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Psychodynamic Approach
The Psychodynamic Approach You need to be able to: Define the psychodynamic approach showing understanding it is about the influence of unconscious processes on behaviour and the importance of early childhood. Research Methods Describe and evaluate the case study as a research method used in psychology and as used in the psychodynamic approach. Describe, assess and apply issues of reliability, validity, subjectivity, objectivity and generalisability in the analysis of qualitative data. Evaluate Freud’s theory in terms of credibility. Describe, assess and apply the terms ‘cross-sectional’ and ‘longitudinal’ as applied to research methods. Describe, assess and apply issues of ethics and issues of credibility with regard to using personal data from methods such as case studies Describe and evaluate the correlational design. Identify, describe and apply a positive and a negative correlation, and a strength of correlation. Identify, describe evaluate and apply different sampling techniques including random sampling, stratified sampling, volunteer sampling, and opportunity sampling. Content Describe and evaluate Freud’s theory of psychosexual development, including the five stages of development, the Oedipus complex, and the parts of personality associated with the first three stages, and including focusing on the explanation of gender development/behaviour. Describe defence mechanisms including repression, and one other. Evaluate Freud’s theory as an explanation of gender development/behaviour, including comparison with explanations from the Biological and Learning Approaches. Studies in detail Describe and evaluate in detail Little Hans (1909) Bachrach et al (1991) (Key Issue Study) Key Issue Discuss the effectiveness of psychoanalysis using Bachrach et al (1991) as evidence . Evidence of Practice: Short Analysis Task Discuss design decisions e.g. rating scales Discuss sampling decisions Describe hypothesis Discuss the results in terms of Spearman’s inferential statistic Assess the correlation as a research tool in terms of advantages and limitations.
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Introduction to the Psychodynamic Approach
Define the Psychodynamic Approach The psychodynamic approach differs significantly from the other approaches in psychology; it contends that in order to understand people we need to look deep inside them to their unconscious mind – that part of the mind which, so this perspective argues, is hidden from awareness but nonetheless has a profound influence on our thoughts, behaviour and emotions. It is a repository for all manner of repressed material: anxieties, such as a fear of death, insecurities that are a hangover from childhood experiences and hidden longings, especially sexual ones. The founding father of the psychodynamic approach is Sigmund Freud (18561939), whose theory we will consider in detail. You should find out about his life and background and be able to produce a biography about him if you can not already, as his work should be understood in the context of the time and the culture in which he was writing. You can find out more about Freud‘s at: www.freud.org.uk Freud‘s theory and the psychodynamic approach is based on 2 centrally held beliefs about behaviour: 1. The importance of the unconscious as a motivator for our behaviour – our behaviour and feelings are powerfully affected by the meaning of events to the unconscious mind. We are born with certain instincts which are eventually pushed into the unconscious mind, the part of the mind of which we are not aware. The fact that we are not conscious of them, however, does not mean that they have no influence - quite the contrary - the unconscious mind has a considerable effect on our behaviour and feelings. 2. The importance of early childhood experience in shaping our personality and behaviour - our behaviour and feelings as adults (including psychological problems) are rooted in our childhood experiences. The psychodynamic approach argues that childhood experiences play a crucial role in the formation of adult personality. Freud placed particular emphasis on the first five years of life.
Read the case of Ron in Angles p82. Explain how this case illustrates the importance of the unconscious and early childhood experience in our later adult behaviour.
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Research Methods Used in the Psychodynamic Approach Research methods in this approach are usually more qualitative in nature, meaning that they focus not on statistical or numerical data, but that they aim to collect verbal, written, in-depth data about an individual person‘s feelings, experiences and behaviour. They do not collect information about how often a group or cohort of people does something, but about certain individual‘s experience of a situation. As the psychodynamic approach believes that our behaviour is motivated by unconscious feelings and experiences, often stemming from childhood; the individual themselves may be unaware of these feelings and motivations. They are only visible through the analysis of symbols in our behaviour – e.g. the meaning of dreams, our irrational behaviour, slips of the tongue, analysis of resistance, free association. Describe the Case Study as a research method: A case study is a detailed description of a particular individual based on careful observation, interviews or formal psychological testing. A psychodynamic researcher would be particularly interested in information about a person‘s childhood dreams, fantasies and experiences. Freud developed his theories from his observations of his patients and his interviews with them. It was from these that he wrote these case histories, based on his own recollections and interpretations. The type of interview used to gather data about someone‘s history is called a ‗clinical interview‘. It is a lengthy interview aimed at a detailed understanding of a person‘s mental processes. This is often used for research or as a form of therapy – hence the name ‗clinical‘ interview.
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Freud‘s case study method usually involved using: Free association Dream and symbol analysis Analysis of slips of the tongue (see Brain p72-3 for a brief description of these techniques)
TASK: Read ‗The case of Anna O‘ – Angles p84-5. Describe this as an example of a case study. What strengths and weaknesses can you think of studying Anna O‘s behaviour in this way?
Evaluate the Case Study as a research method: + Case studies provide a great deal of detailed information about an individual and provide a method to investigate experiences in childhood.
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+ Case studies are especially useful in investigating details of individuals where no other method is appropriate, for example, in the investigation of the effects of early abuse. + Case studies allow for the researcher to build up a relationship with the individual in order to access sensitive information, or to enable them to see the individual as they really are. + Case studies allow the individual to be studied using a variety of methods, so that different types of data about different parts of the individual‘s life can be collected – this gives a holistic understanding of the reasons for the person‘s behaviour, not just a description of their actions. + Case studies allow for the follow up of information that only presents itself during the collection of data itself. Findings from an individual case cannot be generalised to or compared with others as the person studied may be unlike most other people and so not representative of the population. - In Freud‘s case studies, for example, he was studying people with neuroses who were therefore not representative of the general population. - Case studies depend a lot on self-report data and people‘s memories of the past, such memories may be selective and inaccurate. - It can take a great deal of skill to conduct case studies, observations and interviews. There may be a lack of reliability/consistency in the way they are conducted, and there is a risk of researcher bias and that the researcher may ‗lead‘ the individual to certain responses or focus on particular information. - Many of the conclusions and findings can depend on the subjective interpretation of the researcher. - What ethical issues do case studies raise? Think especially of how case study data should be used – see Brain, bottom p74. - See Brain p75 for analysis on credibility of Freud‘s case studies.
The Analysis of Qualitative Data: 1. What is qualitative data? 2. How is it analysed? 3. What is triangulation? (see Brain p73-74) 4. Draw and complete the table below in your own notes, to evaluate the reliability, validity, subjectivity, objectivity and generalisability of qualitative data. Use Brain p 73-4 and Angles p88-9. Define term
Strengths Weaknesses Relevant research examples
Reliability Validity Subjectivity Objectivity Generalisability 5. Can you think of any other points in favour of or against the use and analysis of qualitative data?
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You may want to come back to this table when you have studied more of Freud‘s research, particularly to help you complete the last column. Describe and Evaluate the Correlational Method/Design: A correlational study is different from an experiment, in that it is not a study of cause and effect, i.e. how a manipulated change in one variable (IV) causes a change in the behaviour of another (DV). A correlation is a study of the relationship between two variables – these two variables are called ‗measured variables‘ and a correlation studies the relationship between them, i.e. how does performance/behaviour on one variable change as performance on the other changes, e.g. does weight increase as height increases. As one variable increases the other may also increase, (and as one decreases the other decrease) –this is a positive correlation. As one variable increases the other may decrease, (and as one decreases the other increases) – this is a negative correlation. Correlations/relationships between variables differ in strength and are measured on a scale from –1 to 0 to +1. –1 signifies a perfect negative correlation, +1, a perfect positive correlation and 0, no correlation, i.e. there is no pattern, rule or relationship between the behaviour of one variable and another.
TASK: To gather further description of the correlational method and to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of this method, see Brain p75-8, Angles p103-4. Describe the Spearman‘s Rank Order Correlation Coefficient as a way of measuring the strength of a correlation.
Cross Sectional and Longitudinal Designs (+ Sampling): TASK: Sampling - You have already learned to describe and evaluate several methods of sampling in order to select participants for psychological research. You must research all of these as you could also be test on these in this approach. TASK: Create a table with four columns and two rows. The columns should be headed as follows: Name of Design
Description
Strengths
Weaknesses
Complete the table using Brain p78-9 and Angles p 97.
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Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) is probably the most famous of all psychologists. Few people have influenced our thinking about human nature as profoundly as he did; his ideas have been incorporated into the way ordinary people think about personality and sexuality. Opinions about the importance of Freud‘s contribution to our knowledge of the working of the human mind are sharply divided. Some psychologists believe that his theory is universally correct and his work that of a genius. Others consider that he has made an important contribution but the work is outdated and culturally biased so that, at the very least, it requires considerable modification before it sheds any light on the causes of human behaviour. Yet other psychologists dismiss Freud‘s theory as a work of complete fiction, which is non-scientific rubbish, an insult to women and, as such, has no place in modern psychological theory.
Freud began his career as an ordinary doctor, specialising in neurology. He came across many patients suffering from a disorder called hysteria; which involved a complex combination of many complaints such as total or partial blindness or deafness, paralysis of various parts of the body, uncontrollable trembling, tics, distortions, gaps in memory. There was no organic cause of these symptoms, they were psychological in origin. This does not mean that the patients were in any way pretending or faking, their symptoms were real enough and often caused considerable suffering. These symptoms sometimes disappeared once they had recalled various distressing incidents and feelings of guilt and anxiety, which seemed related to them The patients had not been aware of these feelings but they had nevertheless had a profound effect on their behaviour. It was the detailed
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study of these patients which initiated Freud‘s work on human personality and its deveIopment. Anna O, a patient of Breuer, was one of these case studies. Freud’s theory of Personality Freud likened the mind to an iceberg, only the tip of which can seen above the surface of the water. The remainder is hidden Freud believed that people are only aware of a small part of themselves and that the greater part of the mind, the unconscious, which houses our deepest thoughts, fears, passions and unspeakable yearnings, is hidden from us. Freud distinguished between: the conscious mind, which consists of all the mental processes, of which we are aware, the pre-conscious mind which contains all the memories that are not at present in the conscious, but have not been repressed. These can be brought into consciousness without much effort given the right conditions. The preconscious is a great deal closer to the conscious than it is to the unconscious, the unconscious mind, which contains material that is too threatening to be permitted access to the conscious. According to Freud, the unconscious mind, full of hidden forces, has much more influence over our behaviour than does our conscious mind.
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The Structure of Personality Freud conceived of the personality and mind as composed of three major systems:- the id, the ego, and the superego. The Id: This is the only part of the personality that exists at birth and, basically, it wants everything its own way. It consists of inherited instincts and is, eventually, entirely unconscious. The id operates according to the pleasure principle. It seeks to reduce tension, avoid pain and obtain pleasure without consideration for other people or for society‘s rules. It springs from what Freud held to be two instinctive drives that all humans possess: Eros: the life or sexual instincts which are fuelled by psychic energy called libido and which consists of all life-preserving and lifeenhancing desires including sexual urges and needs such as being warm, comfortable and well-fed. Thanatos: the death or aggressive instinct which will attack anyone or anything that interferes with gratification of the libido.
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These drives amuse the id to a state of excitement and uncomfortable tension. To satisfy the libido, the id seeks complete possession of everything that it wants and loves. To satisfy the drive for aggression, it would like to destroy everything that gets in the way. So if a person we love is stopping us getting what we want, and especially if they are preventing us having someone else we love entirely to ourselves, we will want to destroy that person, although we will not recognise this consciously. The conscious mind might find it inconsistent to love and hate a person at the same time, but Freud believed that conflicting emotions could dwell side by side in the id. As we grow up we learn to control the demands of the id, at least after a fashion, but it remains active and powerful throughout life: a sort of ‗beast within‘. Although it is unconscious and we are not aware of its workings, it continues to struggle to relieve its tensions and find instant gratification. We can never rid ourselves of our instinctive desires; they are always there no matter how heavily disguised they may become. The Ego: This is the second system to emerge (from around the age of two years) and is the conscious part of the mind; the ‗real‘ us as we like to think of ourselves. The ego acts as a kind of referee between society and the id. It operates according to the reality principle, taking account of what is practical and possible as well as what is urged. The ego, said Freud, ‗represents reason and good sense‘ (1923). It tries to help us get along in the world; it allows the id satisfaction to the extent that it considers reasonable but when the id‘s demands threaten to get us rejected by society, then we feel anxious and threatened. When the ego senses that improper impulses are rising into awareness, it may use psychological weapons to prevent them surfacing and thereby relieve tension: these are known as defence mechanisms and we will consider these in more detail later. The Superego: The superego is the Iast part of the personality to emerge (at around the age of four or five years) and it operates according to the morality principle. As we grow up, our parents or caregivers make more and more demands on us to ‗behave ourselves‘, to act in a socially acceptable way and to have consideration for others The superego is the part of the personality that eventually takes over the part of the parents in telling us from inside our own heads how we should behave. It represents the internalisation of moral standards. The superego consists of two parts: the ego-ideal and the conscience. The ego- ideal tells us what we should be and do; the conscience tells us what we should not be and do. The superego then, makes us feel good and proud when we do something well and feel miserable, guilty and shameful when we go against the rules. Since the parents are the means through which we develop control over the id, you can appreciate how Freud‘s theory places great emphasis on the influence of parental attitudes and moral values on the formation of our personality. The superego is mainly unconscious and exerts a far greater influence over our behaviour than we realise.
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Different personalities: Freud believed that the healthy personality must keep all systems in balance. If the id is too strong a person is likely to be selfish, impulsive and antisocial. Someone who is too controlled by the superego is likely to be rigid, moralistic and authoritarian. Someone with a weak ego is unable to balance personal needs and wishes with social duties and realistic limitations and may suffer from vague and unwarranted feelings of guilt and unworthiness.
The Dynamics Of Personality Freud maintained that within everyone there is a certain amount of psychic energy and this takes the form of attachments, conflicts and motivations. Freud believed that psychological energy was another form of physical energy and as such obeyed the same rules. According to Freud, the psychic energy within us is never lost or gained, it simply moves around and may be changed into a different form. It may move from one emotion to another (for example from love to hate), from one motive to another (for example, from thinking to talking) but the actual amount of energy remains the same It is because this energy is constantly on the move that the theory is called a psychodynamic theory. Freud believed that energy that is blocked from direct expression must be displaced onto a substitute The displacement of energy from one object to another is a main principle of Freud‘s psychodynamic theory of personality. Personality differences in tastes, habits, attitudes and behaviour patterns stem from the way people displace energy from instinctual processes which cannot be expressed directly.
Defence Mechanisms The three parts of the personality are often in conflict and Freud regarded conflict as the core of personality As mentioned earlier, the ego tries to balance the id and the superego and in order to do this it uses defence mechanisms. All defence mechanisms have two things in common: They distort or deny reality they are unconscious. The behaviour resulting from defence mechanisms is, therefore, also largely unconscious. For example, if you are unable to express your anger towards someone you love because you are frightened of jeopardising the relationship, then you may express this anger on one occasion by blasting your horn at another motorist. You are unaware of the real source of your anger, you simply think that the idiot in the car in front has no right to a driving licence. In terms of the dynamics mentioned earlier, the anger has not disappeared (because energy cannot be lost or gained) but it has transferred from the person you love onto the motorist. Freud believed that slips of the tongue, serious mental disarray, dreams and fantasies in working or sleeping are all caused by unconscious processes. It is important to recognise
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that everyone uses defence mechanisms (after all, we all have conflict between the id, ego and superego), it is only when they are used to excess that they are symptomatic of mental disorder. There is no agreed list of defence mechanisms but the following are the most frequently referred to: Repression: This involves preventing unacceptable desires, motivations or emotions from becoming conscious. Repression does not mean that you consciously cover up guilty secrets; it means that you make them unconscious so that you are not even aware of them. The repressed drives do not disappear: they remain in the unconscious where they may cause emotional difficulties. They influence behaviour but not in a way of which we are aware. Denial: Denial can happen is when the ego is unable to perceive something because it is so painful or distressing. People sometimes refuse to believe events or admit they are experiencing certain emotions that provoke anxiety. For instance, a child may refuse to believe that his father is in jail; an alcoholic may deny that she is dependent on alcohol. Projection: People‘s own unacceptable faults or wishes are attributed to someone else. For example, a sexually frustrated person may interpret the innocent gestures of others as sexual advances. A boy who dislikes his father may feel anxiety about these feelings and project them onto the father, saying that his dad hates him. In the extreme, this defence mechanism becomes paranoia. Reaction formation: In an effort to reduce anxiety and to keep undesirable characteristics repressed, people may change unacceptable wishes and desires into the opposite in the conscious mind. For example, a young woman from a strict moral background, who is active in an anti-pornography campaign may be viewed by a psychoanalyst as not being able to accept her own interest in erotic materials. As a defence, she heavily criticises anything sexually provocative. Regression: Sometimes people respond to anxiety by behaving in a childish way; for example, an adult who resorts to stamping, kicking or crying. As children, this behaviour may well have been successful. People may regress to an earlier stage if they suffer a traumatic experience. An eight-year-old child whose parents are getting divorced may start thumb sucking or bedwetting. Adults occasionally reveal ‗partial fixations‘ that they never outgrow, like nail biting, and people may also regress to immature behaviour when stressed.
Rationalisation (intellectualisation): People find rational reasons (excuses) to justify actions which have unconscious motives. For example, some adults
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may gain satisfaction from beating children, but rationalise their actions by saying it‘s for the child‘s own good. Displacement: This is a means .of diverting emotions from their original source towards a less dangerous one. For example, children who feel angry with their parents cannot express this fully since the parents have physical and emotional power over them, so they may well take out their anger on a weaker person or on a toy. A student who fails an exam may blame the teacher, because admitting it was their fault would cause anxiety.
These defence mechanisms protect the ego and allow the person to cope with reality. Different personalities emerge because people differ in the defences they use, in how rigid their defences are and in whether their defences lead to healthy or disturbed feelings. The use of these defence mechanisms is, according to Freud, perfectly natural and normal. From the Freudian perspective, a healthy personality is one which has found ways to satisfy most of the id‘s demands without seriously upsetting the superego. Most of the id‘s remaining demands are repressed or contained. If, on the other hand, the ego is not good at coping or the superego is far too strict then the use of defence mechanism may become excessive. When they get out of proportion neuroses develop in the form of phobias, anxiety states, obsessions or hysteria.
TASK: Now we have looked at a variety of defence mechanisms, try the following questions. Read the accounts of behaviours below and decide which defence mechanisms are being used; choose from the following denial, repression, regression, rationalisation, projection, displacement, reaction formation, sublimation: a). ―I wouldn‘t have gone to that party even if I‘d been invited. I don‘t like that crowd.‖ b). A man who beats his wife writes a book arguing that people have an instinctive need for aggressive, behaviour. c). Tom is not famed for being the first to buy a round in the pub. In fact he is often quite reluctant to go to the bar. He often comments on how stingy others are, especially his boss who he believes should be more generous than anyone else when the office gets together for a drink. d). As a child Mary hated piano lessons but was made to continue with them. At great sacrifice, she has her daughter take expensive lessons and helps her practice every day. She feels she owes it to her daughter to give her the best
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e). A woman with doubts about her religious faith tries to convert others to her religion. f). Sue has discovered a lump in her breast but refuses to go to the doctor because she is quite sure that it is simply a cyst like the one her sister had the previous year. g). Sally was molested by her brother for many years but assures her friends that she adores him and thinks he is simply perfect. h). A boss takes credit for a good.idea suggested by an employee because ―It‘s better for me to take the credit so that our department will look good and all the employees will benefit‖. i). During a row with his wife, Bill hits her; this is totally out of character for him as he is usually a gentle and caring person and has always despised the use of physical violence. He leaves the house and goes on a drinking binge; again, something he has never done before. The next day he remembers nothing of what happened. j) ―I‘ve bought a new car even though I can‘t really afford it. Anyway, I‘m sure the old one would soon have needed loads of money spent on it just to keep it on the road‖. k). Someone who has difficulty dealing with certain people resorts to pouting, crying and throwing tantrums. I). Martin, a 10 year-old, is very close to his father. His dad is then sent to jail. His mother and other adult members of his family are reluctant to talk about what has happened, they simply say he‘s ‗gone away for a while‘. Martin does not press them for a fuller explanation even though he senses they are not being direct with him and he has been taunted at school to the effect that his dad is a ―wrong‘un‖. Martin ―knows‖ that his father has had to work abroad for a while.and will soon return. m). A man who is angry with his neighbour goes hunting and kills, a deer. n). Susan, a heavy smoker, insists that there is no convincing evidence that smoking impairs health. Psychosexual Stages of Development Freud thought that personality develops in a fixed series of five stages: he referred to these as psychosexual stages because he believed that the libido (the energy attached to the life/sex drive) focuses on different parts of the body or erogenous zones at different stages. (Notice that. the id, ego and superego emerge respectively at each of the first three stages). Freud believed that children would encounter conflicts during each stage of psychosexual development. Insufficient or excessive gratification in any stage could lead to fixation in that stage and to the development of certain personality characteristics. The Oral Stage: (O-2years approximately) The mouth is the focus of sensation and stimulation at this stage. Everything is explored by means of the .mouth and satisfaction is achieved by sucking and eating. People who remain fixated at the oral stage, perhaps by early weaning, may, as adults, seek constant oral gratification by such activities as smoking, drinking or overeating. Personality traits resulting from oral fixation include dependency, gullibility and optimism or pessimism. During this stage only the id is in existence.
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The Anal Stage: (2-4years, approximately) By age two the ego starts to develop as the child becomes aware of the self and recognises that she must take account of the demands of reality. During this stage the libido is directed toward the anal region. One of the most important demands made by parents at this time is that the child becomes potty trained. The general issue of self-control may become a source of conflict between parent and child. This conflict may lead to anal fixation and can lead to two very different sets of personality traits. The so called analretentive person is excessively self-controlled: he or she holds everything in (including emotions), is a perfectionist, obsessive about neatness and cleanliness and is mean and obstinate. On the other hand, the analexpulsive person is just the opposite, ‗letting it all hang out‘, careless, messy, disorganised and sometimes even sadistic. The Phallic Stage: (4-6 years, approximately) At this stage sexual sensation is focused on the penis for boys and the clitoris for girls. The child, said Freud, wishes to posses the parent of the opposite sex and get rid of the parent of the same sex. Children of this age often announce that they will marry mummy (or daddy) when they grow up. Freud labelled this concept the Oedipus complex after the Greek legend of King Oedipus who unwittingly killed his father and married his mother. Boys and girls go through the Oedipus complex differently. Boys desire to have their mothers entirely to themselves and take the place of the father. Feelings of lust and jealously are difficult for children to handle and cause great anxiety because the father is bigger and stronger and, above all, has the power to castrate them, causing them to suffer from castration anxiety. This causes an extreme conflict which is only resolved by the boy accepting the father‘s authority and identifying with him. Identification leads to playing the social and sexual roles of the father and internalising his values. The superego has now emerged. A case study illustrating the Oedipus conflict is that of ‗Little Hans‘. Freud never seemed to have been clear about the situation for girls. According to his theory, girls believe that they have already been castrated and they blame their mother for this ‗castration‘; they feel inadequate because of the lack of a penis and are attracted to their father because he possesses a penis. However, this brings anxiety and conflict with the mother, a situation which is resolved in the same way as it is for boys, by identification with the same sex parent, in this case with the mother. Because girls believe themselves to be already castrated they do not fear it and therefore do not have the same motivating fear to give up their Oedipal feelings. Indeed they have a lingering penis envy for the rest of their lives. (The complex in girls has been referred to as the Electra Complex, but Freud himself and most contemporary psychoanalysts speak of the Oedipus Complex for both sexes). The healthy female, said Freud, resolves penis envy by having children. The neurotic female resolves penis envy by trying to be like men, perhaps by having a career or becoming too masculine. Freud concluded that women do
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no develop the same strong superegos that men do. They feel inferior to men, are passive, vain, jealous and masochistic. You can now see why Freud‘s theory is considered to be anti-women! In both sexes the sexual feelings towards the opposite sex parent are repressed for a number of years. When they emerge during adolescence they are displaced to socially appropriate members of the opposite sex. By about age five, when the Oedipus Complex is resolved, the child‘s basic personality patterns are formed. Unconscious conflicts with parents, unresolved fixations and guilts, and attitudes toward the same and the opposite sex with continue to have a profound influence throughout adult life. The Latency Stage: (6 years – puberty) This lasts from the end of the phallic stage to the beginning of puberty. Sexuality lies dormant and children want nothing to do with the opposite sex. They develop self-confidence and learn social rules for the appropriate male and female behaviour. The Genital Stage: (puberty onwards) This stage marks the beginning of mature adult sexuality. Sexual energy is now directed towards the genitals and, eventually, sexual intercourse. Freud believed that not everyone reached this stage. The defence mechanisms of the ego and the displacement of instinctual energy may prevent people from reaching mature genital sexuality and keep them fixated on ‗immature‘ forms of sexuality. In Freud‘s view, oral or anal stimulation, masturbation and homosexual activity would all represent pre-genital fixations and immature forms of sexuality.
Study in detail - The Case of Little Hans (Freud, 1909) The case of Little Hans illustrates Freud‘s ideas concerning the existence of the Oedipus Complex and the way in which some unacceptable desires are so deeply hidden that they only ever reveal themselves in a symbolic manner. This case study is an unusual one for Freud to have used since it involves a child and most of Freud‘s work was with adults. It was carried out by correspondence between Hans‘ father and Freud. Hans was Viennese boy who, at the age of five, developed a phobia of horses; he was terrified of being bitten by a horse. Hans‘ father, a great admirer of Freud‘s work, wrote in his correspondence with Freud: ‗He is afraid a horse will bite him in the street, and this fear seems somehow connected with his having been frightened by a large penis‘ (page 185). Freud believed that this phobia was actually a fear that his father would castrate him for desiring his mother (the Oedipus conflict). The horse represents the father and biting represents castration.
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Another theme of the case is that Little Hans had, according to Freud, an unhealthy interest in his ‗widdler‘ (penis). From around the age of three years, Hans had shown a lively interest in his widdler and those of other people. He asked his mother if she had a widdler. When he was about three and a half years old, his mother told him not to touch his widdler or else she would call the doctor to come and cut it off. Around this time, Hans‘ mother gave birth to a baby girl of whom Hans showed a degree of jealousy. Both the father and the baby sister had a claim on his mother‘s attention which diminishes the time spent with him. In support of the idea that the horse represented the father, it has been pointed out that: • Hans was particularly afraid of white horses with black around the mouth and wearing blinkers; his father was fair with a dark moustache and glasses. • On one occasion, Hans asked his father not to trot away from him. • The boy and father played ‗horses‘ together. One further theme helps the analysis of the case. This arose when Hans was playing with dolls and ‗having children‘. His father commented that a boy cannot have children and Hans said that Mummy was the children‘s mummy, Hans was their daddy and Han‘s grandfather was the grandfather. His father was not given a role in Han‘s fantasy family. Hans‘ father spent a good deal of time talking to him about Freud‘s interpretation of his phobia, which is much more complex than is indicated here. According to Freud, as Hans‘ fears and fantasies were made known to him, Hans was able to resolve them and pass into adult life with no apparent serious problems.
Evaluation of Little Hans (Freud, 1909) Positive points This study provides a detailed description of the events in childhood that might result in the development of a phobia. In more general terms, it provides insight into the minds of children and into the underlying causes of their behaviour. It offers a compassionate way of looking at fears and other problems. There is an impressive amount of evidence, that the horse symbolised the father.
Negative points This is a.single case study so the results cannot be generalised to other people. There is little empirical evidence that the cause of the phobia was Hans‘ relationship with his father. There are more obvious interpretations of the data. For example, a learning theorlst would suggest that the phobia was caused as a result of Hans being terrified when the horse reared up in front of him, especially as some of the 18
adults tipped from the carriage were reputedly screaming. By classical conditioning this could very easily induce a phobia in Little Hans.
Evaluation of Freud’s Theory Positive Points 1. Freud‘s work helped to show that events early in a person‘s life can have profound effects on their behaviour in adulthood. Although many psychologists, including some later psychodynamic theorists, believe that Freud put too much emphasis on the early years and that be underestimated children‘s ability to recover from early trauma, nevertheless he was instrumental in making people aware of the emotional needs of children and the damage that might be done by neglecting them. Freud believed that education should be less concerned with controlling people and more concerned with encouraging self-awareness Unfortunately, this as not an idea that is greatly respected in our education system, even today 2. Freud‘s theory was formulated at a time when many people still regarded psychological problems as signs of possession by the Devil or evil spirits. Freud argued that psychological disorders stem from problems within the individual, not evil spirits. This thinking contributed to the development of compassion for, and methods of helping, people whose behaviour is abnormal.
3. Freudian theory requires that people acknowledge their sexuality and their aggressive urges rather than denying their existence. He has helped us to recognise that there is a difference between acknowledging these urges and acting on them. 4. Through his ideas such as the unconscious mind and defence mechanisms, Freud made us realise that we are not always consciously aware of the reasons why we behave as we do. Whether or not we subscribe to every defence mechanism or interpret our behaviour in terms of Freudian theory, we do acknowledge that our thinking, can be distorted by attempts to deal with guilt and anxiety.
Negative Points 1. Freud‘s theory of emotional development is derived largely from the study of adults with emotional disorders. His sample is therefore extremely unrepresentative consisting mainly of disturbed, middleclass, Viennese women. His emphasis on sexuality may have arisen from the atmosphere of sexual repression that was common all over Europe in the Victorian era.
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2. The evidence Freud used to support his theory of the unconscious and the structure of the psyche all came from the dreams and associations of his patients and Freud‘s own self-analysis. It is not always easy to prove what really happened in a person‘s childhood and therefore how it affects their personality.
3. The theory is non-scientific. Scientific theories lead to certain predictions; if these fail, the theory is refuted. Freud‘s theory is nonscientific because, firstly, you cannot make predictions from it and, secondly, it cannot be refuted (proved wrong). As far as predictions are concerned, take as an example a boy, raised by a harsh rejecting mother and a weak father. What will the boy be like as an adult? Will he seek dominating women who will degrade him as his mother did, or will he try to find a warm, comforting wife upon whom be can become dependent and thus make up for the mothering he never had as a child? There is no way of predicting on psychoanalytic grounds. With respect to prediction, Freud used retrospective data: he worked backwards and explained the present in terms of past experiences. The reason why the theory cannot be refuted is that, whatever the outcome of a situation, it is possible to explain it according to Freudian theory. N.B. – it is important to note that the syllabus specifically states that students should be able to evaluate Freud‘s theory in terms of its credibility – see Angles p105-7 for notes on believability and evidence, and note particularly the 3 criticisms put forward by Masson (1989) in the Brain textbook p75. These points also need to be recalled for evaluation of Freud‘s theory of gender development and of the effectiveness of psychoanalysis. Theories of Gender Development Biological theories of gender development argue that gender is acquired genetically through the inheritance of X or Y chromosomes from the biological father. This leads to the release of certain hormones, which trigger the development of male or female sex organs and, usually make or female gender behaviour as adults. The Social Learning Theory of gender development argues that gender is learned through observation, reinforcement and modelling. This is called observational learning. Children watch others and model the behaviour of those who are rewarded for their behaviour and those who they perceive are popular, successful and often of the same gender. Children may also be rewarded themselves for appropriate gender role behaviour and so repeat that behaviour, therefore they acquire gender specific behaviour through learning that it will be rewarded or by learning to copy the behaviour of others. Psychoanalytic theory Freud‘s psychoanalytic theory, emerging in the 1890s, proposed a more psychological view of sexuality and gender. In Freud‘s view, humans have sex
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more for pleasure than for reproduction. Human sexual behaviour and gender need to be explained psychologically, not biologically. Evolutionary explanations of gender in terms of different reproductive strategies will not suffice. Freud doubted that gender had any significant innate basis. In his view, infants are effectively non-gendered at birth, but during the phallic phase of development (around 4 or 5 years old) they undergo the Oedipus complex, and from this experience they construct their gender as masculine or feminine. The Oedipus complex is an emotional tangle involving the child and their parents. Oedipus was a character from Greek mythology who inadvertently killed his father and married his mother. Freud suggested that every little boy harbours unconscious desires to do the same to his own parents. The boy’s tale - Freud first outlined the Oedipus complex as boys experience it (Freud 1905; 1909; 1924). According to Freud, the boy‘s primary love object is the one who feeds and nurtures him - the mother. During the phallic stage, the boy‘s erotic drive or libido invests even more strongly in the mother. He becomes possessive of her and wants to be the centre of her life. This brings him into rivalry with the father, leading to feelings of hostility to the father. The boy feels guilty about these feelings, and is afraid that the father will retaliate and punish him by castration. (The boy fears for his genitals because at the phallic stage libidinal energy is focused on the genitals, and it is his libido that has got him into this mess.) Usually, the boy resolves this terrifying ordeal by renouncing his desire for his mother, and identifying with his father — effectively making a deal with himself that if he grows up to be like dad, then one day he will marry a woman like mum. This leads to the boy developing a strong masculine gender identity (to be like his father) and a strong Superego or conscience (telling him I must not desire mum, I must not hate dad). At adolescence, when he enters the mature genital phase, his libido commits him to heterosexuality. A less common resolution is to avoid rivalry with the father by becoming more like the mother. This leads to a feminised gender identity and can lead to homosexuality. The girl’s tale - Later, Freud (1925; 1931 b; 1 932c) outlined the female version of the Oedipus complex. This is more complicated. The girl‘s primary love object is also the mother (the one who feeds and nurtures her), but then her libido starts to invest in the father as well. On top of that, her desires towards her father are complicated. She is possessive and wants to be the centre of his life, but she also wants to be like him and have what he has — i.e, masculinity. In Freud‘s view, girls envy the privileges society grants to the male. This is the origin of Freud‘s notorious idea of female penis envy — not the sexist insult it is usually taken to be, but a recognition that girls resent the social demotion to ‗second class citizens‘ they experience through not having a penis. Freud suggested that girls blame their mothers for making them
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female and denying them the privileges of their brothers, and this leads to feelings of guilt and fear of the loss of the mother‘s love. Unlike the boy‘s oedipal experience, which is terrifying and threatening and needs to be firmly resolved, the girl‘s oedipus complex is confusing and depressing, and usually remains largely unresolved. As a result, the female gender identity is more complicated than the male. Typically,she identifies with her mother and is ‗feminine‘, without giving up a desire and ability to take on masculine traits. She does not firmly renounce any desires, so her Superego is less rigid. Having two love objects — mother and father — she is capable of erotic involvement with both sexes later in life. Just to complicate things even further, Freud suggests that the female has two sex organs, the clitoris and the vagina. She explores the pleasures of her clitoris during the phallic phase, but only discovers the pleasures of vaginal sex as a young adult. Clitoral sex is masturbatory and ‗active‘, whereas vaginal sex is penetrative and ‗passive‘. As a result, female sexual pleasures are more varied than those of the male. Freudian theory sees gender as constructed by the individual, not as innate or as the result of socialisation. Although Freud identified ‗classic‘ masculine and feminine identities, he recognised that the presence of siblings — brothers and sisters — can complicate matters, and that each individual has a different experience and arrives at their own version of masculinity or femininity.
Psychoanalytic Gender theories - After Freud Melanie Klein - One of the most important psychoanalytic theorists of gender after Freud was Melanie Klein. Klein (1928; 1932) was one of the founders of object relations theory. In her view, the centre of a child‘s psychic life is not their libido, but their relationship with their mother. Klein suggested that the child becomes an individual through a series of stages of separation from the mother, of which physical birth is the first step. The child‘s deepest fear is to be reabsorbed into the mother‘s body. During the oedipal crisis the child seeks the ‗flight to the father‘ as a liberation from this threat of reabsorbtion. The point is that boys can make this escape, identify with the father and become masculine. Girls however, cannot fully escape the mother. They cannot identify with the father, because they are female, and remain enmeshed psychologically with the mother, hence feminine. Klein‘s ideas had a big effect on feminist psychoanalytic theory in the USA.
Dorothy Dinnerstein (1977) suggests that both sexes fear the power of the mother and the danger of reabsorbtion. Once boys have escaped the mother, they fear being drawn back into her power, and grow up with a fear of female power and a desire to control women. Girls, unable to fully escape, grow up
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feeling mentally dominated by the mother, and look for male partner to take control and free her from this domination. Hence both sexes are complicit in male domination of women in society.
Nancy Choderow (1978) suggests the boy has the easy job. He identifies with the father and breaks completely from the mother — independent from her as a person, and opposite to her in gender. Identity is achieved through separation, but the price paid is that males become self-contained and fear intimacy as a threat to their identity as male. The girl, however, has the much harder job of becoming independent as a person, since she remains the same sex and gender as the mother. Many girls fail to separate fully from the mother and achieve complete individuality. They grow up with a fear of separation and a tendency to over-relate and be dependent on others.
Dinnerstein and Choderow both suggest that the cause of this unhappy state of affairs is that mothers play the prime role in parenting. In their view, if coparenting were more widespread, with men taking an equal role in raising the children, then the mother would not be the centre of the child‘s fears. As a result, children would grow up differently, gender roles would change, males would be less afraid of female power and better at intimacy, and females would be more confident in their own power and more independent.
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Freud Quotes
Dreams are often most profound when they seem the most crazy.
Children are completely egoistic; they feel their needs intensely and strive ruthlessly to satisfy them.
I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection.
The ego is not master in its own house Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar
Neurotics complain of their illness, but they make the most of it, and when it comes to taking it away from them they will defend it like a lioness her young.
The interpretation of dreams is the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind.
The conscious mind may be compared to a fountain playing in the sun and falling back into the great subterranean pool of subconscious from which it rises.
What progress we are making. In the Middle Ages they would have burned me. Now they are content with burning my books. 24
Evaluation of the Psychoanalytic Theory of Gender
The standard criticism of psychoanalytic approaches can be summarised by the following question — Where is the evidence? o For example, critics have argued that the Oedipus complex lacks hard evidence from laboratory studies and from other research methods which produce quantitative data. However, ‗softer‘ evidence can be found. For example, Western literature is full of oedipal themes — from Shakespeare‘s Hamlet (circa 1601), Gothic texts like Ann Radcliffe‘s Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), Jane Austen‘s novels, Bram Stoker‘s Dracula (1897), D.H. Lawrence‘s Sons and Lovers (1913) to modern novels like Thomas Harris‘s The Silence of the Lambs (1989). The following studies have been used to criticise psychoanalytic approaches. First, children raised by their mothers in lone-parent families and by lesbian couples show no difference in gender identity and gender roles than those raised by heterosexual couples (Golombok et al., 1997). Psychoanalytic theory implies that there would be differences. Second, there is evidence of gender identity in infants well before the phallic stage. For example, infant boys usually prefer ‗masculine‘ toys and girls ‗feminine‘ toys (O‘Brien et al., 1983). This suggests that the learning of gender identities and roles may be well underway before the oedipal complex is supposed to be experienced.
Key Issue – The Effectiveness of Psychoanalysis in treating Abnormal and Normal Clients The psychodynamic approach has been particularly influential in the field of mental health. Fundamental to the theory is that it has provided an understanding of abnormal behaviour and a means by which to treat it. As we have seen, Freud started his work by trying to help people with serious psychological problems. In trying to find the root causes of their problems, he constructed a theory which, he believed, was universal and applied as much to normal functioning as it does to abnormal functioning. Everyone passes through the same psychosexual stages and may experience problems in successfully negotiating them, everyone experiences conflict between the Id, ego and superego, everyone needs to use defence mechanisms in order to cope with the anxiety caused by this conflict. It is when these conflicts become excessive and remain unresolved that mental disorder results. According to Freud, a behaviour can be understood only if you know how it developed in the person‘s early life. Both normal and abnormal behaviour have their roots in the early years when the basic structure of the personality is laid down. Central to the psychodynamic approach, then, is the idea that the way to understand a person is to explore their past experiences. The early interactions between children‘s primitive drives and their social environment
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(particularly reIationships with parents) set the pattern for later adjustment and of coping with anxiety. Freud worked almost exclusively with disturbed adults so it may, at first, seem odd that he used this as the basis of forming a whole theory of child development. However, this was because the search for the causes of his patients‘ disturbances usually led to traumatic, unresolved sexual experiences of childhood. The distant past showed itself in the present, in the form of dreams, in excessive anxiety and in the overuse of defence mechanisms. How do experiences in the early stages of development lead to mental health problems in later life? Let us take an example from each of the psychosexual stages. By far the most influential and significant event in the oral stage is the formation of the attachment to the mother or mother-figures. Freud described this relationship as ―unique, without parallel, established unalterably for a whole lifetime, as the first and strongest love-object and as the prototype of all later love-relations‖. If this attachment is not satisfactorily formed then the consequences for later life are dire (as documented in Bowiby‘s theory of attachment). Children who are insecure in their relationship with their mother because she was neglectful, unreliable, abusive or generally uncaring may never form satisfactory adult relationships. They are liable to show such abnormal patterns of behaviour as being, detached and unresponsive, unable to form intimate relationships with others. Or they may be very Insecure and anxious, obsessively jealous of anyone with whom they become intimately involved, incapable of any degree of healthy independence. Failure to pass satisfactorily through the anal stage brings a different set of problems. For example, the unsatisfied urge to soil may be transformed by the defence mechanism of reaction formation into obsessive-compulsive disorder in which the affected individual is continuously washing his or her hands. As for the phallic stage, you can probably appreciate how fraught with difficulties it is. In psychoanalytic sessions, Freud found powerful and lasting influences from this stage. For example, the failure to resolve the Oedipal conflict could result in phobias with the fear of the father displaced onto some other object or situation. Women in psychoanalysis often had disturbed sexual fantasies that could be ‗traced back to failure to resolve their attraction to the father. In order to fully appreciate the link between psychodynamic theory and mental health, it is essential that we consider what is the most important applied aspect of the approach, the psychodynamic treatment of mental disorders, known as psychoanalysis. The underlying philosophy behind this therapy is that it is essential to uncover the repressed memories, fears and conflicts in the unconscious mind, since once they are consciously acknowledged, they can no longer cause mental distress. Psychoanalysis is a long-term procedure that uses four basic techniques to reach the unconscious:
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1. free association - the patient relaxes comfortably and says literally anything that comes to mind, no matter how personal or embarrassing. Interpretations of this material by the analyst provides insight into the unconscious and, eventually, the type of defence mechanism being used. 2. analysis of resistance - because the patient‘s unconscious mind attempts to block unacceptable motives, the analyst can use any evidence of ‗resistance‘ (such as hesitation in free association) to help reveal unconscious conflicts The analyst makes a careful note of hesitations, the mind going ‗blank‘ or upset and analyses the words or incident associated with this ‗blocking‘ until the conflict can be revealed..
3. dream analysis - the analyst uncovers the disguised meanings of the dream and thereby provides the patient with insight into the motives and feelings which are causing anxiety. Find out what Freud meant by the manifest and latent content of the dream and what dreamwork consists of. 4. transference - as therapy progresses, the clients redirect the feelings they had for parents onto the analyst, thereby re-enacting early conflicts. In a sense, what is happening is that the patient is recreating an earlier neurosis that, in a therapeutic environment, can be resolved.
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Study in Detail – Effectiveness of psychoanalytical therapies (Bachrach et al., 1991)
By using a meta-analysis of many other studies‘ findings, the researchers were able to draw overall conclusions on the effectiveness of psychoanalysis for a range of patients with a broad range of impairment. They examined several quantitative studies of 550 people of both genders undergoing psychoanalysis in four different centres, They were studying, for example, the percentage of patients finishing the treatment. They also looked at clinical follow-up studies – studying qualitative data from unstructured interviews on patients who had undergone psychoanalysis. Bachrach et al found that for patients who were suitable, there was a success rate of around 60% to 90%. Those who benefited most were those with the highest level of pre-treatment functioning (so they were able to bring more insight into the issues raised). However, only about 50% of those who were thought to be suitable actually gained insight. This is relevant because if there is benefit without the psychoanalytic insights, it could be said that the effectiveness of the treatment does not rely on psychodynamic principals. Therefore, although patients may have benefited, it might not have been because of analysis as the Psychodynamic approach sees it. Those able to have insight did benefit, but so did others, so perhaps it is not the approach to analysis that works but something about the analysis itself. Judging whether someone will benefit is not very successful, so evaluation before treatment could be improved. There were also problems regarding methodology. For example, defining terms such as ‗suitable‘ and ‗benefit‘ is not easy and was done differently in the different studies, making comparisons difficult. The validity of the data from the original studies may also be questionable as many of the analysts were students of psychoanalysis. This means that, although experienced analysts supervised the students, the patient experience may not always have been what is usual in psychoanalysis.
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Evaluating Bachrach et al (1991)
Positive Points + The meta-analysis provided strong evidence for the effectiveness of psychoanalysis, producing valuable data to inform both therapists and potential patients/ clients. The quantitative studies produced trends that provided the basis for further research. + Bachrach et al evaluated the studies from which they gathered data. They were therefore able to recognise problems with their data, which informed the conclusions. + Reliability is shown as similar results are given in different studies and circumstances and form both qualitative and quantitative data.
Negative Points -
There can be said to be low validity because the different studies operationalise terms such as ‗benefit‘ differently. It is therefore difficult to compare studies.
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Many of the analysts were students who may not have conducted appropriate or successful psychoanalysis.
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The studies analysed took place up to 30 years previously and the validity of the meta-analysis is therefore questionable, as the results may be out-dated. However…..
+ more recent studies (e.g. Leichsenring and Leibing (2007) have reached similar conclusions that promote the effectiveness of psychoanalysis.
You must be able to describe and evaluate (amrce) Bachrach et al (1991) ‘The Effectiveness of Psychoanalytic Therapies’ as a study in detail. You can then use this as evaluation material along with the arguments below to assess the efficacy of psychoanalysis.
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The Efficacy of Psychoanalysis
Positive points 1. There is a considerable body of research supporting the idea that mental health problems are rooted in stressful and traumatic childhood experiences. 2. There is also considerable evidence (for example, the extensive research of Bowlby) showing that insecure attachment in childhood has an adverse effect on adult relationships and mental health. Particular conditions that may arise from insecure attachment are depression and an affectionless personality. 3. Pychodynamic theory had an enlightening effect on attitudes. It showed how dangerous the sexually repressive ideas of the time could be to people‘s emotional welfare. Whether or not it was correct, it opened the debate on the importance of sexual and aggressive urges and the damage that might accrue if they were harshly expressed. Furthermore, because the model is based on the belief that problems in adulthood stem from adverse childhood experiences, it also strongly implies that it is essential to understand the emotional needs of children. This was a considerable change from the prevailing beliefs that children should be firmly disciplined and be ‗seen and not heard‘ and has had a very positive effect on child welfare.
Negative Points 1. The psychodynamic approach is unlikely to offer an explanation for all cases of mental disorder. There is considerable evidence that genes can predispose people to suffer certain disorders and that maladaptive learning can also account for some such conditions. 2. There is a danger when emphasising the importance of adverse early experiences in the cause of mental disorders that a culture of blame may develop in which the mother is held responsible for all such conditions. There are very many complex causes of mental health solely on poor family relationships. 3. There are also examples of false-memory-syndrome resulting from analysis (e.g. Loftus, 1997). This throws into question the credibility of the data obtained in analysis, and such cases can be traumatic and damaging for the patients and their families.
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Evidence of Practice: Short Analysis Task – A Correlational Study
Specification requirements:
One study which must be a correlational design, using two rating scales and self-report data.
Suggested practical:
Collecting data by means of a survey, using self-report data and two scales based on psychosexual stages e.g. data about own characteristics (mean, generous) compared with parental strictness (laissez faire, democratic, authoritarian). Focus on correlation and Spearman‘s test.
Notes/Suggestions for Devising and Carrying out the Study: Planning:
Study psychosexual stages and in particular the anal stage. Make a list of characteristics that might apply to type of parenting at that stage. Make a list of characteristics that might apply to a child, when an adult, fixated at the anal stage being anal retentive. Work with someone else to check the two lists — to aim for inter-judge reliability. Write a hypothesis looking for a relationship, e.g. there is a relationship between a parenting score on authoritarian characteristics (such as strict on bedtime and meal times, strict on keeping the house tidy) and an adult‘s score on characteristics (such as meanness or tidiness). The more authoritarian (strict) the parenting, the more a person is mean, tidy or well groomed. Focus on operationalising variables and identifying them (as opposed to having an IV and a DV).
Carrying out the practical
Draw up the two self-rating questionnaires making design decisions, e.g. use two separate sheets or mix the two sets of questions as a control. Questions might include: 1. ‗Tick any characteristics from this group that you think apply to you as an adult‘, e.g. mean, tidy, careful, happy, intelligent successful, generous, well-groomed, messy, attractive, boring, interesting. The main characteristics for an anal retentive personality here are mean, tidy and well groomed and these are worth 2 points each. Tidy and careful could be worth 1 point each.
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2. ‗Tick any characteristics from this group that you think applied to your parents when you were very young‘, e.g. relaxed, happy, kind, thorough, interested, strict, generous, successful, mean, unyielding, conscientious. The main characteristics for authoritarian parenting here are strict, mean and unyielding so they could have a score of 2 each. Conscientious and thorough might be worth 1 point each. Prepare the materials, including standardised instructions considering ethical issues. Choose the sampling method and the participants. Carry out the study, gathering the data.
Analysis
Calculate the scores for each participant on both scales (parent strictness and own adult characteristics). Draw up a table of the scores side by side and a scattergram of the data. Review the data to see if there appears to be a correlation or not (e.g. the line of best fit). Carry out a Spearman‘s test on the data to find the correlation coefficient. Using the relevant tables see if the test finds a significant relationship and see if the correlation (if there is one) is positive or negative.
Drawing conclusions
Produce a short report focusing on the procedure, sample, apparatus and results. Conclude the report by writing a short paragraph on the advantages and disadvantages of correlations.
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Checklist for The Psychodynamic Approach I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT
DONE REVISED
COMMENTS
Case Studies Freud‘s clinical case studies Qualitative data – analysing and evaluating Correlations as a research design Cross-sectional studies/designs Longitudinal studies/designs Ethics and credibility of Freud Sampling techniques Id, ego and superego Oral, anal, phallic, latency and Genital stages of development Oedipus and Electra complexes Gender development –comparing explanation with other approaches Conscious, preconscious and unconscious Defence mechanisms Repression Another defence mechanism in detail Little Hans study in detail One other study in detail Key Issue Practical – a correlation Evaluating correlations Spearman‘s test
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Freud Timeline - adapted from www.freud.org.uk 1856 Freud born on 6 May in Freiberg, Moravia (now known as the Czech Republic). 1859 Freud Family move from Freiberg to Leipzig (east Germany). 1860 Family settles in Vienna, Austria. 1865 Freud enters Leopoldstadter Gymnasium school. 1873 Freud hears essay 'On Nature' (attributed to Goethe). Decides to study medicine at the University of Vienna. Reads Oedipus Rex for final school examinations. 1877 Freud's first publications on intersexuality in eels and on Petromyzon. 1881 Freud graduates as doctor of medicine. 1882 Freud becomes engaged to Martha Bernays. 1882-5 Freud works in Vienna General Hospital. 1884-7 Freud researches clinical uses of cocaine. 1885-6 Freud studies under Charcot at the Salpetriere Hospital, Paris. Charcot provides new insight into hysteria and uses hypnosis. 1886 Freud sets up private practice; marries Martha Bernays. 1887 Freud treats nervous diseases in his practice; introduces hypnotic suggestion. 1891 Freud writes 'On Aphasia', about language disorders and neurology. 1893-6 Works with Josef Breuer on case histories (including that of 'Anna O') which later become 'Studies on Hysteria' (1895). 1895 Drafts 'Project for a Scientific Psychology', an attempt to work out a psychology based on neurological terms. Birth of Anna Freud (Dec 3)' 1896 First use of the term 'psychoanalysis'; death of his father. 1897 Freud's self-analysis begins, leading to the abandonment of the trauma theory of neurosis (developed with Breuer), recognition of infantile sexuality and the 'Oedipus complex'. Freud considered this time of self-analysis to be the most creative time in his life. 1899 Publishes 'The Interpretation of Dreams' in December with the publication date of '1900'. Freud's favourite book containing dozens of dream analyses on '"the royal road to the unconscious". 1901 'The Psychopathology of Everyday Life'; introduction of the 'Freudian slip'. 1905 'Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality'; 'Dora' case published (although the case dates from 1899). 'Jokes and their Relation to the Unconscious'. 1906 Freud becomes friend and colleague of the Swiss adherent of psychoanalysis, Carl Gustav Jung.
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1908 Salzburg: first International Meeting of Psychoanalysts. 1909 Freud and Jung travel to the U.S.A. and give the Clark Lectures: first lectures on psychoanalysis in America. (Freud is not enamoured of America; calls it a "big mistake".) ‘Little Hans’ case study published. 1912-3 Freud publishes 'Totem and Taboo' which explores how culture and society are rooted in the prohibition against incest, an assertion contrary to the development of Jung's studies. 1914 Jung disassociates himself from the official psychoanalytic movement, due to disagreements on aspects of Freudian theory. 1915-7 'Introductory Lectures' given. 1919 Freud observes soldiers traumatized by the war. 1920 Death of daughter, Sophie. Publishes 'Beyond the Pleasure Principle' which introduces new theories of the 'compulsion to repeat' and the concept of the 'death drive', as well as a revision of the 1900 theory of dreams as wish fulfilments. 6th International Psychoanalytic Congress held at the Hague (the first after the War). 1921 Publishes 'Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego'. 1923 'The Ego and the Id' deals with a new account of the structure of the mind, revising the 'conscious/pre-conscious/ unconscious' distinction to be found in 'The Interpretation of Dreams'. Freud diagnosed as suffering from cancer of the jaw. Freud's grandson, Heinerle, dies. Freud writes: "I don't think I have ever experienced such grief.. Fundamentally everything has lost its meaning for me." 1926 'Inhibitions, Symptoms and Anxiety'. Freud makes anxiety the cornerstone of his developmental theory. 1927 'The Future of an Illusion'. A consideration of the origins and function of religion. Freud, here, explicitly states his atheism. 1930 'Civilization and its Discontents.' A profoundly pessimistic account of the irreconcilability of personal drives and the demands of society. 1932 'Why War?' - an exchange of letters with Albert Einstein. 1933 Freud's books, along with other psychoanalytical works, publicly burned by the Nazis in Berlin. "Against the soul-destroying glorification of the instinctual life, for the nobility of the human soul! I consign to the flames the writings of the school of Sigmund Freud" 1936 Freud's 80th birthday. Honoured by the Royal Society in Britain who make him a corresponding fellow. 1938 Freud moves to 20, Maresfield Gardens, London NW3 (now the Freud museum). Continues work, seeing patients and finishing 'Moses and Monotheism' and 'An Outline of Psychoanalysis'. 1939 Dies in London on 23 September . 1942 Freud' s sister Adolphine dies in Theresienstadt transit camp. Mitzi, Rosa and Paula transported to Treblinka extermination camp.
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