Sexual Stage Development Sigmund Freud’s of Psychoanalysis Theory
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it is common for a child to be nursed by its mother for several years, whereas in others the stage is much shorter. Sucking and eating, however, compose the
earliest memories for infants in every society. This stage holds special importance because some tribal societies commonly found in the Southwest Pacific and
Africa, consider the stomach to be the seat of emotions.
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2 The anal stage
After the food has been digested, the residue accumulates in the lower end of the intestinal tract and is reflex discharged when the pressure upon the anal
sphincters reaches a certain level. The expulsion of the faces removes the source of discomfort and produces a feeling or relief.
According to the theory, the major experience during this stage is toilet training. This occurs by the age of two there may be fluctuations among different
societies as to the age in which toilet training occurs, and results to conflict between the id, which asks for immediate gratification of its drives that involves
elimination and activities related to it such as handing faces and the demands of their parents. The resolution of this conflict can be gradual and non-traumatic, or
intense and stormy, depending on the methods the parents will use to handle the situation. The ideal resolution will comes if the child tries to adjust and the
parents are moderate, so that the child will learn the importance of cleanliness and order gradually, which will lead to self-controlled adult. If the parents emphasize
on toilet training too much while the child decides to accommodate, this may lead to the development of compulsive personality, extensively concerned about order
21
C. Thompson. Psychoanalysis: Evolution and development. New York: Grove Press 1950 pp. 7-8
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and neatness.
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On the other hand, if the child decides to heed the demands of the id and the parents give in, the child may develop a messy and self-indulgent
personality. If the parents react, the child will have to comply, but it will develop a weakened sense of self, since the parents were the ones who controlled the
situation, not the ego. 3
The phallic stage During this stage of personality development, sexual and aggressive
feelings associated with the functioning of the genital organs come into focus. The pleasures of masturbation and the fantasy life of the child that accompanies
autoerotic activity set the stage for the appearance of the Oedipus complex.
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Briefly, defined, the Oedipus complex consists of a sexual cathexis for the parent of the opposite sex and hostile cathexis for the parent of the same sex. The
boy wants to posses his mother and removes his father. The girl wants to posses her father and removes her mother. These feeling express themselves in child‘s
fantasy during masturbation and in the alteration of loving and in rebellious action towards their parents. The behavior of the three-to five years old child is market to
a large extent by the operation of the Oedipus complex, and although it is modified and suffers repression after the age of five.
The history and fate of the Oedipus complex differ for male and female. The boy‘s incestuous craving for the mother and his growing resentment toward
the father bring him into conflict with his parents, especially the father. He is
22
Michael Foucault. The history of sexuality Volume I. New York: Vintage 1990 pp. 130-131
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Freud considered that Oedipus complex is one of his greatest discoveries. The Oedipus complex is named for the King Thebes who killed his father and marries his mother.
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afraid that his jealous father will remove the offending organs. Freud called this condition as castration anxiety which includes a repression of the sexual desire for
the mother and hostility toward the father. The sequence of female Oedipus complex is more involved. Firstly, she
exchanges her original object, the mother, for the new object, the father. This occurs because the girl is disappointed to discover that the boy possesses a
protruding the sex organ, the penis. Then, she transfers her love to father because he has the valued organ she aspires to share with him. Penis envy is the female
counterpart of castration anxiety in the boy and collectivity they are called castration complex.
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In psychoanalysis theory is known that mother becomes the first love object of the baby. Later, the baby realizes that impossible to having the mother as
the object love of his libido. Displacement is the solution to avoid this anxiety. 4
Latency phase The latency stage is typified by a solidifying of the habits that the child
developed in the earlier stages. Whether the Oedipal conflict is successfully resolved or not, the drives of the id are not accessible to the ego during this stage
of development, since they have been repressed during the phallic stage. Hence the drives are seen as dormant and hidden latent and the gratification the child
receives is not as immediate as it was during the three previous stage. Now pleasure is mostly related to secondary process thinking. Drive energy is
redirected to new activities, mainly related to schooling, hobbies and friends.
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24
David Mackey. Penemuan baru dalam dunia Psikoanalisis. Semarang: PT Raja Grafindo Persada, 1992 p. 137
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David Mackey. Penemuan baru dalam dunia Psikoanalisis. Semarang: PT Raja Grafindo Persada, 1992p. 148
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Problems however might occur during this stage, and this is attributed to inadequate repression of the Oedipal conflict, or to the inability of the ego to
redirect the drive energy to activities accepted by the social environment. 5
The genital stage The cathexis of the pregenital period are narcissistic in the character. This
means that the individual obtains gratification from the stimulation and manipulation of his or her own body, while other people are catheched only
because they help to provide additional forms of body pleasure to the child. During adolescence, some of this shelf- love or narcissism becomes
channeled into genuine object choices. The adolescence begins to love others for altruistic motives and not simply for selfish or narcissistic reasons.
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Sexual attraction, socialization, group activities, vocational planning, and preparations for
marrying and raising a family begin to manifest themselves.