Sigmund Freud: Psychosexual Development

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SIGMUND FREUD: PSYCHOSEXUAL
DEVOLOPMENT


Project submitted to
Mr. Ayan Hazara
(Faculty: Sociology)


Project submitted by
Swajeet Singh Ubeja
(Political Science, major)
Semester II
Roll no. 159



HIDAYATULLAH NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY
RAIPUR, C.G.

Sigmund Freud: Psychosexual Development

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am highly elated to carry out my research on the topic, Sigmund Freud: Psychosexual
Development. I would like to give my deepest regard to my course teacher Mr. Ayan Hazara,
who held me with his immense advice, direction and valuable assistance, which enabled me to
march ahead with this topic. I would like to thank my friends, who gave me their precious time
for guidance and helped me a lot in completing my project by giving their helpful suggestion and
assistance. I would like to thank my seniors for their valuable support. I would also like to thank
the library staff and computer lab staff of my university for their valuable support and kind
cooperation.


Swajeet Singh Ubeja
Semester II






Sigmund Freud: Psychosexual Development

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CONTENT

1. INTRODUCTION.....4

I. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.5
II. OBJECTIVES5

2. ROLE OF CONFLICT.......6
3. PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES .......8
4. CONCLUSION....11
5. BIBLIOGRAPHY AND WEBLIOGRAPHY...13











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INTRODUCTION

Sigmund Freud, was the founder of psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic theories. These theories
are based on the belief that developmental changes occur because of the influence of internal
drives and emotions on behavior.
From Freuds psychoanalysis theories psychologists were given one possible insight as to how
the conscious and unconscious mind works. Freud believed that there is a constant unconscious
drive in humans to seek pleasure, which he called the libido. He argued that the human
personality can be divided into three different parts.
1

The conscious mind includes everything that we are aware of. This is the aspect of our mental
processing that we can think and talk about rationally.
Preconscious is our memory, which is not always part of consciousness but can be retrieved
easily at any time and brought into our awareness
2
.
The unconscious mind is a reservoir of feelings, thoughts, urges, and memories that outside of
our conscious awareness. Most of the contents of the unconscious are unacceptable or
unpleasant, such as feelings of pain, anxiety, or conflict. According to Freud, the unconscious
continues to influence our behavior and experience, even though we are unaware of these
underlying influences.






1
"Introduction to Sigmund Freud, Module on Psychosexual Development". Cla.purdue.edu. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
2
Bullock, A., Trombley, S. (1999) The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought Harper Collins:London pp. 643,
705
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OBJECTIVES

1. To have a detailed study of the Psychosexual Development and phases in which it
develops.

2. To discuss the evolution of human body and Psyche.

3. To criticize the Freudian theory of Psychosexual Development.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY


The method of research adopted for the project is the analytical and descriptive method.
The texts that were used for the project include articles, research papers and news given in
various websites as well as online journals








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ROLE OF CONFLICT

Freud (1905) proposed that psychological development in childhood takes place in a series of
fixed stages.
These are called psychosexual stages because each stage represents the fixation of libido
(roughly translated as sexual drives or instincts) on a different area of the body. As a person
grows physically certain areas of their body becomes important as sources of potential frustration
(erogenous zones), pleasure or both.
Freud believed that life was built round tension and pleasure. Freud also believed that all tension
was due to the build up of libido (sexual energy) and that all pleasure came from its discharge.
In describing human personality development as psychosexual Freud meant to convey that what
develops is the way in which sexual energy accumulates and is discharged as we mature
biologically. (NB Freud used the term 'sexual' in a very general way to mean all pleasurable
actions and thoughts).
Freud stress that the first five years of life are crucial to the formation of adult personality. The id
must be controlled in order to satisfy social demands; this sets up a conflict between frustrated
wishes and social norms.
3

The ego and superego develop in order to exercise this control and direct the need for
gratification into socially acceptable channels. Gratification centers of different areas of the body
at different stages of growth, making the conflict at each stage psychosexual.
Each of the psychosexual stages is associated with a particular conflict that must be resolved
before the individual can successfully advance to the next stage. The resolution of each of these
conflicts requires the expenditure of sexual energy and the more energy that is expended at a
particular stage the more the important characteristics of that stage remain with the individual as
he matures psychologically.

3
Myre, Sim (1974) Guide to Psychiatry, 3rd ed. Churchill Livingstone:Edinburgh and London, p. 396
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To explain this Freud suggested the analogy of military troops on the march. As the troops
advance they are met by opposition or conflict. If they are highly successful in winning the
battle (resolving the conflict) then most of the troops (libido) will be able to move on to the" next
battle (stage).
But the greater the difficulty encountered of any particular point the greater the need for troops to
remain behind to fight and thus the fewer that will be able to go on to the next confrontation.
Some people do not seem to be able to leave one stage and proceed on to the next. One reason
for this may be that the needs of the developing individual at any particular stage may not have
been adequately met in which case there is frustration. Or possibly the person's needs may have
been so well satisfied that he is reluctant to leave the psychological benefits of a particular stage
in which there is overindulgence.
4

Both frustration and overindulgence (or any combination of the two) may lead to what
psychoanalysts call fixation at a particular psychosexual stage.
Fixation refers to the theoretical notion that a portion of the individual's libido has been
permanently 'invested in a particular stage of his development. It is assumed that some libido is
permanently invested in each psychosexual stage and thus each person will behave in some ways
that are characteristic of infancy, or early childhood.









4
Myre, Sim (1974) Guide to Psychiatry 3rd ed., Churchill Livingstone: Edinburgh and London pp. 35, 407
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PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES
Oral Stage (0-1 year)
The first stage of personality development where libido is centered in a baby's mouth. It gets
much satisfaction from putting all sorts of things in its mouth to satisfy libido, and thus its id
demands. Which at this stage in life are oral, or mouth orientated, such as sucking, biting, and
breast-feeding.
Freud said oral stimulation could lead to an oral fixation in later life. We see oral personalities
all around us such as smokers, nail-biters, finger-chewers, and thumb suckers. Oral personalities
engage in such oral behaviors particularly when under stress.
Anal Stage (1-3 years)
The libido now becomes focused on the anus and the child derives great pleasure from
defecating. The child is now fully aware that they are a person in their own right and that their
wishes can bring them into conflict with the demands of the outside world (i.e. their ego has
developed).
Freud believed that this type of conflict tends to come to a head in potty training, in which adults
impose restrictions on when and where the child can defecate. The nature of this first conflict
with authority can determine the child's future relationship with all forms of authority.
Early or harsh potty training can lead to the child becoming an anal-retentive personality who
hates mess, is obsessively tidy, punctual and respectful of authority. They can be stubborn and
tight-fisted with their cash and possessions. This is all related to pleasure got from holding on to
their faeces when toddlers, and their mum's then insisting that they get rid of it by placing them
on the potty until they perform!
5

Not as daft as it sounds. The anal expulsive, on the other hand, underwent a liberal toilet-training
regime during the anal stage. In adulthood the anal expulsive is the person who wants to share

5
Hornblower, S., Spawforth, A. (1998) The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization pp. 25455
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things with you. They like giving things away. In essence they are 'sharing their s**t'! An anal-
expulsive personality is also messy, disorganized and rebellious.
Phallic Stage (3 to 5 or 6 years)
Sensitivity now becomes concentrated in the genitals and masturbation (in both sexes) becomes a
new source of pleasure. The child becomes aware of anatomical sex differences, which sets in
motion the conflict between erotic attraction, resentment, rivalry, jealousy and fear which Freud
called the Oedipus complex (in boys) and the Electra complex (in girls) This is resolved through
the process of identification which involves the child adopting the characteristics of the same sex
parent.
Oedipus Complex
The most important aspect of the phallic stage is the Oedipus complex. This is one of Freud's
most controversial ideas and one that many people reject outright.
The name of the Oedipus complex derives from Greek myth where Oedipus, a young man, kills
his father and marries his mother. Upon discovering this he pokes his eyes out and becomes
blind. This Oedipal is the generic (i.e. general) term for both Oedipus and Electra complexes.
In the young boy, the Oedipus complex or more correctly conflict, arises because the boy
develops sexual (pleasurable) desires for his mother. He wants to possess his mother exclusively
and get rid of his father to enable him to do so. Irrationally, the boy thinks that if his father were
to find out about all this, his father would take away what he loves the most. In the phallic stage
what the boy loves most is his penis. Hence the boy develops castration anxiety.
6

A problem the little boy then sets out to resolve by imitating, copying and joining in masculine
dad-type behaviors. This is called identification, and is how the three-to-five year old boy
resolves his Oedipus complex. Identification means internally adopting the values, attitudes and
behaviors of another person. The consequence of this is that the boy takes on the male gender
role, and adopts an ego ideal and values that become the superego.
Freud (1909) offered the little Hans case study as evidence for the oedipus complex.

6
Murphy, Bruce (1996). Bent's Reader's Encyclopedia Fourth edition, HarperCollins Publishers:New York p. 310
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Electra Complex
For girls, the Oedipus or Electra complex is less than satisfactory. Briefly, the girl desires the
father, but realizes that she does not have a penis. This leads to the development of penis envy
and the wish to be a boy.
The girl resolves this by repressing her desire for her father and substituting the wish for a penis
with the wish for a baby. The girl blames her mother for her 'castrated state' and this creates great
tension. The girl then represses her feelings (to remove the tension) and identifies with the
mother to take on the female gender role.
Latency Stage (5 or 6 to puberty)
No further psychosexual development takes place during this stage (latent means hidden). The
libido is dormant. Freud thought that most sexual impulses are repressed during the latent stage
and sexual energy can be sublimated (re: defense mechanism) towards school work, hobbies and
friendships. Much of the child's energies arc channeled into developing new skills and acquiring
new knowledge and play becomes largely confined to other children of the same gender.
Genital Stage (puberty to adult)
Is the last stage of Freud's psychosexual theory of personality development and begins in
puberty. It is a time of adolescent sexual experimentation, the successful resolution of which is
settling down in a loving one-to-one relationship with another in our 20's or so. Sexual instinct
is directed to heterosexual pleasure, rather than self pleasure during the phallic stage.
For Freud, the proper outlet of the sexual instinct in adults was through heterosexual intercourse.
Fixation and conflict may prevent this with the consequence that sexual perversions may
develop. For example, fixation at the oral stage may result in a person gaining sexual pleasure
primarily from kissing and oral sex, rather than sexual intercourse.
7




7
Freud, S. (1905). Three essays on the theory of sexuality. Se, 7.
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CONCLUSION
While Freudian theory is vulnerable to criticisms of being unscientific and too reductionistic
(though behaviorists criticize it for not being reductionistic enough), classic psychoanalysis does
offer a comprehensive system of personality, pathology, and therapy that has made a lasting
contribution to an understanding of human behavior, especially in such areas as defense
mechanisms, the reality of unconscious mental dynamics, and the psychodynamics of dreams.
Freuds work was characterized by originality, boldness, and power of communication. In his
theory of neurosis, he captured the tragic dimension of human existence, particularly in the self-
destructive antithesis of instinctual conflict.
The locus of these destructive impulses is internalized in the individual and not merely derivative
from civilization. In this respect, Freuds portrayal of the human condition has more depth than
romantic humanism and yields significant points of correlation with the Christian understanding
of sin, guilt, and the need for redemption.
Regarding Freuds theory of personality, there appears to be no unified structure or functional
unity between the id, the ego, and the superego, and these personality components are described
in intuitive and literary terms that elude scientific analysis. Instead, they are often personified as
homunculi that operate in monochromatic ways, yielding a theory that does not adequately
account for the richness, complexity, and diversity of human personality.
8

In spite of his commitment to a scientific world view, Freuds ideas were less objective and
scientific than he liked to think. His theory was based more on clinical impressions than on
controlled empirical methods. The accumulation of data and presentation of conclusions is
unsystematic, the terms and concepts are often vague and difficult to test and measure, and thus
the scientific status of psychoanalysis is questionable at several points.
This is true of the death instinct which critics regard to have been prompted more by personal
considerations and a desire for theoretical consistency than by empirical evidence. It is also true

8
Bell, Robert E. (1991) Women of Classical Mythology: A Biographical Dictionary Oxford University Press:California
pp.17778
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of Freud's speculative account of the libidinal development of women that largely ignored
sociocultural factors. His constructs are stimulating, but not concrete or explicit enough to be
formulated into operational definitions or subjected to rigorous experimental testing. In addition,
the bulk of his theory is derived from observations of neurotic people, and this limits the validity
of his conclusions concerning human behavior.
9


















9
3Erik H. Erikson, Toys and Reasons (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1977); Gandhis Truth: On the Origins
of Militant Non-violence (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1969).
Sigmund Freud: Psychosexual Development

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BIBLIOGRAPHY & WEBLIOGRAPHY

"Introduction to Sigmund Freud, Module on Psychosexual Development".
Cla.purdue.edu. Retrieved 2013-08-01.

Bullock, A., Trombley, S. (1999) The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought
Harper Collins:London pp. 643, 705

Myre, Sim (1974) Guide to Psychiatry, 3rd ed. Churchill Livingstone:Edinburgh and
London, p. 396

Myre, Sim (1974) Guide to Psychiatry 3rd ed., Churchill Livingstone: Edinburgh and
London pp. 35, 407

Hornblower, S., Spawforth, A. (1998) The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization
pp. 25455

Murphy, Bruce (1996). Bent's Reader's Encyclopedia Fourth edition, HarperCollins
Publishers:New York p. 310

Freud, S. (1905). Three essays on the theory of sexuality. Se, 7.

Bell, Robert E. (1991) Women of Classical Mythology: A Biographical Dictionary
Oxford University Press:California pp.17778

Erik H. Erikson, Toys and Reasons (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1977);
Gandhis Truth: On the Origins of Militant Non-violence (New York: W. W. Norton &
Company, 1969).