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Sigmund Freud's Psychoanalytic theory

Structure or Personality [psyche] Freud viewed personality as a dynamic system directed by three
structures (id, ego, and superego), and each of these is a complex system in its own right --separate and
conflicting mental processes -- but most behavior involves the activity of all three. Internal struggles and
rechanneled energies typify most personality functioning. Ego sometimes giving in to the seduction of the
Id, and sometimes forced by superego to displace or sublimate behavior to other activities. The ego is
always in the middle dealing not only with id and superego, but also with external reality.

A cornerstone of modern psychoanalytic theory and practice is the concept of anxiety, which institutes
appropriate mechanisms of defense against certain danger situations. These danger situations are:
the fear of abandonment by or the loss of the loved one (the object),
the risk of losing the object's love,
the danger of retaliation and punishment, and, finally,
the hazard of reproach by the superego.
Thus, symptom formation, character and impulse disorders, and perversions, as well as sublimations,
represent compromise formations.
Anxiety may occur when the ego feels overwhelmed:
neurotic anxiety - when impulses from the id are barely kept under control.
moral anxiety when there are threats of punishment from the superego.

Each person develops habitual ways of calming these anxieties, and many resort to using ego defense
mechanisms to lessen internal conflicts.

Id. Innate biological instincts and urges present at birth. Self-serving, irrational, impulsive, and totally
unconscious, it operates on the pleasure principle: pleasure-seeking urges of all kinds are freely expressed.
The id refers to the sexual and aggressive tendencies that arise from the body, as distinguished from the
mind. Freud called these tendencies Triebe, which literally means drives, but which is often inaccurately
translated as instincts to indicate their innate character. These inherent drives claim immediate
satisfaction, which is experienced as pleasurable; the id thus is dominated by the pleasure principle. A well
of energy [libido and thanatos] for the entire psyche [personality]:

Eros: Life instincts. It is like the well that contains:
Libido, energy, which promotes survival, underlies sexual desires, and is expressed whenever we
seek pleasure.
Thanatos, responsible for aggressive and destructive urges [the long history of wars and violence
as evidence of such urges]

Ego. The "executive." It is guided by the reality principle. How the conditions for satisfaction are to be
brought about is the task of the ego, which is the domain of such functions as perception, thinking, and
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motor control that can accurately assess environmental conditions. In order to fulfill its function of
adaptation, or reality testing, the ego must be capable of enforcing the postponement of satisfaction of the
instinctual impulses originating in the id.
To defend itself against unacceptable impulses, the ego develops specific psychic means, known as
defense mechanisms:
Repression, the exclusion of impulses from conscious awareness;
Projection, the process of ascribing to others one's own unacknowledged desires; and
Reaction formation, the establishment of a pattern of behavior directly opposed to a strong
unconscious need.
Such defense mechanisms are put into operation whenever anxiety signals a danger that the original
unacceptable impulses may reemerge.
Ego ideal, reflects all behavior one's parents approved of or rewarded. The ego ideal is a source of
goals and aspirations. When its standards are met, pride is felt.

Superego. An id impulse becomes unacceptable, not only as a result of a temporary need for postponing
its satisfaction until suitable reality conditions can be found, but more often because of a prohibition
imposed on the individual by others, originally the parents. The totality of these demands and prohibitions
constitutes the major content of the superego, the function of which is to control the ego in accordance with
the internalized standards of parental figures.
Thus, acts as a judge or censor for the thoughts and actions of the ego --an "internalized parent" to bring
behavior under control. A person with a weak superego will be a delinquent, criminal, or antisocial
personality. In contrast, an overly strict or harsh superego may cause inhibition, rigidity, or unbearable guilt.
Conscience, a part of the superego, reflects all actions for which a person has been punished. When
the standards of the conscience are not met, you are punished internally by guilt feelings.


Provinces of the MInd:

Unconscious. Beyond awareness. Contains repressed memories and emotions, plus the instinctual drives
of the Id. (Modern scientists are beginning to find brain areas that seem to have the kinds of unconscious
effects that Freud described. Especially important are areas linked with emotion and memory --such as the
hippocampus in the limbic system).
The first of Freud's innovations was his recognition of unconscious psychiatric processes that follow laws
different from those that govern conscious experience. Under the influence of the unconscious, thoughts
and feelings that belong together may be may be dramatized in the form of images rather than expressed
as abstract concepts; and certain objects may be represented symbolically by images of other objects,
although the resemblance between the symbol and the original object may be vague or farfetched. The
laws of logic do not apply to these unconscious mental productions.
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Recognition of these modes of operation in unconscious mental processes made possible the
understanding of such previously incomprehensible psychological phenomena as dreaming. Through
analysis of unconscious processes, Freud saw dreams as serving to protect sleep against disturbing
impulses arising from within and related to early life experiences. Thus, unacceptable impulses and
thoughts, called the latent dream content, are transformed into a conscious, although no longer
immediately comprehensible, experience called the manifest dream. Knowledge of these unconscious
mechanisms permits the analyst to reverse the so-called dream work, that is, the process by which the
latent dream is transformed into the manifest dream, and through dream interpretation, to recognize its
underlying meaning.
Conscious. The conscious level includes everything we are aware of at a given moment, including
thoughts, perceptions, feelings, and memories.

Pre-conscious. Contains material that can be easily brought to awareness. If you stop to think about a
time when you felt angry or rejected, you will be moving this memory from the preconscious to the
conscious level of awareness.

Language, Customs, Rules, Roles, and Morals

Every society must socialize its children by teaching them language, customs, rules, roles, and morals. The
job of preparing children to take part in society is typically placed in the hands of parents. This pattern is
convenient and fateful. While carrying out socialization, parents leave traces of their own personality in their
children.

Drives:

A basic assumption of Freudian theory is that the unconscious conflicts involve instinctual impulses, or
drives, that originate in childhood. As these unconscious conflicts are recognized by the patient through
analysis, his or her adult mind can find solutions that were unattainable to the immature mind of the child.
This depiction of the role of instinctual drives in human life is a unique feature of Freudian theory.

According to Freud's doctrine of infantile sexuality, adult sexuality is an end product of a complex process
of development, beginning in childhood, involving a variety of body functions or areas (oral, anal, and
genital zones), and corresponding to various stages in the relation of the child to adults, especially to
parents.

Psychosexual Stages. Freud theorized that the core of personality is formed before age 6 in a series of
psychosexual stages. His account holds that childhood urges for erotic pleasure have lasting effects on
development. His emphasis on infantile sexuality is one of the most controversial aspects of his thinking.
However, Freud used the term sex very broadly to refer to several different physical sources of pleasure.
He identified 4 psychosexual stages. At each stage a different part of the body becomes a child's
primary erogenous zone (area capable of producing pleasure). Each area then serves as the main source
of pleasure, frustration, and self-expression. Freud believed that many adult personality traits can be traced
to fixations (unresolved conflict or emotional hang-up caused by overindulgence or by frustration) in one or
more of the stages.

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Oral. During first year of life most of infant's pleasure comes from stimulation of the mouth.
If overfed or frustrated, oral traits may be created. Adult expressions of oral needs include
gum chewing, nail biting, smoking, kissing, overeating, and alcoholism. Fixation early in
the oral stage produces an oral-dependent personality --gullible, passive, and need lots of
attention (want to be mothered). Frustrations later in the oral stage may cause aggression,
often in the form of biting. Fixation here creates an oral-aggressive adult who like to
argue, is cynical, and exploits others.

Anal. Between ages of 1 and 3. Child's attention shifts to the process of elimination. When
parents attempt toilet training, the child can gain approval or express rebellion or
aggression by "holding on" or "letting go." Therefore, harsh or lenient toilet training may
lock such responses into personality. Freud described the anal-retentive (holding-on)
personality as obstinate, stingy, orderly, and compulsively clean. The anal-
expulsive (letting-go) personality is disorderly, destructive, cruel, or messy.

Phallic. Adult traits of the phallic personality are vanity, exhibitionism, sensitive pride, and
narcissism (self-love). Freud theorized that such traits develop between the ages 3 and 6.
At this time, increased sexual interest causes the child to be physically attracted to the
parent of the opposite sex. In males this attraction leads to:

Oedipus conflict: The boy feels rivalry with his father for the affection of the mother --
and feels threatened by the father (specifically, fears castration). To ease his anxieties,
the boy must identify with the father. Their rivalry ends when the boy seeks to become
more like his father. As he does, he begins to accept the father's values and to form a
conscience.
Electra conflict: The girl loves her father and competes with her mother. However,
according to Freud, the girl identifies with the mother more gradually. This, he said, is
less effective in creating a conscience. Freud believed that females already feel
castrated. Because of this, they are less driven to identify with their mothers than boys
are with their fathers. This particular part of Freudian thought has been rejected --a
reflection of male-dominated times in which Freud lived.

Latency. From age 6 to puberty. A time during which psychosexual development is
interrupted --"on hold." Hard to accept. Nevertheless, Freud saw latency as a relatively
quiet time compared to the stormy first 6 years.

Genital. At puberty, an upswing in sexual energies activates all the unresolved conflicts of
earlier years. Cause for adolescent emotion and turmoil. It is marked, throughout
adolescence, by a growing capacity for mature and responsible social-sexual relationships.
The genital stage ends with heterosexual love and the realization of full adult sexuality.