Sigmund Freud and psychoanalytic theory

Freud

Sigmund Freud, who is one of the earliest psychologists, theorized personality development derived from his theories of the id, ego and superego and which focused on the unconscious and subconscious as agents of human behavior. In addition, he suggested theories of neuroses involving childhood relationships to one's parents and emphasized the importance of sexuality in behavior (World Book Encyclopedia). Today, other forms of psychology other than psychoanalysis, which was begin by Freud, still rely on his teachings to combine the best of all types of therapy.

Freud believed that each personality has a three-prong psychological structure: the id, or the unconscious emotions, desires and fears that may surface in dreams or madness; the ego, or the conscious rationalizing section of the mind; and the superego, which often is compared to the conscience. Based on Freud's interpretation, an infant or toddler's behavior is largely based on id, or driven by unchecked and unquestioned desires; the ego develops from this id, allowing the child to negotiate effectively with the external world it is the arbiter between the selfish needs of the id and the idealistic demands of the superego; and the superego evolves as the child learns and accepts societal norms and values. Nye noted that this process, exemplifies a boy's connection with his father and suggests he internalize his father's values and norms. It also allows social functioning so that family and cultural values are passed on through the generations. Similarly, a young girl may unconsciously incorporate her mother's value system.

One of the key concepts that is included in the id, ego, superego theory is that the mind possesses several defense mechanisms that try to keep conflicts from becoming too harmful. These include repression (pushing conflicts back from the conscious to the unconscious), sublimation (converting sexual drives into socially acceptable goals), fixation (the lack of ability to progress beyond a developmental stage), and regression (a setback to an earlier form of behavior) Repression appears to be the most important of these defense mechanism. Freud states this importance as follows: When an individual experiences an instinctual desire to act in a way that the super-ego believes to be totally unacceptable, then the mind can mind push it away and send it back to the unconscious. Through repression the ego looks to avoid internal conflict and pain and balance reality with the demands of both id and super-ego (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy).

Likewise, is the importance of the ego personality structure as it relates to cognitive moral judgment and the development of values. Allen (2000), for example, stated that the ego has the ability to postpone providing pleasure to the id's demands until the right representative object is found to permit personal gratification without dangerous side effects. Allen also argued that this ego functioning takes place through conscious processes, which includes intellectual behavior such as reflection, evaluation, planning, and decision making. This more cognitive and mindful process for making moral judgments better represents Freud's ego prong, as well as the pivotal relationship between the functioning of ego and superego.

For Freud, the sex drive was the most important motivating force, not only for adults, but for infants and young children as well. He focused on the progressive replacement of " erotogenic zones in the body by others. This early biological organism of sexuality first looks for oral gratification by sucking at its mother's breast, which later will be replaced by other objects. At first, the infant is not able to recognize the distinction between itself and the breast, but it soon begins to see its mother as its first external love object. Freud would later argue that before the infant reaches this point of understanding, it is able to see its own self as a love object and develop into a narcissistic love of its personhood.

Once the child goes through this oral state during the second year of life, its erotic emphasis transfers to the anus. This is encouraged by the challenges of toilet training. The child's enjoyment from defecating comes into conflict with the need for self-control. The third phase of sexual development for the child, taking place from approximately the fourth to the sixth year of life is called phallic. The use of this term clearly showed Freud's male orientation to development, especially since he noted that its major concern at this point was " castration anxiety. Called the Oedipus complex after Oedipus Rex, it was Freud's contention that it is the desire of every male child to sleep with his mother and eliminate his father, or the obstacle to that ultimate goal. (Encyclopedia Britannica).

Freud's theory of the sexual development and difficulty of finding a means of finding a middle road between conflicting sexual interests led to his psychoanalytic process for the purpose of clinically treating such disorders. The goal is to re-establish a harmonious relationship among the id, ego and superego that constitute the mind by drawing out and resolving unconscious repressed conflicts.