder he could have
gotten in.
DISPLACEMENT
The ego shifts unacceptable feelings from one object to
another.
Example. A woman can’t take her anger out on her boss so
she goes home to take it out on her husband.
SUBLIMATION
The ego replaces unacceptable impulses with socially
acceptable ones.
Example. A man with strong sexual urges becomes an artist
who paints nudes.
PROJECTION
The ego attributes personal shortcomings, faults, and
problems to others.
Example. A man who has a strong sexual desire to have an
extramarital affair accuses his wife of flirting with other men.
REACTOIN FORMULA
The ego transforms an unacceptable motives to it’s
opposite.
Example. A woman who fears her sexual urges becomes a
religious zealot.
DENAIL
The ego refuses to acknowledge anxiety’s producing
realities.
Example. A man won’t acknowledge that he has cancer even
though a team of doctors has diagnosed his cancer.
REGRESSION
The ego seeks security from an earlier development period
in the face of stress.
Example. A woman returns home to her mother every time
she and her husband have a big argument.
Development during the first 18 months of life where
infant’s pleasures centers around the mouth. Chewing, sucking, and biting are
chief sources of pleasure that reduce tension.
ANAL STAGE
Development occurring between 1 1\2 and 3 years of age,
where children’s favorite pleasures involve the anus or eliminative functions
associated with it. Freud views anal exercise as reducing tension.
PHALLIC STAGE
Development between 3 and 6 years of age. Pleasure focuses
on the genitals as children discover self stimulation is enjoyable. According
to Freud this stage triggers the Oedipus Complex, which is the child’s desire
to replace the parent of the same sex and enjoy the affections of the parent of
the opposite sex. Girls experience the Electra Complex, which is when the girl
realizes she has no penis, which produces penis envy. Freud believes this issue
is never resolved, but dissipates over time as she relates to her mother and
adapts to her feminine side.
LATENCY STAGE
Development between 6 years of age and puberty, when
children repress all interest in sexuality and develop social and intellectual
skills. this activity channels much of the child’s energy to emotionally safe
areas and aids the children in forgetting the highly stressful conflicts of the
Phallic Stage.
GENITAL STAGE
The final stage of development from puberty on. A time of
sexual reawakening. The source of sexual pleasure becomes someone outside the
family. Freud believes the unresolved conflict with parents reemerge during
adolescence. Once resolved the individual would become capable of developing a
mature love relationship and functioning differently with adults.
FIXATION
The psychoanalytic defense mechanism that occurs when
individuals remain locked in an earlier stage of development from over or under
gratification.
Freud believed (1900) the reason why we dream is Wish Fulfillment, which is an unconscious attempt to fulfill needs(especially sex and aggression)that can’t be expressed or go ungratified during waking hours. He also stressed that dreams often contain memories of infancy and childhood experiences, especially events associated with parents. In this view many of our dreams reflect combinations of distant early experiences with our parents and more recent daily events. Freud believed dream interpretation is difficult because we disguise Wish Fulfillment when we dream.(Wish Fulfillment reflects hopes and fears.
Freud distinguished between a dreams Manifest Content and Latent Content.
Manifest Content is the dream’s surface content, which contain dream symbols that distort and disguise the dreams true meaning
Latent Content is the dream’s hidden content, it’s
unconscious meaning.
Freud believed was a turning inwards of aggression
instincts. He theorized that a child’s early attachment to an object, usually
the mother, contains a mixture of love and hate. When a child looses the object
or their dependency needs are frustrated feelings of loss coexist with anger.
The experience is turned inward and experienced as depression.