psychodynamic perspective

key principles

• behaviour is a result of an interaction between unconscious innate drives (e.g. desire or pleasure) and early experiences (e.g. extent to which our early desires were gratified)

• personality differences / abnormalities can be traced back to the way the early conflicts between desire and experiences were handled

2 aspects of the psychodynamic perspective

• the tripartite structure of human personality

• psychosexual stages of development

tripartite definition

tripartite means in 3 parts

3 aspects to personality

• the ID (biological part, primitive instincts and drives)

• the ego (realistic part)

• the superego (moral part - conscience)

the ID explained

• present at birth

• driven by the pleasure principle which operates in the unconscious

the ego explained

• from age 1 - 3 years

• driven by the reality principle, mediates between the needs of the ID and superego

• considers social realities and norms, etiquette and rules in deciding how behave

the superego explained

• from age 3 - 5 years old

• driven by the anxiety principle

• developed from societal and parental standards of what is appropriate behaviour

iceberg analogy

• only the tip of the iceberg is visible

• this is the conscious mind

• the part of the iceberg not seen is the unconscious mind

defence mechanism definition

• ego protects itself from unpleasant thoughts or feelings using defence mechanisms

• strategies to prevent / reduce anxiety

3 defence mechanisms

• repression : blocking unacceptable feelings or memories, but may reoccur in dreams

• denial : refusal to accept reality

• displacement : redirecting thoughts / feelings somewhere else

4 ways we can access the unconscious mind

• projective tests : interpreting something from an inkblot, interpretation from patient projects info from unconscious mind

• free association : client expresses whatever thoughts / feelings come to mind without censorship

• dream analysis : example of this is rats = powerful enemies, moon = your feelings

• hypnosis

5 psychosexual stages of development

• oral stage

• anal stage

• phallic stage

• latency stage

• genital stage

oral stage age range and description

• from birth - 1 year old

• mouth (sucking) is the source of pleasure

• ID is in control

• fixation can be caused by not weaning properly / being too reliant on caregivers

• over indulgence manifests itself in the future through selfishness, dependency etc

• frustration manifests in the future through nail biting, thumb sucking etc

anal stage age range and description

• from 1 to 3 years old

• elimination of faeces is the source of pleasure (link to toilet training)

• ego develops at this stage

• one fixation is anal expulsive (liberal potty training) - can be disorganised, oversharing etc

• another fixation is anal retentive (early or harsh potty training) - can be controlling, tidy etc

phallic stage age range and description

• from age 3 to 5/6 years old

• superego develops

• driven by the anxiety principle

• child becomes aware of sex differences

• this sets in motion the conflict between erotic attraction, rivalry, jealousy etc

• oedipus complex in boys and electra complex in girls

• fixation at this stage by failure to resolve oedipus or electra complex manifests as homosexuality, curiosity or exhibitionism

latency stage age range and description

• from age 6 to puberty

• nothing much happens here

• sexual energy is put to the side whilst other important physical and intellectual development takes place

• this explains why at around age 6 children often no longer choose to interact with the opposite gender

genital stage age range and description

• occurs in adulthood

• final stage and marks transition to adulthood

• freud believed that the only acceptable sexuality was heterosexuality (could be due to the time)

strengths of perspective

• draws attention to the psychological causes of mental disorders - these have been successful in helping people with a variety of mental health problems

• freud had a huge impact on psychology and was the first to recognise the influence of unconscious forces on our behaviour and that childhood is a critical period of development

• use of case studies gives in depth data which is useful for insight into the way people think and feel

weaknesses of perspective

• concepts are vague and subjective - is a lack of scientific support for the theories which are difficult to test and verify in an objective way

• theory is based on the use of unrepresentative samples

• techniques are not objective and are open to bias - results depend upon the interpretation of the therapist

• is highly deterministic suggesting that infant behaviour is determined by innate forces and adult behaviour is determined by childhood experiences