PSYCHODYNAMIC

• FREUD 


  Psychodynamic developmental theory explains 5 psychosexual stages: oral, anal, phallic, latent and genital
• During the psychosexual stages, the life force (libido) is focused on different body parts. Gender development occurs during the third stage (phallic), when the child is between three and six years.  The libido is focused on his/her genitals.
• PRE PHALLIC STAGE


  Freud described pre-phallic children as bisexual, in the sense that they are neither masculine nor feminine. = no concept of gender identity
• PHALLIC STAGE 


  The child’s gender identity is resolved during this stage either through the Oedipus complex (boys) or Electra complex (girls).
• Children of both sexes identify (identification) with the same-sex parent as a means of resolving their respectives complexes. The children then adopt the attitudes and behaviour of that parent (internalisation).
• OEDIPUS COMPLEX (BOYS)


   where boys develop incestous feelings towards their mother. They develop jealous and murderous hatred for their father. The boy recognises that this father is more powerful and fears he might be castrated. To resolve the conflict, the boy gives up his love for his mother and begins to identify with his father. They internalise the fathers behaviours.
• ELECTRA COMPLEX (GIRLS)


  developed by CARL JUNG.

  girls experience penis envy, seeing themselves and mother competing for their father’s love. Girls develop a double resentment towards the mother, the mother is a love rival, girls blame the mother for a lack of a penis, as she has been castrated. Jung believed that over time, girls accept that they will never have a penis and substitute penis envy for the desire to have children, identifying with their mothers and internalising behaviours. 
• (+) psychodynamic approach and oedipus complex

  REKERS AND MOREY (1990) =

  They found that from interviews of 49 boys, ages 3 -11 years, those who were judged to be ‘gender disturbed’, 75% had neither their biological father, nor a substitute father living with them.  This suggests being raised with no father may have a negative impact upon gender identity.
• (-) psychodynamic approach


  non-nuclear families as FREUD would suggest that this would have a severe effect on a child’s gender development. However, Green (1978) found that only one of 37 children raised by gay or transgender parents had a gender identity that was described as ‘non-typical’.  This contradicts Freud’s theory, as it suggests that ‘traditional’ families are not necessary for healthy gender identity development & the theory lacks predictive validity.
• (+)  psychodynamic approach


  CASE STUDY - LITTLE HANS =

  5 year old boy (phallic age), he developed a sexual desire for his mother and wished his father dead, leading to the development of castration anxiety. He expressed the repressed fear of castration through a fear of horses. The anxiety was resolved when he came to identify with his father. This research evidence proves Freud theory of gender development as Hans exhibits the resolution of conflict at the phallic stage through gender identity. This is a strength to Freud's theory, as his ideas may therefore be considered valid.
• (-) psychodynamic approach - contrast

  PATTERSON =

  He reported that sexual identity in children with lesbian mothers developed in much the same way as children with heterosexual parents, developing normal social relationships with peers and adults. According to the oedipus complex, children would have difficulty acquiring gender identity if they lived in single parent families or had same sex parents. So this research by Patterson undermines the predictive validity of the theory, limiting Freud’s explanation of gender.