A Summary of Freuds Psychosexual Stages of Development Freud advanced a theory of personality development that argued that at particular points

in the developmental process a single body part is particularly sensitive to stimulation. These erogenous zones are the mouth, the anus, and the genital region. The child's libido centers on behaviour affecting the primary erogenous zone of his/her age; he/she cannot focus on the primary erogenous zone of the next stage without resolving the developmental conflict of the immediate one. A child at a given stage of development has certain needs and demands, such as the need of the infant to nurse. Frustration occurs when these needs are not met. If these needs are overly met then there is overindulgence and the child is reluctant to progress beyond the stage. Both frustration and overindulgence lock some amount of the child's libido permanently into the stage in which they occur; both result in a fixation. If a child progresses normally through the stages, resolving each conflict and moving on, then little libido remains invested in each stage of development. But if he/she fixates at a particular stage, the method of obtaining satisfaction which characterized the stage will dominate and affect his/her adult personality. Each psychosexual stage has three main parts: A physical focus: where the childs energy is concentrated and their gratification obtained. A psychological theme: this is related to both the physical focus and the demands being made on the child by the outside world as he/she develops. For each stage, there can be two extremes in psychological reaction - either doing too much or not enough of what is ideal. An adult character type: in the first three stages this adult character type is one that is related to being fixated (or stuck) at that stage. If a person doesnt resolve the psychological issues that arise at that stage they will always have problems relating to those issues.

Oral stage: Birth - 18 months (approx.) Physical focus: mouth, lips, tongue (sucking). Sucking is the primary source of pleasure for a newborn. Everything goes in the mouth. Sucking = food. Psychological theme: dependency. A baby is very dependent and can do little for itself. If the babys needs are properly fulfilled then it can move onto the next stage. But if they are not fulfilled the baby will be mistrustful. The over-fulfilled baby will find it hard to cope with a world that doesnt meet all of his/her demands. Adult character: highly dependent/highly independent. If the baby becomes fixated at this stage Freud felt that he/she would grow to be an oral character.

Mostly these people are extremely dependent and passive people who want everything done for them. However, Freud also suggests that another type of oral character is the person who is highly independent and that when under stress the orally fixated person may flip from one type to the other.

Anal Stage: 18 months - 3.5 years (approx.) Physical focus: anus (elimination). Now baby is supposed to control its bowels. Freud believed the babys sexual pleasure is centred around the anus at this time. Psychological theme: self-control/obedience. These things are not just related to toilet training but also the baby must learn to control urges and behaviours. What can go wrong here is that either parents become too controlling or not controlling enough (Freud was a great believer in moderation). Adult character: anally retentive (rigid, overly organised, subservient to authority) vs. anally expulsive (little self-control, disorganised, defiant, hostile).

Phallic Stage: 3.5 - 6 years (approx.) Physical focus: penis. Freud believed that boys and girls both focussed on the penis. Boys: why hasnt she got one? Girls: why havent I got one? Children become particularly interested in playing with their genitals at this stage. Psychological theme: morality and sexual identification and figuring out what it means to be a girl/boy. During this time emotional conflicts are resolved by eventually identifying with the same sex parent (if you cant beat them, join them). This stage is linked with the Oedipus Complex in boys and the Electra Complex in girls. In the young male, the Oedipus conflict stems from his natural love for his mother, a love which becomes sexual as his libidal energy transfers from the anal region to his genitals. Unfortunately for the boy, his father stands in the way of this love. The boy therefore feels aggression and envy towards this rival, his father, and also feels fear that the father will strike back at him. As the boy has noticed that women, his mother in particular, have no penises, he is struck by a great fear that his father will remove his penis, too. This castration anxiety outstrips his desire for his mother, so he represses the desire. Moreover, although the boy sees that though he cannot posses his mother, because his father does, he can posses her by identifying with his father and becoming as much like him as possible: this identification indoctrinates the boy into his appropriate sexual role in life. On the Electra complex, Freud was more vague. The complex has its roots in the little girl's discovery that she, along with her mother and all other women, lack the penis which her father and other men posses. Her love for her father

then becomes both erotic and envious, as she yearns for a penis of her own. She comes to blame her mother for her perceived castration, and is struck by penis envy, the equivalent to the boy's castration anxiety. The resolution of the Electra complex is far less clear-cut than the resolution of the Oedipus complex is in males; Freud stated that the resolution comes much later and is never truly complete. Just as the boy learned his sexual role by identifying with his father, so the girl learns her role by identifying with her mother in an attempt to posses her father vicariously. At the eventual resolution of the conflict, the girl passes into the latency period, though Freud implies that she always remains slightly fixated at the phallic stage. A lasting result of this stage is the development of the superego through the internalization of the parental morals/rules. Adult Character: Fixation at the phallic stage develops a phallic character, who is reckless, resolute, self-assured, and narcissistic--excessively vain and proud. The failure to resolve the conflict can also cause a person to be afraid or incapable of close love; As well, Freud postulated that fixation could be a root cause of homosexuality.

Latency Stage: 6 years to puberty (approx.) The latency stage is the period of relative calm. The sexual and aggressive drives are less active and there is little in the way of psychosexual conflict. The focus here is on the development of social skills (eg. Playground, school).

Genital stage: puberty onwards Physical focus: genitals Psychological theme: maturity and creation and enhancement of life. This is not just about creating new life (reproduction) but also about intellectual and artistic creativity. The task is to learn how to add something constructive to life and society. Adult character: The genital character is not fixed at an earlier stage. This is the person who has worked it all out. This person is psychologically welladjusted and balanced. He/she has the ability to love and be loved. According to Freud to achieve this state you need to have a balance of both love and work.

If one has had problems during any of the psychosexual stages, which are not effectively resolved, then he/she will become fixated at one of the earlier stages and when under stress will regress to characteristics of that stage.