Psychodynamic

• Psychodynamic approach is a perspective that describes the different forces (dynamics), most of which are unconscious, which develop in childhood, their interactions, that operate on the mind and direct human behaviour and experience.
• The unconscious is the part of the mind that we are unaware of but which continues to direct much of our behaviour. It contains desires, impulses and repressed memories.
• Ego is the 'reality check' that balances the conflicting demands of the id and the superego.
• Superego is the moralistic part of our personality which represents the ideal self: how we ought to be.
• Defence mechanisms are unconscious strategies that the ego uses to manage the conflict between the id and the superego.
• Psychosexual stages of development: Oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital that all children pass through. At each stage there is a different conflict, the outcome of which determines future development.
• Freud believed that neuroses were caused by deeply traumatic experiences which have occurred usually during early childhood, and which have been repressed. Various techniques (the talking cure) have been developed to bring these experiences into consciousness, so they could be confronted.
• The conscious mind is the part that we are aware of/know about. Just beneath, is the preconscious which contains thoughts and ideas we may become aware of during dreams or parapraxes (slips of the tongue).
• Most of our mind is made up of the unconscious which contains:

  1. Disturbing/traumatic experiences, desires, fears and memories, which have been repressed.
  2. Biological instincts and drives which have a significant impact on our behaviour/personality.
• The Id is present from birth and operates on the pleasure principle. The Id is responsible for our unconscious drives and instincts. Throughout life, it is entirely selfish and demands instant gratification, which is why it's associated with hedonism.
• The ego emerges from about the age of 2 and operates on the reality principle. It is the mediator between the id and the superego to reduce the conflict between them by using defence mechanisms.
• The superego emerges from about the age of 5 during the phallic stage and operates on the morality principle. The superego is our internalised sense of right/wrong representing the moral standards of the same-sex parent. It punishes the ego with guilt for wrongdoing.
• The psychosexual stages consist of 5 different ones which occur through child development. Each conflict in each stage must be resolved for a child to successfully progress to the next stage. Any unresolved conflicts leads to fixation and certain behaviours are carried through to adult life.

  
• Defence mechanisms are unconscious and help to prevent us from overwhelming anxiety from threats or traumas. They distort reality in some way and so are not psychologically healthy in the long term.
• 3 types of defence mechanisms:

  1. Denial - Not acknowledging there is a problem
  2. Repression - Supressing a memory until it disappears into the subconscious
  3. Displacement - Showing emotion towards someone/something completely unrelated to that which caused the emotion
• S: While now considered outdated, still has huge influence on psychology and western contemporary thought as we still use terms today (ego, denial, defence mechanisms etc...). Also influenced Bowlby who built on Freudian concept to develop his attachment theories.
• W: Freud's interpretations were subjective as they came from case studies through interpretation of his client's mmeories introspections and dreams. Other researchers could have came up with entirely different conclusions. For example, the case of Little Hanz which was used to support the psychosexual stages of development; Little Hanz parents were fans of F's work and likely recorded events and conversations that would support Freud's ideas. This leads to lack of scientific rigour and bias.
• W: The biggest criticism was that Freud's concepts are untestable as they occur in the unconscious mind, which we don't even know exists as it is not open to conscious thought. Therefore, Freud's concepts lack falsifiability.
• S: Freud's ideas have face validity; boys often initially have stronger attachment to their mother, early trauma can influence anxiety. People also often identify examples o defence mechanisms such as denial, displacement and repression, and most people would admit to having desires and anxieties they cannot consciously explain.
• Freud suggested criminal behaviour could be due to an imbalance in the superego's strength relative to the id; a superego that is too weak allows the id's desires to dominate, or a deviant superego adopts the criminal values of the parents. Alternatively, an overly strong superego might lead to criminal acts to justify the extreme guilt imposed by the superegos' rigid moral standards.
• Psychosexual stages of development

  A) 0-1

  B) 1-3

  C) 3-6

  D) 6-12

  E) 12+

  F) Weaning off breast feeding or formula

  G) Toilet training

  H) Resolving Odepius complex

  I) Developing defence mechanisms

  J) Full sexual maturity