MODULE 5: FREUD’s PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY

l. Learning Outcomes
At the end of this module, the students should be able to :
a) explain Freud’s views about child and adolescent development
b) draw implications of Freud’s theory to education.

ll. Introduction
Freud’s views about human development are more than a century old. He can
be considered the most well known psychologist because of his very interesting theory
about the unconscious and also about sexual development. Although a lot of his views
were criticized and some considered them debunked, (he himself recanted some of his
earlier views). Freud’s theory remains to be one of the most influential in psychology.
His theory sparked the ideas in the brilliant minds of other theorists and thus became
the starting point of many other theories.

lll. Learning Content

Freud’s Stages of Psychosexual Development
Freud is the most popular psychological that studied the development of
personality, also probably the most controversial. His theory of psychosexual
development includes five distinct stages. According to , a person goes through the
sequence of these five stages and along the way there are needs to be met. Whether
these needs are met or not, determines whether the person will develop a healthy
personality or not. The theory is quite interesting for many because Freud identified
specific erogenous zones for each stage of development. These are specific “pleasure
areas” that become focal points for the particular stage. If needs are not met along the
area, a fixation occur As an adult, the person will now manifest behaviors related to this
erogenous zone.
Oral Stage (birth to 18 months).
The erogenous zone is the mouth. During the oral stage, the child is focused
on oral pleasures (sucking). Too much or too little satisfaction can lead to an Oral
Fixation or Oral Personality which shown in an increased focus on oral activities. This
type of personality may be oral receptive, that is, have a stronger tendency to smoke,
drink alcohol, overeat, or oral aggressive, that is with a tendency to bite his or her
nails, or use curse words or even gossip. As a result, these persons may become too
dependent on others, easily fooled, and lack leadership traits. On the other hand, they
may also fight these tendencies and become pessimistic and aggressive in relating with
people.
Anal Stage (18 months to 3 years).
The child’s focus of pleasure in this stage in the anus. The child finds satisfaction
in eliminating and retaining feces. Through society’s expectation, particularly the
parents, the child needs to work on toilet training. Let us remember that between one
year and a half to three years the child’s favorite word might be “No!”. Therefore a
struggle might exist in the toilet training process when the child retain feces when asked
to eliminate, or may choose to defecate when asked to hold feces for some reason. In
terms of personality, fixation during this stage can result in being anal retentive, an
obsession with cleanliness, perfection, and control; or anal expulsive where the person
may become messy and disorganized.

Phallic Stage (ages 3 to 6).

The pleasure or erogenous zone is the genitals. During the preschool age,
children become interested in what makes boys and girls different. Preschoolers will
sometimes be seen fondling their genitals. Freud’s studies led him to believe that during
this stage boys develop unconscious sexual desire for their mother. Boys then see their
father as a rival for her mother’s affection. Boys may fear their father will punish them
for these feelings, thus, the castration anxiety. These feelings comprise what Freud
called Oedipus Complex. In Greek Mythology, Oedipus unintentionally killed his father
and married his mother Jocasta.
Psychoanalysts also believed that girls may also have similar experience,
developing unconscious sexual attraction towards their father. This is what is referred to
as the Electra Complex.
According to Freud, out of fear of castration and due to the strong competition of
their father, boys eventually decide to identify with them rather than fight them. By
identifying with their father, the boys develop masculine characteristics and identify
themselves as male and repress their sexual feelings toward their mother. A fixation at
this stage could result in sexual deviancies (both overindulging and avoidance) and
weak or confused sexual identity according to psychoanalysts.
Latency Stage (age 6 to puberty).
It’s during this stage that sexual urges remain repressed. The children’s focus is
the acquisition of physical and academic skills. Boys usually relate more with boys and
girls with girls during this stage.
Genital Stage (puberty onwards).
The fifth stage of psychosexual development begins at the start of puberty when
sexual urges are once again awakened. In the earlier stages, adolescents focus their
sexual urges towards the opposite sex peers, with the pleasure centered on the
genitals.
Freud’s Personality Components
Sigmund Freud described the personality structures as having three
components, the id, the ego, and the superego. For each person, the first emerge is
the id, followed by the ego, and last to develop is the superego.
The id. Freud says that, a child is born with id. The id plays a vital role in one’s
personality because as a baby, it works so that the baby’s essential needs are met. The
id operates on the pleasure principle. It focuses on immediate gratification or
satisfaction of its needs. So whatever feels good now is what it will pursue with no
consideration for the reality, logicality or practicality of the situation. For example, a
baby is hungry. It’s id wants food or milk… so the baby will cry. When the child needs to
be changed, the id cries. When the child is uncomfortable, in pain, too hot, too cold, or
just wants attention, the id speaks up until his or her needs are met.
Nothing else matter to the ids except the satisfaction of its own needs. It is not
oriented towards considering reality nor the needs of others. Just see how babies cry
any time of day and night! Absolutely no regard of whether mommy is tired or daddy is
sleeping. When the id wants something, it wants it now and it wants it fast.
The ego. As the baby turns into a toddler and then into a preschooler, he/she
relates more with the environment, the ego slowly begins to emerge. The ego operates
using the reality principle. It is aware that other also have needs to be met. It is
practical because it knows that being impulsive or selfish can result to negative
consequences later, so it reasons and considers the best response to situations. AS
such, it is the deciding agent of the personality. Although it functions to help the id meet
its needs, it always takes into account the reality of the situation .
The superego. Near the end of the preschool years, or the end of the phallic
stage, the superego develops. The superego embodies a person’s moral aspect. This
develops from what the parents, teachers and other persons who exert to influence
impart to be good or moral. The superego is likened to conscience because it exerts
influence on what one considers right and wrong.

Topographical Model
The Unconscious. Freud said that most what we go through in our lives,
emotions, beliefs, feelings, and impulses deep within are not available to us at a
conscious level. He believed that most of what influence us is our unconscious. The
Oedipus and Electra Complex dramatic ways. mentioned earlier were both buried down
into the unconscious, out of our awareness due to the extreme anxiety they caused.
While these complexes are in our unconscious, they still influence our thinking, feeling
and doing I perhaps
 The Conscious. Freud also said that all that we are aware of is stored in our
conscious mind. Our conscious mind only comprises a very small part of who we are so
that, in our everyday life, we are only aware of a very small part of what makes up our
personality; most of what we are is hidden and out of reach.
The Subconscious. The last part is the preconscious or subconscious but is
not in our active conscious. This is the part of us that we can reach if promoted, but is
not in our active conscious. Information such as our telephone number, some childhood
memories, or the name of your best childhood friend is stored in the preconscious.
Because the unconscious is so huge, and because we are only aware of the very
small conscious at any given time. Freud used the analogy of the iceberg to illustrate it.
A big part of the iceberg is hidden beneath the water’s surface.
The water, may represent all that we are not aware of, have not experienced,
and that has not been made part of our personalities, referred to as the nonconscious.

lV. Learning Assessment

Write a reflection from the Module on Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory.
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V. References
[1] Corpuz, Brenda B., Lucas, Ma. Rita,etal., Child and Adolescent Development: Looking at
Leraners at Different Stages, 2005.
[2] Santrock, john W., Life Span Development ,8th ed., New York: McGraw-Hill Companies
[3] Trawick-Smith,Jeffrey. Early Chjildhhod Development A Multicultural Perspective USA:
Prentice Hall, 4th edition,2006.