Child At A Given Stage Of Development example essay topic

Freud based his name for these complexes on the characters in Greek mythology. The oracle of Delphi, to kill his father and marry his mother destined King Oedipus. In male children, it is referred to the Oedipal Complex. The female counter is referred to the Electra Complex derived from the Greek character Electra, daughter of Agamemnon who was said to have induced her brothers to kill their mother. This behavior can be found in various works such as Shakespeare's Hamlet, Alfred Hitchcocks's film Psycho, ancient myths, classic fairy tales, as well as most contemporary art, film and literature. Freud saw this as an opportunity to study this unusual behavior.

Sigmund Freud began to study the inherent urge in all children to engage in sexual acts with the parent of the opposite sex and kill the parent of the same sex. Freud's theory was geared more towards males than females. The Oedipus complex occurs during the phallic stage of psychosexual development at approximately the age of three to five. The phallic stage refers to both the penis and clitoris which leads a child towards genital masturbation and hence to the gateway of adult sexuality.

It is during this phase that children discover their genitals and focus on masturbation as a source of sexual satisfaction. The reason for this attraction according to researchers is due to proximity. As the child experiences sexuality for the first time, usually around the age three, parents are two within the childs social circle. Here sexual desires develop for the opposite sex parent and hostility develops for the same sex parent because this individual stands in the way of fulfillment of the male child's desire and takes away attention from the child. Around the age of three, the male child begins to have feelings of sexual attraction towards the mother.

These feelings are usually associated with feelings of jealousy, envy, rivalry or resentment directed towards the father. The Oedipal complex usually comes to an end around the fourth or fifth year due to the fear that his father by way of castration may punish his illicit desires. This castration anxiety and the Oedipus conflict are resolved when the boy finally represses his sexual feelings for his mother, gives up his rivalry with his father and begins to identify with him. The successful resolution involves the identification with the father and assuming an active and aggressive social role in today's male dominated society. When the male child comes to realize his difference from his mother, he then represses his desire for her and accepts the authority of the father. Having made this resolution the boy matures by gaining the approval of the father and replicating his own patriarchal position of authority by marrying a woman.

For a little girl the Oedipus complex is resolved when she gives up the desire for the mother by becoming "Daddy's" little girl. This created the Oedipus conflict. Freud believed that childhood experiences were important predictors of the later adult personality. He also believed that movement through all phases of development were crucial, suggesting that if all of the child's needs are not met or overindulged at one particular stage the child may fixate and become stuck in that one stage.

Sigmund Freud also states that even if all stages are completed, people may regress to an earlier stage in which their needs were badly frustrated or over gratified. A child at a given stage of development has certain needs and demands, such as the need of the infant to nurse. Frustration occurs when these needs are not met; Overindulgence stems from such an ample meeting of these needs that the child is reluctant to progress beyond the stage. Both frustration and overindulgence lock some amount of the child's libido permanently into the stage in which they occur; both resulting in a fixation. If a child progresses normally through the stages, resolving each conflict and moving on, then little libido remains invested in each stage of development. But if he fixates at a particular stage, the method of obtaining satisfaction, which characterized the stage, will dominate and affect his adult personality.

Fixation begins, as the male child becomes intrigued by his mother's breast, which derives from the role they play in nourishment. Parallel to this the boy becomes enamored with his mother and competes with his father for her attention. To Freud, fixation is a measure of the effort to travel through any particular stage, as well as great efforts in childhood that are reflected in adult behavior. Fixation can also be interpreted as the learning of patterns or habits. During the first twelve or so years of life the oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital stages are experienced Fixation at the oral stage would result in persistence of behaviors focused on the region of the mouth, fixation at the anal stage would result in difficulties around issues of control. Fixations in the anal stage might be expected to be either excessively tidy and controlling (anal-retentive style) or excessively messy and undisciplined (anal expulsive style).

Problems at the phallic stage could be expected to interfere with resolution of the Oedipus complex. This might, in turn, lead to lack of appropriate gender role identification and underdevelopment of conscience and morality. The full-blown oedipal complex can take on two forms, the positive or negative oedipal relationships. For both of these manifestations the transition is characterized by their intensification for the boys affections for his mother. These affections become so powerful that the male child begins to see the father as an obstacle and a rival.

These feelings signal the beginning of the true oedipal conflict as the boy desires to take the father's place as an object of affection for the mother. During this time the male child's attitude is not completely hostile, he continues to identify with the father with feelings of rivalry and hostility, this leads to profound ambivalence on the part of the boy. The negative manifestation, according to Freud can also exist simultaneously, here the boy exhibits "girl-like" behavior assuming an affectionate, feminine attitude towards the father and develops jealousy or hostility towards the mother. While fixated during this stage, the child may not be able to resolve his love / fear relationships.

The male child also associates discipline with the guidance of only the loving parent. According to Freud, this can lead to homosexuality. Thus, whether the Oedipus complex ends in a positive or negative result determine the future sexuality of the child.