RHDISS LESSON 5

• Psychoanalysis


  A theory of the mind and its direct connection to personality and behavior. The basic premise is that the human mind has unconscious states, drives and desires that influence a person's view of the world and how they decide to go about their daily life.
• Psychoanalysis


  • The main proponent was Sigmund Freud, an Austrian neurologist known as the Father of Psychoanalysis. Freud's theory states that behavior and personality are driven by past events, which are mostly inaccessible to an individual's consciousness.
• Psychoanalytic Practice


  The method by which the troubling unconscious material, such as memories and desires, is brought to the level of the conscious mind so that the individual could better understand themselves.
• Psychosexual


  The development of personality, which posits that at different stages of growth, the individual derives pleasure from different parts of the body. An important term is libido, which is the natural mental energy that operates the mechanisms of the mind.
• Psychosexual Developmental Stages


  • Oral Stage (0-1 year): Children derive pleasure from oral activities
  • Anal Stage (2-3 years): Children begin potty training
  • Phallic Stage (3-6 years): Boys are more attached to their mother, girls to their father
  • Latency Stage (6 years-puberty): Children spend more time with peers and school activities
  • Genital Stage (beyond puberty): Individuals are attracted to romantic relationships
• Three Structures of Personality

  • Id: Occupies the unconscious level, seeks pleasure and instant gratification
  • Ego: Resides in the conscious and preconscious levels, the decision maker
  • Superego: Resides in all three levels, the moral and social aspect of personality, the conscience
• Three Levels of Awareness

  • Conscious: Accessible information, memories and thoughts
  • Preconscious: Accessible and retrievable information not currently in the conscious level
  • Unconscious: Inaccessible memories, thoughts, emotions and feelings, mostly from childhood
• Rational Choice Theory


  Explains that human action and behavior are products of choice. Individuals rationalize their situations by processing between the most beneficial choices and the lesser individual cost. Cost-Benefit Analysis is always performed in every given situation and is considered an instinctual response.
• Rational Choice Theory


  • Social Consequence of Scarcity-based Decision: Humanity's unlimited wants and perpetual desires drove civilizations to either their prominence or destruction. The most rational choice is to conserve the limited resources we have, and share this with each other.
• Proponents of Rational Choice Theory

  • William Stanley Jevons: English economist who applied the principles of Rational Choice Theory in Political Economy, advanced the Theory of Marginal Utility
  • Gary Becker: American Economist who expanded the study of Economics to the realm of sociology and the other social sciences, argued that individuals act to maximize their own welfare
• Institutionalism


  An approach that aims to understand and analyze how actions, thoughts, and meanings penetrate into the social consciousness deeply enough to embed themselves into the social psyche. The common concern is to find out the effects of these institutions and determine how these affect the manner by which the society functions.
• Key Concepts in Institutionalism

  • Formal Institutions: Codified rules, policies, and norms that are considered official, originating from state laws, government and organizations
  • Informal Institutions: Equally known rules and norms but are not commonly written down
  • Institutional actors: The people who make up society, whose actions are controlled and regulated by institutions
• Proponents of Institutionalism


  • David Mitrany: Romanian-born British scholar, historian, and political theorist, considered the father of functionalism in international relations
  • Jean Monnet: French political economist and diplomat, one of the originators of the European Union, argued against territory being the source of authority
  • Stephen Krasner: American professor of international relations, argues that the American government and non-government organizations should prioritize the stabilization of weakened states so that American interests would be protected