Freud's psychoanalytic theory

2. •Explain Freud’s views
about child and adolescent
development;
•Draw implications of
Freud’s theory to
education.
“The ego is not master in its own house.”
-Sigmund Freud

3. INTRODUCTION
Freud’s views about human development are more than a century
old. He can be considered the most well-known
psychologist because of his very interesting
theory about the unconscious and also about
sexual development. Although a lot of his
views were criticized and some considered
them debunked, (he himself recanted some
of his earlier views). Freud’s theory remains
to be one of the most influential in the
psychology. His theory sparked the ideas in
the brilliant minds of other theorists and thus
became the starting point of many other

4. Freud’s Stages of Psychosexual
Development
According to Freud, a person goes through the sequence of
five stages and along the way, there are needs to be met.
Whether these meets are met or not, determines whether
the person will develop a healthy personality or not. The
theory is quite interesting for many because Freud
identified the specific ‘pleasure areas’ that become focal
points for each stage. If needs are not meet along the area,
a fixation occurs. As an adult, the
person will now manifest behaviors related to this erogenous
zone.

5. 5 STAGES OF PSYCHOSEXUAL
DEVELOPMENT

6. Erogenous zone: MOUTH
During the oral stage, the child is focused on oral pleasures (sucking). Too much or
too little satisfaction can lead to an Oral Fixation or Oral Personality which is
shown in an increased focus on oral activities.
This type of personality may be oral receptive, which means they may have a stronger
tendency to smoke, drink alcohol, overeat, or be oral aggressive (tendency to bite his or her
nails, use curse words, or even gossip)
As a result, these persons may become too dependent on others, easily fooled, and may
lack leadership traits. On the other hand, they may also fight these tendencies and
become pessimistic and aggressive in relating with people.

7. Erogenous zone: ANUS
The child finds satisfaction in eliminating and retaining feces. It is during this
stage that the child needs to work on toilet training.
Struggle might exist in the toilet training process when the child retains feces when asked
to eliminate, or may choose to defecate when asked to hold feces for some reason.
In terms of personality, fixation during this stage can result in being ANAL RETENTIVE, an
obsession with cleanliness, perfection, and control; or ANAL REPULSIVE where the person
may become messy and disorganized.

8. Erogenous zone: GENITALS
During the preschool age, children become interested in what makes
boys and girls different. Preschoolers will sometimes be seen fondling
their genitals. Freud’s studies led him to believe that during this
stage boys develop unconscious sexual desire for their mother. Boys
then see their father as a rival for her mother’s affection. Boys may
fear that their father will punish them for these feelings, thus, the
castration anxiety.These feelings comprise what Freud called
OEDIPUS COMPLES.

9. Erogenous zone: GENITALS
Psychoanalysts also believed that girls may also have a similar experience,
developing unconscious sexual attraction towards their father. This is what
referred to as the ELECTRA COMPLEX.
According to Freud, out of fear of castration and due to the strong competition of their
father, boys eventually decide to identify with them rather than fight them. By identifying
with their father, the boys develop masculine characteristics and identify themselves as males
and repress their sexual feelingstoward their mother.
A fixation at this stage could result in sexual deviances (both overindulging and
avoidance) and weak or confused sexual identity according to psychoanalysts.

10. Erogenous zone: N/A (SEXUAL FEELINGS ARE INACTIVE)
It’s during this stage that sexual urges remain repressed. The children’s focus is
the acquisition of the physical and academic skills.
The stage begins around the time that children enter into school and become more concerned
with peer relationships, hobbies, and other interests. It is the stage of exploration in which
the sexual energy repressed or dormant.
Boys usually relate more with boys and girls with girls during stage. This stage is important
in the development of social and communication skills and self-confidence.

11. Erogenous zone: GENITALS
The fifth stage of psychosexual development begins at the start of puberty when
sexual urges are once again awakened.
In the earlier stages, adolescents focus their sexual urges towards the opposite sex peers,
with the pleasure centered on the genitals.
If the stage is successful, this is when folks have heterosexual intercourse and develop
loving, lifelong relationships with someone of the opposite sex.