psychodynamic explanation of gender development

Question 1

explain pre-phallic children?

Answer 1

• 5 psychosexual stages oral-genital
• prior to reaching the phallic stage children have no concept of gender identity
• freud described pre-phallic children be bisexual and focus on pleasure switches to genitals electra/oedipus complex

Question 2

explain oedipus complex?

Answer 2

• in phallic stage boys develop feelings towards their mothers, harbouring jealousy and hatred for their fathers+fears he may be castrated by his father due to feelings for his mother
• to stop conflict boys lose love for mothers and identify w/ fathers

Question 3

evaluate a weakness of the oedipus complex?

Answer 3

• WEAKNESS
• Freuds theory implies that sons of harsh fathers should develop a sense of gender identity than other boys.
• However boys with more liberal fathers have less anxiety and tend to be more secure in their masculine identity

Question 4

explain little hans study?

Answer 4

• 5 year old boy w/ a fear of horses after horse collapsed in front of him
• freud interpreted that his fear was of being castrated by father
• believed hans had transferred his fear of father onto horses through displacement

Question 5

explain the Electra complex?

Answer 5

• at phallic stage girls get penis envy, in competition w/ mothers for fathers love
• +blame mother for no penis
• overtime they lose penis envy and desire for children

Question 6

evaluate not enough on female development for Electra complex?

Answer 6

• WEAKNESS
• Carl Jung wrote about female development
• freud admitted women were a mystery to him
• feminist psychoanalyst argues a more powerful experience is womb envy rather then penis envy
• believes it is a cultural concept rather than an innate trait

Question 7

explain identification and internalisation?

Answer 7

• Freud believes children of both sexes identify w/ same sex parent to resolve respective complexes
• boys adapt to fathers values and girls to mothers + talking on gender identity of same sex parent

Question 8

evaluate absence of info on children not living in nuclear families?

Answer 8

WEAKNESS

• Freuds theory relies on a child having 2 parents of different genders
• therefore if children lived in non-nuclear families this would have bad effects on the child’s gender
• study into children from a single sex parent found that children develop normal gender identities