List the different stages of childhood according to Freud's theory of psychosexual development. Mention the ages in which these stages occur, and discuss the important characteristics of each stage

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

ANS: Freud sensed strong sexual conflicts in the infant and young child, conflicts that seemed to revolve around specific regions of the body. From these observations, he derived his theory of the psychosexual stages of development; each stage is defined by an erogenous zone of the body. In each developmental stage, a conflict exists that must be resolved before the infant or child can progress to the next stage.
1. Oral stage: The oral stage, the first stage of psychosexual development, lasts from birth until some time during the second year. During this period, the infant's principal source of pleasure is the mouth. The infant derives pleasure from sucking, biting, and swallowing.
2. Anal stage: Around the age of 18 months, a new demand, toilet training, is made of the child. Freud believed that the experience of toilet training during the anal stage had a significant effect on personality development. Defecation produces erotic pleasure for the child, but with the onset of toilet training, the child is put under pressure to learn to postpone or delay this pleasure. For the first time, gratification of an instinctual impulse is interfered with as parents attempt to regulate the time and place for defecation.
3. Phallic stage: Around the fourth to fifth year, the focus of pleasure shifts from the anus to the genitals. Children at the phallic stage display considerable interest in exploring and manipulating the genitals, their own and those of their playmates. The child becomes curious about birth and about why boys have penises and girls do not.
4. Latent stage: The storms and stresses of the oral, anal, and phallic stages of psychosexual development form the basic material out of which most of the adult personality is shaped. Because the child and parents certainly could use some rest, the next 5 or 6 years are quiet. The latency period is not a psychosexual stage of development. The sex instinct is dormant during this time.
5. Genital stage: The genital stage, the final psychosexual stage of development, begins at puberty. The body is becoming physiologically mature, and, if no major fixations have occurred at an earlier stage of development, the individual may be able to lead a normal life.