DOC PREVIEW
VCU PSYC 101 - freud paper draft

This preview shows page 1 out of 4 pages.

Save
View full document
View full document
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 4 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 4 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience

Unformatted text preview:

The anal stage in Freud’s psychosexual developmental stages lasts from ages 18 months to 3 years. During the anal stage toddlers go through the conflict of toilet training, toilet training depends almost entirely upon the parent’s reactions and behaviors during toilet training. The outcome of the anal stage conflict according to Freud has a permanent effect on one’s personalitytraits. An individual can either succeed through the conflict and develop a healthy personality, or become one of the extremes (anal retentive or anal expulsive). The “goal” of the anal stage is to come out of toilet training as a well-adjusted individual without any fixations. During the anal stage the ego is still developing, the ego is the person’s conscious awareness and only the id exists. The id is the human being’s instinctual drive that seeks pleasure. During the anal stage Freud posits that children seek pleasure by either holding or releasing their bowels. There are two consequences to an anal fixation, anal retentive personality and anal expulsive personality. If an individual becomes anal retentive it is a result of the parent’s being too harsh on the child during toilet training, giving severe punishments for accidents or forcing the child to hold it for a long time are examples. The personality type anal retentive is marked bytraits of orderliness, unquestionable respect for authority, stubbornness, and controlling. Anal retentiveness is also marked by the child not going to the bathroom at appropriate times during childhood. The other extreme opposite is an anal expulsive personality, the parents of this individual would have not had much control over their child’s toilet training, they may have given up or hadbeen too lenient with the child and had the toilet training take longer than it should (how longdoes toilet training usually last on average) Anal expulsiveness is associated with the child going to the bathroom at inappropriate times.All humans possess an instinctual libido, during the anal stage the child’s sexual pleasure is no longer derived from the mouth but now it is derived from the anus. During the anal stage a child will release or hold their bowels for sexual pleasure. Other criticisms have said that Freud’s theories are overtly sexual especially to assume even infants look for sexual pleasure. During the Victorian age people were very repressed, and did not like Freud’s emphasis on sex and libido. We all know people in our lives such as friends or family we could define as anal retentive or anal expulsive but I do not personally think that these personality traits are caused by their toilet training. Popular criticisms of Freud’s psychosexual stages have been feminist criticisms, because the psychosexual theory as a whole pertains more to male development while ignoring female development. There is no empirical data to support Freud’s findings. Assuming that an adult’s personality traits are caused by something in childhood is too vague, the period of time between cause and effect is too wide to actually measure or prove any relation. Another popular criticism of Freud has been his heavy cocaine use may have impaired his judgment and influenced his theories. A strong point of the anal stage is that it can be easy to categorize people into either two extreme traits or describe them as well-adjusted individuals. A weak point of the anal stage would be howthere is no empirical data supporting the anal stage, and it cannot be easily tested.Freud’s theories have been criticized as being irrelevant and misogynist. The theory of psychosexual development has been criticized by feminists because of its lack of description of female development. Karen Horny came up with the counter concept of womb envy to counteract penis envy (Cherry). As far as accuracy on the psychosexual theory of development, Freud has already been discredited, which means that modern research does not support any of his findings, but he did leave a lasting impact on culture. Freud changed how our culture reacts to sex by attaching a psychological significance to sex and sexual organs. Freud was unafraid to frighten or offend the Victorian people of his time. And change how our culture reacts to the topic of sex a few short decades after his research came out. An open attitude toward sex has led to more research and a well-adjusted public, so Freud we can thank for helping this (Ellis). Cherry, Kendra. "Karen Horney Biography." About.com Psychology. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.Freud's Influence on the Changed Attitude Toward SexHavelock Ellis American Journal of Sociology , Vol. 45, No. 3 (Nov., 1939), pp. 309-317 Published by: The University of Chicago


View Full Document

VCU PSYC 101 - freud paper draft

Documents in this Course
Load more
Download freud paper draft
Our administrator received your request to download this document. We will send you the file to your email shortly.
Loading Unlocking...
Login

Join to view freud paper draft and access 3M+ class-specific study document.

or
We will never post anything without your permission.
Don't have an account?
Sign Up

Join to view freud paper draft 2 2 and access 3M+ class-specific study document.

or

By creating an account you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use

Already a member?