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Sigmund Freud's Oedipal Complex

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1.6—Freudian Love as Possession and Power as Manipulation of Parents The Oedipal Complex of Freud seems to bring a stretch of preschool sexuality into the realm of immature power manipulation. The preschool child has a different relationship with the mother than he has with the father and likes different parents in different ways based on his needs. At this stage, as the child favors the mom over the dad, he begins to realize that both parents like expressions of his love and approval and therein is a source of power to play one off over the other. The child may want the mom’s nurturing and reject the intrusion of the father who has been out working all day. As a pre-verbal baby this was okay for the father but now the dad wants more interaction …show more content…

Freud left this topic to his disciple Alfred Adler who saw power as a major component in different kinds of competition between siblings in the family. Remember the “Smothers Brothers” routine of “Mom always loved you best”? 1.7—The Power Complexes of Superiority and Inferiority Complexes According to Erik Erikson, the roots of inferiority may develop during this second toddler stage of activity if there is a lack of physical fitness or athletic de-ficiency but shame is more likely to develop in a competitive context of “the family constellation”. Alfred Adler saw power as a more dominant motivator than love arising among the “sibling rivalry” that develops when the first born child is “dethroned” from central stage as the only child by the birth of a second child. The baby needs more attention than the 2-4 year old first born and is loved just for being the newborn baby. The older child tries to win the parents’ attention back by achievements or misdeeds (power) but the baby is still in the center stage just for little smiles and needing hugs …show more content…

Adler’s main theory of sibling rivalry also shows up in all settings but with some surprises. One would expect the first born to dominate and the later born to fight this domination. When a first born sister gets along a later born brother, it is expected that marrying a later born husband who gets along with his first born sister will work out with more love than conflict. Furthermore, middle born children are often outside of the first born ruler and last born baby scenario by avoiding both extreme roles to find a middle path of their own

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The descriptions mostly focus on the speaker’s own feelings but it allows the author to display the self-reflective nature of a child. By illuminating the emotions of the speaker, the piece accentuates the actions and characteristics of the older sibling that prompted those reactions. Aggrieved, gullible claims, such as the unequal share of love by their parents, are suitable at a young age and are generally dissolved throughout the years of maturing. The child insists the hate is permanent; perhaps, the author is indicating the possible reconciliation of the characters in adulthood and thus, the stubborn narrative would only be possible through the younger version of the character. It is very evident that if anyone else, including the grown-up version of the child, decided to depict the same person, the characteristics would be completely different, plausibly more considerate and self-effacing.

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Sigmund Freud and his theories on childhood development were extremely popular and widely accepted all the way up until the 1960s (Felluga). Freud put great emphasis on the impact early childhood development had on becoming a well-adjusted adult. He claims, “The structure of the psyche receives its final form during childhood, specifically at the time of the Oedipus complex” (U. of California). This complex is essential in identifying with either the mother or father, in order to establish sexual orientation (Felluga). During this stage, from ages 4-7, the child finds ways to deal with separation anxiety, and it is also the time that the ego fully matures into the superego: “an internalization of the parental function that eventually manifested itself in your conscience” (Cherry).

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Introduction Sigmund Freud is the great theorist of the mysteries of the human mind and a founder of the psychoanalysis theory which was formed in the 1800s, the theory is well known for accessing self-identity and the self in different ways in order to discover their different meaning, (Elliott, 2015). Buss (2008) states that Sigmund’s theory of Psychoanalysis offers a unique controversial insight into how the human mind works in a way that, this theory provided a new approach to psychotherapy, thus it means that it provided a new treatment for psychological problems that even highly qualified doctors couldn’t even cure. (Buss, 2008) According to Cloninger (2013), Erik Erikson on the other hand is the founder of the psychoanalytic-social Perspective which is mostly referred to as psychosocial development theory, Erikson became interested in child development when he met Anna Freud and he trained in psychoanalysis and with his Montessori diploma, he become one of the most influential psychologist of the 20th century.

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The characteristics that Adler attributed to people according to their birth order are as follows: the firstborn children receive a lot of attention from their parents, but then they will sadly suffer the dethrone by their siblings, whom they will overprotect; they are prone to further problems due to the loss of prior privileges and to the supposed responsibility for taking care of their siblings. Middleborn children neither lived the dethrone nor were consented, although it is common that they feel out of place or become rebellious. The youngest children are aiming to being arrogant, consented and dependent on others because their siblings have always helped them, so they will have greater difficulty adapting to adult life. Only children never lose their supremacy; they are independent, self-centered and have no problem on being alone, but they find hard to share and compete with others. Finally, the twins; the one who is born first is usually the dominant; they are confident because of their closeness, but they find it difficult to be alone and have problems when they separate.

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