Theories of Sigmund Freud

Theories of Sigmund Freud

1. What do you consider to be Freud's most significant contribution to the discipline of psychology?

Sigmund Freud, the father of Psychoanalysis, had contributed many notable concepts in the field of psychology. Among them, the most notable are the conscious, unconscious, psych-sexual stages, ego and defense mechanism (Freud, 2011). The most significant contribution of Sigmund Freud is the Unconscious Mind. According to him, human mind is divided into conscious and unconscious part of mind. The important psychic events of life mostly lie “below the surface”. Usually, these ideas are the socially undesirable wishes, ideas, painful, emotional and traumatic events. His therapy (psychoanalysis) largely rests on unconscious. During this therapy, psychologists are trying to uncover the unconscious part of mind in order to understand the personality, psycho-sexual stages and mental disorders.2. Of his different theories, which one do you feel is the most controversial?

The most controversial theory of Sigmund Freud is the psycho-sexual development of the child. According to him, during earlier stages, id remains the focused are for the child and libido as the driving force. If there could be any fixation, it will remain continue in the latter years of life. At phallic stage, Oedipus develops in boys. He named this from Greek myth in which Oedipus killed his father and then married his mother (Ahmed, 2012). Researchers and peoples criticized it. First, this theory is an imbalance as more focus is on the boy. Second, it is difficult to prove scientifically. Third, no empirical evidence of this theory is available.3. What life factors and socio-cultural factors do you think led Freud to come to the conclusions that he did?

In 19th century, positivism was at peak, and many leading researchers were following it. In 1885, Freud had gone to Paris where he met with Jean-Martin. ...