Sigmund Freud's Psychosexual Theory Of Development

Introduction

The purpose of this assignment is to compare and contrast Sigmund Freud's psychosexual theory of development and Erik Erikson's psychosocial theory of development and also whether we are able to apply different concepts of psychosexual theory of development & psychosocial theory of development in daily life. Each theory will be briefly explained and the last part of the essay will be evaluating the critics of both theories by comparing. Sigmund Freud developed his theory on five psychosexual stages. He even believed that the human personality consisted of three interworking part. They are the id, the ego and the superego. According to his theory these three parts become are very much lined to each other while they work through

His theory is helpful for child development and adults too. The five Erikson’s stages of development are trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame and doubt, initiative vs. guilt, competency vs. inferiority and the last one is identity vs. role confusion.

Freud and Erik’s theories have some similarities and differences in some stages of development. In the first stage of Freud’s theory he says oral stage is the weaning process where the child must become less independent upon caretakers. At the stage of 1st year Eric says it’s the stage of trust vs. mistrust. In this if the needs are met, infant develops a sense of basic trust. If the care givers fail to develop trust will result in fear and a belief that the world is inconsistent and unpredictable.

According to Freud’s anal stage the child has to learn to control his or her bodily needs. Like Freud, he also believed that toilet training is a virtual part of this stage. However in Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt he believed that learning to control one’s bodily functions leads to a feeling of control and a sense of

The biggest criticism of Freud's theory is that it is very sexist. But in Erik’s theory it is very powerful for self-awareness and improvement, and for teaching and helping others. Meanwhile the concept also asserts that humans continue to change and develop throughout their lives, and that personality is not exclusively formed during early childhood years.

Furthermore the Freud’s theory is focused almost entirely on male development with little mention of female psychosexual development. Indeed, Erikson (1964) acknowledges his theory is more a descriptive overview of human social and emotional development that does not adequately explain how or why this development occurs. For example, Erikson does not explicitly explain how the outcome of one psychosocial stage influences personality at a later stage.

Subsequently, Freud’s theories are difficult to test scientifically. Concepts such as the libido are impossible to measure, and therefore cannot be tested. And his theory is based on his adult patients, not on actual observation and study of children. On the other hand the strengths of Erikson's theory is its ability to tie together important psychosocial development across the entire