The Psychodynamic

Approach to Explaining

Abnormality

Unconscious unresolved conflicts from childhood

Freud's psychodynamic approach to abnormality is know as‘The psychoanalytic approach’

Assumptions of the psychodynamic approach

• Much of our behaviour is driven by unconscious motives

• Childhood is a critical period in development

• Mental disorders arise from unresolved, unconscious conflicts originating in childhood

• Resolution occurs through accessing and coming to terms with repressed ideas and conflicts

Freud’s consulting room

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3q9IRY_VXPs

The psychoanalytic theory Sigmund Freud

The tripartite structure of human personality

Tripartite means - in three parts

Id: Pleasure principle

Superego: Morality principle

Ego: Reality principle

Conscious: The part of the mind we are aware of – everyday thoughts and feelings

Preconscious: Thoughts and memories not accessible at all times, but easily recalled

Unconscious: The deep dark part! Repressed thoughts, memories and feelings.

Freud’s tripartite model of personality

Are we born with an ego?

• Id is present at birth – a newborn baby is completely selfish

• Ego develops by the age of three – child becomes aware that other people will get cross it can’t always have it’s own way

• Superego appears around age five – sense of morality (conscience) passed on by parents – child internalises this

• According to Freud, the id is the personality construct that we are born with.

• Its energy is called the “libido”.

• It operates on the pleasure principle.

• What does this mean?• How will the id inform

behaviour?

The Id Need food... need drink... need

comfort... need burping... need sleep... need it

NOW!

• The superego is the 'ideal' force, the civilised, socially acceptable figure the person strives to be.

• It includes our understanding of right and wrong.

• It opposes the id and is essentially an internalisation of rules passed down from our parents.

The Superego

• The ego is the reality principle.

• It must balance the drives of the id and the control of the superego.

The ego

• The strength of each individual force is a factor in personality –

• If a person's superego is too strong, they are seen as rigid, anxious or self righteous.

• If a person's id is too strong, they are seen as delinquent, antisocial or self centred.

A balancing act

The tripartite structure of personality

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mkin1FhojCo&feature=related

Structure Of Personality

ID

EGO

SUPEREGO

UNCONCIOUS, insatiable instincts which people are born

with. Pleasure orientated and selfish

CONCIOUS: Rational, drivenby the ‘reality principle’ balances

demands of Id and Superego

Last part of personality to develop.Concerned with morals, rightand wrong. Develops through

socialisation.

EGO

ID SUPEREGO

Summarise in your notes:• Describe each part of the

personality – remember the characters we designed earlier represent each of the parts

• Selfish id• Controlling superego• Reasonable ego

• What do you think might happen if each part is too strong or weak?

• Which mental conditions might this lead to?

Link to abnormality

• Ego too weak – allows id and superego to dominate,

• Id too strong – selfish, out of control, could become psychopathic- destructive tendencies & uninhibited sexual behaviour

• Superego too strong – strict, anxious, obsessive – depression, anxiety, OCD

18

What happens if there is a conflict between the id, ego & superego?

• ANXIETY• The ego tries to avoid anxiety & uses ego

defence mechanisms to maintain a balance in relation to the id & superego

Defence mechanisms

• The constant disagreements between the id, the ego and the superego can lead to a lot of anxiety

• E.g. You want that bar of chocolate but you know you’re meant to be on a diet – you feel guilty if you have it but unsatisfied if you don’t – anxiety either way!

• So the mind develops various methods of defending itself – for example you tell yourself that it’s ok to eat the chocolate because it’s good for you (rationalisation)

EGO DEFENCE MECHANISMS

The Ego needs to protect itself against intra-psychic conflict between the id and the superego. It does this in ways which are known as

DEFENCE MECHANISMS.

• Denial: You completely reject the thought or feeling

My Ashley would never cheat on

me…

My Ashley would never cheat on

me…

• Projection: You attribute your own socially unacceptable thought or feeling to someone else

I can’t believe what Ryan Giggs has been up to…

what a cheating liar! How could he do that to his

beautiful wife?

I can’t believe what Ryan Giggs has been up to…

what a cheating liar! How could he do that to his

beautiful wife?

• Reaction formation: You turn the feeling into its opposite

I’m not at all upset or humiliated. In fact, I’m the happiest I’ve ever

been.

I’m not at all upset or humiliated. In fact, I’m the happiest I’ve ever

been.

• Regression: You revert to an old, usually immature, behaviour

I’m going home to me Mam, so she can cook me beans on toast, and stroke me hair and tell me that everything is going to be

alright.

I’m going home to me Mam, so she can cook me beans on toast, and stroke me hair and tell me that everything is going to be

alright.

• Displacement: you redirect your feelings to another target

It’s not my fault my marriage is over. It’s the newspapers’. And those women for selling their

stories… And Cheryl’s for not being there enough…

And my mum’s for not breastfeeding me. I hate

them all!

It’s not my fault my marriage is over. It’s the newspapers’. And those women for selling their

stories… And Cheryl’s for not being there enough…

And my mum’s for not breastfeeding me. I hate

them all!

• Sublimation: You redirect the feeling into a socially productive activity e.g. art, poetry, sport

I’m going to make another album, and

learn how to tap dance, and take up scuba

diving!

I’m going to make another album, and

learn how to tap dance, and take up scuba

diving!

• We all use defence mechanisms on a daily basis• They are unconscious – we aren’t aware of what we’re

doing• But… if we over use them they can lead to mental

abnormalities.

Proof of the unconscious?• ‘Freudian slips’• “A Freudian slip is saying one thing and meaning your mother”

The Psychosexual stages:

• Describe the 5 psychosexual stages of development, including the Oedipus/Electra Complex

• Explain how fixation at each stage may lead to abnormality

• Evaluate the psychodynamic approach to psychopathology

Psychosexual stages

• There are a number of stages of childhood, during which the child seeks pleasure from a different ‘object’

• To be psychologically healthy, we must successfully complete each stage

• Mental abnormality can occur if a stage is not completed successfully – the person becomes ‘fixated’

• Freud believed that children are born with a libido – a sensual (pleasure) urge

The FIVE psychosexual stages

• The Oral (Birth - 1 year)• The Anal (1 - 3 years)• The Phallic (3 - 5/6 years)• The Latency (6 - puberty)• The Genital (adulthood)

Stage 1 - the ORAL stage• Mouth (sucking) is the source of pleasure

• The ID is in control• Successful completion of this stage is

demonstrated by weaning – eating independently

In the ORAL stage …….

• Fixation caused by• Oral receptive (not allowed to suck

freely) – passive, needy, sensitive to rejection – overeats and drinks, bite nails, may smoke

• Oral aggressive (allowed to suck too often/too long) – hostile and verbally abusive, sarcastic

Stage 2 - the ANAL Stage

• Elimination of faeces is the source of pleasure

• 18 months to 3 years • Defecation is main source of pleasure • Successful completion marked by

potty training

In the ANAL stage ….

• Fixation (a) Anal expulsive: symptoms: giving to charity, potters, gardeners,

(sublimating the wish to smear), disorganised.

• Fixation (b) Anal retentive symptoms: miserly, thrifty, orderly, obstinate, tidy,

stubborn, obsessive.

Stage 3 : The PHALLIC stage

• The Superego develops

• The Oedipus conflict (boys)• The Electra conflict (girls)

The Oedipus complex

• Occurs during the phallic stage• Around age 3-5• Boy wants his mother as his ‘primary love

object’• Wants his father out of the way• Fears that his father knows this and will

castrate him as punishment• Identifies with father to stop castration

anxiety

The Electra (female Oedipus) complex

• A girl has a strong affection for her father.• She realises she doesn’t have a penis like her father! • Becomes hostile towards her mother because she

believes her mother has castrated her• Develops attraction to father instead because she believes

he can give her a baby, which will act as a penis substitute

• Eventually resolves feelings towards mother and identifies with her – doesn’t want to lose her mother’s love

In the PHALLIC stage….

• Fixation caused by failure to resolve the Oedipus / Electra conflict

• Symptoms include: homosexuality, exhibitionism, vanity.– Writer of pornography may be sublimating sexual

preoccupations

The latency stage

• Age 6 to puberty approximately• Sexual urges sublimated into sports and other

hobbies• Focus on developing same sex friendships• No particular requirements for successful

completion• Lull before the storm of puberty!

The genital stage

• Puberty into adulthood• Focus on genitals but not to

same extent as phallic stage • Task is to develop healthy adult

relationships• This should happen if earlier

stages have been negotiated successfully

• Old Age Pensioners Love Guinness!

• Oral stage• Anal stage• Phallic stage• Latent stage• Genital stage

Now use your textbook to help you complete page 23 ofyour workbook (yellow cover)

Little Hans• Freud believed that the case study

of Little Hans supported his theory of psychosexual stages and the Oedipus complex in particular

• http://goanimate.com/movie/0OttU_subTrM/1

• Enormous explanatory power for both normal and abnormal behaviour.

• Practical applications: huge impact on the world of counselling, psychotherapy and psychiatry.

• Face validity.• It treats the whole person, the cause,

not just the symptoms.• Recognises the importance of

childhood.

Strengths of the Psychodynamic Perspective

• Difficult to test the theory of unconscious motivation – whatever is not remembered can be said to be repressed.

• The case study method is unrepresentative and therefore there are concerns about generalisability

• Criticised for too much emphasis on SEX.

Weaknesses of the Psychodynamic Perspective