Don't Make a Freudian Slip

Home , Electra complex, Freudian slip, Penis envy, Psychosexual development

DON’T MAKE A FREUDIAN SLIP Resources for Courses Activity Overview Outlining Freud’s Theory of Gender Development is a difficult task. Firstly, there are a lot of specialist terms that students often fail to include (e.g. unconscious processes, identification and internalisation) and secondly, it is very difficult to write a concise summary of Freud’s Theory because there is so much to include.

The aim of this task is to consolidate student’s knowledge of the key Freudian terms and to practice writing a concise summary of Freud’s Theory of Gender Development.

Resources Required . Don’t Make A Freudian Slip Handout

Teacher Instructions Teaching & Learning Strategy A Provide the students with a copy of the Don’t Make A Freudian Slip Handout. Ask the students to read each paragraph in turn and add in the missing specialist terminology. After that, once you have gone through the answers, ask your students to highlight the specialist terminology related to Freud’s Theory of Gender Development.

Once your students have completed the first task, ask them to write a concise summary of Freud’s Theory in approximately 125-175 words, while trying to incorporate all of the key features of Freud’s Theory. Tell the students to image that they are answering the following exam question: Describe and evaluate Freud’s psychoanalytic explanation of gender development. (16 marks)

If you want to be cruel, only give your students six-eight minutes to complete their summary, as this is roughly the length of time they would have to write an outline in their exam.

PSYCHOLOGY

DON’T MAKE A FREUDIAN SLIP Resources for Courses Don’t Make A Freudian Slip Task: Below you will find a summary of Freud’s Theory of Gender Development, in four key parts. Each part is missing some key words which are included at the end of each paragraph. Select the right keyword to complete the outline of Freud’s Theory.

Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory Freud developed his theory of psychosexual development from the 1890s. Within it, he also outlined moral development and gender development. Where other theories may consider culture and external influences to be developmentally important, Freud’s emphasis is on internal drives. He believed that ______was very important to humans, not just as a means of reproduction but also for pleasure. He thought that children were born gender-neutral at birth and that during the ______of development aged 4-5 years, they would develop a masculine or feminine gender. According to Freud, the individual constructs their gender identity after experiencing the ______or ______. Keywords: Oedipus Complex, Phallic Stage, Electra Complex, Sex.

Oedipus Complex Based on Oedipus, a character from Greek mythology who kills his father and marries his mother, Freud outlined the Oedipus Complex which occurs in the ______of ______development. In Freud’s description, a boy desires the person who nurtures and feeds him, namely his mother, and has sexual feelings toward her. This complex is characterised by jealous ______for his father who stands in the way. At the same time, the young boy fears his father (who he realises is more powerful) due to ______(a fear of the father chopping his penis off). Eventually, the boy will resolve his Oedipus complex by ______and finding common ground with father and believing that one day he’ll marry a lady like his mother. This leads him to a solid masculine ______where he becomes like his father. Keywords: Psychosexual, Castration Anxiety, Identifying, Gender Identity, Hatred, Phallic Stage

Electra Complex Girls of the same age have a different crisis, the Electra Complex, which is more complicated than the Oedipus complex. Little girls also love their mother, the person that nurtures and feeds them, but her ______(erotic energy) is also directed toward her father. She is torn between wanting to be her father’s centre of attention while also experiencing a strong desire to be like him and have what he has, erotic access to the mother.

PSYCHOLOGY

DON’T MAKE A FREUDIAN SLIP Resources for Courses

Freud called this ______. Girls blame their mothers for their lack of a penis, believing their mother castrated them. This process is ______and is not influenced by forces external to the psychic mechanisms. Because of the complexities in the Electra complex, female ______is more ambivalent than male gender identity, i.e. less focused and secure in its orientation. Keywords: Penis Envy, Libido, Unconscious, Gender Identity.

1c/d. Identification and Internalisation The Oedipus and Electra complex are both resolved through ______with the same-sex parent e.g. boys take on values and attitudes of their father and girls take on their mothers. This results in the acquisition of superego (the third part of the psyche) and ______. Freud believed that identification plays a huge role in creating gender stereotypes and children’s understanding of how to behave in gender-appropriate ways. The process of children taking all of this on board is ______. The presence of brothers and sisters is thought to complicate this process. Each has a slightly different experience and relationship with their parents; therefore, each develops different levels of masculinity and femininity. Keywords: Internalisation, Gender Identity, Identification

Condensing Freud’s Theory The summary above is over 500 words long and too much to write for any question. If you were writing an outline to an essay question, you would be attempting to summarise Freud’s theory in 125-175 words, while including all four components. Task: Imagine that you are writing an outline for the essay question below, but limit yourself to only approximately 150 words. Describe and evaluate Freud’s psychoanalytic explanation of gender development. (16 marks)

PSYCHOLOGY

DON’T MAKE A FREUDIAN SLIP Resources for Courses Don’t Make A Freudian Slip – The Answers Task: Below you will find a summary of Freud’s Theory of Gender Development, in four key parts. Each part is missing some key words which are included at the end of each paragraph. Select the right keyword to complete the outline of Freud’s Theory.

Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory Freud developed his theory of psychosexual development from the 1890s. Within it, he also outlined moral development and gender development. Where other theories may consider culture and external influences to be developmentally important, Freud’s emphasis is on internal drives. He believed that sex was very important to humans, not just as a means of reproduction but also for pleasure. He thought that children were born gender-neutral at birth and that during the phallic stage of development aged 4-5 years, they would develop a masculine or feminine gender. According to Freud, the individual constructs their gender identity after experiencing the Oedipus or Electra Complex. Keywords: Oedipus Complex, Phallic Stage, Electra Complex, Sex.

Oedipus Complex Based on Oedipus, a character from Greek mythology who kills his father and marries his mother, Freud outlined the Oedipus Complex which occurs in the phallic stage of psychosexual development. In Freud’s description, a boy desires the person who nurtures and feeds him, namely his mother, and has sexual feelings toward her. This complex is characterised by jealous hatred for his father who stands in the way. At the same time, the young boy fears his father (who he realises is more powerful) due to castration anxiety (a fear of the father chopping his penis off). Eventually, the boy will resolve his Oedipus complex by identifying and finding common ground with father and believing that one day he’ll marry a lady like his mother. This leads him to a solid masculine gender identity where he becomes like his father. Keywords: Psychosexual, Castration Anxiety, Identifying, Gender Identity, Hatred, Phallic Stage

Electra Complex Girls of the same age have a different crisis, the Electra Complex, which is more complicated than the Oedipus complex. Little girls also love their mother, the person that nurtures and feeds them, but her libido (erotic energy) is also directed toward her father. She is torn between wanting to be her father’s centre of attention while also experiencing a strong desire to be like him and have what he has, erotic access to the mother. Freud called this penis envy.

PSYCHOLOGY

DON’T MAKE A FREUDIAN SLIP Resources for Courses

Girls blame their mothers for their lack of a penis, believing their mother castrated them. This process is unconscious and is not influenced by forces external to the psychic mechanisms. Because of the complexities in the Electra complex, female gender identity is more ambivalent than male gender identity, i.e. less focused and secure in its orientation. Keywords: Penis Envy, Libido, Unconscious, Gender Identity.

1c/d. Identification and Internalisation The Oedipus and Electra complex are both resolved through identification with the same-sex parent e.g. boys take on values and attitudes of their father and girls take on their mothers. This results in the acquisition of superego (the third part of the psyche) and gender identity. Freud believed that identification plays a huge role in creating gender stereotypes and children’s understanding of how to behave in gender-appropriate ways. The process of children taking all of this on board is internalisation. The presence of brothers and sisters is thought to complicate this process. Each has a slightly different experience and relationship with their parents; therefore, each develops different levels of masculinity and femininity. Keywords: Internalisation, Gender Identity, Identification