Freud And Piaget

8 Pages 1992 Words

easurable sensations, particularly when passing stools.
Toilet training is an opportunity for the child to assert independence, so the way in which the toilet training occurs is crucial. If toilet training is harsh or if passing stools is associated with excessive pleasure, an anal fixation may develop and show up later in life through characteristics such as messiness or excessive orderliness.

Phallic Stage (4 – 5 years)
The genital area is the focus of pleasurable sensations, particularly playing with one’s sex organs. The child also develops a strong sexual interest in the parent of the opposite sex and considers the other parent a rival.

The child becomes anxious that their desire may be discovered and that they will be punished. In particular, the boy becomes concerned that the punishment will be castration and his penis will be cut off by his father. The sexual desire is consequently redirected in a socially acceptable way, and the child forms a strong ‘identification’ with the parent of the same sex. These crucial emotional events occur at an unconscious level and are called the Oedipus complex (boys) and Electra complex (girls).

If not successfully resolved these events can severely disturb personality development. For example, the child may develop a ‘phallic character’, which Freud believed was associated with recklessness, exhibitionism, vanity and, especially among females, continual striving for superiority over men.

Latency Stage (6 years – puberty)
Pleasure-seeking and outward sexual interest are dormant and the child is preoccupied with developing social skills and forming relationships with others of the same sex.

Genital Stage (puberty – early adulthood)
With the onset of puberty, when the sexual organs mature and the ability to reproduce occurs, there is dramatic increase in sexual tension. The focus of sexual pl...