The Psychoanalytic Theory of Adolescent Development

I. Introduction to the Psychoanalytic Theory

The psychoanalytic theory was first developed by Sigmund Freud, who devoted more
than half of his life looking for new and effective ways to treat neuropsychological problems.
In order to do so, he conducted plenty of research which allowed him to better understand and
conceptualize the nature of dreams, human motivation, and the mind itself. Probably one of
the most defining feature of his theory is his belief that both men and women are more likely
to be motivated by their unconscious desires, rather than what is thought to be rational or
logical. He even specified one’s sexuality and childhood experience as some of the most
influential forces that determine human behavior. All these findings changed the course of
psychopathology to a much more hopeful future.
In order to better understand the Psychoanalytic Theory of Adolescent Development, the
following theories will be discussed in the text:
A. The Topographical Model of the Mind (Conscious, Preconscious, Unconscious)
B. The ID, Ego, and Superego
C. The Psychosexual Stages of Human Development
D. The Mechanisms of Defense

II. The Conscious, Preconscious, and Unconscious

The topographic model of the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious mind was first
developed as Freud’s attempt to explain the nature of dreams.
A. Conscious
The conscious layer of awareness is said to only consist of a small part of the
mental apparatus. Muus (1988) even described it to be like the tip of an iceberg, where
most of the mental apparatus consist of the preconscious and the unconscious. To define
the conscious layer, it is simply the thought, motor activity, feeling, or dream that an
individual is aware of at a given time. Freud discussed that the common goal for
psychoanalytical treatment is to bring unconscious material into a patient’s awareness in
order to help them understand and thoughtfully address a problem.
B. Preconscious
The preconscious is made up of all sorts of information and the past experiences
of an individual. According to Freud’s topographical model of the mind, it is the
boundary between the conscious and the unconscious. This is why some parts of the
preconscious can easily be brought back to awareness via thinking or remembering.
Additionally, some parts of the preconscious tend to appear in conscious even when the
individual is not voluntarily trying to retrieve the data. Solutions to problems, insights,
and creative ideas that randomly come to mind are all examples of the phenomena.
C. Unconscious
 Freud described the unconscious layer as the “dominant force in the mental
apparatus”. It is said to also contain information and experiences that cannot easily be
retrieved back to consciousness without special procedures such as hypnosis, interpretation,
and clinical treatment. Traumatic experiences and unacceptable impulses also tend to stay in
this level of awareness due to repression but may sometimes appear in dreams through
symbols and other forms of manifestations. Some other forms of content in the unconscious
region are motives, wishes, feelings, and fantasies which can highly influence a person’s
action even without the full awareness of the existence of such.
III. The ID, Ego, and the Superego
The ID, Ego, and Superego is another tripartite model of the mind which also shapes
the personality of an individual. Each of the three parts are associated with a different system
(biological, psychological, and social) respectively. The three parts, working hand in hand,
allow an individual to satisfy his or her desires within what is socially acceptable in the
community.
The ID, Ego, and Superego model also relates with the topographical model of
consciousness in a sense that some of these motives are made readily conscious to an
individual, and most are not. Take for example the ID which is mostly unconscious, while the
Ego and Superego both encompass all three layers of consciousness.
A. ID
The ID, which is present at birth, provides the mind with both drive and
psychological energy. It makes use of the “pleasure principle”, where an individual is
motivated to do a certain task in order to either satisfy a basic need or release tension.
Freud also talks about “object finding” which is when an individual looks for a person,
thing, or activity that satiates his or her impulses. When the object is able to fulfill its
function, an individual may feel feelings of attachment to it, which will later be further
discussed in the Psychosexual Development Stages.
ID dominated personalities tend to look for ways to immediately satisfy their urges,
regardless of what is culturally or socially accepted. This is because they find it difficult
to control or repress their desires, leading them to look for immediate gratification.
B. Ego
Starting from an early age of 2, people start to develop their Ego. What it is the
part of the mind that gives reason, thus controlling the ID. For the most part, the Ego’s
purposes are to promote self-control and help an individual cope with existing tensions,
which are oftentimes due to conflict in the internal and external world. Additionally, the
Ego also determines which ideas can be brought to consciousness and not. This means
that cognitive activity and logical thinking are both functions of the Ego.
While the goals for the ID and ego are alike, they sometimes clash when deciding
which course of method to take in order to reach the said goal. The ID may go for a
method that allows its impulses to be satisfied at the shortest amount of time, while the
Ego on one hand considers delayed gratification in order to experience maximum
pleasure; at the same time, tries to avoid negative consequences to the individual.
C. Superego
 During middle childhood up until a person’s prepubescent years, the third component
used in decision making is developed. The Superego makes a person consider the subject
of morality in his or her actions. Morality however is not understood in the same way for
everyone. Each child builds his or her own sense of a moral standard by mimicking their
parents’ own standards. As the child is about to enter puberty, the Superego replaces the
child’s anticipation of a reward or punishment with feelings of pride or guilt when
considering their choices. This change in mindset is also counted as a sign that a child is
becoming more and more independent from his or her parents. In that sense, the basic
functions of the superego is to inhibit non-socially approved actions, prioritize moral over
reason, and strive for perfection.
IV. The Psychosexual Stages of Human Development
Freud theorized that each person, regardless of any background, goes through five
stages of psychosexual development. He also persisted that everyone goes through these
stages in the same sequence as everyone else: oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital. Each
stage’s name suggest the area of the body that is most sensitive to pleasure, therefore
allowing the individual to seek different ways to pleasure the erogenous organ in question.
While these stages are essential to the development of a baby to a mature person,
conflicts sometimes arise which may either prevent a person from moving on to the next
stage, or make a person to partially attached to a lower stage.
A. Oral Stage
The oral stage starts as soon as the baby is born. At this stage, the baby is able to
receive pleasure from eating, drinking, and sucking. Dissatisfaction from an object is
expressed by spitting the said object out. Later in life, traces of the same type of pleasure
can be seen in drinking, smoking, kissing, talking, and biting.
B. Anal Stage
The anal stage usually starts around the age of two. At this age, the toddler learns
how to use the toilet which gives him or her two types of satisfaction: holding back and
letting go. By doing these two things, the child is able to feel stronger sensations due to
delaying satisfaction. As the child meets the social standards (e.g. being able to use the
toilet), the Ego is developed.
Anal attributes can also influence a person’s personality in two ways: retention and
expulsion. The retention modality is identified with people who tend to hoard, be stingy,
overcontrolling, or even obsessed with cleanliness and orderliness. In contrast, the
expulsion modality is seen in people who tend to carelessly spend money, have tantrums
and emotional outbursts, rebellious, and messy.
C. Phallic or Infantile Genital Stage
At one point in every child’s life, around the age of 3-6, he or she begins to get
curious about his or her own sexual organ. Children are now able to derive pleasure from
touching and playing with their sex organ. At this stage, the object choice switches from
the self towards a different person. In most cases, the new object choice becomes the
opposite-sex parent; this situation is also known as the Oedipus Complex.
 According to Freud, a young boy at this stage may develop a sexual attraction to his
mother, therefore causing a conflict in the boy’s feelings towards his father. The child
may feel confused since a part of him looks up to his father, while the other part wishes
that the father will disappear so that he can have the mother all to himself. With these in
mind, the boy also becomes aware that his father is greater than he is, and fears that the
latter may cut off his penis. This fear is also known as the castration anxiety. Due to this
fear, the young boy may repress his feelings for his mother. Additionally, factors such as
realizing that his incestuous desire is culturally unacceptable, possible disappointment
from the mother, and maturation can all help in closing the Oedipus situation. Upon this
resolution, the child begins to wish to be more like his father in the hopes of finding a
partner, like his mother, in the future.
The Electra Complex is defined as the situation where a young girl develops both
jealousy (penis envy) and sexual attraction towards her father. It starts when the young
girl realizes that she is missing a penis and blames the mother for this lacking. As the
young girl distances herself from her mother, she becomes more attached to her father.
This situation eventually resolves when the girl becomes more mature and faces the fact
that it is impossible for her to get what she wants.
According to Freud, this mini version of puberty may indicate that humans evolved
from creatures that reached sexual maturity at the age of 5 or 6. This stage is met with
rapid changes, conflicts, and psychological changes, usually due to the surge of libidinal
drive.
D. Sexual Latency
After the unsuccessful fulfillment of sexual desire during the previous stage, the child
is now discouraged to look for a similar relationship. Sexual Latency usually lasts for
several years, just until the child reaches puberty. It is said that it is at this stage, an
individual learns social skills, moral values, and what are culturally acceptable, usually
during their stay in primary school.
It is also very visible that at this stage, friendships, interests, and choice of activities
are very reliant on gender. Little girls will feel more oriented to playing with other girls,
while at the same time excluding boys and vice versa.
E. Puberty or Genital Stage
Adolescence or the “genital stage” starts when the reproductive system of an
individual reaches maturity. At this stage, an individual experiences an increase of sexual
urge, but is conflicted due to the community’s values and norms. This delay in
gratification may last from 10-15 years after the initial impulse due to social-moral-
religious standards where sexual intercourse is only acceptable in marriages. From the
perspective of the ID, Ego, Superego theory, a person may see that these ID impulses are
in conflict with the moral standards held up by the superego, therefore creating a struggle
between temptation and conscience.
The Ego then attempts to settle the problem either by denying the existence of the
ID impulses (repression or denial) or deceiving the superego (intellectualization,
rationalization, asceticism, or regression).
 At this stage, the Oedipus Complex is reopened; but since the person had already
underwent the latency period, where he or she learned more about what is socially
acceptable in the community, the individual simply looks for a person similar to their
opposite-sex parent. Oftentimes, these first love interests are mature men and women that
that have a mother-like or father-like feeling about them such as teachers, but the
adolescent eventually realizes that even this new love interest is not acceptable in the
community and proceeds to yet look for another interest that is much closer to his or her
age. It is important to note that even with this compromise in age, a person is still likely
to choose a love interest that resembles his or her parent’s traits. In this way, the Oedipal
wish is somewhat fulfilled, therefore closing the situation.
V. The Mechanisms of Defense

In the discussion of the genital stage, it was mentioned that the Ego makes use of certain
defense mechanisms in order to cope with a situation. Denial, reaction formation, and
projection are said to be primitive ways in coping with frustrations, while higher levels of
responses are rationalization, undoing, sublimation, displacement, identification, and
intellectualization. Not all defense mechanisms exist in a person, the latter merely selects
which ones to use. These are then fixated in the ego for future use in similar situations. While
these methods of coping do resolve some conflict in the inner self, most have negative
consequences, which may cause more harm than good. This is because defense mechanisms
tend to inhibit personal growth, and interpersonal relationships by not allowing the individual
to identify and accept their impulses.

A. Rationalization
Rationalization is the most common form of defense mechanism. It happens when a
person denies the fact that they want something even if they do, therefore deceiving
themselves that such ID impulse exists. The entire concept of using this method is to
make it easier for a person to give up on unattainable goals by providing as much reason
as they need to not desire such a goal.
B. Repression
Repression is an unconscious process of preventing past traumatic experiences or
socially unacceptable desires from entering the consciousness of a person. However,
these experiences and impulses are not permanently forgotten, but rather appear as
symbols in dreams.
C. Displacement
Displacement occurs when a person is redirecting his or her feelings for a less
acceptable object or activity to a more acceptable one. Take for example Freud’s
illustration of how a male with the urge to masturbate, in his period of time, would
simply wash his hands in order to release some of the tension. Muus also made an
example of how a girl’s fear of snakes may actually indicate her unconscious fear of the
male sex organ. As seen in these two examples, displacement is the defense mechanism
typically used when the original feeling is seen as inappropriate and may cause a feeling
of guilt or anxiety in a person.
D. Identification
Identification pertains to the process of embodying the characteristics of a person that
one may look up to such as parents, artists, athletes, and heroes. This is important
especially in children undergoing the latency period since they are still developing their
superego. A primitive form of this mechanism is when people believed that they “become
what they eat”, just as a hunter may eat the heart of a lion in an attempt to be as brave as
the creature.
E. Intellectualization
Intellectualization is the ability to separate mental activities that are usually related to
one another. For example, a man may have intercourse with a prostitute and while his
sexual impulse may be satisfied for the time being, a deep affection for the prostitute does
not necessarily occur and may be reserved for another woman in the future.
F. Asceticism
Asceticism is characterized as a fear of sexuality. The person may close his or
herself off from any relationship based on strong emotions in order to maintain both
physical and emotional independency. This contrasts with the idea of promiscuity where a
person may choose to have plenty of sexual partners in order to satisfy their sex drive, but
at the same time not committing any emotional investment to any of the partner in order
to maintain independence.
G. Reaction Formation
When a person realizes that he or she has an unacceptable impulse, the person may
choose to express the exact opposite in order to avoid the feeling of guilt and anxiety.
One example of this phenomena is the feelings of an unmarried teenage mom towards her
child. Since hostility is not a readily accepted feeling a mother should have for the child,
the teenage mom may instead spoil the child with too much kindness and overprotection.
By denying her unconscious dislike for the child’s existence, she is giving herself
comfort by denying that she has those feelings towards the child and instead proceeds to
prove that there is no such feeling by showering the child with whatever he or she wants.
One way to identify whether such feelings are real or a mere byproduct of the reaction
formation is to see whether the feelings are consistent regardless of the current situation.
H. Introjection
Somewhat like identification, introjection has a more limited scope than the prior. For
most people, introjection is experienced when a person internalizes the mores of the
community. Some people tend to imitate a certain characteristic of a person or
organization they dislike just like the surviving inmates of Gestapo that behaved
according to the values of the prison even later in life.
I. Projection
 Projection is the opposite of introjection where a person assigns his or her own
impulse to someone else. For example, a boy may find it unacceptable to dislike a group
of people, so instead of saying that he does not mingle with a certain group because he
dislikes them, he says that it is the group who dislikes him, therefore playing the role of
the victim with no fault.
J. Undoing
The mechanism of undoing stems from the punishment system a person may have
experienced during childhood. It may be that punishment is a concept instilled into the
person’s mind as a way of making up for his or her mistakes. Undoing pertains to the
process where a person tries to correct his or her mistakes by either inflicting physical
punishment towards one’s self, apologizing, or trying to undo their misdoings.
K. Sublimation

Sublimation is thought to be the most constructive way to deal with frustrations. In

fact, the goal of psychoanalytic treatment is to accept an impulse and help the patient to
redirect that energy to something productive and socially accepted. For example, many
believe that artists who paint nude figures are simply sublimating their libidinal impulse
into something that can be accepted in the community.

VI. Educational Implications

According to Freud, the best way to help adolescents cope with frustrations is to provide a
loving and supportive environment where the individual can feel safe and wanted. It is also important
that more people understand that misbehavior is not simply done, but rather it is an indication of an
underlying conflict that can be unconscious to the person himself. The individual has the right to
know and understand his or her unconscious desires but it is also that person’s responsibility to come
into terms with the said problem. By creating activities such as retreats or recollections where a group
of adolescents are able to safely express their fears, feelings, and experiences to same age peers,
teachers can help them realize that they all carry something inside them and that it is all normal to
have these inner conflicts.