Defense mechanisms are said to be unconscious freuds

Defense mechanisms are said to be unconscious.
FREUD’S PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES
Periods of Development: sexual focus, implications for adult personality, fixation.
Oral: birth to 1.5 years. Gratification is centered around the mouth for the ID (e.g., breast-
feeding, sucking, biting). Unconscious sexual pleasure.
Anal: 1.5 to 3 years. Gratification is centered around the pleasure of defecation; toilet-training is
issue for resolution.
Phallic: 3-6. Gratification manifests itself
through genitals; resolution for development lies in
identification with same-sex parents.
Oedipus Complex: boys have
unconscious jealous love for mother and desire to kill
the father. Resolved by identification with father and
internalization of father’s values.
Electra Complex: girls discover that they
do not have a penis and desire one (“penis envy”);
jealous of mother for father. Identification with
mother results.
Fixation: defense mechanism where a
person continues to be concerned and even preoccupied with an earlier stage of development.

Little Hans: wanted to drown his little sister to
get the attention of his mother, dreams about his
mother wiping his butt, his fear of horses was his
fear of his father, he pretended that his family had
no father and needed one (him).
Latency: 6 to puberty. Sexual urges are
repressed and transformed into socially acceptable
activities, such as schoolwork and peer activities.
Genital: puberty to adulthood. Successful
resolution and development into a mature sexual
relationship.
CRITICISMS OF FREUDIAN THEORY
Based upon case studies (recollections of adult
patients). Focused on the male view, “his”
interpretations. Concepts are difficult to operationally define, making the approach untestable. Too
sexualized.
However:
Freud’s Theory: first comprehensive theory of personality: every personality theory since can be
seen as a reaction to Freud. Sparked psychoanalysis (many still believe that psychoanalysis is the best
treatment for mental illness. Defensive mechanisms, large role for unconscious. Mental representations
(self and others do indeed serve as blueprints or schemas to guide our behaviour, called objects-
relations theory , reflecting the mental images of significant figures (objects).
ASSESSING THE UNCONSCIOUS
Projective Tests:
Ambiguous Stimuli:
Thematic Apperception Test
(TAT): personality revealed through the
stories created.
Rorschach Inkblot: see meaning
in pictures.
NEO-FREUDIANS
Alfred Adler: importance of childhood
social tension. Inferiority complex if you
don’t succeed, striving for superiority is the
drive behind all behaviour.
Karen Horney: sought to balance
Freud’s masculine biases. Focuses on anxiety, neurosis stems from basic hostility and basic anxiety.
Basic Hostility: anger or rage that originates in childhood and stems from fear of being
neglected or rejected by one’s parents. Because hostility toward one’s parents is so threatening,
however, it is often turned inward and converted into basic anxiety (feeling of being isolated and helpless
in a world conceived as potentially hostile.) 3 neurotic trends: