Freud’s Psychodynamic Approach Flashcards
Describe the key assumptions of this approach.
- The first 5 years of life are the most important in forming our personality as unsolved problems that arose in those years would affect development.
- Development occurs through stages that all children pass through - 3 stages
- Highlights the importance of the unconscious mind - the largest and most powerful part of the mind but also inaccessible (unfalsifiable)
- Everyone has an amount of energy that doesn’t increase or decrease and some of that energy is libido/sexual - born with innate drives such as sexual drives and death instinct which is important in discussing aggression
What is the unconscious mind ?
Things we are unaware of and can not become aware of e.g. instincts.
The contents are unacceptable or unpleasant e.g. anxiety.
Influences our behaviour even though we are unaware of underlying influences.
What is the conscious mind ?
The small amount of mental activity we know about e.g. thoughts.
Mental processing that we can think and talk about rationally.
What is the preconscious mind ?
Things we could be aware of if we wanted or tried to e.g. memories.
Not consciously aware of information but we can retrieve it and pull it into consciousness when needed.
What is the Id ?
The part of the mind that is present from birth that works on the pleasure principle where we are motivated to satisfy basic biological urges such as the need to eat, drink, excrete waste, avoid pain and gain sexual pleasure - it is present in the newborn infant.
What is the ego ?
Aims to satisfy the id’s desires in line with what is realistically possible considering the environment it is in, defending the conscious mind against pain or forbidden impulses by using defence mechanisms.
It works on the reality principle where the gratification of the id must be delayed until the situation is appropriate e.g. relieving the bladder.
What is the super-ego ?
This works on our moral principles judging whether our actions are right or wrong and is an internalised interpretation of the values and morals of society from our parents.
Violating moral standards causes anxiety which is unconscious but can be experienced as guilt.
Someone who has failed to internalise the moral standards will have few behavioural constraints and may engage in excessively over indulgent or criminal behaviour.
How can each component explain aggression ?
The id seeks urgent satisfaction so when this doesn’t happen aggressive urges emerge.
The ego aims to channel these urges within the constraints set by the super-ego which are morals and values provided by parents and society.
Until the super-ego is fully formed at age 5 children have no internalised moral standards causing aggression.
What is the Oedipus complex ?
- Around 5 years old a boy begins to develop an intense sexual desire for his mother.
- The desire causes the boy to reject and display aggression towards his father as he is viewed as a rival.
- Internal conflict arises in the boy as he begins to fear his father assuming that by pursuing his mother’s affection his father will hurt him and castrate him (castration anxiety).
- The boy believes the girl has already been castrated and does not want to live through the same punishment.
- To resolve this anxiety the boy internalises his father’s moral values which develops his super-ego and the competition for his mother stops.
However if this is unresolved the super-ego may be weak e.g. absent father, alternatively if the father is strict the super-ego may be so strong the urges of the id are tightly controlled causing serious problems.
What is the electra complex ?
- Around 5 years old a girl begins to develop an intense sexual desire for her father.
- The girl realises she does not have a penis and so develops penis envy.
- The girl blames her mother for her ‘castrated state’ creating tension and aggression.
- Fear of being punished causes the girl to repress her desires and internalises her mother’s values.
- Since girls don’t have a penis they are unable to develop a conscience through fear of castration, the super-egos of females are weaker and they are morally inferior.
How does Freud explain aggression in adults ?
He argues that you can only lead a stable life if the id, ego and super-ego are sufficiently balanced.
Strong id + weak superego = seek pleasure and immediate gratification regardless of the needs of others and will not be deterred by the possibility of punishment.
The individual is selfish and uncaring, full of uncontrolled aggression.
Crime and aggression could be attributed to a harsh, weak or deviant superego which inevitably leads to an imbalance between the id, ego and super-ego.
What are defence mechanisms ?
The ego must strike a balance between the id and superego and to do this it must employ defence mechanisms which allow the urges of the id to be channeled in a socially acceptable way e.g. sport.
If systems are not balanced then the following may be used:
1. Displacement - satisfying an impulse with a substitute object
2. Repression - ego stops disturbing or threatening thoughts from becoming conscious
What is Eros ?
The drive for life, love and self-satisfaction.
What is Thanatos ?
The drive for death, aggression, destruction and violence. The energy will often be redirected away from ourselves and towards others, resulting in aggression.
What is catharsis and how does it relate to aggression ?
An emotional release of unconscious conflicts so that when repressed ideas are brought into the conscious mind the feelings are released and that releases energy that was being used up meaning the person is freed from those emotions. This can be seen as a way of venting aggression which could be through watching TV or others being aggressive. It can also be a release of stress in a physical sense.
Describe a study that looks at catharsis.
Feshbach and Singer (1971) studied 652 boys aged 8-18 living in residential institutions - 3 private schools and 2 boys homes. The boys were randomly divided into 2 groups where one watched only violent programs for 6 weeks and the other watched only non-violent programs for 6 weeks. The boys who watched the non-violent media showed more aggression than the other group, this was interpreted as evidence for a catharsis view of aggression as those who saw the violent media were able to ‘let of steam’ safely by empathising.
Strengths of Freud’s theory.
- Freud’s ideas about treating mental health problems provided solutions that at the time were unavailable. Psychoanalysis addressed neuroses where previous treatments were barbaric and his treatments revolutionised treatment of mental health providing more ethical procedures.
- The theory was generated from in-depth case studies in which he looked at many aspects of a person’s background and mental state. His methods involved gathering and analysing qualitative data from various methods which gathered in depth and detailed data.
- Feshbeck and Singer (1971) used a field experiment to encourage realistic behaviour making ppts less likely to try and guess the aims of the study so there would be less chance of demand characteristics.
Weaknesses of Freud’s theory.
- Methods used to study this approach were not scientific as the data is qualitative and personal so an overall theory should not be generated from the data gathered. This lacks generalisability due to the unique nature of the patients he studied and through his use of case studies.
- The concepts are not measurable so can’t be rigorously tested. The unconscious mind is unreachable and they lack scientific credibility as the concepts can not be falsified.
- Samples were predominantly middle class Viennese women therefore any conclusions made may be specific to this sample and not representative of other classes/ cultures.
- Females have weaker super-egos yer constitute a very small percentage of the criminal population as Hoffman (1977) suggests women show stronger moral orientation at all ages.
