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Critical Analysis of Sigmund Freud's Psychoanalysis Theory
Strengths and weaknesses of Sigmund Freud’s theory
Strengths and weaknesses of Sigmund Freud’s theory
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Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). (Schultz & Schultz, 2012, p. 294) Freud viewed the entire human psyche from a sexual perspective. He defined the unconscious as a collection of repressed personal material. He believed that behaviors are controlled by the unconscious mind, which could be understood through dreams and free association. (Lothane, 2006, p.295-296). He theorized that the human mind had three basic components: the id, the ego, and the superego, and these individual parts often conflict, shaping personality and if not treated, causing neurosis (Schultz & Schultz, 2012, p. 321-323). He stated that therapy could repair narcissism that stemmed from low self-esteem, through transference as patients begin to get the things they missed. Freudians believe there are two basic conflicting drives in a person: the life drive and the death drive. The life drive supports survival by avoiding uncomfortable and life-threatening situations while the death drive desired extreme pleasures that to death (Reppen, 2006, p. 215-216). Freud's often-controversial psychoanalysis was an attempt to explain the human psyche (mind) which is comprised of three components: the id, ego, and superego; and the conflict between these components shaped personality (Swanson, 1963, p. 14-16). He believed the ego is responsive to the id that developed at infancy. He also believed that defense mechanisms are unconsciously adopted to protect the ego from anxiety. He was convinced that anxiety was used to warn the ego of potential threats. He focused on internally held forces, including conflicts, biological dispositions, and sexual motivation for his theories (Macintyre, 1963, p. 98-99). He sought to address underlying issues in a person's life, and personal cha... ... middle of paper ... ... characteristics originate during childhood (Schultz & Schultz, 2012, p. 330-334). Melanie Klein 1882-1960) Klein defined the object relations theories as an intense emotional bond between mother and child that occurred in the first six month of life. Object relations theorist emphasizes the social and environmental influences on personality, particularly within the mother child interaction. She was insistence that aggression is an important force when analyzing children. This belief brought her into conflict with Anna Freud. Klein asserted that analysis does not harm the ego but actually strengthens it. She equated child’s play with free-association. She thought that fear and aggressive tendencies were also present at this age and held them to be more important in understanding deviant development than psychosexual development (Schultz & Schultz, 2012, p. 323-324).
Primarily, one of the dominant and fundamental theoretical variances concerning Freud and Jung’s personality theories was that relating to their opposing notions regarding the unconscious human mind. Firstly, Freud understood that the centre of ones inhibited beliefs and distressing recollections was found in the unconscious mind. Freud stated that the human mind focuses on three constructs: namely the id, the ego and the super ego. He claimed that the id shaped ones unconscious energy. Freud said that it is not limited by ethics and morals, but as an alternative simply aims to fulfil ones desires. The id strives to keep with the “pleasure principle, which can be understood as a demand to take care of needs immediately.” (Boere) The next unconscious
Sigmund Freud was born in 1856 to Jewish Galician parents in the Moravian town of Pribor in the Austrian Empire (“Sigmund Freud” n. pag). During his education in the medical field, Freud decided to mix the career fields of medicine and philosophy to become a psychologist (“Sigmund Freud” n. pag). During his research as a psychologist, he conceived the Structural Model Theory, which he discussed in his essay Beyond the Pleasure Principle. The theory states that the human psyche is divided into three main parts: the id, ego, and super-ego (“Id, Ego, and Super-ego” n. pag). He concluded that the id was the desire for destruction, violence and sex; the ego was responsible for intellect and dealing with reality; and the super-ego was a person’s sense of right and wrong and moral standards (Hamilton, n. pag). Freud argued that a healthy individual will have developed the strongest ego to keep the id and super-ego in check (“Id, Ego, and Super-ego” n. p...
The field of psychology known as Psychodynamic theory, deals with the mind. The conscious and the unconscious thoughts and how a person feels. It suggests that the developmental stages of childhood and how they are dealt with has an influence on the person a child will become in later life.
Sigmund Freud is known for creating the concept of psychoanalysis, also known as psychoanalytic theory, which requires one to explore the unconscious mind. Over time, his theories have been revised as well as criticized in a variety of ways. Be that as it may, they have remained strong influences within the world of psychiatry, as well as in the worlds of film and literature. Many works generally exhibit Freudian influences, balancing the conscious life with the subconscious and dreamlike undertones. Key ideas of Freudian Psychoanalysis are the three psychic zones of id, ego and super-ego, the libido, and the Oedipus complex.
Sigmund Freud was born on May 6, 1856, in Austria (?). His family moved to Vienna in 1860, and that is where Freud spent, mostly, the remainder of his life (?). Freud is considered the father of Psychoanalysis, the first acknowledged personality theory (?). His theory suggest that a person’s personality is controlled by their unconscious which is established in their early childhood. The psychoanalytic theory is made up of three different elements interacting to make up the human personality: the id, the ego, and the superego (?).
In the year 1896, a new term “theory of psychoanalysis” was invented by Sigmund Freud in which “it refers to all the processes that take place in our mind of an unconscious way and to a form of treatment of the nervous disorders” (Rodriquez). Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, was an Austrian neurologist who created and developed an entirely new approach to discover about the personality and the subconscious of the human. His creation in the psychology field was “at once a theory of the human psyche, a therapy for the relief of its ills, and an optic for the interpretation of culture and society” (Jay). Sigmund Freud is regarded as one of the most influential and controversial characters of the twentieth century due to his discoveries in many aspects of the field of psychology included Freud’s self-analysis that he left behind.
Sigmund Freud, known as the father of psychology, has developed some of the first theories of modern psychology. One of his well known theories is the structural model of the psyche. According to Freud, most of what drives humans is buried in the unconscious mind. There are three main forces that drive humans: the id, the ego, and the super-ego. The id is the sum of basic personal needs and desires. It is completely selfish and has no care for sensibility or reality. It strives for what it wants, when it wants it with no other considerations and is primarily concerned with sex. The second part of the personality is the ego. The ego is the realization of reality. It is the ego’s job to, in a sense, counteract the selfishness and impractically if the id. The third part, the super-ego, is morals and acquired beliefs of right and wrong. According to Freud, in order to have a healthy personality, one’s ego must be dominant. The id must be satisfied but with care not to upset the super-ego. In some cases though, there is an imbalance of either the id or the super-ego, causing eit...
Sigmund Freud believed that adults seduced children and this is where their problems came up in adulthood. As for all things, many people did not agree with Freud’s theory. “Freud believed that people could be cured by making conscious their unconscious thoughts and motivations, thus gaining insight” (McLeod, “Psychoanalysis”). According to Freud’s Psychoanalytical Theory, there are three elements of personality the id, ego and superego. The id is an individual’s inner child.
Few key points revealed from the film were psychoanalysis, seduction theory and the three section human mind is divided into unconscious, preconscious, and conscious mind. Freud experimented his mentally ill patients and badly wanted to bring mental relief for them. Psychoanalysis was discovered as clinical method of treatment for the mental disorders. Freud developed therapeutic techniques such as free association and transference for the analytic process. Freud knew a simple conversation with his patients without disruptions or obligations would greatly help for his research. Next the seduction theory was a hypothesis he believed provided the solution to the problem of the origins of hysteria and obsessional neurosis. He claimed a repressed memory of an early childhood sexual abuse or an active sexual experience during childhood preconditioned hysterical or obsessional symptoms. He described mind was divided into three areas the unconscious mind, the place where sexual wishes urges, memories and fantasies; the preconscious mind which he explains as a gate keeper preventing wishes entering consciousness;
Freud's methods of psychoanalysis were based on his theory that people have repressed, hidden feelings. The psychoanalyst's goal is to make the patient aware of these subconscious feelings. Childhood conflicts that are hidden away by the patient, become revealed to both the analyst and the patient, allowing the patient to live a less anxious, more healthy life.
Dexter remains to be a complex character that is not easily analyzed due to the very distinct aspects of his personality. Freud’s psychoanalytic theory delivers most of the reasoning behind Dexter’s psychopathic inclinations. This theory overall stresses what the effects of unconscious thoughts has on one’s personality and behavior later during their adult life. Most of Freud’s theory applies to Dexter because his constant and unwavering desire to commit murder initiated before he could even remember his mother’s death. The urge came from deep inside his unconscious mind and the urges were too strong for the Ego to keep them at bay. From the way Dexter cannot suppress the craving to kill, it can be displayed that unconscious feelings have an
Freud first developed these methods of psychoanalysis when he met with patients whose disorders did not make neurological sense. A patient, for example, may have suddenly gone blind. The problem is that there is no damage to either of his eyes. Freud began to wonder if this disorder might be psychological rather than physiological. A patient not wanting to see something that aroused anxiety might have caused his own blindness, he hypothesized. In order to find out what the anxiety stemmed from, he used methods of free association where the patient would say whatever came into his mind. Through the slips made when the patient was told to carry out the free-association process, and some of the patient's beliefs and habits, Freud could delve into
From a Freudian perspective, human development is based on psychosexual theory (Wedding & Corsini, 2014). Psychosexual theory indicates that maturation of the sex drives underlies stages of personality development (Shaffer et al., 2010). It was Freud’s perspective that there are three components of personality (the id, ego, and superego) that become integrated into his five stage theoretical model. The id was the biological or drive component that is innate from birth. The sole purpose of the Id is satiate an individual’s internal drives (Wedding & Corsini, 2014). The ego is the conscious portion of our personality that mediates between our id and superego. Throughout development the ego reflects the child’s emerging ability to...
A personality is unique to each person, and has developed because of various elements in that person’s life. Theorists have studied personalities and their formation for hundreds of years now, and each theorist has their own view on how a personality is formed, and what affects the growth of that personality.
Throughout Freud’s time, he came up with many different theories. One of his theories was Life and Death Instincts. This theory evolved throughout his life and work. He believed that these drives were responsible for much of behavior. He eventually came to believe that these life instincts alone couldn’t explain all human behavior. Freud then determined that all instincts fall into one of 2 major classes: the life instincts or the death instincts. Life instincts deal with basic survival, reproduction, and pleasure. Death instincts are apparent after people experience a traumatic event and they often reenact the experience. In Freud’s view, self-destructive behavior is an expression of the energy that is created by the death instincts.