Psychosexual Development
Freud believed that a new born baby is filled with the psychic energy that is held in our id part of our minds, according to Freud, ” from the moment of birth the infant is driven in his actions by the desire for bodily/sexual pleasure”. Freud believed that an individual’s development is revolve around how he/she attempts to deal with that psychic energy. Freud’s stages of Psychosexual Developments includes five different stages in which unsuccessful completion of a stage can mean that a child is fixated on a certain erogenous zone, and he/she may become either over or under indulged as an adult.
Freud focused on the fact that a baby for his/her first year explores the world through his/her mouth. It grasp anthing into his mouth; Freud called this first stage the Oral stage. It can result in Oral Fixation, in which a child receives too much pleasure from oral activities. A child with this type of personality may have a tendency to smoke, drink, over eat, and/or bite his/her nails. On the other hand, it can also result in Oral Personality, in which a child received no pleasure from oral activities. A child with this personality may become dependent on others and are gullible. In the second and third year of life, babies realize that there are other babies and adults. Babies struggle through this age, and one of he struggles id toilot training. Freud called this stage the anal stage. Unsuccessfull of this struggle can lead a child with this type of personality of being obsessed with perfection, cleanliness, and control. On the other hand, a child can become anal expulsive, messy and disorganized. From 3 to 6 years of age, the child realizes that there are two different sexes, male and female. In this stage, the child becomes interested in the opposite sex. Freud called this stage this stage the phallic stage. In this stage, the focus of pleasure shifts to the genital. During this, a boy unconsciously develop sexual desires for his mother which results in a rival with his father. This can result in Oedipus Complex type of personality, in which the boy feels like he has to compete with his father for his mother’s attention. The boy develop fear towards his father. The child enters into the latency stage, from the age of 6 to puberty. During this stage, the sexual urges remain in control and the child focuses on playing and interacting with the same sex. According to Freud, the last stage of psychosexual development from puberty to adulthood is the genital stage. During this stage, a child’s sexual desires shifts towards an opposite sex. The main focus of pleasure is the genital.
Freud’s main focus has always been sexuality, how one struggles through their sexual desires which shapes them into their personality. All of Freud’s theories and works are inter-related to eachother. Freud died in 1939 from cancer, but he is still alive in the field of psychology today. His Psychonalytic approach is still in used today, and his personality theory (psychosexual development) is still considered to be one of the best.