Psychosexual+Development

 Amanda Pearson ** Psychosexual Development **  ** Sigmund Freud ** Sigmund Freud is one of the most prominent figures in the history of psychology. He had a fascination with the unconscious and often made bold explanations as to why people were the way they were. He introduced the world to slips of the tongue (which he thought had unconscious meanings) and is the founder of psychoanalysis. Freud fought for the existence of repressed memories and thought dreams had underlying meanings tucked away in a person’s unconscious (Bower, 1998). Freud believed in the sciences and was greatly influenced by Charles Darwin which led him to use evolutionary and biological explanations in his research (Person, 2005).  ** Psychosexual Development ** Psychosexual development was introduced by Freud. He stated sexuality actually develops in childhood. Freud thought children develop their sexual urges, drives, identities and fascinations beginning in infancy. Whether or not children complete a number of psychological stages explains how they develop certain personalities later in adulthood. Freud believed childhood sexual development through stages, “had profound consequences for the adult’s erotic life and character structure” (Person, 2005, p.1261). According to Ethel Person (2005), Freud’s discovery of childhood sexuality lead to the realization that adults are not the only ones who experience sexual urges and have sex drives, children do too. Furthermore, adults develop their sex drive during childhood with the alignment of different erogenous zones and attachments to objects that are not related to reproduction. Freud changed the way people thought about sexuality forever and sought to prove his theory of the infant psyche.  ** Oral Stage (Birth-2 years old) ** The first stage of psychosexual development is the oral stage, which is said to be entirely about self-satisfaction and gratification of the infant (Carr, 1987, p. 362). According to Freud, an infant’s main concern is mother’s milk. Infants have sensitive nerve-endings on their lips and tongues and sucking on their mother’s breasts gives them instant gratification of  milk. The oral fixation with their mother’s breast is then transferred to other objects (thumb sucking). As said by Freud, a person who has had difficulties with this developmental stage or did not complete this stage will have oral fixations later in life such as smoking, alcoholism and other internal and coping problems (“Psychosexual Development: Freud’s Legacy,” 2010, para. 3).  ** Anal Stage (2-4 years old) ** This next stage as described by Freud has to do with potty-training and children’s relations to their parents. Freud thought some children are harder to potty-train than others and some may defecate or withhold their defecation for their own pleasure (Felluga, 2011, para. 5). The phrase “anal-retentive” comes from this stage of psychosexual development. One who is anal-retentive is said to have held in their defecation as a child and therefore become obsessively neat and organized as an adult. Adults can also be the opposite, completely lazy and messy due to this stage. <span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif';"> ** <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua','serif';">Phallic Stage (4-7 years old) ** <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua','serif';">Freud thought this was the stage when children begin to identify with one sex over another. In addition, “…children begin to exhibit strong attachment towards their opposite-sex parent, while shunning the same-sex parent” (“Psychosexual Development,” 2010, para. 5). In Freud’s mind, children become jealous of the opposite sex parent and this turns into either the Oedipus complex or Electra complex. The Oedipus complex states a boy wants to kill his father and gain sexual control of his mother. Electra complex is the reverse for girls who compete with their mothers for their fathers (“Psychosexual Development,” 2010, para. 5). <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua','serif';"> ** <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua','serif';">Latent Period (7-12 years old) ** <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua','serif';">This stage is thought to be the most complex period of psychosexual development. Throughout the latency period, a child is said to be fascinated by his or her own genitals and the genitals of others. As stated by David Stevenson (1996), the latency period is not a technical stage of sexual development but more of an explorative stage where the child’s sex drive is inactive (Latency Period section, para. 1). Children are also thought to be turned away from some form of sexual development and focused more on peers and social growth. Children learn to get along with others and take their peers’ feelings into account (“Psychosexual Development,” 2010, para. 6). <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua','serif';"> ** <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua','serif';">Genital Stage (12 years old and up) ** <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua','serif';">This stage occurs when children enter puberty. Children are now transitioning from childhood to adulthood in more ways than one. This is the final stage of psychosexual development and, “In this stage, problems from the other stages begin to visibly manifest, and a person’s sexual preferences and predilections become clear” (“Psychosexual Development,” 2010, para. 7). The energy levels of this final stage determine whether or not the child will become fixated with one of the previous stages as an adult. If a child has successfully completed all of the above described stages, they will become a normal and well-adjusted individual (Stevenson, 1996, Genital Stage section, para. 1). <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua','serif';"> ** <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua','serif';">Conclusion ** <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua','serif';">The concept of psychosexual development is hard to prove because one may not have the capacities to think far back into their childhood about their sexual urges. Freud suggests children experience gratification in three main body areas: the mouth, anus and genitals. Through the exploration of these body parts combined with a child’s libido, children discover their sexuality and go through a series of psychological phases that make up who they are today. David Carr (1987), states that the completion of psychosexual development prepares children for sexual activity when they are adults. Adult sexual urges and activities differ from infantile sexuality in that: <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua','serif';">“Mature sexual activity is no longer simply a form of personal pleasure seeking in which the mother's breast, the genitals or whatever else comes to hand may be used regardless of others for sensual gratification, rather it acquires a new significance in the context of some relationship with another human being involving the sort of altruistic relations and sentiments that do normally attend such relationships” (p. 363). <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua','serif';">By experiencing the stages of psychosexual development properly and completely, children will become stable and happy adults with respect for others when it comes to sex and they will transfer their sexual desires to others. Children who complete the stages are said to be well-rounded individuals as adults and that ultimately leads to more respect for others when it comes to sex. Critics of Freud doubt his theory of psychosexual development because there is not enough evidence to prove it is true. However, if one observes children closely they may see children going through these stages. The deviance of normal completion of these stages, according to Freud, will result in fixations associated with one of the above-mentioned stages. Personalities must develop from somewhere and according to Freud and his observational studies, it begins in childhood and is related to different erogenous zones and completion of stages. ** <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua','serif';">SOURCES ** <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua','serif';">Bower, B. (1998). Dr. Freud goes to Washington. // Society for Science & the Public, //154(22), 347-349. <span style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua','serif';">Carr, D. (1987). Freud and sexual ethics. // Philosophy //, 62(241), pp. 361-373. Cambridge University Press on behalf of Royal Institute of Philosophy. <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua','serif';">Dino, F. (2011). Modules on Freud: On psychosexual development. // Introductory Guide to Critical Theory. // Purdue University. Retrieved from http://www.cla.purdue.edu/academic/engl/theory/psychoanalysis/freud.html <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua','serif';">Person, E. S. (2005). As the wheel turns: A centennial reflection on Freud's three essays on the theory of sexuality. //Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association,// 53(4), 1257-1282. <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua','serif';">Psychosexual Development: Freud’s Legacy. (2010, Mar 31). Argosy University. Retrieved from http://helpingpsychology.com/psychosexual-development-freuds-legacy <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua','serif';">Sigmund Freud photograph retrieved from http://www.deathreference.com/En-Gh/Freud-Sigmund.html <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua','serif';">Sleeping baby photograph retrieved from http://www.bmfdental.com/thumb-sucking.php <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua','serif';">Stevenson, D. B. (1996). Freud's Psychosexual Stages of Development. Brown University. Retrieved from http://www.victorianweb.org/science/freud/develop.html