eval Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory

Question 1

Oedipus Complex

Answer 1

Oedipus Complex
- Limited support for the role of the Oedipus complex in gender development.
- Freud’s explanation of gender development means that, for boys, ‘normal’ development depends on being raised by at least one male parent.
- George Rekers and Shasta Morey (1990) rated the gender identity of 49 boys aged 3-11 years based on interviews with their families and the children themselves. Of those who were judged to be ‘gender disturbed, 75% had neither their biological father nor a substitute father living with them.
- This suggests that being raised with no father may have a negative impact upon gender identity - in line with what Freud’s theory would predict.

Question 2

Counterpoint

Answer 2

Counterpoint
- Generally, though, the relationship between absent fathers and problems of gender identity is not supported.
- A study by Henny Bos and Theo Sandfort (2010) compared data from 63 children where both parents were lesbians and 68 children from ‘traditional families’.
- Children raised by lesbian parents felt less pressure to conform to gender stereotypes and were less likely to assume their own gender was superior, but there were no differences in terms of psychosocial adjustment or gender identity.
- This contradicts Freud’s theory as it suggests that fathers are not necessary for healthy gender identity development.

Question 3

Deterministic

Answer 3

• Very deterministic theory.
• States that all behaviour and gender development is not down to free will but due to previous conflicts in childhood. All things are controlled by unconscious concepts according to Freud.
• Compared to the biological approach, both are determinist. Cognitive approach however is more free will.

Question 4

Nature vs Nurture

Answer 4

• Quite middle ground, part nature and part nurture.
• Unconscious drives are nature.
• Influence of parents is nurture.
• More holistic therefore compared to biological or SLT.

Question 5

Female development

Answer 5

• One limitation is Fred’s inadequate account of women’s development.
• Although Freud wrote extensively about the Oedipus complex, much of the theorising on girls’ parallel development was undertaken by Carf Jung, one of Freud’s contemporaries, who also produced a psychoanalytic theory.
• Freud admitted that women were a mystery to him and his notion of penis envy has been criticised as reflecting the androcentric Victorian era during which he lived where men held so much power.
• Indeed, the feminist psychoanalyst Karen Horney (1942) argues that a more powerful emotion than penis envy is men’s experience of ‘womb envy’ - a reaction to women’s ability to nurture and sustain life.
• Horney argued that penis envy (like womb envy) was a result of cultural rather than biological factors, challenging the idea that women’s gender development is founded on a desire to want to be like a man (an androcentric bias).

Question 6

Pseudoscientific

Answer 6

• Another limitation is that the psychodynamic explanation lacks scientific credibility.
• Freud has often been criticised for the lack of rigour in his methods (using subjective case studies).
• Also, many of his concepts (such as penis envy) are untestable because they are largely unconscious.
• This contrasts sharply with other explanations of gender that are based on objective, verifiable evidence derived from controlled lab studies.
• According to the philosopher Karl Popper (1959), this makes Freud’s theory pseudoscientific (not genuine science) as his key ideas cannot be falsified. This questions the validity of Freud’s theory as it is not based on sound scientific evidence.