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Submitted by mandapanda on July 5, 2008
Category: Psychology
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Describe Freud’s psychosexual stages of development in relation to gender development
“Few of the findings of psychoanalysis have met with such universal contradiction or have aroused such an outburst of indignation as the assertion that the sexual function starts at the beginning of life and reveals its presence by important signs even in childhood. And yet no other findings of analysis can be demonstrated so easily and so completely” – Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud believed that all children were curious about sex and their own origins – this caused outrage in Victorian society. He believed that all children followed five stages of development, not moving forward to the next one until the previous one was completed. His theory was that our personality traits in later life, e.g. smoking, could be traced back to the first five years of life through either insufficient or excess gratification. As the five stages of development unfold the child takes pleasure and gratification from different parts of its body.
The Oral Stage - Birth to two years
The nerve endings in the mouth and lips are highly sensitive and the baby gains pleasure from sucking for its own sake rather than for nourishment. The baby does this to explore its environment. At birth sucking is the only major oral activity, however once the baby has teeth biting and chewing become the main sources of pleasure.
The first conflict in a child’s life is during the weaning process during which the child has to learn to become less dependant on its care givers. Freud’s theory was that if fixation occurs at this stage the child would grow to be dependant or aggressive and that oral fixation can result in problems such as smoking, over-eating etc.
The Anal Stage – 2 to 4 years
During this stage Freud believed that the main source of pleasure was on controlling the bladder and bowel. The child during...
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