...Id, Ego, and Superego As with personality theories, Freud’s theory and other psychoanalytic theories may be difficult to test and prove in court. Analyze Freud’s theory and discuss the impact that it has on the development of criminal behavior. What roles do the Id, Ego, and Superego play in problematic behavior, and what influence do defensive mechanisms have on the development of criminal behavior? Discuss the pros and cons of Freud’s theory and how you feel it would hold up in court. Sigmund Freud’s tripartite model of self that separates the human mind into id, ego and superego. This model replicates the method where the ego and superego help to regulate and suppress id urges. Id The id is present at birth and is the make-up of the personality that functions to the same degree to the pleasure notion. According to Freud, dysfunctional personality and behavior comes from the failure of the superego to control the inappropriate inclination of the id. “The restraints that the ego and superego place on the id create aggression and resentment that is directed against the self and manifests in disorder and maladaptive conduct” (DeLisi, 2013). Ego The ego grows from the id and is the part of the personality that can change to the restrictions of the real world, dealing with problem solving aspects of the personality that set it apart from fantasy to reality. “As children develop and realize that life comprises more than simple pleasure gratification, they...
Words: 684 - Pages: 3
...Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film The Master, set in 1950, examines dueling forces of the human psyche. The three main characters can be viewed metaphorically in terms of Freud’s id, ego and super ego. Anderson’s new film is a beautiful character study examining the inner workings of human psychology. Freddy Quell is an immature, alcoholic, hypersexual, violent WWII veteran, possesses no self-control, impulsively chasing his cravings His behavior exactly fits of Freud’s id. His primitive qualities resound further in his hunched posture, which resembles an earlier stage of Human evolution. Lancaster Dodd, a writer, scientist and philosopher and founder and self appointed ‘Master’ of The Cause, a cult seeking to raise humans to a state of perfection. Lancaster facilitates this progression through a process of hypnosis which allows individuals to access distant memories of past lives stretching back trillions of years through time holes, providing a deeper, purer sense of self; Lancaster even claims these applications can cure certain types of leukemia. After losing a series of jobs and on the run from a group of farmers, Freddy, in a drunken stupor stumbles unnoticed aboard a docked ship, occupied by Lancaster Dodd and his entourage, just prior to casting off for sea. Freddy awakes unaware of his surroundings and unable to recall the events of the previous night. Hung over, he meets with Lancaster, who is more curious than upset about Freddy’s aggressive, disruptive, uninvited...
Words: 1851 - Pages: 8
...In the film, Regarding Henry, the id, ego, and superego are expressed through the protagonist, Henry. Freud states that the human is born with the id and taught the superego throughout life, however is this so with Henry who experienced a tragic accident? In the beginning of the film, Henry came across as a man who spoke his mind and acted with instinct, not to mention he impulsively said, “that table looks like a goddamn turtle” without hesitating the fact that he was saying something hurtful that was not to be said in public. In addition, while Henry was waiting in line to buy a pack of cigarettes at the gas station, he was acting impatient and became indignant, blaring at the employee causing him to get shot. After Henry was released from the hospital, he was able to walk and explore Manhattan with the little knowledge he possessed. While doing so, Henry saw a dog in the store window. He thought it was captivating, so he bought it and took it home. Sarah was aghast unlike Rachel, who was overwhelmed with bliss. Henry also uses id while at the breakfast table. Rachel accidentally spilled her orange...
Words: 508 - Pages: 3
...believed that our minds our made up of three different parts, the id, the superego and the ego. The id is the part of our brain and consciousness that acts on impulse, and is responsible for some of the more rash and animalistic decisions that we make. The superego is the part of our subconscious that has been shaped by society to fit humanities morals that have evolved over the years in order to be best suited to our ultimate survival. The ego is the part of our brain that has developed in order to mediate decisions between our animalistic id and our superego that ensures we make the right decisions based on ‘morality’. Freud believed that a lot of our personal ideas of morality and subconscious believes stems from childhood trauma, which can be discovered and cured through therapy. Most of what we know about Freud’s views on moral awareness comes from his two books Beyond the pleasure principle, and The ego and the id, written in 1920 and 1923 respectively. The id is the most primitive and old part of our brain, that is responsible for the animalistic and impulsive nature that humans sometimes display. In a situation where one has to make a sub conscious split second decision, the id is the area of the brain that is responsible for this, and it is this that keeps us alive. When we are born only the id is present, and the superego and ego develop later in life as we are exposed to the pressures of society. The id contains personality that is inherited from our parents, and may...
Words: 1012 - Pages: 5
...Everyman’s ego demonstrates his ego most notably in these lines. His id demands him to keep his money and continue his frivolity, while his superego desires him to earn salvation as idealized by the church influence. His ego emerges to offer Death this bribe of money to allow both parties to achieve a semblance of their aims. In their 2006 article "Material Economy, Spiritual Economy, and Social Critique in Everyman," scholars Elizabeth Harper and Britt Mize further urge the significance of this bribe. They assert, “Everyman’s attempt to escape his summons with a bribe is an important backdrop to his interaction with Goods. At a moment a moment of some tension…the moment at which he will learn directly and finally that he has valued most will...
Words: 1756 - Pages: 8
...traits and characteristics. The author states that within personality, there are two elements, traits, and characteristics that can truly define ones personality. This is important because traits that are provided show individual differences that conduct regularity of behavior over time and steadiness of behavior across circumstances. Traits are unique, or common to some group; however, each pattern is solitary to the person. Characteristics are singular aspects of a person who embodies such virtues as, temperament, physique, and intelligence (p. 4). Noted psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud's knowledge of personality was greatly known and share with the world. According to Freud the three parts of characteristic elements are the id, ego and the superego. The id is the primitive part of the personality who wants only gratification and instant pleasure; one would...
Words: 1419 - Pages: 6
...Human Psyche – the id, ego, and superego. Sigmund Freud was a world renowned psychologist and writer who forever changed the world of psychoanalysis. The three structures of the Human Psyche Freud proposed are: Id - centered around original impulses, pleasures, desires, and wish fulfillment. Ego - worried with the conscious, the sensible, the ethical and the self-aware aspect of the mind. Superego - the censor for the id, which is also responsible for enforcing the moral codes of the ego. (http://www.dreaminterpretation-dictionary.com/sigmund-freud-theory.html) First Freud believed that the Id directed our basic drive instincts. He said that it was unorganized and would seek to obtain pleasure or avoid pain. He described Id as chaos, a cauldron full of seething excitations, it is filled with energy reaching it from the instincts, but it has no organization, produces no collective will, but only motivation to bring out the satisfaction of instinctual needs. (http://www.dreaminterpretation-dictionary.com/sigmund-freud-theory.html) Next Freud thought of the Ego as the mediator, the egos job is to mediate the intropsychic conflict between the id and superego. The ego is the part of your personality that is responsible for dealing with reality, the ego strives to please the Id’s drive. Lastly, the superego mirrors the internalization of cultural rules that are mainly taught by parents. The superego aims for perfection, works in contradiction to the Id, and can be thought...
Words: 1045 - Pages: 5
...remain in the unconscious. Thus affecting the way we perceive situations in later life. Freud believed that the unconscious determines our behaviors and that we are motivated by unconscious emotional drives which are shaped by unresolved conflicts from our childhood experiences. For example, a child exposed to abuse during 1- 5 years of development will have an unstable personality compared to a child who wasn't exposed to abuse. Freud (1923) later developed a more structural model of the mind, the psychic apparatus, comprising the entities id, ego and superego which are rather hypothetical conceptualizations of important mental functions. In saying this, according to Freud, the mind can be seen as being similar to an iceberg with only the very tip being exposed and the bulk of the ice berg being unseen. Freud assumed the id operated at an unconscious level (beneath the sea) according to the pleasure principle. Freud holds that we are born with the id and it contains two kinds of biological instincts (or drives) which Freud called Eros and...
Words: 3294 - Pages: 14
...Psychology is a relativly new field in all of the sciences, only about 130 years old.(Ciccarelli,White, Psychology third edition) Some new theories have emerged because of dissatisfaction of older ones. As an outcome every system of psychology different motives and differing perspectives on what is fact and what is not, therfore the using of different research methods, tachniques and goals defines what each system views the truth. This will be eximined through the examples of Behaviorism and Psycoanalysis. Two different examples of psychology. Behaviorism and psycoanalisis both have evolved out of unique social and intellectual cvontexts. Psychoanalisis is arguably the most influential system of psychology. It was pioneered by Sigmond Freud in Vienna during the 19th century. During this time various social trends were in operation. These were the creation of the German School, anti-semitism and the role of woman is society. All of these things impacted Frteud for instance the German school provided the basis for his treatment situation and anti-sematic polices forced him into the medical profession. Freud was also influenced by several individuals, Josef Breuer, Jean-Martin Charcot and Rudolf Chrobak. All three of these individuals had radical views about the role of sex in neurotic disorders. For example Breurer once said that "neurotic disorders were always concered with secrets of the marital bed". These views were influenced Freud as did Breuers former patient Anna O. Through...
Words: 899 - Pages: 4
...brain works according to the environments that surround us and the way we act on our emotions. One of his most renowned theories is his concept of the Id, the Ego, and the superego. He compared the human mind to a glacier in the arctic sea. The Id is, “under the water,” not affected by the cultural expectations and influences. Basically the Id reacts on impulses without reasoning through the pros and cons of the actions. The moderator, or the middleman, is the ego. Its job is to satisfy the wants of the Id, but in a safe, healthy way with more consideration of the reactants before acting....
Words: 942 - Pages: 4
...Freud’s Id, Ego, and Superego Personified in Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre follows the story of Jane, an orphan, as she develops from a young girl to a young woman of marriageable age. While there are many other characters in the novel, the most developed ones are Jane and the two men that propose marriage to her: Edward Rochester and St. John Rivers. Almost a century after Bronte published her novel, Freud theorized that the psyche developed into three different parts: the id, the ego, and the superego. Jane Eyre’s three main characters personify these parts of the human psyche: Rochester represents the id, St. John the superego, and Jane the ego. Edward Rochester, Jane’s employer and the master of Thornfield, exemplifies Freud’s id. The id, as interpreted by Saul McLeod, is the part of the psyche that is the most basic, unconscious, instinctual part; it begins at birth and demands immediate satisfaction, it is also contains the libido. It acts according to the “pleasure principle” and seeks only self-gratification and pain avoidance (McLeod). Mr. Rochester, wealthy and with few responsibilities, is left free to spend his time pursuing pleasure, traveling Europe, and having an affair with the French singer and dancer Celine Varens. He is not bothered by society’s morals when he tries to marry Jane, even though it would make him a bigamist because he is already married to the woman hidden in his attic. The marriage to Jane also flaunts society’s norm of class...
Words: 1457 - Pages: 6
...Where Is Your ID Going Where Has Your Superego Been? Connie, the main character in Carol Oates’ short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” is a self conscious teenage girl with a quirky personality. Her condescending mother constantly measures her up against her older sister June, which leads to resentment and tension between Connie and her otherwise admirable sister. On a night out with her friend, Connie has a strange encounter with a boy at a drive in restaurant which introduces the personified Freudian struggle between the ID, Ego, and Superego. First, it is necessary to comprehend how Connie’s family is the personification of the Freudian Superego. By simply relating the characteristics used to describe each family member to the concept of a Superego, the reader can condense their apparent individuality into this definitive Freudian ideal. June, a twenty-four year old still living and working from her parents home, serves as an example of low-risk and conservative decision making. Early in the story Oates writes, “June did this, June did that, she saved money and helped clean the house and cooked and Connie couldn't do a thing, her mind was all filled with trashy daydreams” (Oates, 1), which provides supporting evidence in proving June’s...
Words: 834 - Pages: 4
...“Evaluate the extent to which Freud's theory of psychosexual development can help us to understand a client's presenting issue.” The main aim of this essay is to demonstrate an understanding of Freud’s theory of psychosexual development and how this theory may help us to explain and identify adult neurotic behaviour. I shall be evaluating the pros and cons of psychosexual theory and the extent to which it helps us to understand a client’s presenting issue. I shall also define and consider the relationship between the Id, Ego and Superego and the way in which these constructs of our psyche are in many ways representative of earlier experiences and of those early situations and conflicts we had faced. Lastly, I will examine some of the criticisms that have been leveled at Freudian theory in order to evaluate it. In Freudian psychology, psychosexual development is a central element of the psychoanalytic sexual drive theory; that human beings, from birth, possess an instinctual libido (sexual energy), that develops in five stages. Each stage – the oral, the anal, the phallic, the latent, and the genital – is characterized by the erogenous zone that is the source of the libidinal drive. Sigmund Freud proposed that if the child experienced sexual frustration in relation to any psychosexual developmental stage, s/he would experience anxiety that would persist into adulthood as a neurosis, a functional mental disorder Freud (1905) stressed that the first five years of life are...
Words: 2151 - Pages: 9
...formulated the Oedipus complex as the central tenet of the psychoanalytical theory. Freud focused his work mostly on the mind and received many critiques and criticism of his accomplishments. Psychoanalysis emphasized the influence of the unconscious mind on behavior and the main idea that eventually evolved from the development of psychoanalysis is that neurotic symptoms are the result of conflicts within the patient. Neurotic symptoms for example could be phobias, obsessions or compulsions. In Freud’s study of psychoanalysis, he also determined that the mind was composed of three elements: the id, the ego and the superego. The id is the part of the personality of an individual that wants what it wants now and is the seat of natural, primitive instincts such as aggressive and sexual desires. The ego is the more reasonable and rather more developed section of the personality. With the ego, the mind is able to attain reality and understand reason and logic with the...
Words: 552 - Pages: 3
...unique theories of the subconscious mind in his 1975 novel “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. With the central setting in a psychiatric hospital One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest clearly depicts Sigmund Freud's Theory of the Id, Ego, and Superego. The characters throughout the book depict these separations of the Id, Ego, and Superego and we see how they work together to create a functioning whole much like our own brains do everyday. Randle Patrick McMurphy is depicted as the Id. His sexual remarks, swearing, and gamble is parallel to the Id, which is our human desire. We all are born with impulses whether right or wrong and Randle is a clear example of our need to get what we want at any cost. "You can't run around here—in a towel!" "No?" He looks down at the part of the towel she's eye to eye with, and it's wet and skin tight. "Towels against ward policy too? Well, I guess there's nothin' to do exec—" (Nest, 1975). Randle is impulsive and dangerous and...
Words: 1102 - Pages: 5
