Psychosexual Development: Freudian Concept

1 180 Introduction to Social Work23 Psychosexual Development: Freudian Concept * Tomy PhilipIntroductionThe theory of Psychosexual development, also knownas theory of libidinal development, is one of the earliesttheories explaining how personality develops in humanbeings. This theory owes its credence to the findingsof Sigmund freud s clinical research with emotionallydisturbed people. The theory of psychosexualdevelopment, however, is an integral part of thepsychodynamic personality theory proposed by is often considered the first psychologicaltheorist to have emphasized the developmental aspectsof personality and the decisive role of the earlyexperiences during infancy and childhood in layingdown the basic character structure of an adult to freud , the individual passes through aseries of dynamically differentiated developmentalstages during the life span, which are characterizedby distinct modes of functioning.

2 The theory proposesthat mishaps during different stages, especially duringthe early childhood, play an important role in theetiology of psychological problems including mentaldisorders. Based on his early research with emotionallydisturbed persons, freud found that the symptoms ofmental problems during adulthood are related tofrustrations of the erotic instinct. Such frustrations* Dr. Tomy Philip, University of Delhi, DelhiPsychosexual Development: Freudian Concept181often occur as early as the first year of life andcontinue through the entire childhood stage. Freudwas thus led to believe that children showedmanifestations of sexual urges and that any theory ofpersonality must take infantile sexuality into of SexualityAccording to freud , sex is the most important lifeinstinct in an individual.

3 According to him sex instinctis centered around a number of bodily needs that giverise to erotic wishes. Each of these wishes has itssource in a different bodily region referred to aserogenous zones. An erogenous zone is a part of theskin or mucous membrane that is extremely sensitiveto irritation and which when manipulated in a certainway removes the irritation and produces pleasurablefeelings and experiences. The lips and mouth, analregion, and the sex organs are examples of erogenouszones. Thus, sucking produces oral pleasure,elimination anal pleasure, and rubbing genital brief, freud regarded the sexual instinct as apsychophysiological process, which has both mentaland physical manifestations.

4 He used the term libidoto refer to the force by which the sexual instinct isrepresented in the essence freud used the term sexuality to refer tothe erotic life of the individual. According to him,sexuality is not a matter for adults alone but alsoinfantile. It is all-pervasive and covers all thoseactivities and sensations that are pleasurable andafford sensual gratification. freud noted that infantswere capable of erotic activity from birth onward. Theearliest manifestations of infantile sexuality arise inrelation to bodily functions such as feeding andelimination of body wastes.

5 Of all the concepts ofFreud, the concepts he advanced with regard to the182 Introduction to Social Workerotic life of infants and young children arousedsevere criticism from different Developmental StagesPersonality development takes place through constantactivation of the life instinct. Sex being the mostimportant life instinct in an individual, engagementin different erotic activities is a must to activate thelife instinct. Sex is a biological instinct, which needsto be gratified. When present it creates tension andwhen met with, it leads to satisfaction.

6 The earliestmanifestations of sexuality arise in relation to bodilyfunctions, which are basically nonsexual, such asfeeding and elimination of body wastes. Each individualpasses through a series of stages during the first fiveyears of life, following which for a period of five or sixyears the dynamics become more or less the advent of adolescence, the dynamics eruptagain and then gradually settle down as an adolescentmoves into the stage of adulthood. For freud , the firstfive years of life are decisive for the formation stage of Psychosexual development is defined interms of the mode of reaction of a particular zone ofthe body.

7 During the first 18 months of life of a newborn baby, the mouth works as the principal region ofdynamic activity. Hence this stage is called oral oral stage is followed by deriving pleasure aroundthe eliminative functions, it is therefore, called theanal stage. This lasts for another 18 months and issucceeded by the phallic stage in which the sex organsbecome the leading erogenous zones. During thesestages, the mucous membrane of the mouth, anusand external genitalia become the focus of child serotic life depending on the stage of development.

8 AtPsychosexual Development: Freudian Concept183the close of the fifth year, the child goes into latencyperiod, where the sexual urges are held in a state ofrepression. With the onset of adolescence thepregenital impulses are reactivated and the personpasses into the genital stage of development. Let uslearn in detail about these StageThis stage lasts up to eighteen months from the birthof a child. The principal source of pleasure derived bythe child during this stage is that of sucking. Suckinginvolves both tactual stimulation of mouth as well asswallowing.

9 Later when the teeth erupt the mouth isused by the child for biting and chewing. Since thechild is primarily concerned about seeking pleasure,she needs immediate gratification of the needs. Theneed of the infant in seeking pleasure is adequatelymet with by sucking the breast of the mother as theerotic drive is localized in the mouth. Sincegratification of needs at this stage depends on mother,she becomes the first love object for the child. Feedingat the mother s breast is the most important activity,both physiologically and psychologically for the youngchild.

10 For this reason, psychoanalysis refers to theperiod from birth to about eight months as the oralsucking period. With the development of teeth, thechild enters a new stage of her development calledoral biting stage. During the oral biting stage, themode of deriving pleasure become modified. Its sourcesare biting as well as sucking and swallowing. It isheld that the two modes of oral activity suckingand swallowing and biting/chewing are the prototypesfor many later personality traits that to Social WorkAnal StageThis stage starts when the child is around one anda half years old and ends when she is three years ofage.