In-depth analysis of Sigmund Freud’s theory
In-depth analysis of theories
Many studies have orchestrated that children are risk-averse are always effectively protected by their parents. These children have a very tough time in decision making and most cases unsuccessful in life. They get a rough time dealing with the hardships concerning life. There are psychological theories that mainly expose how children’s behaviors are influenced in various stages of life. They are Sigmund Freud’s theory that includes various stages, Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Object relations theories that include Bowlby, Ainsworth, and Winnicott.
Section A: Sigmund Freud’s theory
In terms of sexuality, Sigmund Freud extends the concept to sensual activities since they are sources of gratification and pleasures. Changes that occur in human body organs are the main sources of pleasure. Is has different psychosexual stages including the oral stage, anal stage, phallic stage, latency, and the genital stage.
The oral stage occurs in the preliminary years of human life. In this stage, pleasure is mostly around the mouth area. Children at this stage mostly depend on the one taking care of them who probably are their parents. The anal stage gets started in most children at the age of three. Most pleasure is focused on the anal area. At this stage, these children have more control over their behaviors. The child becomes aware of his or her aggression and most parents use psychological punishment on them. The main objective at this stage is gaining independence without control and with no shame about their living.
The third stage in this theory is the phallic stage which comes up between the age of three and six. Its focus is always around the genital areas. There is an attraction to people of the opposite gender especially a girl to the father and the son to the mom where they develop hostility to the people who are close to these people. There are many comparisons between the children and their parents and most of their traits get to resemble that of their parents.
The fourth stage is the latency stage that occurs between the age of six and twelve. Here children get to develop more control over sexual drives and are through the sublimation process. This stage is usually taken as fantasy since children dwell in imaginations. The final stage is the genital stage that takes off from the beginning of puberty to young adulthood. It leads to the comeback of the previous stages of conflicts. There is the establishment of very serious relationships at this stage. At this stage, there are no issues about identity since they have a full sense of who they are.
This theory contains three entities which are the Id, ego, and superego. The Id is always present at birth and contains instincts and drives. It leads to the satisfaction of the instincts and does not consider the good or evil actions of the doer. It always operates following the personal pleasure brought about by their instincts. Concerning my younger sister, she is always in need of satisfying her needs which is made easy by my overprotective parents on her. It makes her concentrate on her pleasures than that of others.
The other aspect is the ego which is absent at birth and develops from the aspect of Id. Most of the body functions are conscious but others like defense are very unconscious. The ego also operates following the reality of life. It is inborn in a person’s brain system. It brings out the way of believing in oneself in comparison with others.
The ego has various functions in children’s growth. Firstly ego helps in the regulation of personal instincts. It helps in the transfer of thinking from the primary process to the secondary process; this is from the thinking of pleasures to the reality of life. Secondly is to the reality where it involves judgment and evaluation of the outside world hence making good decisions. The other function is the way one relates to other people as she grows. Lastly, it develops a way of defending oneself from others due to the care it has on the person.
The last instinct in this theory is the superego. In this instinct, self-control is replaced by parental control. At this point, the parent must be present to offer control of the children. This process is when there is a need for perfection in the behaviors. Conscience which is a sense of perfection makes one guilty. It is always irritating as the Id does.
Section B: Hierarchy of needs
This is a theory orchestrated by Abraham Maslow in the hierarchy of needs. A peak experience is the moments of great elation and joy.it is always the moments of self-actualization that is mostly characterized by the sense of personal significance. It also has a factor in generating positive energy that is personally rewarding. In terms of spirituality, it makes people feel engulfed in the world and hence feels losing track of time.
Peak experience occurs when a person experiences the best moments of her life where everything is right and there is always a sense of happiness all through. An example is being in love and when being engaged in creative moments or watching a movie. Most of the time it occurs when a person has intimate times with the immediate family. It also happens when one stretches a helping hand to those in need or even coming out of a certain difficulty in life.
It is a nice experience to be at a peak according to Maslow. There is a good feeling of awe and even amazement. It is compared to flow where nothing is seen to matter a lot in life and most of the people might experience some loss of time. It is up to people to make this experience productive and in comparison with the flow of activities.
An example of my younger sister, my overprotective parents makes her feel at the peak of everything. This can be described as a peak experience since she feels great at all moments. There is nothing that goes wrong at any of her activities. Even when she does a wrong thing it seems right in her instincts. This favoritism from the parents takes a short time since it changes when she enters the young adulthood stage since she will be self- dependent.
Section C: Object relations theorists
The object relationships based on other relationships and the influence they pose on the personality people develop. In terms of interpersonal relations, it is taken as biological. There is a great influence on children from the powerful control behaviors of the father and the intimate nature of a mother. Human has the nature of internalizing the behavior of people around them and even object representation around them. The ideas internalized are turned to be personal and hence influence the behavior of the receiver especially when they are still young. This shows that children’s behaviors are expected per those around them.
According to D.W Winnicott who is a psychoanalyst, a mother is very important in the life of a young person. He orchestrates that a kid can’t live in the absence of a mother. He says that a mother might not be so perfect but good enough for the living of a kid. The mother is the one responsible for creating a conducive environment for the development of a child. Whenever a child needs her attacks are directed to the mother for whatever they need. He showed a very high relationship between an infant and the mother that is translated to reality.
Secondly is John Bowlby who based his argument on the attachment theory where the attachments we make in childhood ends up shaping our adulthood. It is divided into three stages. First is the protest stage where the child is only attached to one person which she is uncomfortable when is away, the person is especially the mother. The following stage is despair where the child becomes very sad and quiet. The last stage is detachment where the child is detached from the caregiver and relates to anyone else. The child develops perfect interpersonal relations.
The last philosopher in the object theory is Mary Ainsworth who took the ideas from Bowlby and extrapolated them. In an example of the video of a mother with a kid in the room, a stranger comes in and the mother vacates. The first behavior was securely attachment where the child I saw exploring when the mother leaves. The second behavior is the avoidant attachment where when the mother comes back the child avoids her. The last behavior observed is absent attachment where the child cries so much but when the mother comes back the child keeps quiet.