Psychodynamic Approach To Gender Development Flashcards
What stage does gender development occur in
Phallic stage between ages 3 to 6
Prior to reaching phallic stage what is child’s understanding
Have no concept of gender identity, described as bisexual as they are neither masculine or feminine
Outline Oedipus complex
Develop incestuous feelings towards they mother and harbour a jealous and murderous hatred for their father who stands in the way of boy possessing his mother
-but also recognises his father is more powerful and fears he may be castrated by father for his feelings towards his mother (castration anxiety)
-to resolve conflict boy gives up his love for his mother and begins to identify with his father
Outline Electra complex
-experience penis envy and see themselves and their mother as being in competition for their fathers love
-develop a double resentment towards their mother firstly being love rival standing in the way of the father and blame the mother for their lack of penis (believe mother castrated them)
-substitute desire for penis with desire for a baby, identifying with their mothers as a result
How are complexes resolved
Children identify with the same-sex parent, involves children taking on board the gender identity of same sex parent (internalisation)
Expand on limitation that there is a lack of evidence for the theory
-research support from single case study of little hans which found harsh and punitive fathers had sons who developed a more robust sense of gender identity
-Han’s behaviour may be atypical and he may not represent the behaviour of all male children, also involves subjective interpretation and selective reporting meaning findings are subject to signif bias
-explanation of male gender development may be unfounded, contemporary research found boys with more liberal fathers tended to be more secure in their masculine identity
Expand on limitation that theory is androcentric
-theory was developed using the case study on little hans to explain to explain male gender development and was applied post hoc to females
-feminist psychoanalysts believe freuds ideas lack temporal validity as they are rooted in views that women are the inferior sex, males may also suffer womb envy
-Horney argues both womb and penis envy are not innate traits in children but rather are influenced by the cultural norms and values of a particular society in any given time
Expand on limitation that explanation does not consider family diversity
-based on children being raised in nuclear families with both a male and female role model, would predict children born into single parent or same sex parent families would struggle to develop stable gender identities but this is not the case
-research found 37/39 children raised by gay/transgender parents developed stable gender identities, also the case of children raised in single parent families
-suggests gender development may not involve children suffering anxiety/resentment towards same sex parent or desiring opposite sex parent
-challenges central concepts of explanation
Expand on limitation that theory is unfalsifiable
-cannot test validity of explanation as cannot test empirically the unconscious incestuous feelings children harbour towards their same sex parent or castration anxiety and penis anxiety especially when testing young children who may struggle to express themselves clearly
-explanation appears pseudoscientific, without a means to empirically measure the assumptions of gender development these key ideas cannot be falsified
