Essay about Karen Horney: Her Life and Work

This is an individual assignment to be completed before class. Must be submitted into the text box below. The purpose of this assignment is to help you prepare for the activity that will take place in class by asking you to think critically about the Karen Leary Case.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of the work of Sigmund Freud and a neo-analytical theorist. This paper will compare the work of Freud and Karen Horney and begins with an introduction to the study of personality and an identification of the key elements in Freud and Horney’s theories. The paper then moves into an analysis of where Horney and Freud would find agreement and disagreement. Finally, an analysis of improvements from Freud to neo-analytical theory will be discussed.

While Psychoanalysis has provided many psychological breakthroughs in the field of mental health, it has also created great issue in relation to gender equality. Freud’s Psychoanalytic theory has contributed to the solidification of female oppression, and to the inferior status of women in the twentieth century. Psychoanalysis had become so intwined into the constructs of a male dominated society that it creates further barriers in attempts for gender equality. While many people have established their point of view through scholarly journals or scientific writings, Angela Carter uses an artistic approach by contesting Freud’s psychoanalytic theory in her

In the middle of Horney's paper she gets into the traits of male psychology. She gives many examples of how men hold women in high esteem, but writes that they have a secret distrust of women. One of Horney's best examples would have to be the story of Adam and Eve. The story devalues women's ability to give birth, and makes them seem to be sexual temptresses. It is the sexually attractive female that man is afraid of. Women are considered to be deeply rooted in their emotions. This is often men's excuse for

Karen Horney is one of the preeminent figures and founders of modern psychoanalysis. Although her ideas are not widely taught today or accepted as a basis of psychoanalysis in and of themselves, her ideas of social and environmental influences are “integrated into modern psychoanalysis therapies and personality development theory” (Quinn). She was a contemporary of Sigmund Freud and was one of his early followers. Yet Horney joined the class of neo-Freudians after her research and writing led her to develop and establish psychoanalytical theories that ran counter to Freud's ideas. She objected to the Freudian psychology of women, which instigated the search for her own theories for the causes of neurosis. This in turn led to her

These women faced several societal constraints and long held beliefs about the role of women in their era. At that time the societal belief was that women where intellectually inferior to men and responding to this judgement, male psychologists attempted to develop theories about what could happen to women if they did try to enter higher education.

Lena Horne was born on June 30, 1917 in Brooklyn, New York. Her parents were Teddy and Edna Scottron Horne. After her father left her at the age of two in order to pursue his gambling career; her mother leaving soon after that to pursue her acting career; she went to live with her grandparents. Through her grandparents influence she became involved with organizations like the NAACP, at an early age.

Karen Horney was born in Blankenese, Germany, on September 16, 1885. She attended medical school and began studying psychoanalysis. Horney moved to the United States in the 1930s and wrote two influential and controversial works, The Neurotic Personality of Our Time and New Ways in Psychoanalysis, which deviated sharply from Sigmund Freud's work. She died in New York City on December 4, 1952.

Freud asserted that personality was biologically determined and structured from three systems namely: the id, the ego and the superego which work together and shape a person’s behaviour. Freud stressed that there is competition between these three systems for control over the available psychic energy. (Mischel, 1971) Horney on the other hand,

Karen Horney and Alfred Adler are two very similar yet different neo-analytic theorists. At first glance, it may appear that Horney stole some of Adler's best ideas. It is, of course, quite conceivable that she was influenced by Adler. It is clear, for example, that Horney’s three neurotic solutions are very close to Adler's personality typology. Horney proposed a series of strategies used by neurotics to cope with other people and Adler developed a scheme of so called personality types that he intended to illustrate patterns that could denote a characteristic governed under the overall style of life.

It feels as though most of the time when thinking about psychology and the great contributions that have been made to it, that most of them have been from men, but along the way there have been several influential women that have contributed to the field of psychology as well. Just like men, there were several women who were pioneers, theorists, and counselors; many of these women have contributed to the field of psychology in their own special between the years of 1850 and 1950. Of all these amazing women who are pioneers, theorists, and counselors, the one who stands out the most is Anna Freud. This paper will go on to explain Anna Freud’s

When we study the history of psychology one might assume there were minimal female contributors, but that is a big misconception. Women in the past struggled with discrimination and many hurdles to gain recognition for their work. Women psychologists have gone largely unrecognized, unappreciated, and almost unseen to historical accounts. The lack of acknowledgement for women psychologists in today’s study takes away from the comprehensive study to our generation. It is exceedingly important that we receive a well-rounded education of all the great psychologists in history and not only the male founders. The following women I will discuss mention only a few who have made an influence in psychology.

After this recognition of this dissimilarity, the female believes that she is at a great disadvantage and she resultantly wishes to acquire a penis. The theory also explains that small girls feel sensitive over the lack of a sex organ equal to the boy’s, and holds herself to be inferior on that account. Freud’s describes that “three lines of development diverge from penis envy, one leads to sexual inhibition or to neurosis, the second to a modification in the sense of masculinity complex, and the third to normal femininity” (NLA Ch.5). The usage of this explanation as a way to characterize feminine psychology has spurred many negative criticisms of Freud’s work on female psychology, and most people have now realized that this his theories were very inaccurate.

Sigmund Freud is a timeless figure in psychology. To this day, his work of psychoanalysis is still mentioned and dream analysis and so much more are still used. Even though many people may have argued that Freud was crazy himself, he was one of the most influential psychologist known all around the world. However controversial, Freud sums up his works to be a sort of sexual complex such as the Oedipus and the Electra complex. The way he was raised and the relationships he had with his family plays a great impact on his work throughout his years. If it were not for his life experiences, Freud would not be as iconic as he is today.