Carl Jung and His Theories - Term Paper Example

? Carl Jung and his theories Dashawn T. Lewis History and Systems of Psychology March 23, Carl Jung and his theories Topic This paper investigates Carl Jung and his significant theoretical contributions to the field of psychology. Researching into Jung’s theories and contributions will allow for an appreciation of how Jung’s work has influenced modern psychology. It must be noted that Jung, unlike other men of science of his time, used untested ideas and mystical concepts to delineate how the human mind worked. There is no proven scientific basis behind Jung’s work, much like that of Sigmund Freud, but still Jung’s work has been used widely such as for the development of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Jung’s contributions are many and widely varied ranging from an exploration of human personality to learning practices. Unlike other psychological developments, Jung’s work finds its basis in the metaphysical and the spiritual which stood in contrast to Freud’s psychoanalytic approach and Adler’s individuality approach (Aldridge, Kilgo, Werner, & Christensen, 2011). Moreover, Jung’s work does not confine per se to psychology alone but instead explores other areas such as literature, arts, philosophy, sociology and astrology. The branch of psychology developed using Jung’s ideas is better known as analytical or Jungian psychology and relies on delineating the whole human self as a combination of unconscious desires and underlying motivations for behaviour. Jung’s theories and concepts present new perspectives on psychology such as through his concepts of introversion and extraversion. Although these concepts were available before Jung, however, he has successfully integrated them as differing parts of a continuum. Jung sees everyone as both an introvert and an extrovert with one part dominating the other in personality construction or individuation (Moore, 2006). In addition, Jung like Freud sees the human personality as a complex where various elements come together in order to create a human persona centred on a particular theme (Selig, 2009). Another important concept provided by Jung is that of the collective unconscious. Jung argued that humans had psychological impulses comparable to biological instincts that had been learned over time by mankind. These psychological impulses were labelled as archetypes and the collection of archetypes was seen as being commonly accessible to all of mankind through the collective conscious (Dobson, 2011). Last but not least is Jung’s concept of synchronicity which delineates that events are not random but have causal relationships that are constructed in certain manners to produce meaning (Lorenz, 2006). Thesis The contention behind this paper is to look into the major theories and concepts provided by Carl Jung with special emphasis on his ideas on psychology. The exploration of Jung’s ideas and contributions to psychology will allow for the realisation of how Jungian psychology has altered the course of modern psychology. In addition, it will allow the reader an insight into how the human mind operates using an explanation that contains both scientific perspectives and mystical conceptions. It must be kept in mind that Jung did not practice scientific studies but considered himself a scientist still. The Biography of Carl Jung Carl Jung was born in a place called Kesswil, Switzerland on 26th of July, 1875. Jung was the fourth born child to Emilie and Paul. He was the only living kid in his family and his father Paul was a pastor. During his childhood years, his mother Emilie was often dejected and not present at home. Jung expressed himself as a lonely and introverted kid, stating that he was most pleased at times when he was alone thinking. He attended a community school at the age of six in Klein-Huningen. When he was twelve years old, Jung had lost his consciousness after being hard-pressed to ground by a colleague. He began to faint at times he was required to attend school or work on assignment. His doctors and guardians got convinced that Jung had developed epilepsy but he later improved and focused on his studies. He overcome the problem of loosing consciousness and later stated that the experience provided his initial challenge with neurosis. Jung studied medicine and was also interested in religious phenomena whilst in school. The passion for religious and medicine made him to venture into the area of psychiatry. Jung considered psychiatry as a blend of his interests. He finished his doctorate thesis concerning psychology in 1902 and was awarded a medical degree from Zurich University. Jung later studied psychology (the technical study of the psyche and its procedures) in Paris. He got married to Emma in the following year and they were blessed with five kids. They resided in Kusnacht and both remained wedded and until Emma died in1955. Jung started his expert profession in the year 1900 as a subordinate employee at the Zurich University psychiatric clinic. During the early stages of his career, Jung worked jointly with patients who suffered from psychiatric problems at the University haven. In 1906, Jung researched on Word Association and gave Freud a written copy and this marked the start of their friendship. Jung’s relations with Freud significantly influenced his later theories and assisted him to build interest for the insentient mind. He wished to further knowledge of the human mind via art, dreams and philosophy. At the beginning of their relationship, Freud regarded Jung like his dependant, but there relationship started to weaken when Jung began to create his personal ideas that differed from Freud’s opinion. Though Jung had faith in complicated or psychologically charged relations, in the long run, he started to detach from Freudian thesis and failed to agree with Freud concerning sexual root of neuroses. During this time of intense personal-analysis, Jung developed more interest in signs and dreams, and employed this as the foundation for his psychology theories (Aldridge, Kilgo,Werner & Christensen, 2011). Jung was more organized on his theoretical approach, detached from psychodynamic hypothesis and created a personal hypothesis namely analytical psychology thus pressing forward the idea of extrovert and introvert characters and the influence of the unconscious. Separation with Freud was not simple. Freud stopped ranks with his other supporters and Jung’s classmates in the psychoanalytic society and previous pals opposed him. In the next six years, Jung committed himself to discovering his personal subliminal. He documented his experience in an unprinted book and went on to write and demonstrate the book in the subsequent fifteen years. The book was eventually printed in the year 2009, permitting readers an incomparable view into the psyche of one of the most interesting figures of psychology. Jung supposed that the human mind survived in three components: the private insentient, the ego, and the shared insentient. He supposed that the shared insentient was a reservoir of all the knowledge and experience of the human genus. He as well supposed that the individuation procedure was crucial for one to become complete and fully grown as a person. Jung described individuation procedure psychologically as the growth of psychological person as a being different from the common, shared psychology. He met his death in 1961, following a short illness. Contributions Jung is considered to be among the most complicated, controversial and crucial mental theorists. His contributions encompass: hypothesis of the dynamics and structure of the mind, both insentient and conscious, and the manner in which the insentient manifests in thoughts; a hypothesis of personality forms which has received wide acceptance; a detailed learning of the purposive nature of a person’s mental growth, as expressed in Jung’s individuation concept and an explanation of the general images drawn from the innermost layers of the mind, the shared unconscious. His psychology is interested in establishing and promoting link between unconscious and conscious procedures. Dialogue amid the sentient and insentient features of the mind enriches the individual, and Jung supposed that with absence of this dialogue, insentient procedures can endanger and deteriorate the personality. Individuation theory One of his major theories is individuation. This refers to his expression for a procedure of personal growth that entails establishing a link between the self and the ego. The latter is the heart of consciousness and the self is the heart of the entire mind, encompassing the sentient and the insentient. According to Jung, there exists a regular interaction involving the two. They are not distinct but are features of one method. Individuation refers to the procedure of developing completeness through incorporating all the different components of the mind. He is the founder of analytic psychology. This field of study stresses on the importance of an individual’s artistic forces and an individual’s growth towards completeness. The theory of the shared unconscious provides analytical psychology its distinct dimension of significance as compared to other psychotherapy traditions (Moore, 2006). This concept shifts the psychotherapy practice from attention on psychopathology and its signs to a consideration of the purpose and significance of these signs when comprehended figuratively, through introducing them in the larger framework of the development of human mind in all its cultural and creative demonstrations. In his attempts to comprehend and engage the complete individual, Jung perceived analytical psychology to be a remedy which releases inventiveness and fosters a person’s mental growth. Jungian psychology holds the cosmos in its entire demonstrations: history, art, myth, theology and philosophy are all Jung’s fundamental parts of worldview. The attitudes His theories of extraversion and introversion have contributed to personality psychology and as well affected psychotherapy. These theories have received the widest common use as compared to his other concepts. Jung established that people can be characterized as mainly inward or outward oriented. Extraverts feel cosier in the company of other individuals or things while introverts are cosier with the internal world of ideas and emotions. Jung related the two procedures to the heartbeat- the presence of rhythmic rotation amid the cycle of tightening (introversion) as well as the expansion cycle (extraversion). But every person tends to favour either of the attitudes and functions more frequent in regard to the favoured stance. Introverts perceive the world in regard to the way it influences them, while extroverts are more interested with their influence on the world (Lorenz, 2006). Some times, introversion appears to be more suitable while extraversion appears to be more suitable in other instances. Both are mutually exclusive, one cannot possess the two attitudes at the same time. None of them is better compared to the other but the best is to be flexible and to adopt the attitude that is more suitable in a particular condition to act as an active equilibrium amid the two and fail to develop a rigid method of reacting to the world. Type theory This concept is among Jung’s best donations to psychology. He recognized that different individuals feel, think and experience the globe in basically diverse ways. This concept is an influential device that assists in comprehending how individuals operate. Jung established four basic mental functions: feeling, thinking, intuition, and sensation. Every role might be undergone in an extroverted or an introverted style. Commonly, one of the roles is said to more dominant, developed, and conscious. Jung regarded this as advanced role. This role functions from the leading attitude. Among the remaining roles, one is commonly profound in the insentient and less grown. Jung referred to this role as the inferior role (Fawkes, 2010). Feeling and thinking are optional methods of creating verdicts and arriving at decisions. The latter is interested in objective verdict, fact, and impersonal analysis. It values abstract and consistency principles. People whom thinking role dominates are said to be best planners, but they have inclination to adhere to their abstract concepts and plans even when faced with a fresh and conflicting proof. Feeling is interested on importance. It may encompass verdicts of wrong vs. Right as well as bad vs. good. Jung categorized intuition and sensation as methods of collecting data, as separate from methods of creating decisions. Intuition is a method of understanding perceptions with regard to future objectives, past know-how, unconscious procedures and potential. Sensation is defined as interest on concrete facts, perception details, and direct sense experience: what a person can observe, feel and smell. Evaluation While Jungian concept has left a remarkable influence in psychology however, they have been highly criticized. Jung has been censured due to being in short of a logical, obviously structured technique of idea. His concepts at times appear to explode on tangents, instead of current ideas in a logical, formal, and systematic style. His style of writing was some times confusing and renders most of his concepts to be subject for debate. His literary style renders it difficult to wholly appreciate the meaning of his concepts due to the fact that some words can be employed with more than one meaning. Jung additionally employs very ambiguous references that render his writings to be complex (Dobson, 2011). Moreover, Jung is criticized of lacking experiential research. His theories are said to be unscientific and not verifiable. He was not interested with technical testing, and most of his concepts cannot be assessed in the lab. He had no interest in objects that are measurable and his ideas cannot be assessed to confirm if they are accurate due to the absence of means of testing things like shared unconscious, archetypes and chance in the actual world. Jung’s ideas are supernatural and wander away from scientific view. He failed to create prediction in the structure of his hypothesis. He created his theory via mere introspection and via his psychiatrist occupation. He regarded his personal thoughts, dreams and emotions, as well as listened to the emotions, dreams and feelings of his patients to assist shape his hypothesis. The reality that his personal ideas were at the centre of his theory, as well as he handled patients who required psychiatric care, makes one to logically question the relevance and validity of his observations to create an inclusive theory of human character. Moreover, his concepts attempted to encompass religious belief in psychology. His research in mythology, legends and theology along with an enduring concern in religion made him to describe religion in mental terms. This is regarded as a major weakness in his concepts (Aldridge, Kilgo,Werner & Christensen, 2011). Jung supposed that individuals with hearing delusions heard the expressions of the shared unconscious talking straight to them. He failed to regard this as pathological. Jung really regarded them as beneficial to the topic and essential for self-improvement. Rather than treating the delusions, he regarded them as benefit to the individual. This has received a lot of criticism and has been considered as one of the limitations of his theories. Despite the criticisms, Jung’s theories are currently very relevant in latest developments on social sciences. Jung’s concepts have been developing gradually in impact and popularity. He made many novel concepts in character theory (Selig, 2009). He employed self-actualization to explain harmonious combination of several parts and forces in the mind. Consistent with him, self-actualization failed to take place, however life was a complicated extended journey of identity finding. This concept remains relevant in the present mental idea. Moreover, his self-actualization concept applies in the discipline of criminology. Personal Response Some of Jung’s concepts apply in my own life. His concepts of extraversion and introversion are relevant in the way I perceive the world around me. Depending on situation that I’m faced with, I may assume to be an introvert or an extrovert depending on the attitude that will favour the condition. During depressing moments, I mostly assume extraversion, where I get concerned with the way I can influence the world around me and make something good out of a bad situation. This is because I’m social and interested in understanding the world around me as well as being optimistic in life. However, I can confirm that none of the attitude is superior to the other and I cannot hold the two at the same time. I’m always flexible to assume whichever attitude that appears more suitable in a particular condition and try to balance the two. Secondly, Jung’s type theory as well applies in my life. This is where he distinguished four basic mental roles: feeling, intuition, thinking and sensation. I experience each of the roles in either an extraverted or introverted style. My superior role is thinking where I’m interested in making judgments and reaching decisions. Though I’m a great planner, I tend to uphold my plans even when faced with new challenges. The role of feeling allows me to make verdicts on what is bad or good and the right things to do or the wrong things to do. The intuition and sensation roles help me to collect data by focusing on knowledge, concrete details and perception facts. These roles enable me to react to immediate circumstance and deal efficiently with any kind of crises. My role type demonstrates my relative limitations and strengths and the activities that I have tendency to like better. Conclusion This paper has explored the major theories and concepts provided by Carl Jung with emphasis on his ideas on psychology. The exploration of Jung’s ideas and contributions to psychology has allowed for the realisation of how Jungian psychology has altered the course of modern psychology. His works and life are fascinating; however the limitations and strengths of his theory are obvious. Jungian concept has left a remarkable influence in psychology for instance; his theories of extraversion and introversion have contributed to personality psychology and as well affected psychotherapy. Additionally, his type theory is an influential device that assists in comprehending how individuals operate. Some of the limitations of his theories are lack of scientific evidence and inconsistency. Jung’s major strength is that his theories are currently very relevant in latest developments on social sciences. For instance self-actualization concept applies in the discipline of criminology. References Aldridge, J., Kilgo, J. L., Werner, M., & Christensen, L. M. (2011). Parallels in the Beliefs and Works of Margaret Fuller and Carl Jung: Dreams, Literature, Spirituality, and Gender. SAGE Open . Dobson, D. (2011). Interacting Narratives: Acknowledging the Self in the Construction of Professional Knowledge. Journal of Jungian Scholarly Studies 7(1) , 1-18. Fawkes, J. (2010). Cultural Complexes in Professional Ethics. Journal of Jungian Scholarly Studies 6(8) , 1-13. Lorenz, H. S. (2006). Synchronicity in the 21st Century. Journal of Jungian Scholarly Studies 2(2) , 1-13. Moore, R. L. (2006). Theory Matters: Analytical Psychology and the Human Experience of Despair. Journal of Jungian Scholarly Studies 2(1) , 1-16. Selig, J. L. (2009). The Content and their Complexes: The Wounded Leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Barack Obama. Journal of Jungian Scholarly Studies 5(3) , 1-24. Annotated Bibliography Aldridge, J., Kilgo, J. L., Werner, M., & Christensen, L. M. (2011). Parallels in the Beliefs and Works of Margaret Fuller and Carl Jung: Dreams, Literature, Spirituality, and Gender. SAGE Open . This article contrasts the works and ideas of Margaret Fuller and Carl Gustav Jung to bring forth similarities and differences in both scholars. The works of Jung have been explored in greater detail and have been used as a baseline for comparisons with Margaret Fuller. The article does not utilise any scientific methods but instead relies on descriptions of both scholars and their various works in order to present the differences. The similarities have been explored separate from the differences between both scholars. Dobson, D. (2011). Interacting Narratives: Acknowledging the Self in the Construction of Professional Knowledge. Journal of Jungian Scholarly Studies 7(1) , 1-18. Dobson explores the creation of the learning experience as a confluence of various social influences through a conscious effort. The article develops the theoretical ideas of Interacting Narratives through the Life Narrative and the Chosen Narratives to construct the personal identities and the professional identities of teachers. The methods used by Dobson rely in large part on analytical or Jungian psychology with special emphasis on depth psychology. This article tends to explore the depth psychology perspective considering the collective unconscious and its influences on the development of identities. Fawkes, J. (2010). Cultural Complexes in Professional Ethics. Journal of Jungian Scholarly Studies 6(8) , 1-13. This article looks into how professional ethics are a result of various cultural complexes and the archetypes that create such complexes. The author looks into how Jungian influences can help explain the creation of differing cultural complexes and hence professional ethics. The article also looks briefly into Asian discourse on the issue and provides for an appreciation of how Jung’s work incorporates Western and Eastern ideals to create a holistic picture. Lorenz, H. S. (2006). Synchronicity in the 21st Century. Journal of Jungian Scholarly Studies 2(2) , 1-13. This article looks into the basic premise of the synchronicity concepts and theories as developed by Jung and Pauli as well as other influences. Lorenz suggests that Jung's ideas on synchronicity were essentially the most powerful outcome of his work but were ignored in large part by the practising psychological community due to the influence of Freudian ideas. The concept of synchronicity and its implications for the twenty first century as well as the resurgent use of the concept for psychological work has been explored in detail. Moore, R. L. (2006). Theory Matters: Analytical Psychology and the Human Experience of Despair. Journal of Jungian Scholarly Studies 2(1) , 1-16. The author looks into the development of the human personality especially with the context of despair. The article looks primarily into various situations that tend to limit humans to the levels of desperation and the ensuing behaviour. Moreover, the author looks into despair through the application of depth psychology. The word despair and its various definitions have been discussed in order to see how despair is actually configured under depth psychology. Selig, J. L. (2009). The Content and their Complexes: The Wounded Leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Barack Obama. Journal of Jungian Scholarly Studies 5(3) , 1-24. Selig explores the content and the creation of complexes with special emphasis on leadership based complexes. The basic premise of this article is to compare the leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr. and that of Barack Obama by differentiating in the creation of the complexes dictating their personalities. In addition, Selig looks into Jung’s belief that the collective unconscious of the modern age has been split up into different components and how this has implications for modern leaders and leadership. Read More