Defence Mechanisms & Psychosexual Stages

What are defence mechanisms?

Unconscious mental strategies which help protect the conscious mind from unpleasant feelings (e.g. anxious, guilt, frightening feelings).

• What the ego uses to balance the conflicting demands of the Id and the Superego

• Prevent us from being overwhelmed by temporary threats or traumas,

• Often involve some form of distortion of reality

• Provide temporary relief or solution

• Regarded as psychologically unhealthy and undesirable as a long-term solution

What are the types of defence mechanisms?

• Repression

• Denial

• Displacement

What is repression as a defence mechanism?

Forcing a distressing/unpleasant memory out of the conscious mind and down into the unconscious mind.

• ‘Smothered’ so that they’re unable to cause anxiety or hurt

• Rather than staying quietly in the unconscious mind, these repressed thoughts and impulses continue to influence behaviour without the individual being aware of the reasons behind their behaviour

• E.g. a child who was abused by a parent may have no recollection of these events, but has trouble forming relationships

What is denial as a defence mechanism?

Refusal to accept or acknowledge some aspect of reality of an unpleasant situation or event.

• Acting as if a traumatic event didn’t happen

• Means avoiding to deal with any painful feelings that might be associated with that event

• If it didn't happen, then it can't harm anyone e.g. 'My partner isn't stealing from me, I must have mislaid that £50 note somewhere'

What is displacement as a defence mechanism?

Transferring feelings from the true source of distressing emotion towards an uninvolved/innocent person or object.

• Redirecting your thoughts or feelings (usually hostile) in situations where the person feels unable to express them in the presence of the actual person they should be directed to

• Reduces anxiety as it allows the expression of that strong emotion

• E.g. ‘I shout at my children because I cannot shout at my boss' or 'I slam the door after a row with my husband because I can't physically hurt him'

What is the main indicator of healthy development?

If the child successfully navigates the phallic phase, by going through the Oedipus complex (boys) or the Electra complex (girls).

What is the Oedipus complex?

• The phase in which boys develop an unconscious desire for closeness towards their mother

• Murderous hatred and fear their father - their rival in love

• They repress their feelings for their mother and identify with their father, taking on his gender role and moral values - in fear that their father will castrate them (castration anxiety)

What is castration anxiety?

A males’ unconscious fear that he will have his testicles removed.

What is the Electra complex?

• The phase in which girls experience penis envy (blames mother for removing her penis)

• They have unconscious closeness and incestuous feelings towards their father as the penis is the primary love object

• Murderous hatred for their rival in love - their mother

• Identify more with their mum later to resolve conflict

What are the psychosexual stages of development?

• Oral (0-2 years)

• Anal (2-3 years)

• Phallic (3-5 years)

• Latent (6 years to puberty-12)

• Genital (puberty onwards)

What happens at each psychosexual stage if conflict is resolved?

Each stage involves a different conflict that the child must resolve in order to progress successfully to the next stage.

• If unresolved, fixation occurs where the child becomes ‘stuck’ and carries certain behaviours and conflicts associated with that stage through to adult life (obstructing happiness and functionality)

- May be due to a dysfunctional upbringing, trauma or adverse (unfavourable) experience

What study did Freud conduct?

Little Hans, a 5-year-old boy with a horse phobia

• Freud’s detailed notes and observations of Hans allowed him to interpret Hans’ phobia as evidence of the Oedipus complex - the horse represented his father, according to Freud

• Hans emerged from the phobia towards the beginning of the latency stage (from roughly age 6 to puberty), which Freud interpreted as evidence of him having resolved this

What is the first stage of the psychosexual stages of development?

Oral

• Age: 0-2 years

• Focus of pleasure: Mouth

• Child gains pleasure through their mouth (sucking and biting)

• Consequences in adulthood of unresolved conflict: Oral Fixation: Smoking, overeating, biting nails, critical and sarcastic comments, addiction, neediness

What is the second stage of the psychosexual stages of development?

Anal

• Age: 2-3 years

• Focus of pleasure: Anus

• Child gains pleasure from withholding and expelling faeces

• Consequences in adulthood of unresolved conflict: Anal fixation, which can manifest in two ways:

- Anal retentive: Neatness, perfectionism, obsessiveness, neuroticism

- Anal expulsive: Messiness, insensitivity, chaos, thoughtless

What is the third stage of the psychosexual stages of development?

Phallic

• Age: 3-5 years

• Focus of pleasure: Genitals

• Child experiences the Oedipus or Electra complex

• Consequences in adulthood of unresolved conflict: Phallic personality: Narcissism, impulsivity, over-ambition, reckless, possibly homosexual

What is the fourth stage of the psychosexual stages of development?

Latency

• Age: 6 years to puberty (12 years)

• Focus of pleasure: Hidden

• Earlier conflicts become repressed

• Consequences in adulthood of unresolved conflict: N/A

What is the fifth stage of the psychosexual stages of development?

Genital

• Age: Puberty and onwards

• Focus of pleasure: Forming heterosexual relationships

• Sexual desires become conscious as puberty hits

• Consequences in adulthood of unresolved conflict: Genital Fixation: Difficulty forming heterosexual relationships, particularly difficulties with penetration (asexual)

How do you remember all of Freud’s psychosexual stages?

Old Age Pensioners Love Guinness

What are the strengths of the psychodynamic approach?

It introduced the ideas of psychotherapy (as opposed to physical treatments)

• Brought a new form of therapy - psychoanalysis

• The first attempt to treat mental disorders psychologically rather than physically

• It employed a range of techniques designed to access the unconscious, such as dream analysis

• Psychoanalysis claims to help clients by bringing their repressed emotions into their conscious mind so they can be dealt with

• Psychoanalysis is the forerunner to main modern day ‘talking therapies’, such as counselling

What is a counterpoint to the psychoanalysis?

• Although Freudian therapists claimed success for many clients with mild neuroses, psychoanalysis is regarded as inappropriate, even harmful, for people experiencing more serious mental disorders (such as schizophrenia)

• Many of the symptoms of schizophrenia, such as paranoia and delusional thinking, mean that those with the condition are losing some contact with reality and can’t articulate their thoughts in the way required by psychoanalysis

• This suggests that Freudian therapy may not apply to all mental health conditions

What are the limitations of the psychodynamic approach?

Demonstrates a gender bias

• The Oedipus complex is intensely androcentric (centred on men), and many claim this makes them irrelevant to an understanding of women

• Women are seen as being inferior to men because they’re jealous of men’s penis (penis envy) and they can’t undergo the same Oedipus complex (involving castration anxiety)

• Basically, because the superego develops from the Oedipus complex, women therefore ‘must be morally inferior’ because they have a weaker identification with their mothers

• Freud’s ideas can be criticised for being alpha-biased, as his theory exaggerates the difference between men and women, he devalues females - dismisses them and their sexuality in a problematic way (since they’re still influential today)

Most of it is untestable

• Popper argued that the psychodynamic approach doesn’t meet the scientific criterion of falsification

• It’s not open to empirical testing (and the possibility of being disproved)

• Many of Freud’s concepts (such as id and Oedipus complex) are said to occur at an unconscious level, making them difficult, if not impossible, to test

• Also, his ideas were based on the subjective study of single individuals, which makes it difficult to make universal claims about human behaviour

• Freud’s theory was pseudoscientific (not a real science) rather than established fact