The psychodynamic perspective was the basis on which all psychological perspectives spawned from. However, the fact that other psychological perspectives were created after (or as reactions to) the psychodynamic perspective demonstrates that it is flawed, possibly in more way than one. Although this perspective offers an explanation for many things that confound people even today, its explanations are not always satisfactory to the human mind. In the instances where its theories are satisfactory to human logic and perception, they are most often theories that are unable to be proven. Many of the early explanations attempting to explain behavioral phenomena were based upon assumptions made by Freud. For example, Freud believed that man is not a rational being, that humans are driven by instincts and drives, that women are inferior, and that anatomy is destiny. He further developed these ideas into psychosexual stages of behavioral development upon these assumptions. He believed that every human being followed the same pattern as they matured, but that they only had the ability to change until they reached puberty.
From this, he developed five psychosexual stages, and a list of cause and effect problems that can go wrong in them. For example, a problem occurring in the oral stage can result in people smoking later on in life. A problem in the anal stage can result in an anal retentive personality (i.e. he or she will tend to be especially clean, perfectionistic, dictatorial, very stubborn, and stingy).
The Essay on Typical human resource problem
This article presents a typical human resource problem concerning some dispute between the head of a research department and one of his subordinate leaders on dealing and handling a product safety problem. It was during R&D Budget planning meeting in WYZ Company when the head of Electrical Engineering Research, Bob Bateman along with others group leader do the 1998 budget deliberation; and ...
These problems are what he said were the cause of bizarre behaviors. However, none of these can be proved by scientific means, and many of the assumptions and the psychosexual stages are rejected in todays society (such as the notion that women are inferior, and that people have no ability to change after a certain time in their life).
Erickson, believing in many of the same basic assumptions that Freud did, but not believing that all human behavior revolved around the issue of sex, created a psychosocial aspect within the psychodynamic perspective. He believed, like Freud, that humans went through stages in their lives, which always followed the same progression. He also believed, like Freud, that problems occurring during any of these stages, or not successfully completing a stage, would result in how that person would behave throughout life. Unlike Freud, however, Ericksons stages begin at birth and continue throughout a persons life. They also deal with many of the aspects and problems that are present in society, even today. For example, problems occurring in the psychosocial stages can lead to a person being anti-social, overly aggressive, an alcoholic, etc. Freud and Erickson both believed that the psychodynamic perspective is universal, where many people in todays society do not adhere to the theory that their lives can be reduced to a series of successes and failures within a set amount of stages.
Most people in todays society believe that they have the ability not to fit the mold, and a theory that says if it is true for me, then it is true for you is not considered satisfactory at this time by many. Many psychologists who believe that people, in fact, do progress through life in stages, and who believe that the founders of this perspective were on the right track, but were a bit too radical, have altered their theories a bit, but still practice within the psychodynamic perspective. These people are generally called neo-Freudians. One of these people was Karen Horney. Her neo-Freudian theories have helped to provide a more satisfactory explanation of many abnormal behaviors. For example, she created a new view about how people look at neurosis.
She divided the neurotic behavior into three stages at which it can be developed: compliance, aggression, and withdrawal. She does not believe that neglect or abuse in childhood is the cause of neurosis, as many people do, but she believes that it is caused from parental indifference. The children then use defense mechanisms in a certain order to try and overcome this, such as basic hostility and basic anxiety. However, instead of doing the good that many defense mechanisms do, they have the ability to make the child worse, and eventually develop neurosis. Developing theories such as these for different personality disorders that are more consistent with the beliefs of todays society make the psychodynamic perspective more acceptable to people. Eric Berne, although he was not a neo-Freudian, still practiced within the psychodynamic perspective.
The Term Paper on Developmental Stage Theories
Developmental psychology is the scientific study of changes that occur in human beings over the course of their life span. Originally concerned with infantsand children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development, aging, and the entire life span. This field examines change across a broad range of topics including motor skills and other psycho-physiological processes; ...
He believed that the human personality consists of three ego states parent, adult, and child ego states. Berne defined certain socially dysfunctional behavioral patterns as “games.” These repetitive, devious transactions are intended to obtain strokes but instead they reinforce negative feelings and self-concepts, and mask the direct expression of thoughts and emotions. Through theories such as thins, people began to believe that the psychodynamic perspective offers a satisfactory explanation of behavioral phenomena, although none of the theories can be scientifically proven as right or wrong. The early psychodynamic practitioners, theorists, and psychologists did not present the perspective as one offering a satisfactory explanation of behavioral phenomena, as much of its explanations contained generalizations, biases, and could not be proved scientifically. However, as the perspective began to grow and develop, and new psychologists with different versions of the theories previously used began to appear, the perspective slowly began to offer a more satisfactory explanation of behavioral phenomena, as it is now less biased. However, the fault in the perspectives explanations lie in the fact that the majority of them cannot be proven. Bibliography http://www.itaa-net.org/ta/keyideas.htm.
