freud

• What was the aim?

  To use the account of a boy (Little Hans) to show the existence of the oedipus complex
• What was the sample?


  Little Hans

  5 year old boy from Austria
• What was the method?


  A clinical case study

  Data was gathered through letters sent from the boys father

  Freud only met Little Hans once/twice
• What was the case history?


  Hans watched a horse die whilst he was going through the phallic stage of psychosexual development

  Hans' mother threatened to castrate him and leave him for playing with his "widdler"

  His sister is born causing jealousy

  Hans' father banned him from sleeping in the marital bed

  Hans dreamed of 3 giraffes: a big one, a small one and a crumpled one (the big one cried out)

  Hans fantasised of having many children and when asked by his father who the mum was he said "Why mummy and you're the grandaddy"

  Hans fantasised that a plumber came to remove his bottom and penis to replace them with bigger ones
• What were the results?


  Freud said that this was an example of the oedipus complex, specifically:

  - Hans' phobia of the horse was actually a fear of his father

  - the anxiety he experienced was castration anxiety

  - The giraffes in his dream represented his parents. The big one who cried out was the father objecting to Hans. The crumpled one was the mother, the crumpled representing her genitals

  
  

  The children fantasy was a friendly resolution where Hans replaced his father but his father still had a role

  
  

  The plumber fantasy represented identification with the father where Hans could see himself becoming like his father
• What was the conclusion?

  Hans experienced a phobia of horses as he had castration anxiety and was going through the Oedipus complex. Dreams and fantasies helped express this and as the complex was resolved, the fear was resolved