Freud's and Erikson's Perspectives on Human Development Essay

Freud’s theory of personality examined the interplay between the primitive, instinctual urges—the ‘id’; the practical and rational ‘ego’; and the morally attuned ‘superego’; ‘object relations’ refer to the "object" of an instinct”, which is “the agent through which the instinctual aim is achieved”—most often a person and, according to Freud, most often the mother (Ainsworth 1969, p. 1). The psychosexual development theory that Freud launched reduces our behaviour to mechanistic responses to an instinctive need for pleasure fueled by the ‘libido’ and barriers or distortions to the gratification of the libido at various delineated stages of development were responsible for later problems in life (Kail & Zolner 2012, p. 5). Erik Erikson later added depth to the approach by including more humanistic elements to Freud’s stages and including more periods of development (p.

What is development? Development is “A progressive increase in the function of the body.” (growth and development book) As a nurse it is vital to understand what development means and how people develop, especially children. In this essay I will talk about two very important developmental theories, Erikson and Freud. In addition, compare their similarities and their differences.

Psychoanalytic theories describe development as primarily unconscious and heavily colored by emotion. Psychoanalytic theorists emphasize that behavior is merely a surface characteristic and that true understanding of development requires analyzing the symbolic meanings of behavior and the deep inner workings of the mind. They also stress that the experiences children have with their parents earlier on in life shape development. The psychoanalytic theory highlighted by Sigmund Freud who was born in 1856 and died in 1939. As he listened to and examine his parents he was influenced they were the result of experiences early in life. He thought that as children grow up, their focus of pleasure and sexual impulses shifts from the mouth to the anus and eventually to the genitals. As a result, we go through five stages of psychosexual development: oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital. The oral stage is when the infant’s pleasure centers on the mouth, the anal stage is when

In 1905 Sigmund Freud theorized that childhood development happens in stages, which are called “Psychosexual Development Stages.” In 1950 Erik Erikson developed “Psychosocial Stages,” which are greatly influenced by Freud’s theories. Freud’s theory centers on psychosexual energy or the libido. Erickson’s theory centers on issues and tasks being met at specific ages. Even though we are sexual beings, our developmental stages do not focus entirely on sexual pleasures. Both theories do show that personality develops in stages. Although, Erickson’s theory is the better theory.

Freud introduced us to unconscious motivations and how they determine our behavior. The study of the unconscious mind became a base and paved the way for other therapists. Also, the psychosexual stages were introduced which explain the biological and instinctual drive of children. The structure of personality is the foundation of our impulses, behaviors, and our interactions in our mental life. These include the id, ego, and superego. The superego prevents actions the id wants to accomplish; which is important because we all have irrational impulses and the superego saves us from those. It is important to look at the weaknesses of psychoanalysis and Freud’s ideas. The psychosexual stages stop at the age of six when development happens throughout someone’s lifetime. These psychosexual stages are his main focus and there is not much of a focus on how important social factors are on our mental health and development. Psychoanalytical therapists can sometimes be seen as subjective. The therapist analyzes the dreams and that is subjective. There is no empirical research to support his psychodynamic model, although the theory does explain reasons for irregularities in development. A common criticism is he blamed for inadequate parenting on mothers while the father was not in the equation. The time

Many factors influence children’s development as well as that massive amount of development theories that elaborate on why children do certain things, why children have developmental disorders, or even why some children have developmental delays. Although there are many theories regarding children development and how they are influences, theorist make some great points in the child development but with any theory come flaws such as developmental issues. Famous theorists Freud, Erikson, and Piaget all have different ideas on this topic. Freud was a psychiatrist who believed in unconscious activity of the mind. Erikson was a developmental psychologist who believed that the mind developed in a series of stages, and Piaget was a clinical psychologist who believed in cognitive development. Theorists such as Sigmund Freud, Jean Piaget, and Erik Erikson discusses how their individual theory influences the make-up of the development of children.

This research paper will compare and contrast two of the most influencial psychologists who helped shape the way we understand the development of the human mind; Sigmund Freud and Erik Erikson. The paper will focus on the similarities and differences between Freud’s Psycho-sexual theory, and Erikson’s psychosocial theory. Freud was one of the very first influencial psychologists who changed the way we study humans. Erikson recognized Freud’s contributions, and although he felt Freud misjudged some important dimensions of human development, he was still influenced by Freud, which caused some similarities in their theories.

During the oral stage, the infant enjoys eating and sucking objects, during the anal stage, it develops an interest in the anal region, and during the phallic stage it gains satisfaction from the genital region. Afterwards, there is a latency stage and a genital stage. During the Phallic stage, it was proposed that boys developed the Oedipus complex. This involved a

Jean Piaget, Sigmund Freud, and Erik Erikson are all respected theorists in the study of psychology. All three have theories that help to explain why and how children develop into adolescents and adult hood. Although all three provide their own theories on this subject each theory shares similarities and differences with one another. Having a better understanding of each theory and the theorist will lend a better understanding to developmental processes that go into a child growing to an adult.

Freud argued that an individual’s instinctual drive was sexually orientated. In the same way that “hunger seeks nutrition,

The oral stage is associated with the mouth area as the infant gains pleasure from sucking, swallowing, biting and chewing. The psychological theme to the oral stage is dependency as a baby can do little for itself. Too much or too little fulfilment can result in Oral Fixation. This fixation will be carried onto later life, where this type of personality may have a stronger tendency to smoke, drink, over eat and bite their nails. The anal stage is associated with the anal cavity and sphincter muscles of the bowel, which are now the main sources of pleasure. The child learns to control anal stimulation. Anal fixation can result in obsession with cleanliness and perfection. On the opposite side they may become disorganised and/or untidy. The phallic stage is associated with the genital area where this becomes the primary area pleasure. The child at this stage becomes aware of the sex differences; both boys and girls experience emotional feelings in relation to the opposite sex parent. The latency stage is the

Freud created five stages of psychosexual development that includes the oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital phases. The oral stage begins at birth and lasts until approximately age one. Throughout the first phase, Freud believed that, the sex instinct was centered on the mouth. Often infants derive pleasure from oral activities such as chewing, sucking, biting, or feeding activities. Moreover, Freud thought that if a child was weaned off the mother’s breast too early their adult personality characteristics might crave close contact and become an overly dependent spouse

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), was an influential Austrian psychologist and the founder of psychoanalysis. Freud went on to produce several theories, such as his theory on psychosexual development, which will be the focus of this assignment. Using the case study of a six-year-old patient, I will discuss the key principles of Freud’s theory on psychosexual development. Including, comprehensive definitions of the concepts used, and the stages of Freud’s psychosexual development. Lastly using Freud’s theory, I will explain how the patient’s current behaviour, could impact her behaviour in adulthood.

Both the Freud’s and Erik’s first stage have similarity since they both refers this stage

More specifically, Freud traces the roots of all adult behaviors back to childhood impulses and showed how conflicts related to the development of sexuality in childhood subsequently results in psychopathology or neuroses. (Good & Beitman)