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UNIT 2 PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORIES of Personality (Freud and Erickson) PERSONALITY (FREUD and ERICKSON)

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UNIT 2 PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORIES of Personality (Freud and Erickson) PERSONALITY (FREUD and ERICKSON) Psychodynamic Theories of UNIT 2 PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORIES OF Personality (Freud and Erickson) PERSONALITY (FREUD AND ERICKSON) Structure 2.0 Introduction 2.1 Objectives 2.2 Introduction to Psychodynamic Theories of Personality 2.3 Psychoanalytic Theory by Sigmund Freud 2.3.1 The Conscious, the Preconscious, and the Unconscious 2.3.2 The Id, the Ego, and the Superego 2.3.3 Defense Mechanisms 2.3.4 Psychosexual Stages of Development 2.4 Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development 2.4.1 The Ego Psychology 2.4.2 The Epigenetic Principles 2.5 Let Us Sum Up 2.6 Unit End Questions 2.7 Suggested Readings 2.0 INTRODUCTION Psychodynamic Theory is one in which patients treated are viewed within a model of illness that attempts to identify something that is not obvious but is present, but may be at the unconscious level. Such a material once brought out of the unconscious would be able to help the patient be relieved of the symptoms and get the person on the road to recovery. Thus each individual is perceived to have had certain experiences and events that have been pushed into the unconscious as these materials are very painful and shameful to the individual. These materials remain in the unconscious and keep trying to enter the conscious only to be repressed back. These are basically materials that are wishes and desires and needs which are represented by the Id, and which are catered to by the ego so as to fulfill the needs of the Id. At the same time the do’s and don’ts, the moral values, the rights and wrongs that are imparted by the parents are represented by the superego which tries to curb the id impulses from arising so that the person may not do anything wrong which may cause the society harm. Thus the dynamic interaction amongst the Id, Ego and the superego as well as the society or the outer environment make the individual behave in a certain way. All these dynamics start quite at an early age of the individual and remain so and continue even in adulthood. In the process of catering to the Id and the superego the ego uses many defenses which help in maintaining a balance in the personality. However if balance is not restored the individual may develop certain abnormalities called as mental disorders which need to be treated and one method of treatment is the psychoanalysis. 19 Psychodynamic and Freud developed a technique that he called psychoanalysis and used it to treat mental Humanistic Theories of Personality disorders. The conscious contains all the information that a person is paying attention to at any given time. The preconscious contains all the information outside of a person’s attention but readily available if needed. The unconscious contains thoughts, feelings, desires, and memories of which people have no awareness but which keep influencing every aspect of individual’s day to day life. Freud believed that personality gets clearly established during childhood, largely before the age of five years. He proposed five stages of psychosexual development, viz., the oral stage, the anal stage, the phallic stage, the latency stage, and the genital stage. Thus personality development for Freud took place before five years of age and continued on into the adulthood with very little change. Freud had many followers and some of them parted company with him on many of the issues related to personality development, as for instance the issue of psychosexual development etc. Erikson was one such person who was a follower of Freud but separated away to propound his own theory. Erikson’s theory of ego psychology holds certain tenets that differentiate his theory from Freud’s. Erikson’s stages provide a framework in which one can bring in the culture concept and compare the present day to that of the earlier days. It also offers insights regarding the eight stages being divided into two parts, with one ending with childhood and the other adult development. In this unit we will be dealing with the theories of personality development as put forward by Freud and Erikson. 2.1 OBJECTIVES After going through this unit, you will be able to: l Define and describe the psychoanalytic theory of Sigmund Freud; l Define and explain the concepts of the unconscious, preconscious; l Describe the dynamic interaction between the id, ego, superego and the outside world; l Explain the various defense mechanisms; l Present the psychosexual stages of development as put forward by Freud; l Explain the concept of psychosocial development as put forward by Erikson; l Describe the theory of Erikson and the conflicts in each stage of development identified by Erikson; and l Elucidate the eight stages of development put forward by Erikson. 2.2 INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Psychodynamic Theory is one in which patients treated for mental disorders are viewed within a model of illness that attempts to identify something that may be not in the realm of awareness of the individual concerned. Each individual is perceived to be made up from a dynamic that begins in early childhood and continually progresses throughout life. This way of thinking, however, is generally considered a watered down version of the more conservative and rigid psychoanalytic school of thought. Psychoanalysis emphasises the belief that all adult problems are directly related to events in one’s childhood. 20 Therapists who practice this theory have a tendency to look at individuals as the Psychodynamic Theories of Personality (Freud and composite of their parental upbringing. Their focus is on the means for settling conflicts Erickson) between themselves and their parents as well as within themselves. Psychodynamic therapists tend to believe in the theoretical constructs of the ego (which acts as a force similar to a referee) and the superego (known as the conscience) as well as an id that exists inside all of us that tends to act as the devil’s advocate working against the thought process of the conscience. All of these constructs work together to make up the personality and the role of the unconscious is emphasised meaning that contrary to what else one may think, what one does not know can indeed hurt the person and more often than not, it does just that. The development of an adult’s personality is viewed in terms of whether an individual has been able to successfully maneuver through the psychosexual stages of childhood development. Because of this belief, adults are unlikely to know how they are screwed up and as a result may not even recognise the signs of mental distress or mental disorder. 2.3 PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY BY SIGMUND FREUD In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Freud developed a technique that he called psychoanalysis and used it to treat mental disorders. He formed his theory of psychoanalysis by observing his patients. According to psychoanalytic theory, personality development takes place as a result of the attempts to resolve conflicts between unconscious sexual and aggressive impulses and societal demands to restrain these impulses. Freud’s theory of development has two primary ideas: 1) Everything you become is determined by your first few years – indeed, the adult is exclusively determined by the child’s experiences, because whatever actions occur in adulthood are based on a blueprint laid down in the earliest years of life (childhood solutions to problems are perpetuated) 2) The story of development is the story of how to handle anti-social impulses in socially acceptable ways. 2.3.1 The Conscious, the Preconscious, and the Unconscious Freud believed that most mental processes are unconscious. He proposed that people have three levels of awareness: The Preconscious, the conscious and the unconscious The conscious contains all the information that a person is paying attention to at any given time. Example: The words Dan is reading, the objects in his field of vision, the sounds he can hear, and any thirst, hunger, or pain he is experiencing at the moment are all in his conscious. The preconscious contains all the information outside of a person’s attention but readily available if needed. Example: A close friend’s telephone number, the make of one’s car, and many of the past experiences are in the preconscious. The unconscious contains thoughts, feelings, desires, and memories of which people have no awareness but that which influence every aspect of the individual’s day- to-day lives. 21 Psychodynamic and Example: Rakesh’s unconscious might contain angry feelings toward his mother Humanistic Theories of Personality or a traumatic incident he experienced at age four, about none of which he is aware . Freud believed that information in the unconscious tries to come into the conscious and very often it is seen in slips of the tongue, jokes, dreams, illness symptoms, and the associations people make between ideas. The Freudian Slip Manju calls up her mother on Mother’s Day and says, “You’re the beast, Mom,” when she consciously intended to say, “You’re the best, Mom.” According to psychoanalytic theory, this slip of the tongue, known as a Freudian slip, reveals her unconscious anger toward her mother. 2.3.2 The Id, the Ego, and the Superego Freud proposed that personality has three components: the id, the ego, and the superego. Id: Id is conceived as a reservoir of instinctual energy that contains biological urges such as impulses toward survival, sex, and aggression. The id is unconscious and operates according to the pleasure principle, the drive to achieve pleasure and avoid pain. The id is characterised by primary process thinking, which is illogical, irrational, and motivated by a desire for the immediate gratification of impulses.
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