Freuds Psychodynamic Approach to Personality Critique - Essay Example

Psychodynamic personality theory Introduction Behavior as explained by psychodynamic psychologists is determined by unconscious forces, which humans may not know. Those forces manifest in every thought, behavior and utterance particularly before the age of five. It is how we are treated by parents that determine whom we become in the future. This paper will critically discuss Sigmund Freud’s psychodynamic approach to personality and view of human nature. Psychodynamic approach explains the behavior in terms of dynamics or forces that drive it. Sigmund Freud was the first person to challenge the view that mental disorders were as a result of physical illness. He argued that the disorders were caused by psychological factors. He further stated that personality is structured into three parts; the Id, ego and superego. Id is the unconscious part of personality present at birth. It is also referred to as the pleasure principle, and it demands immediate satisfaction. It aims at gaining pleasure and gratification at any cost (Sapp 22). Ego is the conscious and rational part. It develops at the age of around two years. It works in realistic ways balancing between the demands of the id in a socially acceptable way. The reality principle governs it. The last part of personality according to Freud is the super ego. It forms at the age of around four years and at this stage a child is able to differentiate between right and wrong. At this stage, the superego seeks to perfect behavior. Children learn through their parents, guardians and others (Sapp 25). Freud also argued that behavior is influenced by different levels of consciousness; unconscious, preconscious and conscious. In trying to differentiate them, he said that the conscious mind is logical while the unconscious mind is pleasure seeking. He said that the mind is like an iceberg, meaning that much of what goes on inside the mind lies under the surface. He referred to this as the preconscious and conscious mind. He further explained that there exists a conflict between the id, ego and superego which creates anxiety (Sapp 27). The ego has defences with which it protects itself. The defences help the ego to balance out the id and the superego to make sure the individual is not overly impulsive. If superego outweighs ego, then the person becomes depressed and may not feel good for anything. If a person’s id outweighs the ego and superego, the person is likely to become aggressive and immoral due to the weakness of the superego. Repression, which is one of the defence mechanisms, puts bad memories in the unconscious mind. Failure to repress the memories successfully leads to depression. Anxiousness and aggressiveness occur as a result of imbalances of the id and superego (Sapp 28). Denial is another form of defence mechanism characterized by refusing to admit something unpleasant. Other forms of defences include transferring the impulses from one person to another also referred to as displacement and attributing the undesirable thoughts to someone else or projection. If overused, the defences can be a cause of disturbed behavior (Sapp 29). Freud argued that there are key developmental stages in early childhood. He assumed that behavior is influenced by early childhood experiences. He emphasized on the importance of childhood for adult functioning. He believed that the major influence on development was the psychosocial conflict which was found to surround sexual drives during the early years. Sexuality is believed to start early in life, and its development is complicated. It is thus prone to distortion. Freud developed a model of human development psychosexual stages namely; oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital stages. Each stage is known by the area of the body seen as the most erogenous zone during the conflict. The erotic zone is associated with somatic function. Too much or too little gratification at each stage may lead to an individual becoming fixated (Jarvis 75). The oral stage occurs during the first year of life. Freud describes how the mouth becomes the first erogenous zone through the action of sucking. This action is rhythmic and is concentrated on providing satisfaction for the needs of the mouth. The satisfaction serves the purpose of self-preservation through nourishment. The child seeks to take in whatever he comes across (Jarvis 76). At this stage, sexual activity has not yet been separated from ingestion of food. The incorporation of the object is termed as the sexual activity. The infant is largely dependent on others for his needs to be satisfied. His needs may either be satisfied or deprived. If satisfied, he sees a world with warmth and benevolence. If deprived, he becomes pessimistic and sees the world as unrewarding and hostile. As a result, fixation occurs, and he is likely to result into an adult who is overly concerned with oral gratification (Jarvis 78). The anal stage occurs between the ages of one year to three years. The anal zone acts as a medium through which sexuality may attach itself. Physical developments during the second year of the infant enable the beginning of bowel control. The erogenous zone shifts from the mouth to the anus. Contents of the bowel act as the stimulating mass upon a sexually sensitive portion of the mucous membrane. The sexual drives are centered on expelling or retaining fecal material. At this stage, caregiver’s expectations increase because personality development is influenced by how toilet training is handled (Jarvis 81). If a parent is disgusted by the child who gets toilet training wrong, the child develops shame and guilt. Infants regard their feces as their first gift and they show their obedience and compliance with the environment by expelling faeces. This stage is not only focused on musculature involved in defecation but also the sexual pleasure associated with the muscular exercise. Children derive pleasure from satisfying the need to defecate. This stage is characterized by defenses such as isolation and reaction formation (Jarvis 89). The phallic stage occurs at the age between three and six years. The predominant erogenous zone shifts to the genitalia. Children begin to explore their bodies, as well as others’ bodies. The genitals of the male sex play the part at this stage. This stage is seen as the last one taken by sexual life. The child’s curiosity about sexual differences heightens at this stage. Boys and girls start off by believing that there is universal presence of the penis. Their thoughts later diverge, and since the boy had believed that the girl’s clitoris is a smaller penis, he ends up believing that she has been castrated. The boy develops fear of own castration and the girl suffers from the inferiority of her clitoris. She ends up turning away from sexual life. Freud termed the conflict that arises due to sexual differences as Oedipus complex. A child develops incestuous desires for the parent of the opposite sex. He sees the resolution of this conflict as the key to successful psychosexual development (Jarvis 95). The latency stage follows the resolution of Oedipus complex. It occurs at six years of age to puberty. It is a time of reduced conflict. At this stage, the child focuses more on the external world rather than sexual impulses and the sexual energy is diverted affection. Loving relationships are developed at this stage. According to Freud, this stage is culturally determined, and education also plays a major role. The stage is viewed as essential to the development of civilized individuals (Jarvis 96). The last stage is referred to as the genital stage. It occurs form puberty onwards; when the physical development of the sexual system is complete. At this stage, the sexual feelings re-emerge. They are no longer auto erotic but involve seeking a partner. This stage represents completion of development and mature sexuality. The major defense in genital stage is sublimation which is the act of giving instinctual drives an expression in a more socially acceptable manner (Jarvis 97). Psychodynamic theory has been applied in dream analysis, which is aimed at making unconscious material into conscious. It has been used in treating mental illnesses such as depression. It is believed that the unconscious mind controls the mind and behavior. In case of a traumatic experience memories are repressed into the unconscious mind leading to mental health problems. Dream analysis is used in accessing the repressed memories in helping the patient deal with the memories. Freud described dreams as the knowledge of activities of the unconscious mind. The four dream work contents are symbolization, condensation, displacement and elaboration, which are used as an explanation. Though it takes a lot of time, dream analysis has been shown to work (Sapp 73). Psychodynamic approach is a practical application in explaining personality. This can be exemplified by the use of dream analysis to treat mentally ill individuals. Psychoanalysis has also been found to be very successful in reducing the symptoms of mental illnesses. Freud was able to develop his theories on human behavior by conducting interviews with his patients. This makes psychodynamic approach explain personality stronger than other approaches. Case studies are highly detailed and do not neglect feelings, emotions or personal experiences. The approach also takes into account both the nature and nurture side of the debate, that is, innate drives as well as childhood experiences (Clarkin et al 35). The psychodynamic approach has some weaknesses. It oversimplifies the explanation of human behavior into five stages, which explain basic biological drives. This ignores other factors that may determine behavior. Case study as one of the methodologies has been faulted. Freud may have forgotten important information when interviewing his patients thus making his data open to bias. He may also have changed his case studies to fit in with his existing theories. However, the approach has more strengths than the weaknesses (Clarkin et al 30). Conclusion Sigmund Freud’s approach to explain human nature and personality is very reliable. It differs from other schools of therapy in its deliberate use of actual relationship that exists between the counselor and the client. His views have an effect on modern thinking, and he has changed the way we understand the importance of childhood. Works cited Clarkin, John F, Peter Fonagy, and Glen O. Gabbard. Psychodynamic Psychotherapy for Personality Disorders: A Clinical Handbook. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Pub, 2010. Print Jarvis, Matt. Psychodynamic Psychology: Classical Theory and Contemporary Research. London: Thomson, 2004. Print. Sapp, Marty. Psychodynamic, Affective, and Behavioral Theories to Psychotherapy. Springfield: Charles C Thomas Publisher, Ltd, 2010. Print. Read More