psychodynamic approach Flashcards
3 approaches
-influences of childhood experiences are all important
-the belief in an unconscious mind
-the tripartite personality
SEE influences of childhood experiences
theorist suggest that due to the underdevelopment of structures such as the ego, a child is extremely vulnerable to the initiation of conflicts at this time. Freud said that during childhood we go through the psychosexual stages of development.(anal,oral,genital,phallic,latency) fixation or frustration is likely to have a lasting impact on the Childs personality. e.g the anal stage occurs at age 1-3 years. frustration could be caused by early/harsh potty training, leading to an anally-sensitive adult personality. this could lead to things like OCD, stubbornness and being tight fisted
SEE tripartite personality
freud believed the adult personality was structured into 3 parts, the id/ego and superego
the id is the unconscious part, present from birth. it is selfish and is motivated by the pleasure principle. it seeks to gain pleasure and satisfaction at any cost. the ego is the conscious and rational part develops at age 2. its job is to work out realistic ways of satisfying the id. motivated by the reality principle. the superego forms at around 4 years old, it is the sense of right and wrong. the superego seeks to perfect and civilise our behaviour. freud suggests that in a healthy person all three of these components would be balanced. if the id is the strongest the individual will show abnormal behaviour where they are selfish and impulsive. however if the superego is strongest, this would leave the individual to possibly develop anxiety which could develop into phobia, depression or OCD
SEE unconscious mind
Freud suggested the mind has 3 parts- conscious (contains thoughts that focus our attention) preconscious (what can be retrieved from memory) and the unconscious (what really causes behaviour) the mind is like an iceberg.
an unconscious mind contains the drives, urges, wishes and thoughts of all our experiences, these make up the largest part of our mind. we have ego defence mechanism which are unconscious psychological processes that help an individual cope with anxiety from a stressful environment (repression, denial, projection, displacement and regression)
denial involves ignoring the reality to avoid anxiety as a way to cope. e.g a smoker who may refuse to admit to themselves that smoking is bad for their health
Freewill/determinist
SW
determinist
weakness
why is the psychodynamic approach determinist
freud views human behaviour as being a product of internal forces we have no control over. individual behaviour isn’t due to choice but instead childhood experiences and urges that exist in our unconscious mind we do not choose our childhood experiences, we have no say in who we become
Reductionist/hollistics
S/W
psychodynamicc
both
strength
why is the psychodynamic approach reductionist
it simplifies complex human behaviour down to the mechanisms of the mind and childhood experiences. it ignores other influences on behaviour such as genetics
psychodynamic approach hollistic
why?
freud would always look to identify complex and individual explanations using psychoanalysis techniques
prac applications
S/W
pschodynamic
yes
strength
dossman et al
practical application
psychodynamic approach
dossman et al. found in a study of 66 patients that psychoanalysis decreased medical visits by 30% lost work days by 40%
idiographic/nomothetic
S/W
psychodynamic
both
strength
nomothetic
psychodynamic
Freuds theories involved key concepts which are common to all of thus and ultimately determine behaviour (id..)
psychodynamic
idiographic
each patient needs to be considered individually
experiences in childhood and defence mechanisms that are different
psychodynamic
nature/nurture
S/W
interactionist
strength
interactionist psychodynamic approach
freud claimed that behaviour is due to innate drives (nature) and childhood experiences (nurture) influence of nurture comes in the form of psychosexual stages. id is the biologically determined aspect of our personality
psychodynamic scientific/non-scientific
S/W
non
weakness
non-scientific
psychodynamic approach
it relies on case studies to verify its proposal
case studies are very specific, so it’s impossible to generalise from one case to the next
e.g the id and psychosexual stages are impossible to test and falsify.
what does freud describe dreams as
the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind
what does freud believe about dreams
that the barriers to the unconscious mind are lifted. the imagery during the dream are a reflection of this unconscious material.
what can we find out by analysing the contents of dreams
therapist might be able to identify conflicts that the clients has repressed into their unconscious mind
what does freud believe that dreams do
protect the sleeper
what did freud believe that all dreams were
the unconscious filfilment of wishes, these can’t be satisfied in the conscious mind
freuds first assumption about dreams
they have a obvious content that the client can recall. the manifest content
what is the manifest content
things we can remember
freuds second assumption about dreams
beneath the manifest content the actual meaning of the dream could be revealed through therapists interpretation. latent content
example of latent/manifest content
a penis (latent) may be represented by a snake or gun (manifest)
how did freud believe we should understand the meaning of dreams symbols
believed it was necessary to consider them in context of a persons life
did freud believe every dream had a meaning
no, he said ‘sometimes a cigar is just a cigar’
what is the process of dreamwork
was the progress which the latent content was disorted into the manifest content. happen by displacement
what is diplacement
where freud refers to a dream where the client was strangling a white dog. free association had revealed tensions between the client and her sister-in-law and freud concluded that in the dream the client had subsituted the dog for her sister-in-law
what is the role of the therapist
reverse the dream work process, to decode the manifest content back to the latent content
they should offer carious interpretations based on the patients feedback and knowledge of their life experiences
how do psychodynamic assumptions apply to dream analysis
main assumption is that we behave the way we do largely because of unconscious drives. dream analysis aims to make the ‘unconscious conscious’ so that people gain insight into their unresolved conflicts.
freud proposed that one way the unconscious mind can express itself is through dreams.
effectiveness strengths of dream analysis
support for Freud’s link between dreaming and primary-process thinking
solms
evidence to back up the link between dream and primary process thinking
solms (2000) used PET scans to highlight the parts of the brain that are active during dreaming. found that the ego (rational and conscious thought) becomes suspended while the id is given free reign
effectiveness weaknesses of dream analysis
much of the research into dreaming is done in sleep laboratories.
questioned whether the results are authentic as when patient is under normal conditions. we cannot conclude whether dreaming is the same in everyday life. ecological validity is low
another effectiveness weakness of dream analysis
interpreting the manifest content and coming up with the latent content is subjective to the therapists interpretations. this might not be reliable information. it is not very scientific
ethical weakness of dream analysis
confronting clients with distressing material could cause significant upset. although this might be necessary for recovery the distress caused might be greater than the amount of distress the client is already experiencing. psychologist may be failing to protect their clients from harm
another ethical weakness of dream analysis
the imbalance of power between the therapist and the client. the patient is dependent on the therapist to make any progress in their therapy, may create a power imbalance and an over-reliance on the therapist. e.g people who have depression have a tendency to rely on important people in their lives. this may lead to a patient feeling helpless and could potentially prolong suffering
application of the psychodynamic approach to relationship
1- Bowlby said that our adult relationships are predictable based on our early childhood experiences/relationships with our primary caregivers. (continuity hypothesis)
2- infants develop an internal working model based on their relationship they have with their monotropic primary caregiver. acts as a template to all future relationships
3- hazan and shaven used the love quiz to asses B ideas of continuity where pps where used about their experiences of love and how they remembered their parents as children
4- a strong relationship was found between childhood attachment and adult relationships
5- securely attached infants remembered the mums as warm and caring, they are more likely to form secure enduring happy relationships. avoidant remembered mothers as cold and rejecting and avoided intimacy in adulthood. resistant fell in love easily
classic evidence psychodynamic approach
bowlby’s 44 juvenile thieves
psychodynamic classsic evidence
methodology
-case studies
-control group
- 88 children in total (experimental & control)
-44 children who showed anti-social behaviour and stole. 31 boys and 13 girls. control group were from he same clinic but had not stole. controls were of a similar age/intelligence and economic status.)
psychodynamic classic evidence
procedures
- sample was obtained through opportunity sampling,
- 44 children were given initial tests to assess their intelligence and emotional attitude.
- child and mother interviewed by a psychiatrist, information was pooled together for a diagnosis. school reports and assessments from other significant people were also considered
- child met with a psychiatrist weekly over a period of six months or more
-mothers could talk to a social worker
findings
psychodynamic
statistically significant result showing a strong association between an affection less character and stealing. 6 personality types were considered; normal, depressed, circular, hyperthymic, affectionless, schizoid
findings
psychodynamic
(table)
normal: 2
depresses: 9
circular: 2
hyperthymic: 13
affectionless: 14
schizoid: 4
findings
psychodynamic
(affectionless)
86% of the 14 affectionless thieves had experienced separations from their mother. (children who lack normal affection, shame or sense of responsibility)
findings :
examples of an affectionless character
psychodynamic
Betty I: placed in a foster home at 7 months when her parents split up. moved to lost of foster homes and spent a year in a convent before returning home at age 5. she would completely ignore her mother when she visited her in her foster home and continued when she returned home. cannot love her if she already hates her
findings:
(other factors)
psychodynamic
17 had anxious, irritable, controlling mothers
15 had fathers who hated them and expressed it openly
conclusions :
psychodynamic
- confirm that early years in a Childs life is very important in character development. damage of mother/child relationship affects the development of the superego, leading to a reduced sense of right and wrong
- juvenile crime is not just a psychological problem, also social and economic.
- after long periods of separation, mothers have described their babies as “strangers”. evidence that long separations have effects on the emotional bonds between mother and baby
psychodynamic
evaluation of method
what to talk about ?
-use of case study (S&W)
-Correlational data
- Retrospective data
-the sample
psychodynamic
evaluation of method
(case study)
S
lots of detail. bobbly would have been able to build a detailed case history of each of the pps. he would’ve been able to accurately judge and draw conclusions
psychodynamic
evaluation of method
(case study)
W
case studies look at individuals and their experiences. we are restricted into how much we can learn form these as we are unable to generalise the findings
psychodynamic
evaluation of method
(correlational data)
bowlby suggested that prolonged separations from ones primary caregiver causes the delinquency in adolescence.variable wasn’t manipulated so other tings may have been responsible for the stealing behaviours
psychodynamic approach
evaluation of methods
retrospective data
case histories were produced as a result of is in-depth interviews with the thieves and their mothers which were largely focused on events that have happened may years previously. recollections are likely to be inaccurate. bowlbys conditions are based on unreliable biased data
psychodynamic approach
evaluation of method
the sample
all 88 children were emotional disturbed. may not be appropriate to generalise behaviour to all children. may be delinquents who have no emotional disturbances, cause of their delinquency may be more social than emotional. bowlby suggests it would be useful to examine a sample of children appearing in court for stealing to determine whether all cases of delinquency has a similar explanation
psychodynamic
evaluation of procedures
what to say?
-bias
-use of interviews (S&W)
-reliability and validity of measures
psychodynamic
evaluation of procedures
bias
not to suggest that Bowlby deliberately biased his results. but he was aware each child’s developmental history so he may have unconsciously interpreted things they said in the light of what he wanted to find.
psychodynamic
evaluation of procedures
use of interviews (S)
allowed to depth and flexibility. face to face, generate questions. can delve deeper
psychodynamic
evaluation of procedures
interviews (W)
social desirability bias
pps and their mothers may not have answered truthfully to come across as more socially acceptable. this results in inaccuracy from which Bowlby is drawing conclusions
psychodynamic
evaluation of procedures
reliability and validity measures
problems with reliability and validity of most of the measures used in the study. early experiences has to be assessed by interviews with parents relying on their honesty and ability to recall accurately. could’ve not been very accurate
evalution of findings
psychodynamic
(W)
one criticism is that Bowlby’s muddled together different experiences. fro example separation alone might not be the cause for long-lasting damage.
evaluation of findings
psychodynamic
strength
spitz and wolf (1946) studied 100 children who became depressed after they were separated from caregivers by hospital admissions. noted children generally recovered if the separation was less than 3 months. but they rarely recovered if it was longer
ethical issue
classic evidence-psychodynamic
what would you talk about
-confidentiality
-informed consent
ethical issue CE
psychodynamic
(confidentiality)
pps weren’t given confidentiality. the report gives name and case history of their lives. making it easy to identify the individuals. details of their therapy sessions were also published where they should’ve been confidential
ethical issue CE
psychodynamic
(informed consent)
pps in Bowlby’s research hadn’t given fully informed consent for their data ti be used. the children & there families were seen at the clinic from 1936-1939, report wasn’t published until 1994. this suggests children weren’t aware of their involvement in a study. children also cannot give valid consent.
social implications CE
psychodynamic
what would I include
SAHM
shared parental leave
cost of childcare
social implications CE
psychodynamic
SAHM
Bowlbys research is extremely controversial and likely to scaremonger mothers into giving up their careers the back of such conclusions, mothers are likely to question if leaving their children for work is likely to result in deviant individuals
social implications CE
psychodynamic
shared parental leave (S)
maternity leave allows mothers to bond with their newborn babies. from April 2015 it’s possible for mothers and fathers to share leave after the birth of baby up to 12 months. change reflects a change in societal views that children need to have secure relationships with both parents and also eases pressures off mothers
social implications CE
psychodynamic
cost of childcare (W)
if mothers do choose to ignore Bowlby’s conclusions and return to work after starting a family, there’s a large cost. many mothers may wish to return to work, but to do so would not be financially viable
what are ego defines mechanisms
unconscious psychological processes that help and individual cope with anxiety resulting from a stressful environment
example of an ego defines mechanism
denial which involves ignoring the reality to avoid anxiety as a way to cope. an example of denial would be a smoker who may refuse to admit to themselves that smoking is bad for their health
