The psychodynamic approach

the role of the unconscious, the structure of personality: Id, Ego, and Superego, defence mechanisms including repression, denial, and displacement, psychosexual stages

define the psychodynamic approach

explains all human behaviour as a result of internal drives and forces, the unconscious, and personality structures

assumptions of the psychodynamic approach

Behaviour and feelings are affected by the unconscious, Freud suggested we have 2 parts of our mind: conscious and unconscious, everything in the unconscious affects behaviour. Behaviour and feelings as adults are rooted in our childhood experiences. All behaviour has a cause even slips of the tongue. Our personality is made up of different parts.

Id

operates in the unconscious, operates according to the pleasure principle (want what they want now), at birth only the Id is present, primitive part of personality

Ego

operates according to the reality principle (reality of external world), mediates between Id and Superego to reduce conflict between the different demands of the personality, develops at about 2 years old

Superego

internalised sense of right and wrong (conscience), represents moral standards of child’s parents, punishes the ego for wrongdoing through feelings of guilt, develops at about 5 years old

the structure of personality

Freud believed the mind can be divided into 3 structures: Id, Ego, Superego. Each demands satisfaction but is frequently in conflict with the other parts.

the role of the unconscious

Freud believed in the existence of part of the mind that was inaccessible to conscious thought (unconscious mind). He used an iceberg metaphor - tip of the iceberg is conscious and visible, the unconscious is the larger part of the iceberg is hidden underwater, Freud believed everyday actions are controlled by the unconscious, unconscious reveals itself in Freudian slips, creativity, dreams. Freud believed the mind prevents traumatic memories from reaching conscious awareness that might cause anxiety, using defence mechanisms to prevent awareness.

defence mechanisms

operate unconsciously, distort reality to reduce anxiety, triggered when individual is faced with a situation they cannot deal with rationally, stops the individual becoming aware of unpleasant thoughts/feelings associated with the traumatic situation

repression

unconscious blocking of unacceptable thoughts/impulses, repressed thoughts continue to influence behaviour without individual knowing the reasons behind their behaviour, for example a child who was abused may not remember the abuse but has trouble forming relationships

denial

refusal to accept reality, so avoids painful feelings associated with the event, person acts as if traumatic event never happened, for example an alcoholic denies their drinking problem after multiple arrests for being drunk and disorderly

displacement

redirecting thoughts/feelings in situations where the individual feels unable to express them in the presence of the person they should be directed at, instead they take out their feelings on a helpless victim/object, giving their hostile feelings a route for expression

Psychosexual stages

Freud believed that the personality developed through a 5 stage sequence (psychosexual stages). Within each stage, there is a different conflict that must be resolved by the child to progress to the next stage. If a conflict is unresolved, fixation occurs - the child becomes stuck and carries out behaviours/conflicts associated with that stage throughout adult life.

what are the psychosexual stages

Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, Genital

Oral

focus of pleasure is the mouth expressed through sucking and biting, the mother’s breast is the object of desire, 0 to 2 years

Anal

child becomes aware of the demands of reality and the need to meet others demands, beginning of ego development, toilet training is the main issue at this stage, child gains pleasure from withholding and expelling bodily waste, 2 to 3 years

Phallic

focus of pleasure is on genitals, conflict at this stage is oedipus complex/electra complex, by the end of the stage the child should identify and internalise the behaviour of their same sex parent, 3 to 6 years

Latency

child develops mastery of world around them, conflicts from previous stages are repressed so child cannot remember their early years, 6 to 12 years

Genital

sexual desire becomes conscious, 12 years and over

the oedipus complex

during the phallic stage, boys unconsciously wish to possess their mother and get rid of their father (their rival in love), boys experience castration anxiety (fear of punishment from father) for this desire so in an attempt to solve resolve this problem boys repress their feelings for their mother and identify with their father, internalising their father’s behaviour/moral values

the electra complex

during the phallic stage, girls experience penis envy, they desire their father and hate their mother, Freud thought girls give up their desire for their father over time and replace it with a desire for a baby, girls identify with their mother and internalise their mother’s behaviour

evaluate the psychodynamic approach A03 - gender biased

disadvantage - Freud’s views on women and female sexuality were less developed than his views on male sexuality, leading to other psychoanalysts criticising his work and views on women and their development. This is an issue because it means his theories cannot be accurately applied to women. This is problematic because Freud was treating women without fully understanding their development and due to his theories influence female treatments are still impacted by his theories.

evaluate the psychodynamic approach A03 - use of case studies

advantage - Freud used case studies like Rat man, Little Hans, Anna O to develop his psychodynamic theory. This allowed Freud to collect detailed observations that focused on a wide range of individuals’ experiences, he wouldn’t be able to get such detail from a lab experiment. COUNTER - case studies are highly subjective, other psychologists may not have come to the same conclusions as Freud affecting validity and accuracy of the psychodynamic approach negatively.

evaluate the psychodynamic approach A03 - untestable concepts

disadvantage - Freud’s theories suggest that behaviour is a result of unconscious drives and motivations. The role of the unconscious is an untestable concept as it cannot be accurately established whether an individual has experienced an oedipus/electra complex because it occurs in the unconscious so the individual is unaware of it and cannot report it to the investigator. Therefore the theory cannot be falsified or verified as it’s impossible to find evidence of the unconscious element of the psychodynamic theory.

evaluate the psychodynamic approach A03 - treatment of mental illnesses

advantage - The psychodynamic approach can be used to explain mental health disorders or morality which has allowed for the development of successful treatments such as psychoanalysis. There is support to show that psychoanalysis has helped show great improvement in mental health symptoms. This demonstrates the benefits of the psychodynamic approach and the usefulness of it in developing treatments.