The psychodynamic approach Flashcards
What is the Psychodynamic Approach?
A perspective that describes the different forces (dynamics), most of which are unconscious, that operate on the mind and direct human behaviour and experience.
What is the Tripartite structure of personality?
The Id
The Ego
The Superego
What is the Id?
The Id is the primitive part of our personality.
It operates on the pleasure principle - the id demands instant gratification.
It is a seething mass of unconscious drives and instincts.
Only the Id is present at birth.
What is the Ego?
The Ego works on the reality principle and is the mediator between the other two parts of the personality.
The Ego develops around the age of two years and its role is to reduce the conflict between the demands of the Id and the Superego.
It manages this by employing a number of defence mechanisms
What is the Superego?
The Superego is formed at the end of the phallic stage, around the age of five.
It is our internalised sense of right and wrong.
Based on the morality principle it represents the moral standards of the child’s same-gender parent and punishes the Ego for wrongdoing (through guilt).
What are Psychosexual stages?
Five developmental stages that all children pass through. At each stage there is a different conflict, the outcome of which determines future development.
If any conflict is unresolved, then it leads to fixation where the child carries certain behaviours into adulthood.
What are the 5 Psychosexual stages?
Oral
Anal
Phallic
Latency
Genital
Outline the Oral Stage.
0-1 years
Focus of pleasure is the mouth, mother’s breast is the object of desire
Oral fixation - smoking, biting nails, sarcastic, critical.
Outline the Anal stage.
1-3 years
Focus of pleasure is the anus.
Child gains pleasure from withholding and expelling faeces.
Anal retentive - perfectionist, obsessive.
Anal expulsive - thoughtless, messy.
Outline the Phallic stage.
3-6 years
Focus of pleasure is the genital area.
Child experiences the Oedipus or Electra complex.
Phallic personality - narcissistic, reckless, possibly homosexual.
Outline the latency stage.
Earlier conflicts are repressed into the unconscious.
Outline the genital stage.
Sexual desires become conscious alongside the onset of puberty.
Difficulty forming heterosexual relationships.
What is the Oedipus complex?
In the phallic stage, Freud claimed that little boys develop incestuous feelings towards their mother and a murderous hatred for their father (the Oedipus complex).
Fearing that their father will castrate them, boys repress their feelings for their mother and identify with their father, taking on his gender role and moral values.
One strength of the psychodynamic approach is that it introduced the idea of psychotherapy.
Freud brought to the world a new form of therapy - psychoanalysis. This was the first attempt to treat mental disorders psychologically rather than physically.
The new therapy employed a range of techniques designed to access the unconscious, such as dream analysis. Psychoanalysis claims to help clients by bringing their repressed emotions into their conscious mind so they can be dealt with.
Psychoanalysis is the forerunner to many modern-day ‘talking therapies, such as counselling, that have since been established.
This shows the value of the psychodynamic approach in creating a new approach to treatment.
Counterpoint : Freudian therapy is not applicable to all disorder
Counterpoint
Although Freudian therapists have claimed success for many clients with mild neuroses, psychoanalysis is regarded as inappropriate, even harmful, for pedale experiencing more serious mental disorders (such as schizophrenia).
Many of the symptoms of schizophrenia, such as paranoia and delusional thinking, mean that those with the disorder have lost their grip on reality and cannot articulate their thoughts in the way required by psychoanalysis.
This suggests that Freudian therapy (and theory) may not apply to all
mental disorders.
Another strength of Freud’s theory is its ability to explain human behaviour.
Freuds theory has a huge influence on psychology and contemporary thought.
Alongside behaviourism, the psychodynamic approach has been used to explain a wide range of phenomena including personality development, the origins of psychological disorders, moral development and gender identity.
The approach is also significant in drawing attention to the connection between experiences in childhood, such as our relationship with our parents, and our later development.
This suggests that, overall, the psychodynamic approach has had a positive impact on psychology.
One limitation of the psychodynamic approach is that much of it is untestable.
The philosopher of science Karl Popper argued that the psychodynamic approach does not meet the scientific criterion of falsification.
It is not open to empirical testing (and the possibility of being disproved). Many of Freud’s concepts (such as the Id and the Oedipus complex) are said to occur at an unconscious level, making them difficult, if not impossible, to test.
Furthermore, his ideas were based on the subjective study of single individuals, such as Little Hans, which makes it difficult to make universal claims about human behaviour.
This suggests that Freud’s theory was pseudoscientific (not a real science)
rather than established fact.
