psychodynamic approach

• assumptions:

  • behaviour controlled by unconscious forces + personality determined by childhood experiences
  • unconscious mind contains disturbing repressed memories + thoughts, can be accessed during dreams or slips of tongues
• id:

  • pleasure principle - entirely selfish + demands instant gratification
  • present at birth, babies = bundles of id
• ego:

  • reality principle - mediator between id + superego
  • reduces conflict by using defence mechanisms
  • develops at around 2
• superego:

  • morality principle - represents moral standards of childs same sex parent + punishes for wrongdoing e.g guilt
  • develops around 5
• defence mechanisms:

  • used to manage demands of id + superego
  • unconscious - prevents ego from being overwhelmed by temporary threats + trauma
  • long term use unhealthy + undesirable - involves a distortion of reality
• examples of defence mechanisms:

  • repression - forcing memory out
  • denial
  • displacement - transfer feelings from source to substitute
  • regression - returning to earlier developmental stage
• psychosexual stages:

  • occurred in 5 stages - marked by specific conflict, child must resolve to progress successfully
  • unresolved conflicts lead to fixation - child becomes stuck + carries conflicts into adult life
• oral stage (0-1):

  • focus of pleasure = mouth, boob is object of desire
  • consequence = smoking, biting nails, sarcastic
• anal stage (1-3):

  • focus of pleasure = anus, child gains pleasure from withholding + expelling poo
  • consequence = anal retentive - perfectionist, obsessive + anal expulsive - thoughtless, messy
• phallic stage (3-5):

  • focus of pleasure = genitals
  • oedipus complex - castration fear, electra complex - penis envy
  • consequence = narcissistic, reckless, gay
• latency + genital stage:

  • latency = earlier conflicts repressed
  • genital = sexual desires become conscious alongside puberty
  • consequence = difficulty forming heterosexual relationships
• EVALUATION: explanatory power

  • controversial but influential - key force in first 1/2 of 20th century, used to explain personality, abnormal behaviour, gender identity
  • draws attention to correlation between childhood experiences e.g parental relationship
  • approach has positive impact on psych
• EVALUATION: real world application

  • psychotherapy + psychoanalysis - first attempt to treat disorders psychologically
  • dream analysis - brings repressed emotions into conscious mind - forerunner to modern talking therapies e.g counselling
  • valuable in creating new approach to treatment
• EVALUATION: untestable concepts

  • unfalsifiable - not open to empirical testing or being disproved, many concepts occur at unconscious levels
  • based on subjective study of individuals e.g little hans, difficult to make universal claims
  • theory is pseudoscientific + not established fact