What does Jerry Adler, author of the Newsweek article on Freud, say about psychoanalysis and its resurgence into the 21st Century? Discuss the theory, what you agree or disagree with, what about this theory is useful, and what are the advantages and disadvantages?
You must create your own discussion as well as one other comment on another's remarks.
164 comments:
test harold:
Tim: test
Jerry Adler says that psychoanalysis has been used but altered a bit. Instead of people using just the talking they will use drug therapy, and/or the psychoanalysis and sometimes people even include the hypnosis that Freud had dumped. It has been shown that some people react better with both the drugs and the talking. Some people like the idea of hypnosis because they think that they are better off and there are some people who it doesn't work at all for any of them.
Psychoanalysis was one of the many theories of Freud.
It stated that by observing a patients symptoms the therapist can find the cause to the problem.
I would love to believe in this, but unfortunately I do not. I've tried talking about some issues that are going on in my life. But not me or any other person has ever been able to discover the reason behind these.
It is true that I have been able to find the reason for some of them, however, I don't think it works all the time.
It is possible that if I were to see a professional, that they would be able to do a better job than me or any other person. Except I believe that no one knows someone better than that person.
The one problem I could see with it is if a person wasn't comfortable with the particular psychologist, they would want to share their feeling with them.
LYDIA MCMILLAN:
Adler talks about how phsychoanalysis has changed from the beginning to now. It used to be seen as a status symbol and a mark of sophistication, now all we Americans are concerned about are how we are viewed by other people. Adler says that that role of sophistication is now filled by cosmetic surgery. Not totally true but the basis behind it is. We want to look like the perfect people and tend to keep everything held up inside. We don't have the time in our busy schedule to talk out our feeling, this leads us to the therapy drugs. It is seen as a quick and easy fix for some, and doesn't work for everyone. I disagree with just drug therapy, it's just another possible addiction when if you take the time to talk it out you could find the deeper problem. You are asked to confront the painful parts of your life and even saying it outloud is a step forward. I think the drugs need to be used amid the therapy to get the desired results.
I think the only useful parts of Freuds theory is that we humans are always in conflict, and that conflict is hidden from repressed instincts and wishes. I also think that just by talking you can find problems, but they don't go to the extremes that Freud had set, for example penis envy. The disadvantage to the theory is you have to find someone you are comfortable talking to, and you have to be at a point in your life when you are willing to share.
MORGAN RENO:
Jerry Adler states that psychoanalysis is still being used, but has been added to. Today psychoanalysis has gone hand in hand with prescribing drugs. People are now going to talk therapy along with taking drugs to treat their problems. Although for some conditions, soley analysis is what is most often used. While psychoanalsis used to be a status symbol, today its place has been taken by cosmetic surgery. It is still a treasured and admired luxury, but only people with the time and money to spare can enjoy it.
Freud's theory states that one's childhood experiences are what determine one's behavior. He states that diagnosable diseases can be cured by recollection and reflection alone. He also says that unconcious memories escape through dreams, mistakes in speech and mental illnesses. Also, Freud says that human life is "essentially conflicted" and that the conflicts are hidden because of the repressed wishes and instincts.
Parts of his theory that have now been shown to be wrong is the boundlessness of the Oedipus complex, penis envy, and infantile sexuality.
I agree with the fact that all our lives are conflicted, and I believe that some of our unconcious comes out through our dreams. I also think that a lot of who we are as teens and adults come from the experiences and conflicts that we dealt with as a child.
I disagree 100% with peins envy and the idea that women are simply incomplete men. I also disagree that all diagnosible diseases can be fixed by mearly talking about it. Some problems need more than that.
I think that a part of this theory that is useful is knowing that reasons for some of our behaviors may be in your unconcious; all you have to do is talk about it and find the conflict. I think that an advantage of this theory is that trying to solve these problems by recollecting can really help some people understand their attitudes, beliefs and behaviors, but i don't believe that it necessarily works for all people.
A disadvantage to this theory is that some people are more open to sharing their deepest thoughts while others are not. This would mean that people who are more shy would have a much harder time receiving help than those who are comfortable revealing feelings.
MARIAH MELIN:
Jerry Alder, author of newsweek article on Frued,writes that psychoanalysis is still being used today, it just has been changed through the years. For example Freud insisted on using cocaine for treatment where as today a common drug used is prozac. Psychoanalysis used to be the cosmetic surgery of today, it was those who wanted the status.
Freud's theory is that the first five years are critical and by the end we have become what we are going to be, it determines our opinion on things later in life. Freud believed that not by prayer, sacrifice or exorcism, drugs surgery or change of diet could you treat actual diagnosable diseases and that by talk therapy alone this can be cured.This theory is useful because it helps explain repression, and some things you do may be because of your unconsiuos state of mind.
I agree with this that by finding the reason behind the disease through talk as stated by Freud can cure certain diseases like smoking addictions, alcoholism, and drug use.I also agree that people are born with animal instincts,to need food, warmth, shelter and plessure that they need to satisfy these.
I strongly disagree with Freud's statement of a women being incomplete. It upsets me to think that Freud would go against God's creation of man and women.
I also feel that the oedipus complex over emphisizes the role of sexuality.
A Disadvantage to this is that medication doesn't cure the problem it just masks the symptoms and helps you to repress things easier. Without a high comfort level with a therapist and a therapist that is good at what they do, will any person see a significant change for the good?
An advantage is that it gives us an inside on how to treat disease. It can also help people better understand why you do the things you do and why we respond the way we do to certain events.
In response to Morgan Reno and Mariah Melin.
I don't 100% disagree with the penis envy theory, I believe that a woman is a woman and not an incomplete man. However, I do believe there is some truth in this and that women do tend to envy men because they do have a little more freedom in responding to things. Such as being a very argumentative person, if you were a male it wouldn't matter much, but if you were a female, there would be a lot of controversy behind your behavior. So I think that women are a bit jealous in that respect.
I would have to disagree with the first 5 years being the most critical. I believe that it can cause issues later, but I've had personal experiences that have happened to me after those "critical years" and had lots of problems. It changed the way in which I responded to different problems and also the way I viewed things. So I believe that the first 5 years are somewhat critical and can most definitely shape the way we respond to different things. However, if something were to happen that was traumatic for the person, I believe that it could change the person, in a good or bad way.
LYDIA MCMILLAN:
OH-- IF FORGOT A PART!!!!
Frued's psychoanalyst theory is saying that by studying people, an analyst can find the answer to the problem(s) a person may be expieriencing. +my other blog
LYDIA MCMILLAN:
IN RESPONCE TO MARIAH MELIN'S &FAITH'S COMMENTS:
Mariah:
I totally agree with your comment about the penis envy theory. Why would anyone go against God's creation. It makes us women sound incappable of dealing with conflict, and that is shown to be false. The women before may have been less likely to get involved in conflict and that may be a reason he came up with that theory but that has surely changed.
Faith:
Ok, in responce to your comment about the first five years of his life not being the most important i think that to be intirely false. That is when the child learns to walk, talk, eat by his/her self, read, and is socializing more. If any of these things are taken too lighty the child could have some major disabilities, not to mention they will be starting school and social skills that aren't developed enough can cause further problems. But i agree with your statement that the years after 5 are just as crucial.
In Jerry Alder's article on Freud, he talks about psychoanalysis and how it has changed and is used in a whole different light now a days. Rather than just doing basic talking sessions, people have mixed that with a combination of things, such as drug therapy. Some people may go to a therapist or psychologist once a week or once a month, but use medication daily to treat their problems. This is because the typical American never has time to talk out all their problems. Alder also speaks about how the act of cosmetic surgery is the new status symbol whereas psychoanalysis used to be. People who have issues with what they look like would rather change themselves, than their thoughts towards the way they look.
Freud's theory of psychoanalysis is based upon the idea that how we behave is greatly influenced by thoughts and feelings buried deep within us. These could be things that happened to us when we were very young; things we wouldn't have clear memories on, or remember. Freud believed that people are unaware of these feelings deep inside us, and that it can cause a lot of inner conflict. He believes that by studying the symptoms and behaviors of a person, an analyst can discover the answers to problems a person may be having.
I strongly believe that by talking about a problem long enough, it can benefit you. I know by personal experience that if I'm bottling something up inside, it eats at me. But if I tell just one person about my problem and talk about it, it's like everything comes together and starts to make sense. By talking about my problems, I start to realize how the problem even started. I do disagree though that problems diagnosed can be cured through talking. I also disagree with penis envy theory... I think that idea is pretty interesting, but completely whacko and sexist. I don't think women are incomplete men. God created us to complement each other, as we do; Not to have one over-power the other.
I think the usefulness of Freud's theory is the emphasize of sitting down and listening to what patients have to say. This has gotten us far since doctor's may not be able to find the source of the problem if they didn't listen to what the patient had to say. How could a doctor know if a patient had a broken leg if they didn't let the them say what happened or where the pain is coming from?
The biggest advantage to psychoanalysis, I believe, is again the fact that people can connect and share their issues, but this ties directly to the disadvantage; some people just aren't open to sharing their problems with people they don't feel a close relationship with. I mean, some people even hide their biggest problems from their spouse-- how could they tell a complete stranger?
In response to Jade Lendacky and Lydia McMillan's comments:
Jade:
I completely 100% agree with your idea of talking about problems. Because I too have had an experience with bottling up my feelings and then when I talked about them, I felt better. The only disadvantage to this is then the other person feels really pressured, I know this from experience.
Lydia:
I definitely agree that learning everything that you do in your first 5 years is important. What I was also saying though was if something traumatic were to happen to you after those "critical years" then it could, and probably would change your personality. For example, if a person were to be abused as an eight year old, or even a teenager, it would defintely change their personality. So if they were a trusting person, all of a sudden they probably wouldn't be so trusting anymore.
P.S. Ms. Brandt if you need a break from reading all of these responses go to the website: http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/ , it will make you laugh, I'm positive it will!
Jerry Adler said that psycho analysis is still used today, just not in the traditional way. We often use a mixed approach to psychology in today's world, using all the different approaches plus drug therapy to solve a patient's problems. The article mentioned that plastic surgery has replaced it as a status symbol, but it still lives on today.
Freud's theories contain some things that I believe to be true, and other things that are partly true or completely false.
I believe that the penis envy theory is true to an extent, but is only true because of social expectations. Women are not incomplete men, they are completely different. Women may be envious of men's freedom to express themselves, though. Women are not socially allowed to be as loud or outspoken as men in many cases and would be frowned upon for such behavior, so this may bring about some envy.
Also, Freud is correct to say that the first five years of life are very important in shaping us for the rest of our lives. We learn most of our basic functions and emotions at this time; how we express these emotions is also learned then. If a person is not taught to control their desires (Id) and are spoiled by their parents at an early age, they will expect things to be handed to them when they are older, which could lead to problems as serious as stealing.
I also like the Id/Ego/Superego part of Freud's theories. It explains a lot about inner conflict and why we want things and why we are able to hold our desires back.
The Oedipus Complex, however, I cannot really believe. I have heard of young kids wanting to marry their parents, but I don't think it has anything to do with sexual desire. I think it has more to do with the fact that young children do not fully understand love and sex, and misinterpret how it works. They want to marry their parents because they love them in a non-sexual way, which is the only kind of love they understand at that age.
Ryan McEachern:
In the article Freud is Not Dead, Jerry Adler talks about how psychoanalysis is used in modern times. Once just a theory by Freud, psychoanalysis has now become a very controversial topic. Many people believe that talking about your feelings will do nothing. Modern medicine has given patients an alternate route to fixing their problems. In the time of Freud, psychoanalysis was one of the only forms of treatment available, therefore more people used it.
Psychoanalysis used to be viewed as a luxury and now people view the therapy as an embarrassment. People are denying that they have problems which in turn cause more problems. When this happens, drugs in their mind are the only way to escape their problems. This leads to what is now a drug addicted America. To fix this problem we need to use psychoanalysis. People need to stop being scared of sharing their feelings and seek help. Psychoanalysis can help everyone and is a much healthier treatment than drug therapy.
In the early nineteen hundreds Sigmund Freud came up with the theory of psychoanalysis. This theory states that our behavior is based upon our unconscious. Freud believed that our life was shaped in our childhood. During this time we learned how to live our life and also encountered feelings that we repressed into our unconscious. I completely agree with theory. At our age we believe we are making our own decisions, but these decisions are based upon how we were raised. We may not realize it, but our unconscious is telling us what to do.
Although our unconscious can help us to make good decisions, it can also store past problems. Many people encounter mental problems later in life and cannot figure out what is wrong with them. Their problems are emerging from past experiences that have been put away. To get rid of their problems, talk is what is needed, not drugs.
Even though Freud was a brilliant man he also had some theories that were more controversial than others. One theory is that young children have a sexual fantasy life. Many people reject this theory because it is disgusting. Nobody wants to believe that their innocent child wants to have sex. The truth is many children do probably have sexual fantasies but do not realize what they are thinking about. If children do not have sexual feelings, why do adolescents have these feelings? Do sexual fantasies just pop into your body one day and stay there. The feelings are there from birth, but are not understood until adolescence. They remain in our unconscious until they can be understood.
Another controversial topic was the penis-envy theory. This theory states that women are just incomplete men and therefore are jealous of the power they do not have. I disagree with theory because women are not incomplete men, they are just other people. Although some women are jealous of the power they deserve to be. We live in a sexist society and it can be difficult for women to achieve what men have. Although Freud was just trying to make sense of the world, he lived in a society where women had no power. Therefore his theory was based on what he viewed and turned out to be completely wrong.
As a whole, psychoanalysis is a great theory. Without it there would be many unsolved mysteries. If Freud was never born, we may never have discovered the unconscious and what effect it has upon our lives. Psychoanalysis has given our society a great alternative to drugs. Talking is much healthier for our bodies than taking drugs everyday. Although psychoanalysis has advanced our world it still isn’t perfect. Some people do not feel comfortable talking about their life. If people do not share their memories, then psychoanalysis cannot work.
Overall Sigmund Freud made some great discoveries. Some of his theories we still use today. Many may ridicule him for his more controversial work, but he still created a profession that helps people. Without Freud our world may have been a much different place.
MARY TIERNEY:
Jerry Adler discusses how psychoanalysis is still used today, but has changed a bit over the years. While it used to be used as somewhat of a status symbol, its place has been taken by cosmetic surgery. Psychoanalysis is still used today, but is now often used with drug therapy. Given the busy schedules of your average American today, drug therapy is often used simply because of the lack of time of people. Also, it is considered a "shame" for people to talk about their feelings with professionals. However, sometimes, psychoanalysis is used alone. This technique is possible, but is often only enjoyed by those with plenty of time and money.
There are many different components to Freud's theory. First being that a person's behavior is a result of their childhood experiences. He believed that medical diseases could be cured not only by medical menas, but solely by reccolection and reflection. Freud stated that human life is "essentially conflicted" and that the conflicts do not show because of instincts and repressed wants. Because of this, memories come out in dreams, mistakes in speech,and mental illness.
I completely disagree with Freud's penis envy theory and that women are just men incomplete. I think that the assumptions he made had no base behind them, and that they are simply his sexist beliefs. I also disagree with the theory that every disease can be cured simply by talking about it. What about cancer? AIDS? Malaria? These are all common deadly diseases that im sure plenty of people have had mental therapy with. I honestly dont believe that many viruses can be solved simply by talking about it.
I do agree, however, with the theory that states that we as people are constantly in conflict. I agree with the belief that thoughts come across in dreams, speach impediments, and mental illness, which explains the dreams that millions of people have every time they sleep.
The parts of Freuds theory that i find to be useful are (1) the fact that subcontious thoughts come across in dreams; this helps people understand their dreams bettter. Also i think that (2) the fact that talking about feelings can help heal diseases. Talking about feelings and thoughts can often help one understand one's self better. Those are advantages to Freuds theory.
A disadvantage to his theory is that it works differently with different types of people. While it may work great for those who feel they can share their feelings openly, for those who are more introverted, this technique may be very difficult.
TIM GROVER:
In the article "Freud is not Dead", Jerry Adler talks about psychoanalysis and its adaptation and influence on the modern day psychiatric field. Back in Freud's time, psychoanalysis was considered an extravagance for the most affluent people. It is comparable to plastic surgery today; a luxury for only the rich and famous. Today, people feel that psychoanalytical treatment is something to be ashamed of or embarrassed about. They don't feel the need to talk things. I think that people want to hear: this is what's wrong with you, and this is how we're going to fix it. But in reality, the problem may very well be inside the person, and only through introspection can that problem come to the surface.
I think that in America today, people are looking for a quick and easy fix. If a problem arises, people want a solution quickly, and they want to do as little work as necessary to solve it. They would rather pop a pill than try to get to the root of the problem. Nowadays, it seems like instead of finding out what the true problem is, a patient is labeled with a disorder and given a prescription. If a child has a lot of energy, label him with ADHD, load him up with pills and the problem is solved, right? Well, perhaps the child is looking for attention, or maybe he just needs to get rid of that energy in a healthy way. People have just gotten lazy. They don't want to try psychoanalysis or any other treatment like it because that takes time and effort. Although psychoanalysis may not be a quick and easy fix, it could be the right fix.
That is why I respect Freud's theory. I may not agree with every aspect of it, but I respect the fact that it has given us a new way of looking at problems. Freud has given us the idea of the unconscious, which I feel is a huge asset to modern day psychology. Freud's theory of psychoanalysis stated that people are affected by their unconscious. His theory says that the behaviors of people in adulthood, are influenced by the experiences of childhood that are tucked away in the unconscious. Freud thought that the first five years of life were the most critical, and they shaped a person's behaviors all throughout the rest of their life. I agree with this theory, but I think it goes further than the first five years, all through adolescence. If you think about your first five years, that is when you are learning everything for the first time. You are learning what is right and wrong, how to behave, and so many other things. How we were raised clearly affects how we view things later in life. But if you go further than the first five years, that is when experiences come into play. You begin learning things socially, and you begin to learn about yourself and your personality. You are not only influenced by your parents and family, but you are learning views from other people as well. All of these factors affect a person and their views later in life.
I agree with some other aspects of Freud's theory as well, namely repression and the concept of the Id, ego, and superego. I feel that repression should not be ignored, if we hide bad memories away in our unconscious they can still affect us and cause major conflict for us. With the systems of personality [Id, ego, superego] I can believe that these are present in us, and that they keep each other in check.
There are other parts of Freud's theory that I do not agree with. For example, the penis envy theory. I do not feel that women are incomplete men, but I think that you have to look back at Freud's time. This was before the whole women's rights movement, when women were treated differently. Back then, men were considered superior, and I'm sure women did envy the power and free will of men. The penis envy theory may have been relevant in Freud's time, but I think it is irrelevant today. Now, we are pushing for equality among men and women, and to call a women an incomplete man is blasphemy. Men and women are vastly different, but one does not overpower the other.
Overall, I think Freud's theory is useful because it is still being used (at least in part) today. The concept of psychoanalysis is still there. It may be accompanied by drug therapy, but at least it is not getting ignored. Doctors are not only treating the body, but the mind as well. Freud's theory has caused a new way of thinking. But, everyone is different, and some people are turned off by opening up and sharing their feelings. Not everyone wants to tell their deepest, darkest secrets to a stranger. But, for some, talking about problems clears things up and a solution can be created individually. You can take Freud's theory or you can leave it, it can help you or it can be of no use to you. Each person has to make their own assumptions about Freud's theory, and whether or not the believe psychoanalysis can help them.
AMBER STEINERT~
In the article by Jerry Adler, he says that psychoanalysis is still being used, though it's not exactly the same as in Freud's time. The "core idea" in which Freud used still affects society today. He was wrong on so many things but his wrong is used to look at things on a whole new level and with a whole new meaning.
Back in the days of Freud, he had a little stage of drug therapy. However the drug was cocaine, not really a good sign. Today, the drugs are different and sometimes use it with therapy. Some patient's believe that taking drugs and going to therapy helps more than just the therapy. According to the NEWSWEEK Poll, almso 20% of American adults have seen a therapist, but only 4% are seeing a therapist at the moment, while 20% have taken medication for their anxiety or depression. This shows that people think their problems can just be blow away by popping some pills. Which in some case, i do believe that is true because there are people out there who are escaping their problems with "other" drugs like cocaine. I do know someone who does this (but not very often, thank goodness) and I believe they have a minor case of depression and life can get too much them so they want to take that pressure off by being high. The medication drugs don't work the same way, but it does give the people a sense of relief and belief that they will be free from their troubles.
The world would be more wonderful if everyone could go see a therapist once and all their problems would be gone. Unfortunately, life doesn't work that way.
Though going to a therapist may be the answer for some people, I believe not everyone can open up to someone they don't know and show their TRUE feelings. If this is true, Freud's free association technique can be used. I believe that this process really does work. People may not be conscious of what they are saying but with free assocation, you can associate the problems even though they aren't directly in front of your face.
I completely agree with Freud's "core idea" about how instincts are powerful and their repression creats unconscious conflict. There is a problem with that though, it can never really be cured because it can't be seen. I also agree with it being built into our human condition, being born with an unconscious part in our minds. We don't really know for sure if the unconscious is real or not, and never will because it can't be seen. But I do believe there are reasons behind some of my actions that are unknown to me.
Though, I do believe that most problems don't need a therapist to be solved. All that has to be done is look deep in yourself and if you are honest with yourself, then you will find the answer. Many people have problems with this because they don't really want to admit that there is a problem, which is exactly why we have therapists and medications: to solve our problems for us.
AMBER STEINERT~
PLUS BLOG BEFORE
Psychoanalysis is the idea that by observing a patient's symptoms, the therapist can discover their cause.
A variety of psychologists have worked off this, changing into something better. From Birth Trauma (theory that being born was ataully the root of neurotic anxiety) to Psychoanalytic Femism, (theory that is combined with Freud's that explained identity as a construct of gender awareness) they all branch off from Freud's original ideas. Though they may not be directly related, each new theory can be back-tracked to Freud's psychoanalysis idea.
AMBER STEINERT~
IN RESPONSE TO...
RYAN:
I agree with you completely on therapy as an embarassment. People are ashamed to have problems,which shouldn't be the case if they want their problems to be fixed.
I agree with the unconscious being developed in childhood and that problems rise when they become adults. Though I don't believe this is ALL unconscious. I think adults are somewhat aware of their problems and where they originated from. People are just so embarrassed with having problems, they hide it away from everyone else. But this is exactly how it gets into the unconscious. So I do partly agree, I just believe if people were more open about their problems, and people didn't look at them like they were some crazy lunatic if they went to therapy, then there wouldn't be as many issues.
MARY:
I agree with you all the way with th penis envy theory. If women were just incomplete men then wouldn't we look pretty much the same as them except without a penis?
I also agree, for the most part, with the theory about a disease being cured just by talking about. Yes, AIDS and many other diseases can't be cured, and are deadly, but i believe if you have faith, that you can survive just a little bit longer. I know it won't cure it, but if you believe that it will, just that faith alone will help you survive that much longer.
Andrew Motley:
When Jerry Adler talks about psychoanaysis, he says, "Not many patients still seek a cure on a psychoanalyst's couch four days a week, but the vast proliferation of talk therapies...testify to the enduring power of his [Freud's] idea." So obviously psychoanalysis is still being used, just not at the rates that it once was. This could be because one treatment usually costs more than $2,000. Which is tremendously expensive for middle class patients.
Adler introduces psychoanalysis as an invention that Freud came up with due to "recollection and reflection in the presence of a sympathetic professional". I believe that what he's trying to get at is that our culture, country, and world would not be as advanced today if it weren't for Freud's theories. That might not make any sense what so ever, but it seems to me like his thoughts live on. They are becoming ever so slightly looked more upon when psychiatrists treat patients. Psychoanalysis is now being used in drug therapy, as you can see from watching a number of (dumb) shows such as 'Celebrity Rehab'. So in contrast to the resurgence of psychoanalysis into the 21st Century, it is slowly coming back people.
Refering to a fragment of Freud's theory that states that a person's behavior is a result of their childhood experiences: He's right. Adults usually act in a way that is similar to how they acted or were treated as a child. Freud says that memories come out in dreams, mistakes in speech, and mental illness. It makes perfect sense! If you hated your childhood, wouldn't you try everything to make sure you forgot about it? Or if you enjoyed your young years, wouldn't you attribute your success in life to the way you were brought up as a kid? In case you couldn't tell, I agree with this portion of his theory.
What i don't agree with is when Freud's theory hints that women are incomplete men and envy any man his penis. We now know since times have changed that women do not feel this way. They shouldn't. Women and men are equals in my eyes and therefore should not be jealous of the other's power.
Another false theory of Freud's is that talking can heal any disease. Like Mary stated, AIDS, cancer, malaria, along with Tuberculosis and Hepatitus B, are diseases that cannot be cured medically. So what makes you think that talking about them will cure anything? It's not comprehendable for a human to just get rid of AIDS by sharing stories and talking with people about their problems. It just isn't a technique that works...yet.
One useful part of Freud's theory includes the dreaming scenerio. I believe that dreaming is indeed a passage to the unconsious. It opens doors to sights, sounds, and solutions that we've had bundled up inside our minds for however long it might be.
An advantage to this is that when the unconsious shows itself in our dreams, it helps us to better understand how to interpret those dreams. We can learn how to pull certain details out of our dreams that have a meaning. That's pretty cool.
A disadvantage to his theory is that it does not equally apply to each and every being on earth. Men and women, adults and children, teachers and students, we all view everything differently. What's appalling to one might seem complementary to another. Therefore, nothing that is ever said to be true for all people's behavior can be trusted completely. My motto to live by is that there is always room for improvement. How this applies to the question?... I'm not quite sure.
Julia Gilbert:
Psychoanalisis is one of Freud’s main theories. This theory is that therapists can find the cause of a problem just by observing patients and them talking out their problems. In other words the patient has a feeling “hidden” inside their uncouncious which influences their behaviors. Through psychoanalysis, these feelings are brought forward and analyzed by an analyst who can then discover answers to the problems with the person’s life.
I partly agree with this theory. I do believe that it is possible to talk out your problems. For example, when I talk about my problems with someone, I seem to remember the exact details and the solution sometimes just sort of comes to me. The puzzle pieces just sort of fit together and the problem/conflict with my life now makes sense.
I disagree, however, with the penis envy theory. I think that it is sexist to say that all women are incomplete men. I think that God created both men and women equal, and one sex does not over power another sex.
This theory is useful because of the fact that it is still partially being used today. His concept of psychoanlysis is still there. Although accompanied by other types of therapy, it is still being used. It can help a person understand his or her dreams in greater detail therefore explaining his or her life in detail, and it can also be used to help cure disease.
A disadvantage is that people are different and not all people will comfortably share their deepest thoughts with the analyst. People who are shyer will have a much tougher time getting help from an analyst because they will not share their entire unconscious with him or her.
Julia Gilbert
In Response to:
Mary:
I agree with your penis envy and also the disease part of your theory. For example, you made a great point when you talked of diseases involving viruses. They cannot be treated by just talking them out and this does in fact disprove Freud’s theory that all diseases can be cured through psychoanalysis. Also, when you talked about penis envy and how you disagree with it. I too believe that it is sexist and has no base behind it.
Motley:
I also agree with your discussion on how trued said that memories from childhood come out our in dreams, mistakes in speech, and also in mental illness. Like you said, if a person disliked their childhood, wouldn’t they do absolutely anything to forget about it? That is so true, and this is what causes the mental illnesses. I believe that what happens in a person’s childhood effects the rest of their live either positively or negatively depending on their childhood experiences.
Colten Zacharias:
In the article "Freud is Not Dead" by Jerry Adler, the author discusses a wide variety of psychological topics, all pertaining to Freud and his theory of psychoanalysis. Today, Freud's work is considered heavily controversial and most of his ideas are almost taboo to talk about, unless you wish to get into a heated argument with someone else. For instance, penis envy was a notion proliferated by Sigmund Freud and was widely disputed and argued over whether or not there is any truth to it.
Other reasons that psychoanalysis has become quite unpopular in today's society include the lack of time and the medical aspect. Our society is one of constant motion and activity and people do not want to waste time when there is a quick fix possible. Who in their right mind would sit down for four hours a week, for possibly four whole years, when they could simply pop a few Prozac and be done with it?
Psychoanalysis has been replaced with cosmetic surgery as the new "hip" thing in medicine because people would rather change their exterior image then change what is really wrong within them. Also, people do not want to waste time and money with a psychoanalyst when the effects of such a treatment are not clearly apparent.
Psychoanalysis is an approach and theory concerning psychology that was developed in the early 1900s by Sigmund Freud. It is based on the belief that much of what we do , how we act and react in certain situations, is based upon past experiences in similar situations. This theory also implies that the collection of these memories, as well as our psychological motivators, are contained in what is known as the unconscious. Psychoanalysts believe that we do not consciously make most of our decisions, but, rather, we are heavily influenced by our subconscious feelings and thoughts.
There are several different parts that have originated from the theory of psychoanalysis. There are several other parts to psychoanalysis, including the aforementioned penis envy and the Oedipus complex and the existence of a "sex life" in the minds of young children.
Freud believed that our personalities and how we react to given situations is determined at a very young age. He believed that our childhood shapes us and turns us into the people we will be for the remainder of our natural lives. He also believed that sexual thoughts or fantasies are present in babies at birth. This is an extremely controversial topic because parents do not want to believe that their infant offspring may have sexual fantasies. Personally, I believe that statistics have proven that childhood is one of the most crucial aspects in forming a person's personality and Freud's conclusions opened up a whole new way of thinking and treatment methods pertaining to a person's childhood.
The Oedipus complex is another theory made popular by Freud. Well, not exactly popular. It's extremely controversial because it states that a young child will fall in love with the parent of the opposite sex and develop jealousy toward the other parent. This is another theory that people don't want to talk about and I do not believe it is overly significant or useful.
In its entirety, psychoanalysis is an innovative theory with several practical uses. Psychoanalysis is a great and much healthier alternative to drugs and talking out deep seeded issues also tends to lighten the soul and make one feel better about himself. However, psychoanalysis can be easily sabotaged if people object to sharing their deepest feelings. Psychoanalysis has absolutely no shot at working if people are not willing to delve into the deepest recesses of their subconscious.
In summary, while Freud's work is widely disputed and his validity is questioned every day, no one can argue the fact that this man's conclusions inspired a great deal of psychological hype and discussion that is still prevalent in our society today. His theories inspired new ways of thinking and, as Adler made quite clear, Sigmund Freud's influence is far from dead. Say what you will about the man, he sure knew how to make people talk about psychology.
Stacey Hanson:
Jerry Alder stated throughout his article that psychoanalysis is still being used but has been twisted a little. For example, many people in this century take drugs for the problems they are having. According to a NEWSWEEK poll, 20% of American adults say that they have had some sort of counseling/therapy, and only 4% are continuing that counseling/therapy. Which to me seems strange, because isn't therapy supposed to help people? If it really did, wouldn't the person stay in it? This confuses me some.
Today, a psychiatrist can prescribe drugs that are supposed to help with the problem(s), but Adler said that tinkering with the brain, can cause problems with Freuds psychoanalysis. Another major decline in Freuds theory is the difficulty from insurance companies. So all in all to me, it seemed like Adler believes that Freuds exact theory is slowly failing.
I honestly do not really believe in anyone analyzing me, especially someone who barely knows me. I have absolutely no problem with anyone going to discuss things with a therapist, but once they try to tell you the "root" of your problem I just get frustrated. Because no one knows you better than yourself. However, I do understand that is the therapists job, to find out the root of the problem(s). It just is irrating when they come off like they no you better than yourself. At least that is what I have heard from some friends who attended therapy.
Sure, professionals do know what they are doing. They went to school for years to get where they are today. I just believe that the job they went for can cause arguements between everyone.
That brings up the topic that Freud came up with, which is humans are always in conflict. This, to me is 99% true. Basically, everywhere you look you can find an arguement of some sort. It doesn't neccesarily have to be a huge blow out arguement it can just be a small one that causes tension between two or more people.
An advantage to Freuds theory is that by talking you can figure out problems and somewhat solve them, at least get them out into the open where something can be done about them.
A disadvantage to the theory is that not everyone is willing to actually talk about things. For example, men are "known" for not talking about their feelings. Another disadvantage is that today the medication is given out to people to "help" with their problem(s), but really its just repressing it back, and will more than likely come back to haunt them later on in life.
Overall, I believe that Freud made quite a difference in how our world is today. Even if some of his theories were controversial, others were not and helped make huge advancements in modern day psychology .
In the article Jerry Adler talks about how Freud's theories and ideas of psychoanalysis are still used today. He tells the reader how it was not accepted very kindly by Americans initially, and that many simply looked for reasons to disagree. Then as the years progressed, those who used psychoanalysis were only using it as a way to express their social status. It being a way to show sophistication. Now, psychologists are beginning to realize just how important psychoanalysis really is. For adolescent borderline personality disorder psychoanalysis remains the #1 prescription for healing. Unfortunately, instead of just discussions and emotional therapy, Adler points out that many people today also find it easier to use drug therapy and/or hypnosis with psychoanalysis. There is no perfect way to diagnose patients, because as humans, we are all built with the same blueprints, but think, act, and react to situations quite differently, but still the nucleus of the answer seems to still be psychoanalysis.
As Americans we are worried about our image. I found it interesting how Adler noticed that now we are looking to better our image not by fixing what’s on the inside through talk and discussion (which may often lead to answers and rid us of our unconscious troubles), but rather go with the quick-fix and pop some pills to make the disturbances go away. Also, we refine our image by "going under the knife." This, for some, is an attempt at fixing the problems on the inside. That just seems to me like a childish and immature attempt at solving problems.
Psychoanalytical theory is based on the idea that we must confront our problems and resolve them through talk and discussion. Even though we may be able to get by them day by day through the drugs and repression, at some point they will catch up to us and will most likely have a built up power to control our emotions. I completely agree with this. Face it: Fix it: Move on. Instead it seems we(Americans) 'dont have the time' to face it so we Avoid it: Repress it: Have it pain us and hover over us like a rain cloud, and wait for the perfect storm. The drugs are like cheap umbrellas that momentarily keep us protected, but talk and psychoanalysis is letting all of the rain fall with the words, and escaping the cloud for good. This is a very useful part of psychoanalysis.
Disadvantages are also very prevalent. Psychoanalysis often takes a significant amount of time. As I mentioned earlier in the article, Americans take the quick-fix-for-now approach. Also, American has coined the phrase "time is money." Insurance companies, because of this, are reluctant to foot the bill for the treatment, which can cost more than $2000 a month.
The advantages for the psychoanalytical approach are clear. We can't move forward until we take care of the past. Also, for some diseases this is proven to be the most successful approach.
The disadvantages are also clear. The approach takes time and the ability to communicate with others. It costs a substantial amount of money, too.
Margaret Tierney
Adler explains that psychoanalysis is still in use today, but it has changed over time. People may not still commonly visit psychoanalysists to find a cure for their problems, but talk therapies, which are based on Freud's ideas, are still used today. When psychoanalysis is used in today's world, it is often times accompanied by drug therapy. However, for some conditions, like adolescent borderline personaliaty disorder, it is believed that psychoanalysis is still the best trreatment. One reason that the use of psychoanalysis is becoming less common is that insurance companies are reluctant to cover the price of the treatment. However, psychonalysis is still in use even though it is not as common--there are still around 40 institutes in America devoted to training analysists. Many terms Freud used in his theories are still being used, and Freud's ideas have influenced the psychology of today greatly and encouraged people to look at behavior in a new way.
Freud's theory is based on the idea that there is conflict in life, and that the conflict is hidden because it comes from repressed ideas. Freud's theory states that human behavior is based on sexual and aggressive instincts that are hidden in the unconcious, and the repression of these instincts causes internal conflict. Freud thought that when a person slips up while talking it it is always significant, and he used "free association" to try to reveal what was really troubling a person. Freud also had several controversal ideas like his "penis envy theory" and his idea that young children have sexual fantasy lives.
I agree with Freud's idea that life is full of conflict, and that those conflicts affect people and their behavior. I also think that Freud's thoery that talking can help solve a problem or help someone understand an internal conflict is correct. I think that talking to a professional could help a person, but only if they are willing to dig deep inside themselves and open themselves up to discover the heart of their problem. I also agree with Freud's ideas that some thoughts and desires are repressed and that conflict can stem from these repressed feelings.
I disagree with Freud's ideas about "penis envy" and young children having sexual fantasy lives. I feel that these ideas are wrong. Also, I don't think that every slip up a person makes while talking is necessarly representative of some internal conflict. I think that some mistakes are just mistakes and they don't have a deeper meaning. However, even though I disagree with some of Freud's theories, I think they are still important because they force you to look at behavior in a different way, which can pave the way for new ideas.
I think that Freud's idea that conflict can come from within a person, and that talking can help reveal the source of the conflict is useful.
An advantage of Freud's theory is that his ideas help explain behavior and internal conflict. Also, talking and using psychoanalysis may help people understand their problems and behavior more, and it also may give people a better understanding of themselves.
A disadvantage of this theory is that using psychoanalysis as a treatment may not work for people who are unwilling to talk openly. For many people it would probably be difficult to find someone they are willing to be 100% open with or even to be 100% honest with themselves, and this could prevent them from getting to the root of their problems.
Stephanie Thun:
Jerry Adler states that Freud’s psychoanalysis, although not as popular, is still used today. Psychoanalysis, created by Freud, is the notion that disease can be cured by talking. This process was by no means quick; it required therapy sessions at least four days a week. Although time may seem like the reason for the decline in the use of psychoanalysis, the major reason is insurance companies.
After Freud’s original notion, other factors have been added to the psychoanalysis process. Freud used drugs, specifically cocaine, and hypnosis, which he eventually stopped using, along with talking. Patients responded differently to combinations of these methods, and some patients did not respond to any.
Along with psychoanalysis, Freud also introduced the “Penis Envy” theory. This plainly stated that women were incomplete men. This theory was one that did not help Freud’s reputation, especially in the eyes of the feminists.
When it comes to psychoanalysis, I believe that it will work but only if the patient believes so. Unless drugs are used, I think the patient will only say what they intend to say if they do not believe in the process they are going through. One way I believe psychoanalysis would work consistently would be by using hypnosis. Hypnosis would eliminate the patient’s filter of what they want and don’t want to say. The flaw with hypnosis or drug use is, hypnosis, which Freud did stopped using, does not work on all patients and cocaine is illegal and can only be prescribed in rare medical occasions. This leaves the use of talking, which I believe relies on the power of suggestion and the openness of the patient.
If this process does work, it seems to be healthy and harmless. It uses everyday speech to unearth personal problems of people and attempts to correct them by the use of introspection. Because introspection is used in this process, I believe that it could be one of the most accurate since you are your best psychologist. Along with being healthy and potentially accurate, psychoanalysis requires commitment. This process does tend to take several sessions a week for many weeks in order to work correctly.
Freud’s penis envy theory is one I see from two angles. I do agree that women are typically less than men when it comes to physical aspects. Women are usually not as strong, tall, or physically capable as men are. The part where I disagree is the mental part of women is not less than men. Women and men are equally capable of mentally tackling any challenge that they are presented. No gender is mentally superior to the other, but physically men do have a one up on women.
Although I do not always agree with Freud, I believe that I can say Freud is NOT dead.
Margaret Tierney
In response to:
Mariah Melin-
I agree with what you said about Freud's "penis envy" theory. I also disagree with Freud's idea that a woman is an incomplete man. I feel that a woman is just as capable as a man. Freud makes it seem like he thinks women are inferior to men, but i do not belive that is the case, and I agree with what you had to say.
Mary Tierney-
I agree with you that internal conflict can show up in dreams, but I dissagree with what you said about thoughts and conflict coming across through speech impediments. I do not feel that speech impediments are necessarly caused by internal conflict, I think that some people just have difficulty speaking but I do not think that the difficulty is necessarily caused by conflict or repressed thoughts. Speech impediments can be corrected by speech therapy and don't require psychoanalysis and discovering the cause of internal conflict to be corrected, so i don't think that that is always what causes them.
Brett Ludwig:
In the article "Freud Is Not Dead" the author Jerry Adler discussed many psychological topics that all revolved around the Sigmund Freud and his psychological treatment psychoanalysis. As astonishing as his work may have been, people today aren't so keen on his theories. This is because different people have different opinions on whether or not his work makes any sense.
Other reasons that may have resulted in the unpopularity in Freud's theories are that they are very time consuming. Not everyone can afford to take few hours four or five days a week to sit down for theorpy for a span of years. Plus the results of going through this process with a pchoanalyst can be inconclusive. It is much more conveniant for people to take a pill of Prozac and be done with the problem. This modern medicine has replaced pschoanalysis mostly. The only people who have the money and time for it are the rich and famous.
This 1900s theory of Sigmund Freud's Psychoanalysis has contributed in other theories such as the penis envy, Oedipo complex, and the existence of a "sex life" in young children. These can be very touchy subjects however.
I would have to disagree with Freud in saying that all women are incomplete men. I know many women who are smart and head strong and for the most part know a lot more than I or other men do. I do not think that this technique is one that would be very effective because in my opinion the bases for this theory is incorrect.
I agree with that "a human life is essentially conflicted and taht the conflict is hidden from us." With this conflict trying to connect with our consciousness I think that it is very cool how it tries to do so through the unconscious part of the mind though dreaming.
The idea that children have sexual fantasies is interesting. Why? I think because it is a topic that nobody wants to talk about yet everyone is envolved in it. I believe that there is some truth in what Freud has to say yet I do not think that it goes to the extreme of what he is saying. This goes along with that I think that their may be cases of where a child may prefer the oposite sexed parent but I don't think that this is always the case.
All in all, I think that psychoanalysis is a positive way to deal with discovering and helping people with their behaviors. Though it may not work in all cases I would hope people would give it a shot instead of popping a few pills. To conclude, I think that Freud could be wrong in many areas but it is how and what he is wrong about that layed the foundation down for psychologists today.
Haley Sundstrom
In the article “Freud Is Not Dead”, Jerry Adler explains Sigmund Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis and its prevalence in today’s society. Freud believed that illnesses could be cured by drawing unconscious thoughts to the surface, but nowadays Adler thinks that Freud’s methods aren’t as commonly used. Drug therapy has become more popular, most likely because insurance companies are hesitant to pay for forms of psychoanalytic treatment. Adler also mentioned that Freud’s technique may also be on the decline because people just don’t have the time anymore to spend precious hours of their day explaining their thoughts. Therapy and counseling is still used, though, especially for conditions like adolescent personality disorders.
Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis consists of attributing a patient’s thoughts and behavior to unconscious impulses and repressed memories. He had many different beliefs, including; young children have a sexual fantasy life, women view themselves as incomplete men, and young children fall in love with their opposite-sexed parent.
I agree with the idea of psychoanalysis, because if you get a person to talk long enough, they will eventually express their true feelings and desires. Drugs may provide a quick fix for the problem, but the root of the dilemma will eventually force its way into the open if it isn’t fully taken care of.
I do not agree with Freud’s theory that children have a sexual fantasy life. Young kids shouldn’t be exposed to anything that would lead them to be thinking sexually in the first place, and, if they do have any sexual knowledge, they shouldn’t be spending their time thinking it over.
Men are always depicted as the leaders of society and, according to Freud, women are envious of men’s power. I think that even though women aren’t always treated the same as the men around them, they are never jealous, only frustrated with society.
I think it is useful to understand that everyone has unconscious thoughts and memories that they may not even know exist. These hidden feelings, when expressed, can provide reason for unexplained actions and desires.
An advantage of psychoanalysis over other methods, like drugs, is that the root of the problem can potentially be reached if the patient is willing to let their unconscious take hold. A disadvantage is that some people may not have the ability to fully express their feeling and let their guard down.
In response to:
Julia: I agree with your thoughts on Freud’s theory of penis envy. I like how you said that it is sexist to say women are incomplete men, because it is totally true. Women don’t need to make up for anything and are just as good as men in every way.
Stacy: Although I see your point, I have to say that I disagree with you when you say that therapists don’t know you and can’t analyze you to the point where they can solve your problems. I agree with you when you say that nobody knows you better than yourself, but it may take someone sitting on the outside looking in to determine the cause of the problem. We can’t always see the obvious, especially if we’ve been looking at the situation from a limited point of view.
LYDIA MCMILLAN:
IN RESPONCE TO FAITH'S COMMENT ABOUT MY COMMENT:
oh i understand what you are saying now and i totally agree with you, tramatic events like that would change the personality of a person.
Stacey Hanson in response to Haley
Haley: I actually agreee with you, but I was having difficulty conveying that in words. However,I still stick by my statement that no one knows you better than yourself. After reading reading your response you helped me see a different view.
SAM RUBERG:
Jerry Adler has said that psychoanalysis has is somewhat being replaced by other things. Rather than people talking about their problems with a psychoanalyst they will turn to drug therapy. The problem with the drug therapy is that people don't understand their disease and rather than answering questions about their problems, they find a quick fix such as drugs. Also, Adler talks about how much psychoanalysis has changed over the years. For example, in the
1950's going to a psychoanalyst to talk about your problems was seen as a sign of sophistication, whereas now people are concerned with other things such as the way they look.
There are disadvantages that have resulted in some disappearance of psychoanalysis. One of the main reasons is because that this type of therapy is both time and money consuming. Insurance companies are no longer paying for the expenses of therapy; therefore people don't have the money to visit a therapist. Also, going to see a psychoanalyst takes time out of the day. People with busy days already don't have extra time for a luxury like "talking." Another disadvantage is that talking takes work. People would rather look for a quick fix for their problems and bypass the difficult questions to reach the final problem.
There are also advantages that come with psychoanalysis. The big one is no need for drug therapy. If you can fix a problem with talking, why is their a need for drugs also? Also, if you talk to a psychoanalyst you will better understand your disease and know how to fix it if it appears again. Again if you have someone to talk to, rather than taking some pills, you may feel better. For example, the 40-year old lady(Doreen) said that psychoanalysis "helps you examine your life, retell your life, and understand where your attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors come from." Drugs could never do this.
Freud had come up with a lot of different theories that went along with psychoanalysis. I agreed with his idea of the "unconscious." He explained that it hid our hidden conflict, or our wishes that are repressed. These are easily seen through our dreams or a simple slip of the tongue and I agree with this completely. I also agree with his idea of free association, when I did the free word association test I noticed that I could tell if someone was sad or happy by the way they answered the questions. Freud also has claimed that your personality and behavior is formed by your childhood experiences. I both agree and disagree with this statement. I defiantly agree that part of your personality is formed by what happens to you as a child, but I also feel that your personality can change as you grow older by your environment that you are put into.
As I said before Freud had a lot of different theories and there were a few that I did not agree with. I disagree with his entire penis envy theory. He claimed that women were simply incomplete men. I don’t find this to be true because he said that we were jealous of their power and this is where he came up with this. I could maybe see this back in his day, but it holds no value today. Women today are just as powerful as men when it comes to politics and the work force, they may be viewed differently but they hold the same power.
Steph Thun
In response to Julia:
I absolutely agree with the fact that psychoanalysis will only work on people that are willing to be open. I personally don't believe it would work on me because I can tend to be a closed book.
When it comes to using psychoanalysis to interpret dreams I disagree. Dreams are found to have nearly no accuracy, therefore I do not see why a person going through therapy would use a dream to help better understand their life. The only way I see a dream being brought into a therapy session is if the dream is what the patient is struggling with.
Stacey Hanson in response to Michael Swartz:
I completely agree with your comment about psychoanalysis being like a rain cloud, and drugs being like cheap umbrellas. It to me, seemed like you were stating that we all try to protect ourselves from being analyzed but eventually we will break and it will happen. Then after we do let it out, we feel much better. I'm not sure if this is what you wanted to convey but it's what I took from it, and agree.
Brett Ludwig:
Responding to Chad Mozol:
I agree with you on that the first five years are the most important in person's life. These years are the foundation on which a person can base their life on. If one has been praised and rewarded for doing the smallest things as a child they might believe that they are getting treated unfairly when they are not rewarded later in life. I also agree with Mr. Mozol on the if one has ot learned about controlling their desires as a kid than they will have a difficult time controlling their desires as an adult.
Response to Stephanie Thun:
I agree with her opinion on Freud's penis envy theory. Yes, men may be stronger or have better physical capabilities, but I do think that men and women are both equally intelligent. One might argue that history backs up the notion that men are supreme. However, this is only because they have been in power in almost all cultures until very recently. Women have shown that they can be just as good or even better at times than men.
In Response to Faith Donovan:
I disagree with you on that a therapist can't find the cause of a problem by looking at the symptoms. I think that you can't base your opinion off your experience because it is possible that you did not have the right people analyze you and from the start you weren't very committed to the therapy session.
CARL VAGLE:
Jerry Alder stated that psychoanalysis is being used, it has just changed over the years. Now drugs have been thrown in the mix with talk therapy. For some parts of therapy soley analysis is used. Also psychoanalysis is being replaced by cosmetic surgery.
to be continued...
CARL VAGLE:
Jerry Alder stated that psychoanalysis is being used, it has just changed over the years. Now drugs have been thrown in the mix with talk therapy. For some parts of therapy soley analysis is used. Also psychoanalysis is being replaced by cosmetic surgery.
to be continued...
SAM RUBERG:
IN RESPONSE TO STEPHINE THUN'S:
I disagree with the statement made that psychoanalysis is only useful if the person wants it to work without the use of drugs. I believe that if you have a disease that is capable of being cured by talking with a psychoanalist you don't need drugs to do it. I could see if the person is forcing themselves not to cooroperate with the psychonanalist or if it is a disease that is not capable of being cured by talking, then I could see where you are coming from. I do agree with your statement about the penis envy therory. About the aspect of where women are less then men phsyically. For example height and strength wise, I can see that. But again not power wise because women are right up there with men in that aspect as you've said.
SAM RUBERG:
IN RESPONSE TO STEPHINE THUN'S:
I disagree with the statement made that psychoanalysis is only useful if the person wants it to work without the use of drugs. I believe that if you have a disease that is capable of being cured by talking with a psychoanalist you don't need drugs to do it. I could see if the person is forcing themselves not to cooroperate with the psychonanalist or if it is a disease that is not capable of being cured by talking, then I could see where you are coming from. I do agree with your statement about the penis envy therory. About the aspect of where women are less then men phsyically. For example height and strength wise, I can see that. But again not power wise because women are right up there with men in that aspect as you've said.
MARIAH MELIN
In response to...
STEPHANIE THUN
I also agree when you say pyschoanalysis is used on a person it will work only if the person believes it will work. it is all apart of the psychological thinking if you don't think it will work then it won't work.
RYAN & MARGARET
i still have a hard time beliving that women are men incomplete men. why couldn't it be men are women just with a little extra. and i too agree with MARGARET women are just as capable as men. and RYAN where you say we are a very sexist society and it is hard for women to get equal respect and power as men.although we have came a long way from where we used to be. women used to be treated a lot lower than they are today we have many more rights than we did years ago.
FAITH
i do agree that women may tend to envy men more for their power but it just bugs me when he stated that WOMEN ARE INCOMPLETE MEN like we are a mistake or something but i get where your coming from.
LYDIA
your respones to mine pretty much sums up exactly what i was getting at thanks for agreeing.
JADE
i do agree that if something traumatic were to come up after those first 5 years you would or could very well be effected by it and it could very well come up again later in life like problems in the first 5 years you just know how to handle them better
In response to Mary:
I totally get your point that talking about problems will not cure AIDS and other viruses, however, I'm not really sure that he meant that. I'm pretty sure that he meant mental illnesses. Not viruses, it would be pretty nifty, but that is not what he was saying.
Margaret:
I see that you disagree with the idea that children don't have sexual fantasies. But I have to disagree with you there. A person, even if they are abused as children, will usually find themselves a person that is exactly like the parent of an opposite sex. If you look at all those cases of domestic abuse, if you look at the wives past, because it's usually the wife getting battered, they will most likely have had father's that were abusive. Now I realize this isn't always the case, but just think about it. Why do the wives pick someone who is so abusive, why wouldn't they leave him after the first abuse? It's possible that they're scared, or they think that, that is how it's supposed to be because that's how they were treated as kids. So as you can see there has to be some sort of connection there past just parent to child.
Brett:
What I'm trying to say is that it can be really hard for someone who doesn't know you or the experiences that you've been through to analyze your symptoms and tell you what the matter is. I think that only the person themselves know someone the best, I do believe that talking about your problems can help you, I just don't think that a person can look at your symptoms and tell you that you are acting like this because of certain thing that happened to you in your life. I think that most of our behaviors are caused by more than one thing that is happening in our life.
Mariah:
I completely agree with you that women aren't complete men what I was saying though was that there was some truth in the matter. Not that women are incomplete men but that women envy the power that men have. Because even though we'd like to think that women are treated equally we aren't quite there yet, so men are still trated slightly better than men in certain areas, and even sometimes vive versa. That's all I was trying to say.
P.S. If you need a break you should check out I'm pretty sure that that is the correct website. I'm sorry if it's not the website that was intended, I'm trying to remember the URL out of memory. www.postsecret.blogspot.com it's another really funny website that I'm sure you'll get a kick out of.
MORGAN RENO
IN RESPONSE TO...
FAITH'S COMMENT:
I still don't completely agree with you, but I do understand and agree with your point that women are thought of differently if they argue then men would be. It may not be fair but it's how society has come to see it. But even so, women are not incomplete men by any means.
STACEY:
I found your view on psychologists very interesting and it got me thinking a new way. I agree with you that it is frustrating when someone thinks they know you better then you do and that no one knows you better than yourself, but I think that psychologists ARE helpful in the fact that they guide/lead you to the root of the problem. They can help you interpret meanings and thoughts that you may have not known on your own. So they do have some use.
JADE:
I really liked your comment about the penis envy controversy. I totally agree that God created men and women to compliment each other and not to have power over the other. I also agree that talking about your problems is amazingly beneficial. It helps you come to terms with your faults and actions, as well as uncovers the causes of how you're feeling.
TIM:
I like what you said about how people today are lazy. While reading it, it became more and more obvious that what you were saying is so true. People really do try to find the quickest and easyist way out of things, and it's sad. They should really try to get to the bottom of the problem, not cover it up with medication and labels. You made a good point that psychoanalisis may be the right approach even though it may not be the simplist.
JERRY ALDER SAYS: That psychoanalysis is still used today, but is just not as popular for people to go and see a psychoanalyst during multiple days in a week. but without Freud, many things would not be as they are today. Psychoanalysis is presently being replaced by the use of drug therapy. He also said that even tho it is still present in the 21st century, it is also not widely used because insurance is not able to cover, or is confused by, the bill for an open ended t reatment of just basically talking. As psychoanalysis was popular back in the 50's, it is like the cosmetic surgery that takes place today. They also will just turn to the drugs, instead of trying to fix the underlying problem, and just talk it out.
I AGREE:
With his idea of "free word association". Some may not because of it being completely random, but if you look into what is being said, it can make many conclusions. also, with the idea of "sitting on a couch" and just talking to a therapist. Although they may not be able to help you with everything, they can show you the reality of the situation and help you get things off your mind that may need a safe outlet/environment to a neutral person. I do agree with what Adler said as the end of his article, and I don't know if it is relevant to what this should be about, "...is that history will never end. Because it is made by human beings". That is a terrific line! On the last page of the article, I do believe that the brain will repress unwanted memories. I feel that it only makes sense.
I DISAGREE: With the so-called "penis envy". Although I think it is a creative theory in a way, I do not find it relevant in my life. I do feel like i have power in many aspects of my life, just like most men do. Lucky with our day and age, women in America are finding more freedom to speak their mind and do what they want.
ADVANTAGES:
If one is to use psychoanalysis, they do not have to use drugs. With drugs, it may be hard to cope with how they affect your life. But with talking, it will mostly do nothing to hurt you, except maybe the pain of having repressed thoughts resurfacing. Also, you are able to understand what disease you may have if any. And to hae someone to talk to is a major plus. A neutral person in certain situations is all one may need to help solve their problems.
DISADVANTAGES:
It takes a lot of work and a lot of talking to be able to get diagnosed in some causes. Also, if it takes a lot of talking, it may then take a lot of money from your insurance or own pocket, since it is an open ended treatment. And one may spend large amounts of money for it and will not get a cure or know what is exactly wrong with them. In simple terms, most do not know if it actually works. The one major challenge that entails, which is how can you makes "outcomes" when each human can have so many variables.
Stacey Hanson in response to Morgan Reno's comment:
I do agree with you that psychologists are helpful. I probably did portray that I don't think they have any use, so i will correct it now PSYCHOLOGISTS ARE HELPFUL!!!!!
In response to Morgan Reno's comment:
I completely agree with you on that. I, by no means, think that women are incomplete men. I think the exact opposite of that, I think that women are their own sex and have their advantages. Just as men are their own sex and have there advantages.
Steph Thun:
In response to Sam Ruberg's comment:
My intensions were not to say that drugs are needed. I was simply stating that the patient determines the success of the therapy. I agree with you that it can work without drugs as long as the patient cooperates.
Jessica Muehlbauer
Jerry Adler, author of Newsweek’s "Freud is not dead" explains Freud and his effect on psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis is still used to a small extent today. People no longer rush to the psychoanalysis’s couch. Only 4% of the population is in therapy. It is no longer a "status symbol". It has been replaced by things such as cosmetic surgery. Psychoanalysis is still used, but in small proportions.
Freud’s theories are based off of his own thoughts and emotions. He believed that the first years of a child’s life are the most critical. By the end of these years we have formed the foundation of what we are to be. These years are the "crucible" of character. He believed that diseases could not be cured by prayer, sacrifice, exorcism, drugs, surgery, or change of diet. He believed it came down to the talk.
I agree with Freud on the first years. They create a foundation to our lives. How we are raised will come into play with behavior and character. I believe the "talking cure" is a useful method in overcoming addictions such as smoking, and drinking. I also agree with his method, Transference. In everyday conflicts, we witness this. People will place their anger on others who have no relation to the original problem. Also, I agree with "Free Association". This is a way of showing strong correlation to the root of a problem. Freud displayed theories that helped create a new era of understanding behavior.
I do, however, disagree with Freud's darker and more sexual theories. I strongly disagree with his idea that children have sexual fantasies. Most children, if raised in a healthy environment, are much too innocent to understand such things. I also disagree with the "Penis-Envy" theory. Women are not incomplete men. Freud was far off on his ideas about sexuality.
A disadvantage is what people are willing to give up, time and money. Also, without a personal relationship with the particular therapist, there may be a level of discomfort. Will someone even see a change from just talking? I suppose it depends on how much one is willing to share.
An advantage is that it gives us a chance to explore treating diseases without the need of drugs and surgeries. It helps people understand behavior and how certain people respond to certain situations.
ANDREW SAMBERG
According to Jerry Alder, psychoanalysis is still being used today but has been changed a bit. Today psychoanalysis has been assosiated with and uses prescription drugs. Most people will not sit down and talk with a psychoanalysist because of the lack of time. Instead they are resorting to prescription drugs and talkihg to someone occasionally. In the 1950's psychoanalysis was more of a status symbol, and today it's role in society has been taken over by cosmetic surgery.
Freud's theory is based on the thought that the way we act today comes from our childhood and thoughts buried within us. He believed that a mental illness could be treated with only recollection and reflection with a professional. Freud also said that these memories can escape during dreams, mistakes when speaking, and mental illness. I believe this theory because when we make decisions, we are really basing them on how we were raised and what we think is right.
I agree with several aspects of Freuds theory. First, I agree that the way we behave today is based on our early childhood and how we were raised. Also, another part I believe to be true is when he states that the thoughts from our unconsious come out through our dreams and in everyday life.
There are also parts of Freuds theory that I disagree with. The penis theory is something I believe is completely wrong. Women are more than incomplete men. Women are just as capable of solving problems as men are. I also disagree with the theory that disease can be cured by just talking about it. Cancer will usually not disapear, the process of healing takes time and antibiotics to rid the disease from the body.
Freuds theory is useful in many ways. The fact that he supported and expanded on the psychoanalysis theory impacted the thought of the mind in many ways. We now know why people dream things that seem irrelevent to their situation. Freud explained this when he was researching the unconsious. Another advantage to illness is talking about the disease. Even though it may not cure you, it could help you feel better about what you are going through.
I believe a disadvantage to the theory is that talking about the illness will not get rid of the disease. Also, I think that people can be helped in different ways by Freuds theory. People who are more open to discussion will be helped more than those who do not like to talk about their feelings.
Whitney Walker:
Jerry Adler stated that Freud's ideas of psychoanalysis are still being used today, but with alterations. The couch that was once behind a closed door with a psychiatrist is now on public television for millions of people to watch. If people can't afford or have the time to go to a psychiatrist, they try to find that help within a pill. Unfortunately, this alone won't solve that person's issues. We have a tendency today to fix the problems on the surface, a "cosmetic surgery", and expect the internal conflicts to dissolve.
Psychoanalysis is really introspection with or with out a professional's help. The feelings, thoughts, and sexual impulses that are repressed can cause people behave a certain way. According to Freud, these beliefs begin in the first five years of a person's life. He also believed that whatever we buried down would appear later in another form, such as a dream or even mental illness. These ideas need to be tackled and looked at so people are able to function happily.
I agree with Freud's ideas that our unconscious beliefs will come across in our dreams. When there's a major obstacle in one's life, it's almost impossible to not think about. Our dreams may make the issue work itself out, even work it out to be in our favor. I tend to think of meaningful dreams as one of our unconscious coping mechanisms. I also think the simple idea of talking out an issue with anyone who's willing to listen will make a tremendous difference in that person's overall mental and emotional health.
I disagree with a lot of Freud's more controversial issues. The entire penis envy theory is ridiculous. Women aren't incomplete, and if they were, why is that women are the only ones biologically able to bear children? Shouldn't men be able to carry a child if Freud's theory was true? We are two different specimen's; one is not a mere write off of the other. Women may, if anything, be jealous of men's ability to freely express themselves, but I think this is becoming an issue of the past, at least here in the U.S.
The infantile sexuality theory is also absurd. Yes, it's something we don't like to think about as possibly being true, and I think when children are at that age they don't have lust for the opposite sexed parent. They may just be curious as to why the other parent is different than them, and if they do have fantasies it's something they may not completely understand. They're too young to comprehend it, and they haven't been exposed those sexual behaviors when they're that old, hopefully. If we relate this theory to animal kingdom, they don't have the conscious or moral thoughts preventing them from fornicating with their young. They're main goal is trying to survive. If that's the case, wouldn't it help the population to have sex with their offspring? I don't have anything to justify this claim, but I thought it was something to think about.
An advantage to psychoanalysis is that once everything that person is thinking is let out, they can get help with their internal conflicts. Therapy is more beneficial to people's mental status than Prozac alone can be. The disadvantage to this is that if people aren't willing to open themselves up to a psychiatrist truthfully, they won't get any help from the session. That person may have their own reasons for not opening up, but in the long run, it's very beneficial to their health.
Freud, overall, did have some great theories, and some not so great. However, it's important that when we look at his history today, we need to keep in mind that it was a completely different world he lived in. Most of his work was done between 1900's and 1940's, a time when women didn't have the same rights men did, psychoanalysis was starting to make sense to others, and the unconscious mind was just beginning to be discovered. Freud made a lot of groundbreaking discoveries, and today we know some still hold true and others don't, and we can move forward and perfect his original thoughts.
Chelsea Cossin
Jerry Alder, author of the Newsweek article "Freud is Not Dead" explains the effection Freud has on pyschoanalysis. Pyschoanaylsis was much more popular in the 50's than it is today, but pyschoanaylsis is still used. Back than pyschoanalysis was known as a status symbol, but now cosmic surgery has taken its spot for the most part. Only about 4% of our population continues to used psychoanalysis. Today due to the lack of time people have psychoanalysis is more often used in drug theropy.
Freuds theory mentions that the early years of a childs growth is very important, these years are the critical years. At the end of this time frame, Freud believed we are who we are meant to be at the end of these years. These years are known as the "Crucible" years. Freud also mentions that a humans life is "essentially conflicted" meaning peoples conflicts do not show up due to repression, this is where conflicts are then repressed to the unconsious. Conflicts and problems than appear in speaking mistakes, dreams, and other situations.
I most definitely disagree with Freuds Penis Envy. I believe were are not just incomplete men. Also I disagree with the statement that all illnesses can be cured by talking about them. I don't see how a servere virus could be cured by just metioning and talking about the problems or a person.
I strongly agree that people in the society today are continuously in conflict nonstop.
Advandtages of Freud's theory are that our conflict/problems come out in our dreams and or speach mistakes. This leads to helping people read and understand their dreams more, and figure out certain problems or memories that could have been repressed into the unconsious. Also I feel talking about our problems and or feelings can help a person feel better. For example we all know that when a girl has an issue and or problem we instantly tell and friend because it than feels better on us and we feel almost as if a weight has been lifted off our shoulders.
Disadvantages of Freud theory is that all people are not the same. Some are shy and quiet and have trouble not only talking infront of people but it's even harder to talk about their problems to others. Although on the other hand many people feel comfortable with talking with others, and explaining how they feel, but not everyone is like that, making this technique difficult to use in many situations.
MEGAN MULLEN:
In this article Jerry Adler talks about how psychoanalysis is still used today, but has been modified. Adler states that in the 1950s “analysis was a status symbol and a mark of sophistication.” Nowadays, the article says that in comparison, cosmetic surgery has taken its place. Psychoanalysis is still used today, but goes hand in hand with prescribed medications, although there are many people who do not respond to either one of these.
Psychoanalysis is based on the assumption that our desires directly relate to our behavior.
Freud believed that within the first five or six years of a person’s life, you can tell what their personality will end up like. He says that conflicts inside the family will help develop one’s character.
Everyone’s lives include conflict in some way, shape or form…there’s no doubt about it. I agree with Freud’s tests that have been used on patients such as free association, and dream analysis. When people say, or see dark things or images, it shows that there is a deep problem in their life. This helps the analyzer, because the patient doesn’t have to say or do anything about their problem.
I do however disagree with some Freud’s theories that women are incomplete men. In this day in age, more and more women are becoming powerful in the business industry. I also disagree with the fact that merely talking about a problem will make it go away. No matter how much you talk about something, it will never leave your memory.
Psychoanalysis is an advantage in itself. I believe that there is no need for drug use to solve personal issues. Another advantage is that by simply talking about a problem, you can find the source.
Yet, psychoanalysis takes a considerable amount of time and money. Although it may help a person out, it is a money guzzler and time-consuming project.
Freud’s theories are obviously useful. It just depends on whether one’s problems are worth the time and money they wish to spend. Psychoanalysis is also a great alternative to what people used to use to solve some problems: drugs. Therefore, Freud's theories have been extremely useful in our society today.
Samantha Kallberg
Jerry Alder talked about psychoanalysis in the newsweek article about Freud. Alder wrote psychoanalysis is still being used today, but has changed a little bit over the years. Today we use prozac when using drug therapy, when Freud preferred to use cocaine. According to a Newsweek poll, nearly 20% of Americans have seen a therapist, but only 4% are in therapy. Therapy is no longer considered a status symbol.
I agree with Freud's technique of "free association". By truly telling the first thing that comes to your mind will help a therapist come up with an explanation of why you are feeling the way you do. I also agree with the talking method. By talking to a person who is not on a side, about your problem can really help your situation.
I do not agree with Freud's penis envy theory. I do not believe women are incomplete men. I also disagree with the idea of children having sexual fantasies. I think children are too young to think in a sexual way, unless the child was brought up in a sexual environment.
An advantage of using pyschoanalysis is talking. Talking lets people relieve what is on their mind, and what they may be stressing about. But in pyschoanalysis you do not need to use drugs to cure. All you need is to have an open mind and talk.
A disadvantage of using pyschoanalysis is it is time consuming and cost a lot of money. A lot of money, and time is spent when talking to a therapist. Also the therapist may not always know what is wrong with you. Another disadvantage is there really is no science behind it,so nobody really knows if it works.
Connor Hady:
Jerry Adler says that many people still attend psychoanalysis for their psychological problems. However, this treatment is not entirely the same as when Freud did it. Many times patients are treated with drug therapy in combination with psychoanalysis. For some drug therapy and talking about it seams to work best, but other people don't like the idea of using drugs for therapy. For adolescent borderline personality disorder, psychoanalysis is the treatment of choice. A major reason why psychoanalysis is not used as much now is because insurance comapanies won't pay an open ended treatment cost of more than $2,000 a month. Many middle class people who need the treatment are unable to get it because of the expense, so instead they may use medication as a cure, but the same problems will coome back if the real cure is not treated. Some people don't respond to brief therapy and medication. These people want to "know thyself", and find the deeper meaning behind their problems. Another reason why many people do not take the psychoanalysis route is because they just simply do not have the time to be treated through talking. Because it takes a great deal of time to resolve conflicts through talk.
Freud's main theory and method of treatment was psychoanalysis. Freud believed it was the only method he needed to treat his patients. Freud said that certain memories and thoughts causing problems would hide in ones unconscious, and would come out in dreams and slurs of speech. This is why at one time Freud used hypnosis, but he later discovered he did not need it because he could do the same thing with psychoanalysis. Freud believed he could find what was troubling any patient if he talked to them long enough, and then go on to cure it. Freud also believed that we are full of hidden conflict, and that who we are now is directly related to the conflicts and experiences of our childhood.
I agree with Freud's theory to some extent because I feel you can resolve some problems through just talking about them. I disagrre that all problems can be treated through this method. Some problems I think need more than just talk because they are too troubling. Some people will not be comforatable enough to talk about certain problems. I also agree that who we are today is because of the conflicts of our childhood.
I believe Freud's theory is somewhat useful, but only for certain problems, and only if the patient is willing to talk about what is troubling him/or her.
One advantage of freud's theory is it helps us find a deeper meaning to our problems. It also alows us to examine who we really are, and I believe it can help us become better people by looking who we truly are underneath.
One disadvantage of Freud's theory is that many people are not comfortable with opening up and talking about their feelings. Such as most every guy. I think their are some things people just will not discuss, but when they do it will most likely resolve much of the conflict they are experiencing and they will be happier with life.
SAM RUBERG
IN RESPONSE TO JESSICA MUEHLBAUER:
I agree with your statement about Freud's penis envy theory. Although, I believe that his children sexual fantasy theroy was somewhat based off of the "I'm going to marry my parents" theory. So I don't disagree with it 100%. Because I have noticed that younger kids to say that. I do disagree with the extreme of kids fantasing about having sex with their parents, but it is just more of the phallic stage. Where they are just in love with their parents.
Tabitha Boortz:
Jerry Adler states in his article that Freud’s psychoanalysis theory from the 1900s is totally at odds with our technology based life style that many Americans now have today. For example, when people think they have a disease or something wrong with them, their immediate thought is to have surgery. Or, when we have a headache, our first reaction is to take a pill. We don’t ever think to talk about what might be causing our headache. However, Adler says that despite our dependence on pills and surgery, the idea of psychoanalysis is still being practiced, just not as much. I agree that our generation usually turns to drugs or operations to solve our problems. However, I think people talk out their problems more than they know. More often than not, someone will ask you how your day went, and you will tell them. That right there, to me, is a form of Freud’s good old fashion therapy. And that is something that happens everyday in lives through out the world.
Psychoanalysis is the theory that personality is based on impulses and needs in the unconscious. This theory was developed by Sigmund Freud in the early 1900s. That basically means that who we are and what we are come from some hidden force. Freud also said that in order to actually see and understand these forces, a trained professional needs to analyze a person’s thoughts, feelings, and history, in order to see those hidden forces. He also thought that people with psychological problems could not see the root of their own problem.
I both agree and disagree with this theory.
I do think that our personality is somewhat based on the wants and needs that people have. For example, we learned in psychology that everyone needs some form of attention. Someone who does not get attention form their parents or loved ones, might act out in society or at school to get that attention. That demonstrates Freud’s theory perfectly. The person who is acting out for attention has that kind of personality because they have a need and or want for attention.
However, I do not agree with the part of Freud’s theory that says that you need a trained professional to uncover a person’s hidden forces. Obviously that is not true because just up above I made an attempt at analyzing a person’s behavior, and I am by no means a trained professional. Although, I do think that sometimes people cannot solve their own problems because they are so involved in them, and they make them a lot more complicated than they actually are. I just think that every now and then people need a fresh perspective on their situation. Someone else may be able to look at your problem in a different way that you never thought of before.
In my opinion, the part of this theory that is the most useful is the part about you needing someone else to help you solve your problem. I am not saying that this is true, but it gives us something to think about. Maybe a person doesn’t have to go crazy and stress themselves out about their problems; maybe they can just ask someone else what they think. I know that when I have a problem it helps to tell some one because most of the time they can relate to it and they end up telling me a story of when something like that happens to them. That makes me fell 100% better because I know that I’m not the only one who makes mistakes and has problems.
An advantage of this theory would be that by someone using it and being really open to talking about their problems, would allow them to be less stressed out and open minded. This might also cause people to be less dependant on medications and things like antidepressants.
One disadvantage would be that people could become to dependant on others to solve their problems. Most of us have heard about the types of people who think that they cannot function without their physiatrist. That simply isn’t true. You can talk to someone about your problems without asking them to solve it for you.
TIM GROVER:
in response to CONNOR
You said "Many people are not comfortable with opening up and talking about their feelings. Such as most any guy."
I think you pretty much summed up one of the main reasons why psychoanalysis does not work: the male EGO. Why is it that society puts this pressure on men to be robots? As if showing even the slightest bit of emotion is a sign of weakness or something. I mean, that is why there are so many unsolved problems out there, people are stubborn.
How can opening up and talking about how you feel, hurt you in any way? Unless you consider showing a little vulnerability and showing the fact that you are even the least bit HUMAN, as hurting you. What is it about image for men? Everyone has to fit the mold: fearless, power, strength-leave your emotions at the door, right? Not every male on the planet fits this mold, and they shouldn't, yet for some reason there is this expectation for men. It's a shame for someone to be too proud to try and seek help. Why keep things bottled up inside when they are causing problems for you?
It's clearly an issue of pride. Too proud to admit there's a problem, too proud to ask for help, too proud to think of how your problem is affecting others. People have to look beyond themselves, and look at the big picture.
In response to MARY:
I definitely agree that you can not cure diseases by talking about them. It is clearly impossible, unless a miracle happens...
Like yous said, AIDS doesn't even HAVE a cure. So how would talking get rid of it? The answer is, it wouldn't. Maybe talking could help you vent your problems, but that's about it.
Sam K: I disagree with you when you said that children don't have sexual fantasies. They might be young, but look at our society these days. Sexuality is portrayed in many of the television shows they watch, PDA in the streets, basically everywhere now. And children are very curious creatures. Even if they don't exactly know was sex or sexual things are, they might be curious about what they've seen, or as weird as it sounds, yes, fantasize about it. BUT this doesn't have to be anything graphic, because even kissing can be sexual. And I'm sure most children have seen someone kiss something or someone.
Michael Stocke
Sigmund Freud was one of the most controversial theoretician’s of all-time. Not only did he have extreme theories that created controversy during his era, but the same theories still spark speculation today. Jerry Adler, author of the Newsweek article on Freud, went into depth explaining his various theories/ideas. In the 21st century, psychoanalysis has resurged, but with a different style. In the earlier days, it was viewed as a benefit to be able to help cures by simply speaking, making it quite popular. Although it was mainly available to the upper class citizens, it was desired by many. However, as the times have changed, it has evolved into a different fashion. Now people would much rather go to psychiatrists for drug therapy because today’s day and age prefers to have a quick fix than spend four hours a week discussing what is on their mind. It doesn’t help that insurance companies do not cover bills that are as much as $2,000 a month for basically talking with a therapist. In fact, several of Freud’s approaches are still under the microscope because they still offer a complex approach to our modern-day thinking. Although many of his ideas were wrong, they were fascinating ways to look at situations, changing the way people look at psychoanalysis.
Psychoanalysis, the idea that human behavior is greatly influenced by feelings that are buried within a person, was led by Sigmund Freud. His breakthrough theory was based on the unconscious. He believed that our repressed thoughts, sexual urges, and aggressive instincts were all stored in our unconscious part of the mind and only escaped through dreams, mental illnesses, and an occasional falter in our speech. He expressed that most of the things we do, for example, how we react when in particular situations, is mainly controlled by our unconscious thoughts. People are unaware of these unnoticed thoughts they may have, and they can cause inner conflict. He also offered the idea that we become who we are later in life based on the various experiences and treatment in our first five years. That meant that the first five years of life were vital in determining most characteristics of an individual, making this theory, like his many others, controversial.
Unlike many others, I agree with most of what Freud stated. I believe that his unconscious theory explains the majority of an individual’s personality. His free word association method is a spectacular way to search through the answers, and conclude pieces of information that is in the unconscious. I also agree that a person is shaped who they are in the first five years of their life. That is the time when a child is raw and is capable of learning more than ever. Finally, I completely agree with Freud’s idea that talking about what goes on with a person’s life is helpful. Having too much in the mind can cause issues, and discussing them with a therapist is a remarkable way to release any issues and solve problems that you may not have answers for.
The main points that I disagree with Freud is the penis envy theory. I do not think that females are incomplete males, but that they are their own gender just as a male is. Although I believe talking with a therapist is quite advantageous, I don’t think that it can cure any disease. It may help cope with it better, but it will not make a disease vanish.
An incredible advantage of Freud’s theory is the complex thinking. His process of thinking paved the way for others to progress his ideas even further. That enabled the next generations to use the basis of his findings, and turn them into theories that have more concrete evidence. Also, his psychoanalysis idea developed a way for people to easily express feelings to uncover issues they may have.
However, a disadvantage to Freud’s theory was ironically his complex thoughts. Several of his theories were too excessive, causing others to shy away to any of his other work because they thought his ideas were too extreme and were just another insane idea. Another disadvantage is that not all of his psychoanalysis discussions could be completed because there are individuals that do not want to share all of their feelings, which makes it difficult to solve anything.
Michael Stocke
In Response To Tim:
I agree with most of what you are saying, but I believe that the majority of what you learn comes in the first five years. As you said, you are learning things for the first time, and that is usually the way you remember because if it is wrong, your parents will correct it so you won’t make a mistake later. Although, I do see what you mean because there are things that a five year old just flat out doesn’t know yet, so in that respect you are right.
In Response to Mariah:
I believe that you are right about all other opinions except that we are born with animal instincts, the need for food, warmth, shelter, and pleasure. I think that we learn these instincts as we age because we realize that these things keep us alive and well. When we are born, we are clueless to what the world has to offer, which is why I think that we learn those behaviors.
CARL VAGLE:
Continued...Only a few people use it because it is so expensive and have the time to do it.
Freud's theory says that childhood experiences determine your behavior. He also says that diagnosed diseases can be cured by just recollection and reflection. Along with that he says unconcious memories escape through dreams, mistakes in speech, and mental illnesses. Freud says that human life is "essentially conflicted" and that these conflicts are hidden because of the repressed wishes and instincts.
I agree and disagree with several things Freud has to say.
I do not agree with the oedipus complex. I have heard and seen little kids wanting to marry their parents, but I don't think it has anything to do with true love, I think it has more to do with the fact that young children do not fully comprehend true love. They want to marry their parents because they love them as a parent not as a husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend.
I believe that the penis envy theory is true to an extent. It is only true because of social expectations. Women are completely different from men instead of being an incomplete man. Women are not socially allowed to be as loud or outspoken as men in many cases and would be frowned upon for such behavior, so this may bring about some envy. They also may be jealous of how freely men can express themselves.
Freud is also correct to say that the first five years of life are very important in shaping us for the rest of our lives. We learn most of our basic functions and emotions at this time. How we express emotions is also learned at this time in our lifes. If a person is not taught to control their desires and are spoiled by their parents at an early age, they will expect things to go their way when they are older. Letting the Id take over could lead to problems as serious as stealing. I like the Id-Ego-Superego part of Freud's theories. It explains a lot about inner conflict and the reason we want things and how we are able to hold our desires back.
JEFFREY COTTRELL
Throughout the article "Freud is Not Dead", author Jerry Alder talks about the usage of psychoanalysis today.This was a theory of Freuds, and now found all around us. Some people though, don't believe psychoanalysis works, while others belief by talking about your problems and letting your emotions out, much can be discovered. Freud did not believe medicine was needed, but that psychoanalysis was the key. The veiw of pychoanalysis has changed over the years. It has gone from something special and meaningful, to slightly looked down on, and a disgrace. Because of this, drugs are becoming more popular. Drugs are also being used crazily because they are simply easier to use.
In a busy lifestyle Americans would much rather pop a pill, than sit down and have a deep conversation with someone. But regardless of the amount of time it takes, it is a way to open up and wrench out your true feelings hidden inside. I believe that psychoanalysis might just be the key to understanding and helping people discover their true problems.
Freud's theory states that our behavior is controlled by our unconcious. He believed that how we will end up in life is set in our first 5 years of living. These first 5 years are a very important section of out lives. We learn the basics of all we will do in the future. I'm not saying we learn everything, but how could you start living without the first 5 years. You learn to walk, talk, see, hear, taste, touch, and a countless array of feats. Really, you come in contact with mostly everything possible in that time. While we are doing all these tasks, our unconcious mind is making those decisions, and guiding us along. Still, right now, our unconscious is allowing us to do what are doing.
Another theory of Freuds is the Penis Envy Theory. This states that women are just men with missing pieces, and are jealous of those missing pieces (belonging to men. Such as power). I think this theory completly justifies why people think Freud is a crazy wack-job. I don't quite think he's crazy, but this theory leaves that thought in the back of my head. Regardless, I completley disagree with what he is saying. Women are women, and men are men... in my mind, it's as simple as that. But I do see where Freud is coming from. That is only because everyone is sexest, and regardless of the truth, people will still find ways to discredit women. So to clear things up, I do not agree with Freud's Penis Envy Theory.
When looking at Sigmund Freud and his beliefs as a whole though, he has done his fair share in solving the mystery of the human mind. I greatly respect him for this. Without Freud, many thoughts wouldn't be around. The secret to our actions (the unconcious) may have never been discovered, and psychoanalysis would not be around to truley help people. People now need to cure their drug addictions, and help themselves by giving psychoanalysis a try. Although, many people can't understand what Sigmund Freud was thinking at times, he has developed brilliant ideas, and has added imensely to the knowledge of humans and their way of life.
Lindsey Envall:
In the NEWSWEEK Article, Jerry Adler spoke about Freud and how his theory of phychoanalysis is still used today, but has changed its appearence. Instead of lying on a couch and talking outloud to a specialist, you now can take medicine or go to therapy. In the past however, Freud was all for drug therapy and used cocaine for his work. Now, in the 21st century, we use Prozac(which is obviously a lot more practicle). One of the main reasons phychoanalysis is not used as much today is because of the cost. The bill for a treatment today would cost a person $2,000 a month! That is insane! In the 1950's, phychoanalysis was the mark of sophistication, taking the place of today's cosmetic surgery. People go to therapy these days to have someone listen to them, and to get to know themself better.
There are many parts of the theory that I disagree with, and some that I agree with as well. First, I do not agree with the idea of penis envy. This idea says that females feel like incomplete males because they lack a penis, and therefore feel inferior. To me, the whole thing just seems ridiculous. Women do not feel that they are incomplete men, but men believe that they are superior to women. That is why women everywhere have had to leap over high hurtles to get to where they are today. Women were not allowed to vote, voice their opinion, or even work until they fought for it. This was not because they had penis envy, but because they were looked down upon in society as weak by the male gender.
There are many parts to Freud's Theory that make sense to me, and that I agree with. First of all, there is the Oedipus complex. I have seen examples of this even with my cousin. After reading how it was the attraction between a son and his mother, it made me think and compare it to what I have seen. Almost everyone has seen a younger child attracted to their parent of the opposite sex. I remember even when I was little and wanted to secretly marry my dad.
The other part of the theory I agree with is infantile sexuality. I believe that things that happen to a child when they are younger eventually effect how they will be when they are adults. The first stage and challenge is weaning the child off of the mother. This could effect the child because if the mother allows it for too long, the child will become overly dependent on her. The anal stage has to deal with toilet training. Children can also be affected by this because if the parent is too strict, he sould be constantly afraid that what he does isn't good enough, and his parents wont be happy. Skipping past the Phallic Stage and to the Latency Stage, again can be related to someone's life. While someone is a teen, they do hide things about themself because they are just figuring out who they are. Once they are trying to find that special someone, these things begin to pop up because they can no longer hide them.
Many parts of Freud's theory is useful because it allows a person to openly talk about what is on their mind without fear of being judged. Sometimes, in order to organize thoughts in your head, you need to vent to someone and bounce ideas/thoughts off of them. This also helps you to get something that has been bothering you off your chest so you don't have to worry about it.
The advantages to Freud's theory are that they help to explain some other things...frankly that are just hard to explain. Once a person reads Freud's theorys, they can either agree or disagree with them, but there are not usually people in the middle. Either you can compare it to your life, or you can't. This again is where you can notice things about others, and go,"So that is what Freud ment by that." The disadvantages, however are that some of Freud's ideas are really controvercial(like penis envy)which turn people away from his way of thinking instantly, without even giving him a second shot.
ROCHELLE LENTZ:
In the article “Freud is Not Dead”, Jerry Adler discusses many of the aspects of psychoanalysis, Freud’s theories, and how it is just now becoming a little more embedded in our society today. According to Adder, it is mostly the main core of Freud’s idea (that when we actually take a close look into our past, then we can find where our emotions, behaviors, and beliefs stem from) that is still surviving in our modern society where drugs, talk shows, and machines have taken the place of actual sit-downs with a licensed psychologist. Nearly 20% of Americans have seen a therapist, but only 4% are in therapy now. In America’s fast paced lifestyle it is much more efficient to take a quick pill each day. However, according to the article, this will only scratch the surface and will only relieve the symptoms, not the true problem. The article also discusses how Freud’s theories are very popular because of their controversy. So many of his theories were so dark and of sexual nature that it offended much of the population, and now they are coming back out for discussion.
The theory of psychoanalysis entails that our behaviors and actions are determined by our deep hidden desires and repressed childhood memories, all of which make up our unconscious. According to Freud, who we are is shaped by the five stages of development, and depending on how we faced the challenges of each stage determines how we act later in life. Also, our desires are in constant conflict between morals and pleasure. Any psychological issues viewed by a psychoanalyst, would be attributed a problem from our personal past.
One of the aspects of the psychoanalytical approach that I whole-heartedly agree with is that some issues or fears that we have can be traced back to repressed memories. There are so many people who suffer from depression or anxiety, only to find it stems from a very negative experience. I have a lot of trouble believing in the five stages of development. I do not think that a person will suffer long term consequences if they were taken off of breast milk too soon or a little too late, or if they had some trouble with potty training. I mean, if there was some extreme problems from the parents such as overly strict standards for toilet training or a child more that two is still breast feeding, then I could see how this works. Also, as a part of the phallic stage, I do not believe that children have sexual fantasies. They should not even know what a sexual fantasy would entail, and if they did then there really would be some serious issues.
The psychoanalytical theory is very useful for finding the source of some serious issues or problems. Looking deeply into ones past feelings and experiences can be very relieving to most people what could have happened in their past to make them the way they are.
A serious disadvantage to this is that it takes up a lot of time and money. If a person really wanted to get to the root of their problem, then they would need to talk to a professional long enough to get comfortable to share any secrets they could have and if they are trustworthy, then it would take even more time for that professional to get through all of the childhood memories to find the ones that were more relevant to the issue at hand.
The most obvious advantage to psychoanalysis is that it goes deeper than if a person simply took a pill. You are able to find nearly all of the aspects that caused a problem to arise and therefore understand what it would take to take care of it in the future.
Of all of the controversy surrounding Freud’s theories of psychoanalysis, there is still so much that can be used in today’s world.
ELLEN KUECHLE:
Jerry Adler says in the article that psychoanalysis is still being used today, but in a much different way, or combined with other treatments. When Freud developed psychoanalysis, it was a status symbol for many, like cosmetic surgery is today. Today psychoanalysis is being used a little differently, put patients might also be on a drug, such as Prozac.
Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis is based on the idea that human behavior is greatly influenced by feelings that are buried deep within us. He believed that the first five years are critical and by the end we have become what we are going to be. (abnormalities) Freud used hypnosis, dream analysis, and free word association to treat his patients.
I do believe that talking about problems is a good way to help solve them. I think that seeing a therapist might be a better treatment than taking medication for some people. I disagree however, when Freud stated that talking can cure any illness. Like others said; cancer, AIDS, etc. can not be cured by just talking it out. I also disagree in Freud’s penis envy theory, stating that women are just incomplete men. I think men and women should be treated like equals.
I agree with Freud’s theory that as humans we are always in conflict. There is always something going on in your life that may cause you stress, or something you need to work out. I also agree with Freud’s thoughts on the unconscious. It makes sense that we have things that attribute to our personality in our conscious, and unconscious, established by society, or present at birth.
I think that psychoanalysis is useful for some people, talking about problems can be very helpful. An advantage is that if you use psychoanalysis, you may not have to use a prescription drug, such as Prozac. Some things may be solved completely by talking it out, or with a variety of treatments.
A disadvantage of psychoanalysis is that it costs time and money. It can run as high as 2,000 dollars a month, and insurance may not pay for it. It also may not work for people who are not willing to be 100% honest with themselves or others.
KELLY GUSTOFSON:
Jerry Adler started this article discussing why people are more likely to take a Prozac, than be comfortable sitting on a psychoanalyst’s couch four days a week, with all the little ways it has been changed since Freud‘s day. Some of Freud’s theories are still around today. However, the biggest difference today, is that drug therapy (Prozac) is common whereas Freud insisted that drugs weren’t necessary. On the other hand though, because of all of Freud’s crazy discoveries, he is more likely to be taken seriously as a literary figure than a scientific one, being grouped with Karl Marx instead of someone like Darwin whose ideas are still being researched. Also in the article, there are different psychoanalysis’ themselves who give statements, both agreeing and disagreeing with what Freud knew to be true. Among those, a statistic that I also agree with is that 30% of Americans agree with Freud when he said that psychological problems in adults can be traced back to their childhood. I also find it interesting that insurance companies are more reluctant to cover psychoanalysis because society sees it as more of an embarrassment, where back in the 50s it was seen as sophistication, and high social standings. Now today that role has been filled by cosmetic surgery. Psychoanalysis is also extremely pricy, costing more than $2,000 a month and most patients don’t respond to short term treatments.
I Agree Freud’s core idea of the human life being so conflicted that the conflict will hide itself from us until the feelings and instincts in which it originated from are no longer repressed. These conflicts of feelings we repress are those we can’t bear to acknowledge, yet as we get older, they will start appearing in our dreams, slip-ups in conversation, and eventually emerge so we can identify and resolve these issues.
However, I do not agree with some of Freud’s other major beliefs. First of all, that we “fall in love” with the parent of the opposite sex. Yes, maybe as kids we say things like “I’m going to marry someone just like you” but in all reality I believe that’s just the child’s way of showing his/her parents they love them, and begin forming their lifetime bond. Children as young as Freud predicted this occurs don’t understand very simple things, so how are they going to understand what “true love” is? I think that they love their parent, but I don’t think they’re in love with their parent. The second theory of Freud’s that I don’t agree with is his penis envy theory. Yes, women do get frustrated with all the men in power, but that doesn’t stop us from gaining power ourselves. Also I do not believe a woman is just an incomplete man. Things may have been different with women back when Freud was alive, but today if you look around, there are just as many women in power as there are men.
A major advantage to the ways of thinking Freud had, is it made a path for future scientist to go down, and learn more about all of Freud’s original beliefs. Not only that, but his theories shaped the thoughts we had, and still make us think outside the box to try and understand what was really going on in this man’s head. Also, psychoanalysis is a way for people to be comfortable talking about their emotions, and feelings, while having a good listener to help them try and sort through it all.
A disadvantage to psychoanalysis however, and that in the changing times, and how many people rely on drug therapy, is that the drugs don’t cure the initial problem. The drugs can just mask the original problem, causing the patient more need for psychoanalysis. The other issue that we’re never really going to have a control over is the type of person it will help. If a person is very closed up, talking about their problems isn’t going to help them much; it will probably just make them more uncomfortable. There are no two people alike, so we’ll always get different responses from each individual patient.
MEGAN SNYDER:
Jerry Alder, the author of NEWSWEEKS's "Freud is not Dead" stated that psychoanalysis is still being used, yet in a slightly different manor. Alder says that now most people are taking drugs for their problems rather than talking about them. Most people these days do not go to see a psychiatrist, in fact only 4% of people see one now. In the 1950's this was seen as a status symbol, now we tend to cure our problems by cosmetic surgery.
Freud's theories were based off of his own experiences. He thought that the first 5 years of a child's life were the most crucial. They set the tone of who you were going to be as you grew up. Also, he stated the penis envy theory. He also that that diseases could not be cured by prayer, sacrifice, or exoricism, he believed that talk was the best thing to do.
There is an advantage to psychoanalysis. You will be able to get out all of your thoughts, feelings, and everything else to someone who can help. Why would you spend money on drugs, when you could just talk about it. Your Psychiatrist will help you have a better understanding of your disease, or other problems. In the story the 40-year old lady Doreen says that taking the time was worth it.
There are also disadvantages to psychoanalysis as well. You need to be willing to give up your time and money to talk to a therapist you barely know, it could be slightly uncomfortable. Also, many people these days want this to be fixed easily. This takes time.
I agree with Freud's statement about the first five years of a child's life are very important. Many people agree with this and have even seen this in their own home. If you abuse your child, they will most likely have some issues as they get older, or they may even be abusive while they are parenting.
However, I do not agree with the penis envy theory. In the 1950's it may have been different, women I know, did not have as much power as men, but they were definatley not incomplete men. That seems somewhat degrating doesn't it? This theory could have worked way back when, but it doesn't now. Women are just as powerful as men and have just as many rights, saying that they are incomplete men is wrong in every way possible.
Colten Zacharias:
In response to:
Jade:
I completely agree with your statement that bottled-up, hidden emotions will come back to haunt you. Through all of my personal experience, especially dealing with a divorce, I have found that it is much easier to deal with problems if you share them with somebody who will understand and empathize. Keeping emotions under wraps only leads to long-term problems emotionally.
Mary:
I completely agree with you on the penis envy theory. Men and Women have very different strengths and weaknesses and sometimes the disparites seem so great, it's a wonder both genders are human. Men and Women were put on this earth to perform separate tasks and carry out different roles so the idea that one of these sexes is an incomplete version of the other is completely ludicrous. Personally, I believe the only merit this particular theory has at all was more prevalent in the days of the past, when women had much less power than men. Women may have once been jealous of the power men wielded in society, but that disparity in control has surely dissipated exponentially, if not completely.
MEGAN SNYDER:
Sam Ruberg-
I totally agree with you on the penis envy theory. Simply because women may have been jealous of the men's power back in the day, like you had stated, but today it is very different. Men and Women are equal.
Mary Tierney-
I also agree with you on the disease statement you had mentioned. You can talk your feelings out of your system, but talking doesn't necessarily mean that you can be cured from a disease, like AIDS.
Tabitha Boortz:
In Response to Ellen Keuchle:
I totally agree with you that it is helpful to talk things out, pyshcoanalysis can be very expensive. But I do think that you don't need a trained professional that costs $300 an hour to help you solve your problems. I believe that simply talking about them can help, you don't always need to find an answer.
Tabitha Boortz:
Faith Donavan-
I agree that talking about your problems can not always solve them. But I beleive that a person doesn't need to actually solve a problem in order to find te solution.For example, even though you might not realize the solution to your problem through talking about it, you might find that just saying it out loud makes you feel better and that might be the solution you've needed all along.
ELLEN KUECHLE:
In response to Stacey Hanson: your view on psychoanalysis was really interesting. I never would have thought about myself in that situation, I know I would be frustrated too if someone tried to get to the root of my problems when I didn’t know them.
In response to Haley Sundstom: I agree with your comment that women do not envy men, but are irritated with society that men are depicted as the leaders, and women are not treated the same.
ANDREW SAMBERG
In response to Jade
I completly agree with what you are saying when you talked about talking about your feelings. I know that when I dont talk to anyone about how I am feeling it starts to bother me until it is almost unbearable. I also agree with your comment about how men and women are created to complement each other. God created us to help each other and not for one sex to overpower the other.
In response to Faith
I disagree with your comment about the first five years not being the most crutial in your life. Like Lydia said if something crutial were to happen in the first five years, you may not be able to progress and learn the skills needed to keep up with others. I do agree with what you said in your comment about having difficulties after the first five years. I think that anytime you have a critical moment in your life it will shape the way you think and act from that moment on. I have also had experiences after the first five years that have shaped the way I react to things. I believe everyone has to go through these difficulties after the first five years of life.
IN RESPONSE TO: COLTEN ZACHARIAS
I unterstand how you saw that psychoanalysis has become so unpopulare today. Many Americans do not have time to go through the tedius process and the time it takes to do so. It seems we are, as you put it,"in constant motion and activity and people do not want to waste time when there is a quick fix possible" (Zacharias par. 2) We do not want to waste our time, even if there is a better outcome, with a longer process.
IN RESPONSE TO MARY TIERNEY
When you said: "Freud stated that human life is "essentially conflicted" and that the conflicts do not show because of instincts and repressed wants. Because of this, memories come out in dreams, mistakes in speech,and mental illness" I felt I couldn't agree more. Freud seemed to hit the nail on the head with this one, and I like that you noticed that. When we do not reflect on what we repress, it comes back later in life, unless we express these while working in psychoanalysis.
IN RESPONSE TO STACY HANSON'S RESPONSE TO MY OWN.
Thanks Stacy. For some reason it seems that we, as Americans, are unable to work things out and would rather make attempts at avoiding the subject rather than face it and move on. I'm glad you could understand where I was coming from.
IN RESPONSE TO MY LAST BLOG:
I spelt tedious wrong... sorry
IN RESPONSE TO THE LAST ONE...
I spelled 'spelled' wrong... sorry again
STACEY HANSON
in response to Ellen Kuechle:
I completeley agree with you, and your comment on not having to use drugs if you can talk about things, however that may not always work. Of course I am for people trying to work through problems without using drugs but sometimes they are necessary. In some cases though I am sure drugs were prescribed when it was COMPLETELY neccassary.
Connor Hady:
In response to Tim Grover
I completely agree with what you said about guys not being able to open up and talk about their feelings. I can't comprehend why men refuse to talk about what is bothering them. I guess it is just like you said there seams to be a code that men must be tough, strong, mean, and can't show any emotion. I think more and more men are realizing they don't have to be all of these things, and they can still be a man. Just because you talk about your feelings does not make you any less so of a man. I think guys would be able to deal with their problems much better if they got past the fact that it is okay to talk about what is bothering you. That is the hardest part to do, but once you get past opening up that is when the healing can begin.
Connor Hady:
In response to Carl Vagle
I agree with you about the Oedipus complex. I think that the idea kids want to marry their parents, and love their parents in a sexual way is absolutely ridiculous. The only reason why a kid would want to marry their mom or dad is because they love them and are around them all the time. After a while they grow up and realize they can't really marry their parents and they forget they ever wanted to. Once they get over it, they start hanging around their parent of the same gender because they can associate with them best.
In response to Mariah Melin
I disagree with you when you say that all people are born with animal instincts. I think this is untrue because when you are a baby your mother needs to provide you with shelter, food and so on. I agree with Michael Stocke when he says we learn these instincts, and realize they keep us alive and well. When we are little we are completely clueless that we need food, water, and shelter to survive. All we know is that there is someone providing us with those basic things and we like that.
STACEY HANSON:
I'm going to fix what I realized was ridiculously wrong about my blog. First off after re-reading my blog numerous times, my 3rd and 4th paragraphs are way off base. I have NO clue why I typed it that way. so...
Analyzing, may work for some people, but not for everyone. I think the only way a problem will “go away” is if you talk about it. You don’t necessarily need to pay the large amount of money to go see a professional, you can just talk to someone you trust in. However, in some cases, professionals are needed, as are drugs. In my opinion though, drugs shouldn’t be prescribed as much as they seem to be today. It seems that if we don’t talk about our problems they will eventually come back and haunt us. Opening up, isn’t easy for everyone, but I think it helps a lot.
Seeing a professional isn’t always needed like stated above, but when it is, I think the person attending the therapy has agonized over their problem so much that the concept of being “judged” in a sense isn’t an issue anymore.
Being a therapist today, in my mind, is a controversial thing to be. For someone will always have a problem with you analyzing them. It’s a job that causes arguments among others.
THOSE ARE MY 3RD AND 4TH PARAGRAPHS REVISED
JAYMIE BURT:
Jerry Alder speaks of Freud as though even though he’s dead and gone, and in the past, his ideas have been looked down upon, he’s still present in our 21st century lives. Freud believed in psychoanalysis, or the belief that disease could be cured by talking out ones problems and delving into their inner emotions and repressed fears found in the subconscious. But, Freud also believed in other things such as penis envy, infantile sexuality, and that women were merely incomplete men.
Because of his diverse, and at times utterly wrong ideas, Freud has been denounced and criticized over the course of the last ten decades and is finally visibly beginning to break through. The Freud archive at the Library of Congress has been reopened, 1,500 people now make up the National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis, and a biography of Freud is due to appear just next year.
I don’t completely agree with Freud’s beliefs, but I, however, don’t completely disagree either. For example, nowadays when someone has a problem, they’re automatically pointed at drugs to treat them. I, for one, am against this. I don’t believe that all of life’s problems can be solved with a pill, and just because you’re having a problem doesn’t always mean that there is something wrong with you. Something that is definitely missing from today’s world in the terms of treatment is talking. On the other hand, I realize that unfortunately not all problems and/or symptoms can be cured by talking; there are physical infections and diseases that require specific medications, and in many cases, we’re lucky to have them. Jerry Alder explains that there is experimenting going on with trying to do both - a little talking and a little drug therapy to cure problems. I think that this means we’re at least headed down the right track. This was, in my opinion, one of Freud’s stronger points, and I don’t think that talking should ever be completely ruled out.
I one hundred percent disagree with Freud’s theory that women were incomplete males. This assumption aggravates me, and I think that most anyone today can agree that it is not true. In this day and age, women are pushing for their rights, and we’re all seeking equality, so this piece to the puzzle of Freud is an unmistakable turn off.
On the flip side, Freud also mentions conflict as an incurable disease built into the human condition, and I believe that on this point, he is right. Conflict is something that we all learn from a young age that never goes away. Nothing in life is perfect, so conflict will follow us everywhere. It’s an important thing to know and understand when undergoing any task, yet we all still seem to never find contentment. In many ways, conflict can even make us stronger. Freud’s pointing this out could be helpful to anyone and everyone undergoing any sort of internal problem.
I’m also not very fond of the penis envy theory, though I can’t say that it’s completely wrong. I can see how women may feel inferior or perhaps jealous of a man because women have had fewer rights and been treated as minorities in the past. Though I don’t personally believe myself to be less than any male, I can see how possibly someone would. So, I don’t agree with the theory that every female has penis envy, but I can’t say, as with the situation of women being incomplete men, that it is a hundred percent wrong.
Finally is the belief of infantile sexuality. I can imagine a young child saying they’re going to marry their opposite sex parent because they love them and want to stay in their life forever. However, I believe that it is because they don’t understand marriage and the different types of love, rather than that they are compelled by sexual desire.
No one is perfect and neither was Freud. We all make mistakes, and though not all of his theories were correct, some that were stuck with us and are still helpful today in understanding human nature. I don’t think it’s fair for any one person to judge Freud by saying he’s bad or good, but rather to take what you can from his useful, yet at times controversial, theories, and remember as well as respect that they were and are his.
MICHELLE BENSON:
Alder, in the article “Freud in Our Midst,” asks if Sigmund Freud’s ideas have seen their time or if they still hold water. Apparently, his ideas see opposition from all sides. Feminists attack the penis envy theory, and the majority of America’s disagree with the suggestion small children entertain sexual fantasies. Others also blame Freud for helping women conjure up false memories of abuse from their unconscious. In spite of all that, Freud seems to be making a comeback. A mixed approach is common, combining drugs like Prozac with therapeutic talk sessions. Also, Freud’s core belief, that human life is “essentially conflicted” still remains strong. Alder notes that statistics are on Freud’s side; nearly 20 percent of adult Americans have attended some kind of therapy. Finally, the article concludes by saying that the popularity of Freud’s ideas rise as optimism falls.
Psychoanalysis is a psychological approach Sigmund Freud founded. According to Freud, everyone’s unconscious determines how they will react to different situations. In order to solve the issues those buried memories and feelings can cause, patients need to move past them through talking with a psychologist. Guided introspection (with a therapist) should bring the problems to light. Freud’s theories varied greatly. Among his ideas are the Oedipus complex, transference, repression, the Id/Ego/Super Ego, and his belief that “talking it out” cures people. Finally, he believed human life is in constant conflict.
The fact that human life is in constant conflict appears to be just that: a fact. I agree with this idea, actually, it seems to be Freud’s most widely accepted idea. Repression also makes sense to me, pushing bad experiences into the unconscious seems like common sense; who wants to think about something that causes them pain? Dreams revealing old emotions and beliefs is reasonable, perhaps not all dreams hold secret meanings, but some certainly may. Finally, experiences, for the better or worse, mold young children into the adults they become.
On the opposing side, some of Freud’s ideas don’t make sense to me. I feel penis envy is past its prime. Perhaps in Freud’s day when women did not have the equality we now enjoy it was more applicable. The Id, Ego, Super Ego theory also sparks criticism. Why must an unconscious part of the brain control another? When I make a decision I weigh my options, it may be second nature but it is certainly not unconscious according to Freud’s definition of unconscious when applied to his other theories.
The advantages to psychoanalysis are what make it useful. Discussing with a therapist is a healthier alternative to medication. Even if you don’t feel particularly conflicted, knowing more about yourself and how you work is always a bonus. Also, it helps to explain why people around you act the way they do. Finally, psychologists are guides, if talking with a peer is not enough. Also useful is that all of Freud’s theories push boundaries and expand ideas about different psychology approaches.
Disadvantages to psychoanalysis are fewer than its benefits. It may be that patients are uncomfortable or unwilling to talk with a therapist they don’t know. Sessions are also time consuming and costly, many insurance policies don’t cover therapy. Some people may not like that they might never reach a concrete solution. Psychoanalysis also has yet to be proved by through scientific means.
RUDI SUMMERS:
In the article, "Freud in our Midst", Adler talks about the effects Freud has on modern psychology. He says psychoanalysis is still used by we have tweaked it a bit because society doesn't completely agree with some of his theories.
I agree that talking about your problems is definitely the best way to resolve them. And free word association, in my opinion, is the best way to get what is on one's mind out in the open. Saying the first thing that comes to your mind expresses how you feel very well.
I also partly agree with his idea that children have sexual fantasies. Of course, they aren't graphic like some adults might have but they are sexual to a point. During this time in children's lives, they are trying to figure out what everything is. So, if they see some pda on the street, it might come out in their dreams while they try to figure it out.
I do not agree with Freud's penis envy theory. Women are their own species. They are not "incomplete men".
One advantage to psychoanalysis is talking. As humans, we need to talk. We need to get things off our chest. Talking is a good way to resolve problems that have bothered someone for a while.
A disadvantage is that it is gettting to be very expensive. If you want a good psychologist, you will need to pay big bucks and you have to go back multiple times to get to the root of the problem. Sometimes, it may not even work, meaning the person might as well have thrown thousands of dollars into a fire.
SARA HUDSON
In this article Jerry Alder states that psychoanalysis is still used today, but has been modified from how it originally was. When it first came out, Freud would often times prescribe cocaine for treatment for multiple situations, where as now days the drug prescribed is usually Prozac. Also, people go to talk therapy as well as take medications now days. Today cosmetic surgery has taken the place of people’s status, which used to be analysis. Before, everyone could enjoy it, but now it is only those who can afford it that get to enjoy it.
Much of Freud’s theory talks about that one’s childhood experiences and lifestyle affect directly the type of person they become and how they react to certain things. I agree with this somewhat because if someone is raised by a family who teaches manners and respect, the child is more likely to see this behavior in the family and apply it in their own life. However if someone is raised in a family where they are not important and are abused or treated badly, I do not believe that is the way they will live their life. I also do not believe that they will grow up to be parents like this to their children.
I do not agree with Freud’s theory about the penis envy at all. Women are not incomplete men. Although society does not always accept women doing everything that men can do, it has come a long way and there really isn’t a whole lot that men do and women can’t do anymore. Why should he be one to go against creation and say that women are incomplete? I do not believe this is the case at all.
One of the biggest advantages to psychoanalysis, I believe, is that people can connect with others and often times solve or better understand their problems or issues. I am firm believer that talking through your issues can help to resolve them or at least to handle them better. On the other hand, one of the disadvantages to psychoanalysis is that many people do not feel comfortable talking about their problems and often times refuse to.
SARA HUDSON
In response to Rudi Summers:
I agree with Free Word Association being a good way to express how someone is feeling. I think it is a very accurate study most times and can often bring out emotions that wouldn’t easily come out otherwise.
I do not really agree with the theory that children have sexual dreams. Some children might have slightly sexual dreams, but I do not believe most children have these dreams until they become older, as in pre-teen.
In response to Jaymie Burt:
I totally agree with your believe that not everything in life can be solved with a pill. It seems most times treatments are all sorts of medications when it is not always the case. Sometimes the necessary treatment is much less than just a prescription drug, and sometimes it is much more.
ROCHELLE LENTZ
In response to:
Micheal Stocke- I agree with you that children are shaped in the first five years of their life, to an extent. I do not think that a person's first five years are going to determine whether any really serious problems arise when they're in their thirties. So many traumatic evensts or life-changing events can happen after one is five years old, that I believe mold a person's personality just as much.
Jaymie Burt-I am in complete agreement with you about why children feel they want to marry their parents. I know that many people will probably believe the Oedipus complex because they wanted to marry their parents when they were younger. But, like you said, I think that this is just a misunderstanding of love and what it means to marry someone, not because you sexually desire them.
TIM GROVER
in response to CARL
I agree with you about the Oedipus complex and that children do no not have the comprehension to really understand true love. Sure, a child has no realization about sex or what love really is, but you have to think about the situation. Can we really be 100% sure of this? My conscious memory starts at about 4 years old, and it is not extremely clear. I remember bits and pieces of things. I don't remember ever wanting to marry my mother, but that doesn't mean that I didn't. Our recollection of our early childhood is based on others' memories. The problem with that is the fact that they didn't know what we were thinking. Did we tell them everything? Most likely yes. But can we be sure? Only we knew our thoughts, but we can't remember them. How can we really be sure that the Oedipus complex is completely false?
GINA STERK:
In his article, “Freud is Not Dead,” Jerry Adler discusses the theories of Sigmund Freud. Freud believed that everyone has an “unconscious,” and he based the therapy known as psychoanalysis, which he created, off of that theory. Freud’s theory of the unconscious, which was considered the core of his entire reputation, stated that there is a realm of a person’s mind that they aren’t aware of. Bad events that happen during a person’s childhood are repressed into their unconscious, but they may resurface later on in the form of psychological disorders. The unconscious may also reveal itself through a person’s dreams and uncensored speech (such as when a person takes a free-word association test).
According to the article, the existence of an unconscious has been debated because it is nearly impossible to prove or disprove. Whether or not mental illness can be traced back to childhood conflicts is also debatable; however, 30% of Americans say that it isn’t.
Freud felt that much of a person’s character was determined by their childhood experiences. I would both agree and disagree with that statement; I think it depends. For example, if something horrible were to happen to you as a child, it would make sense that you may repress it, but that the memory would still exist, and that it could return to you later in life in the form of a psychological problem. However, I also think it’s unfair to say that those who experience cruddy childhoods are sentenced to a “messed up” life, because that is certainly not always the case. Also, I would disagree with Freud that our childhood determines who we are because I think human beings are too complicated to have their personalities determined solely by what happens to them as a five-year-old.
After developing his theory of the unconscious, Freud developed a therapy that is known as psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis addresses psychological problems by talking them over with a professional. The article discussed that psychoanalysis has been widely criticized because it hasn’t been proven effective; it has no biological basis. Psychoanalysis is not nearly as popular today as psychology is, which is possibly due to the fact that many people today don’t seem to agree with many of Freud’s ideas. Also, psychoanalysis is considered a time-consuming and expensive luxury; people have lost their confidence in it.
Psychoanalysis has both advantages and disadvantages to it. I really don’t know how to take sides either way on the issue of how to treat psychological disorders, because I just don’t see how any single solution could possibly solve all. I feel that psychoanalysis may work for some instances but not for others, depending on the person’s problem. However, in general, I would say that for a majority of cases, a combination of drug and talk therapy would work best. However, once again, it depends on the individual.
Although psychoanalysis may be useful in identifying problems one may have repressed, the theory behind it suggests that the origin of our problems come from places in our mind that we aren’t aware of. Even if that statement is true, I think that if you look at a situation from the standpoint that it’s out of your control, it becomes much more difficult to deal with.
Aside from psychoanalysis, several other theories of Freud’s haven’t held up well. For example, Freud said that young children have sexual fantasy lives; today very few people seem to agree with that statement. I also would argue that unless there’s scientific proof, that theory doesn’t really make any sense. Another theory of Freud’s that has received much opposition is the penis envy theory, which states that women are incomplete men. That is obvious not something that I agree with, and I don’t think, for the most part, that anyone does. Again, it doesn’t make sense and is offensive to women.
Today, Freud may not be considered a scientist as much as a philosopher, but he did manage to revolutionize the world of modern psychology and created a new way of thinking that had never been used before. Obviously, we’re still talking about him. Since Freud derived his theories and thoughts from his own life experiences, I think that even if some of it doesn’t make sense—like the penis envy theory—it probably made good sense to him for some reason or another.
In the article, Freud was described as being “intoxicated with the voyage of inward discovery,” and I think that “inward discovery” is a very important journey to undergo. Freud felt that by listening carefully to someone, you can get a lot of insight into what’s going on in their life. Even if you disagree with all Freud’s theories, I really don’t see how anyone could disagree with that concept. As human beings, we can never talk or listen to each other too much; it is vital to our survival. If you disagree with all other theories of Freud’s, I hope you at least agree that that theory will always hold great value.
HANNAH AHLBERG
In the article about Freud, Jerry Adler is saying that psychoanalysis is still in use to day but it has been altered and changed to fit our culture now. Instead of just “going to the couch” like before people are now mixing things like drug therapy as well. Patients are using talk therapy but are also being prescribed drugs. In some cases however analysis by itself would work just as well if not better. Psychoanalysis was the cosmetic surgery of its time and now with a big thank you to reluctant insurance companies it is a valued luxury for those who have the time and money.
One of Freud’s theories is that any disease can be cure with simple recollection and reflection. I completely disagree with this theory. Yes if we have a headache we can “wish it away” every now and then but what about things like cancer, AIDs, and diabetes. These diseases are not caused by things we repress or are traumatized by in our pasts and therefore can not be cured with remembrance.
Another one of Freud’s theories that I disagree with is the penis envy theory. Women are not incomplete men, and not every woman envies the power men have. Yes there are times that I think in some aspects men have things easier because they have more control over things in our nation, but that does not mean that women are helpless and will never accomplish anything. There are many women that accomplished many things on their case in point: Hilary Clinton granted she didn’t win the nomination or even the election for that matter but she was the first woman in the history of the US to run for the President of the United States.
The Oedipus complex is one of Freud’s theories that to an extent I agree with. Let me say right now that I don’t believe that you desire to have sex with your parent. That is not what I am saying nor will I ever say that. However when we are children we tend to be mamma’s boys and daddy’s girls, there seems to be a stronger connection between a child and their parent of the opposite sex. This is not saying that you don’t have a strong connection with that other parent but we tend to attached at the hip with the first for however long this phase lasts. I know that when I was younger I would tell my dad that I was going to marry him and my brother did the same thing with my mother.
Ryan McEachern
In Response to Margaret
When reading your blog I agreed with some things and disagreed with others. For instance, I agree with your view on the penis envy theory. Women are not imcomplete men they are just different people. Although Freud was a brilliant person he certainly screwed up when he wrote this theory.
In contrast, I disagree with the fact that children don't have sexual thoughts. It is disgusting to think about, but that does not meant they don't have those feelings. Freud had some very strange theories but some were very useful. Although people didn't like what they heard they still should take into account what he said.
Connor Hady:
In response to Chad Mozel
I agree with you about how the first five years are most important in shaping our lives. I think this because this is when we learn all of our basic functions in life, and also our parents teach us the difference between what is right and what is wrong. If our parents do not make these destinctions between right and wrong then it will most likely shape us into a person with little morals and values. I think it is very important for parents to get involved and make sure there kids understand the important things in life or else they could be shaped in to immoral people.
Ryan McEachern
In Response to Michael Stocke
Most of what you said I agree with. For instance, Freuds theories are incredibly complex. People are still using them to find their own theories. Also I agree that that how we act is based upon our unconcious. We may think we are making our own decisions, but really, the decisions are based upon our unconscious.
Later in your blog you talk about how Freuds theories are too complex for some people. Psychoanalysis doesn't work for some people because they are afraid to talk about their feelings. If we all shared our thoughts with a therapist we would be better off.
Jerry Alder has concluded that psychoanalysis is still being used, but has been altered in ways since Freud. With the talking part of the analysis, people are now using drug therapy and sometimes even the lost Freudian art of hypnosis. It was said that some people react better with the drug therapy, some better to the hypnosis, and some just straight up say it doesn’t work for them.
Alder says one of the reasons for drug therapy is that it is a quick way out of our feelings that we simply just have no time to talk about, due to the fact we want to be/look like perfect people and keep all out feelings kept up inside of us. I agree with the drug therapy. People don’t want to take the time to pay for costly therapy sessions just so someone can look "deeper" into them to find a hidden problem. Most people don’t want to uncover the problem; they just want to be rid of it.
To some point I believe Freud’s ideas were useful. In terms of being in a constant conflict, and how these can be revealed by our unconscious, I think that by talking to the right people who are asking the right things, we can further dig into our unconscious and discover past problems.
I disagree with the penis envy theory, because women are NOT incomplete men, they are simply different then us and that’s that.
I think Freud’s ideas about early development are all mostly correct. However, I don’t think that he gave a perfect explanation of later problems, nor do I think he was trying to. I think he merely established his first five years theory to give an outline or understanding of a possible reason for problems that come later in life. Of course it could be a reason, but it doesn't necessarily have to be.
As awkward as it is to say and discuss, I agree with Freud's beleif that kids have sexual thoughts. Its hard to think about but just becuase its a touchy topic, doesn't mean kids dont have those feelings.
Another one of freud's theories was that we can cure disease with reflecting and recollecting on the past. I disagree with this because we already know that there are many diseases that cannot be rid of by simply trying to find and unmask there origins.
Lastly, I somewhat agree with Freud's Oedipus complex. I agree with it in terms of the fact that I have seen kids who say they want to marry their parent and look up to them and love them. Hell, I've even experianced the complex when i was a kid. However, it cannot be 100% correct becuase although a kid may say they love their parent, a child cannot feel true love at such a young age. Hense, the reason i think the Oedipus complex is just an explanation of a PHASE in ones life.
Zach Schade
Jerry Alder has concluded that psychoanalysis is still being used, but has been altered in ways since Freud. With the talking part of the analysis, people are now using drug therapy and sometimes even the lost Freudian art of hypnosis. It was said that some people react better with the drug therapy, some better to the hypnosis, and some just straight up say it doesn’t work for them.
Alder says one of the reasons for drug therapy is that it is a quick way out of our feelings that we simply just have no time to talk about, due to the fact we want to be/look like perfect people and keep all out feelings kept up inside of us. I agree with the drug therapy. People don’t want to take the time to pay for costly therapy sessions just so someone can look "deeper" into them to find a hidden problem. Most people don’t want to uncover the problem; they just want to be rid of it.
To some point I believe Freud’s ideas were useful. In terms of being in a constant conflict, and how these can be revealed by our unconscious, I think that by talking to the right people who are asking the right things, we can further dig into our unconscious and discover past problems.
I disagree with the penis envy theory, because women are NOT incomplete men, they are simply different then us and that’s that.
I think Freud’s ideas about early development are all mostly correct. However, I don’t think that he gave a perfect explanation of later problems, nor do I think he was trying to. I think he merely established his first five years theory to give an outline or understanding of a possible reason for problems that come later in life. Of course it could be a reason, but it doesn't necessarily have to be.
As awkward as it is to say and discuss, I agree with Freud's beleif that kids have sexual thoughts. Its hard to think about but just becuase its a touchy topic, doesn't mean kids dont have those feelings.
Another one of freud's theories was that we can cure disease with reflecting and recollecting on the past. I disagree with this because we already know that there are many diseases that cannot be rid of by simply trying to find and unmask there origins.
Lastly, I somewhat agree with Freud's Oedipus complex. I agree with it in terms of the fact that I have seen kids who say they want to marry their parent and look up to them and love them. Hell, I've even experianced the complex when i was a kid. However, it cannot be 100% correct becuase although a kid may say they love their parent, a child cannot feel true love at such a young age. Hense, the reason i think the Oedipus complex is just an explanation of a PHASE in ones life.
Zach Schade
In response to Colten Z.,
I agree with almost all aspects of your response.
Zach Schade
In response to Margaret
I disagree with your view on the sexual thoughts of kids. Even though its a gross topic and weird to confront, kids have sexual thoughts and feelings and its a totally normal thing.
However, i completely agree with your outlook on the Penis envy theory. Women are definately NOT incomplete men, they were just made a bit differently (not for better or for worse) and thats it!
Margaret Tierney
In response to FAITH-
I see where you are coming from but I disagree. I think that the reason children may seek out a person dimilar to their parent of the opposite sex to have a relationship is because it is what they are familiar with. When people who are abused as children end up in abusive relationships themselves, i think it is because they think that it is normal because that is what life was like for them throughout their childhood, so abuse is something they are already familiar with. I don't think that it is because they had sexual fantasies about their parent of the oppostie sex.
Margaret Tierney
In response to RYAN and ZACH-
I see where you guys are coming from, but i disagree. I don't think young children have sexual fantasies about their parent of the opposite sex. I think that children say they want to marry their parent because they love thier parents but young children don't understand the difference between the love between family members and friends and romantic love so they think they want to marry their parent. I think that as children age they learn to differenciate between these two types of loves and develop sexual fantasies, but i think that very young children only love their parents in an non-romantic way.
Lauren Scott
In this article Jerry Adler discusses that maybe Psychcoanalysis isn't the way to go. Psychoanalysis is the theory Freud came up with for studying the unconcious by talking out your prblems. As they say in the article "going to the couch". Freud believed that if we have had troubles in the past, we sometimes repress them into the unconcious. And we bring this out in our actions, uncensored thoughts, and sometimes disabilities. Jerry Adler says that Psychoanalysis is becoming less popular. Instead they are using drugs to treat people. People have been doubting Freud saying that though some of his theorys like psychoanalysis make sense, they cannot be proven.
I agree with his theory in the fact that i do believe it brings out the unconcious. But as I have observed, this only seems to work in certain cases and those cases are rarer than others. It can not be proven so it is hard to think highly of this theory. If Freud's throy is incorrect, he has led us on the right path to figuring out the unconcious and how we cope with our problems.
I agree with Freud's theory on the five steps we go through from childhood to adult. The most controversial of these to me is the Oedipus complex. I agree that we have sexual feelings for our parents no matter how hard we try not to. Yet the part that says when we figure out this is wrong, we reach for the parent of the same sex. I believe that we feel unconditional love for our parents, and though we feel grossed out by our thoughts, it doesn't determine which parent we prefer. We learn to live and love both of them in an equal way.
Being a woman I believe that we are definately not incomplete. We can stand up for ourselves and are just as capable as they are. As they said in the article, others seem to strongly disagree with Freud's theory.
Lauren Scott
in response to Amber Steinert:
I agree with you on the drugs. People seem to think that that is the only way to get rid of their problems. That is why the Placebo affect works so well. People trust drugs too much. Yet i believe that if you are having an extreme amount of problems, a therapist is a good idea. Not everything can be solved with Meds. I also agree with your thought that we can't always open up to complete strangers. Seeing a Therapist might just make things worse for that person and make them repress their memories more. And that definately does not help the person out.
Lauren Scott
In response to Rudi Summers
I agree with you on the oedipus complex. Children do have some sexual fantisies but they have not been exposed to enough sexual information to be as graphic as people think when they here sexual fantasy. They may feel a physical attraction but not much more.
I partially disagree with your thought on Free Word. To me it can only work in certain situations. I don't think it is greatly effective but can work in some cases.
MEGAN MULLEN
In response to Megan Snyder:
I completely agree with the fact that people should just be able to talk about their problems, rather than use drugs. I also agree that people want their problems to go away quickly, whereas psychoanalysis takes a lot of time.
In response to Rudi Summers:
I absolutely disagree that children have sexual fantasies. Children don't even know what that is at that point in there life. Dreams come from problems or situations in your life, and I don't understand how children could have problems with sex, when they don't have a clue what the subject is even about.
MICHELLE BENSON
in response to WHITNEY WALKER:
You make a very good point when disputing the penis envy theory - if women were indeed men without penises, we wouldnt be able to bear children, nor would we have breasts or different body shapes.
in response to most people's discussion on young children's sexual fantasies:
I think you are going too far with your interpretation of "sexual fanasty." It seems to me that adult fanasties and child fanasies would differ because young children have nothing to base truely sexual fantasies on. Perhaps kids are having fantasies, but not to the extent of what most people seem to be discussing.
AMBER STEINERT:
RESPONSE TO LAUREN:
I totally agree with the women not being complete. We are our own people and not really related men in that sense. YES! WE ARE TOTALLY JUST AS CAPABLE AS THEM! There is no reason to believe we aren't.
Also, for the most part, I agree with your agreement to Freud's five steps of childhood to adulthood. I partly disagree with the sexual references to parents. I've pretty much always known that being with my father and marrying him isn't possible. Though I do know that other's have wanted to marry the opposite sex, which in some sense, does make sense. But I do agree 100% on loving both our parents equally, you don't love one more than the other unless you have a reason behind it from your childhood. I also agree with reaching for both parents instead of just one. You look up to both just as equally.
TO YOUR RESPONSE ON MY RESPONSE:
Yes a therapist is a good idea. People depend on drugs way too much, but then again therapy may help along with drugs if they are the correct drugs or Placebo.
CARL VAGLE:
In response to...
Morgan Reno:
I agree with you in the fact that women are not incomplete men. It is outrageous to think something like that to be true.
Connor Hady:
I agree that is really ridiculous to think something like that
Steph Thun
In Response to Hannah Ahlberg
Hannah I understand that you disagree that women are incomplete men, the way it sounds is degrading. I believe, that Freud was not trying to limit women but rather say what society portrays. Look at the world, men have the upper hand in most situations thus proving Freud’s statement correct. If you read it, you will notice that Freud is not limiting the potential of women. Also, Freud does not state that ALL women will envy men. Finally, Freud does not say that women are helpless he simply points out that men have advantages over women. In the end, I agree that women are, for the most part, not less than men, but I think that some of your accusations are unfair.
KELSEY YOKI
In response to Faith Donovan:
I do feel, from personal experience, that talking to someone helps in many cases. You just have to go enough and talk to them enough for them to see what is going on. It is their job to help you. But if problems are not getting resolved with that, there may be an underlying illness that is taking place. I realize that just talking cannot heal everything.
In response to Morgan Reno:
You talked about the disadvantages and about shy people. I feel that some may be shy, but if they know that a certain person is going to try to help them with the issues they are having, then they will be more open. The shyness might just come in because of the situation and they don't know how to deal with it.
In response to Jade Lendacky:
I agree with most all of what you said in your blog comment. Ha, it's almost like we have the same mind. I've learned that too. That I can hold so much in, but then I just explode.
In response to Mary Tierney:
Obviously talking is not going to help disease like AIDS and Malaria. But this sort of theory is talking about how you deal with things, as in mentally. So yes, I feel that talking works for mental issues. But for AIDS, a different doctor is probably needed...
In response to Stacy Hanson:
As you said, no one knows you better than yourself. And I agree with that 100%. I do not know if you know from personal experience, but talking does help. I do know, and they say or imply that they do know you better than yourself. They are just simply trying to help what is going on in your life...
In response to Whitney Walker:
Agreed 100% with what you said. Especially about the whole "penis envy" thing. Bringing up the whole childbearing fact was a good call. And totally true.
JAYMIE BURT:
In response to Hannah Ahlberg:
I agree wholeheartedly with your comments on the Oedipus complex. I think that being a “mamma’s boy” or “daddy’s girl” is a great point to bring up because they’re terms that we’ve all heard used before, if not used them ourselves. I think that it adds a modern day perspective to Freud’s theory and also disagree with infantile sexuality as I stated in my initial blog.
In response to Gina Sterk:
I agree one hundred percent with your belief that our personalities are not determined solely by what happens to us before we are five years old. I can see how people are in many ways defined by their past and will obtain certain characteristics from their previous experiences, but I find it hard to believe that once you turn, say seven, the things that happen to you won’t affect your personality, or that it is already set in stone.
However, I somewhat disagree with your views on the penis envy theory. Of course I don’t believe that women are incomplete men, or that all women wish they were men, but I can see how some may feel belittled, especially in the past when women took on lower roles than men in society and were categorized as such, so can’t totally agree with your stating that it simply “doesn’t make sense.”
Colten Z:
I've also been through a couple divorces, and yes, talking through it helps A TON. Even though it's still hard. It's good to get things off your shoulders.
Shelly Benson:
I agree that the whole children having 'sexual fantasies' is being misinterpreted. Like I said in one of my other responses, children might see sexual things, but not the sort that adults are exposed to. As I said, probably more like kissing. lol.
Samantha Kallberg
In response to Jade
I understand what you are saying, and I totally agree with you. I guess when I wrote about children having sexual fantasies I didn't make myself clear. What I ment to say is children have sexual fantasies but don't understand what they are. But I understand what you are saying, and I agree with you.
Samantha Kallberg
Faith
I do not agree with your view on talking to somebody about your problem(s). I think it depends on if you talk to the right person about your problem. Now this person doesn't have to be a professional. I also believe if the person you talked to couldn't help you, you still didn't bottle your problem(s) up inside, until you burst. Therefore, I believe talking to somebody about your problem(s) helps.
Whitney Walker:
In response to Jade..
I agree with what you said about talking out an issue, and how much just that can benefit your well being mentally. It's really important for us to open up when we're struggling, as long as it's with the right person.
In response to Chelsea Cossin..
I agree with most of what you say, except when you talk about Freud's idea that just talking can prevent a disease. In his time, there really weren't diseases like AIDS being spread. What I think he was referring to was mental diseases or psychological disorders that he believed could be prevented by simply letting out those disturbed thoughts or emotions.
LINDSEY ENVALL
In RESPONSE TO LAURNEN SCOTT:
I totally agree with your idea on the Oedipus complex. Every child feel unconditional love for each of their parents, and lives/deals with them in the same way...unless your relationship is scarred in some way.
In Response to Jaymie Burt:
I agree with you on how these days there seems to be a pill for every problem. This just seems stupid to me because if you have a certain mental disorder and you have to take medicine for it, wont it make you feel worse about yourself having to take a pill for it...making it more obvious that there is something wrong with you. In my opinion, I believe that the best thing to do in any situation is to talk it out. Whether you are having problems with another person, or are just struggling with life in general, having someone to bounce your thoughts off helps.
Responding to:
Faith-
I don't quite understand what you mean in your post. You say that talking about your problems doesn't help because you didn't get solutions from people. I think you're missing the point of talking about your problems. The object isn't always to get a solution, just simply letting others know how you feel can lift a huge weight off your shoulders.
Connor-
You are 100% right about guys not wanting to share their feelings. It is not very natural for men to do this as society has told us not to do so. This is a gender barrier that the psychologist must find a way to break, because most guys, me included are reluctant to talk about how they feel.
In Response to Colten:
As a person who has gone through a divorce myself, I agree that talking really helps. I talked to my friends about it a lot and it really helped to ease the pain of not seeing my dad nearly as often.
KELLY GUSTOFSON:
In response to Rudi Summers: I agree with your comment about talking about your problems, and that if you're problems can be fixed by just talking, that’s way better, than trying to take pills to fix the problem, when really all it's doing is masking the problem. Also I agree 100% with you comment about children having sexual fantasies. I never thought about them seeing something like PDA, and having that teaching them until you said it, and that is such a true statement.
In response to Hannah Ahlberg: I half agree with what you said about how you can't cure any disease just by "wishing it away." No, they aren't going to just be gone, but even with the more serious conditions, there are studies that show when you have a positive mental attitude about the whole thing, you can help yourself drastically.
In response to Stacy Hanson: I thought it was a really good comment how you said no one knows you better than yourself. However, some problems are bigger than we can handle, and need the help of a professional. I also agreed with you when you said we as humans are 99% conflicted, because no matter how much we'd like to think otherwise, there is always something, whether its on the surface or in our subconscious.
Gina Sterk:
In response to Hannah Ahlberg: I think you bring up a very good point by saying that disease oftentimes cannot be "wished away," such as with the examples you brought up of AIDS, diabetes, and cancer. However, I also think that Freud's idea was referring more to psychological disease. Mental illness still may or may not be treatable with drugs, that's debateable. I think some psychological issues may be able to be resolved through talk, depending on the person. However, overall, I would definitely agree with you; deeply-rooted problems simply can't ever be wished completely away.
You also mentioned that you think young children tend to bond more with parents of their opposite-sex. You mentioned that as a child, you would tell your dad that you would marry him, so I understand why you agree with that theory. However, I think--and this is just based on my personal experience--that a person is still more likely to bond with their same-sex parent. Also, although I wasn't totally sure whether you were making this argument or not, I don't agree that they are actually attracted to that parent or having sexual fantasies about them.
Gina Sterk:
In response to Jaymie Burt: It sounds like you are against turning to drugs to solve problems. In fact, you mentioned that, "not all of life's problems can be solved with a pill." I personally agree and disagree with you. It's obviously essential that as human beings, we develop coping mechanisms for dealing with our problems besides rushing to the latest drug prescriptions. However, I don't think using drugs is necessarily something you should be opposed to. If a person is suffering because of chemical imbalances in their brain, which could be greatly improved through drug therapy, I think it would be a good option for them to consider. However, I also agree that issues need to be discussed as well, not just given medicine and left to heal alone.
You also mentioned Freud's discussion of conflict. I get the impression that you consider conflict a necessary part of everyone's life, and I completely agree. Conflict that doesn't break a person WILL make them stronger, and Freud wasn't off-base when he suggested that as human beings, we all undergo difficulties.
ELLEN FOLMAN
In the article, "Freud is Not Dead," Jerry Adler discusses how psychoanalysis has been altered from the beginning until now. Adler says that people have begun adding to psychoanalysis by using drug therapy. Some use drug therapy by itself, while others combine it with psychoanalysis. Adler thinks that drug therapy is more commonly used today for many reasons including insurance companies may be hesitant to pay for psychoanalysis therapies, and because people no longer have the time to spend explaining their thoughts.
Freud's theory of psychoanalysis is observations of a patient and listening to explanations of their thoughts.
Freud also believed that young children have a sexual fantasy life, women view themselves as incomplete men, and that young children fall in love with their opposite-sexed parent.
I agree with Freud's theory on psychoanalysis. I think that if someone talks to you for a long enough period of time, that you will have a good chance of getting to the deeper problem. The longer a person talks, the more feelings and thoughts they will express. I also think that psychoanalysis is a better alternative to drug therapy. Drug therapy may seem like a good choice, but it is only a quick fix to the problem. Drug therapy will only take care of the problem for so long and eventually the deeper issue will surface.
I do not agree with Freud's theory that women view themselves as incomplete men. In society, men are usually seen as the "leaders" and because of this, Freud thinks that women are envious. I think that women are not jealous of men's power, but frustrated or overwhelmed at times.
I also do not agree with Freud's theory that young children have a sexual fantasy life. I think that young children should not have the sexual knowledge to have sexual fantasies, and that they should not be exposed to anything sexual.
IN RESPONSE TO:
Lauren Scott:
I totally agree with what you had to say concerning psychoanalysis. I also believe that it can help bring out the unconscious and it may only work in certain cases. Also, I think that you are right when you said that even if Freud's theory in incorrect, it has lead us on the right path to figuring out the unconscious.
ELLEN FOLMAN
In the article, "Freud is Not Dead," Jerry Adler discusses how psychoanalysis has been altered from the beginning until now. Adler says that people have begun adding to psychoanalysis by using drug therapy. Some use drug therapy by itself, while others combine it with psychoanalysis. Adler thinks that drug therapy is more commonly used today for many reasons including insurance companies may be hesitant to pay for psychoanalysis therapies, and because people no longer have the time to spend explaining their thoughts.
Freud's theory of psychoanalysis is observations of a patient and listening to explanations of their thoughts.
Freud also believed that young children have a sexual fantasy life, women view themselves as incomplete men, and that young children fall in love with their opposite-sexed parent.
I agree with Freud's theory on psychoanalysis. I think that if someone talks to you for a long enough period of time, that you will have a good chance of getting to the deeper problem. The longer a person talks, the more feelings and thoughts they will express. I also think that psychoanalysis is a better alternative to drug therapy. Drug therapy may seem like a good choice, but it is only a quick fix to the problem. Drug therapy will only take care of the problem for so long and eventually the deeper issue will surface.
I do not agree with Freud's theory that women view themselves as incomplete men. In society, men are usually seen as the "leaders" and because of this, Freud thinks that women are envious. I think that women are not jealous of men's power, but frustrated or overwhelmed at times.
I also do not agree with Freud's theory that young children have a sexual fantasy life. I think that young children should not have the sexual knowledge to have sexual fantasies, and that they should not be exposed to anything sexual.
IN RESPONSE TO:
Lauren Scott:
I totally agree with what you had to say concerning psychoanalysis. I also believe that it can help bring out the unconscious and it may only work in certain cases. Also, I think that you are right when you said that even if Freud's theory in incorrect, it has lead us on the right path to figuring out the unconscious.
HANNAH AHLBERG
responses to comments about my post
to STEPH THUN
I understand what you are saying and I guess that should have been more clear that I was comming from the feminist arrguments within the artical. I do understand that Freud is not saying that every women "suffers" from penis envy and I should have been more understanding of that side of the arrgument.
to Jaymie Burt
Thanks thats kind of what i was going for.
to Kelly Gustofson
You are completly right. Studies have shown that and I also believe that. Thank you for bringing that up.
to Gina Sterk
Yes I am speaking from personal experience and I think the majority of us are right now. I guess it is different for each parent who you are closer to and I am not saying you can't be closer to both, but our society has created the terms "mamma's boy" and "daddy's girl" to define some peoples' relationships with thier parents. Also I might not have stated it clearly but I am stronly opposed to the infantile sexuality theory. I do not believe that children are attracted to and or have sexual fantasies about thier parents. I do believe that we have a strong infatuation for that parent. I also think that you grow out of it once you begin to understand how true relationships work.(after you are a toddler)
CLAIRE GIBBONS:
Jerry Alder describes that despite the society’s regular disapproval of Freud and his theory of psychoanalysis, it is becoming more prevalent in our 21st century culture. For the past few decades, psychoanalysis has been replaced by more modern theories of therapy and treatment, especially drug therapy. Freud’s theories had been locked away – literally; the National Library of Congress just recently released his books back into the archives for scholars. Even though psychoanalysis and Freud’s other theories generally aren’t supported by the community, people are now giving it a chance.
As discussed in the article, Freud strongly believed in infantile sexuality, penis envy, and talking rather than drug therapy. Personally, I think that a lot of his ideas don’t really make sense, but there is some credibility behind them.
For example, infantile sexuality involves young children and the idea that they have sexual fantasies. This also incorporates the Oedipus complex, where children want to marry their parents. I think parts of this theory are true while others are not. If infants have sexual fantasies or not, who are we to really know? I myself don’t believe that children are simply born with images of these things in their mind, but I can grasp pieces of the Oedipus complex. Children are often heard saying that they want to marry their parent of the opposite sex. When we are younger and don’t understand marriage, we may see our parents, who love each other and are married, and we want to show our parents we love them the same way. It takes experience to understand that we cannot marry our own parents. I definitely don’t think that children have sexual impulses until they learn this from their surroundings.
Penis envy seems ridiculous to me. Women may want control like men, but in our society today, they can have power and don’t need to be envious. I understand how a woman could want to have some qualities of a man, but I don’t support the theory of penis envy. It seems silly to think that a woman would, so it seems, envy a man’s penis when they could just as easily obtain the control and power themselves.
The conflict between drug therapy and talking is interwoven and complicated. It is hard to know which situations require drugs and which simply need psychoanalysis-like therapy. Personally, I think that most psychological problems can be solved with talking alone and not even necessarily from a professional. I’ve found from past experiences that only talking with a friend helps immensely. I can say that there could be certain instances where drugs are required, but I don’t think that they should be used in all situations.
HANNAH AHLBERG
in response to ELLEN FOLMAN
I completly agree with what you are saying about the penis envy theory. Women get frustrated and overwhelmed it happens it doesn't mean we wish we were men.
ELLEN KUECHLE:
In response to Samantha Kallberg:
I agree with you when you said that children don't know what sexual fantasies are,therefore, they do not understand why they want to marry the parent of the opposite sex.
CLAIRE GIBBONS:
In response to ELLEN FOLMAN:
I completely agree with your take on drug therapy. In my opinion, drug therapy is administered too often. And besides, just because a person has an issue doesn’t mean that there is really something physically wrong with them. They just need to talk it out and find a solution, not a quick fix as you said.
In response to GINA STERK:
You are right without a doubt about childhood not necessarily having to affect your future. People who have terrible things happen to them as a child can grow up and be just like anyone else. It may be a difficult feat to overcome the traumatic events, but it’s not impossible. Also, people with perfectly fine childhoods don’t always mature to be great people. It goes both ways.
Jessica Muehlbauer
..In response to Sam Ruberg
Sam, I also fully believe in the Phallic stage. I have witnessed it first hand in family. However, I feel Freud was not only talking about this particular part, but that he actually believed that children had "sexual" fanatasies. I believe this has to do with how he felt based on his childhood experiences with sexuality. I do believe in children loving their parent innocently, but the way he stated it makes me question his theory. Therefore, I disagree.
In response to Claire Gibbons...
I agree on your thoughts on Penis envy theory. I find it absurd to think that a woman would be envious of a man's power, simply because of his sex. Women today have just as much of a chance to be successful and there would be no need to want to change your sexual orientation in order to achieve power.
In response to Michelle Benson...
I agree with how you feel that therapy is a better alternative to drugs. I agree with you completley. Too many people today are dependent on drugs, and I feel this is at a all time high. However, with more serious cases, you obviously can't wish away terminal cancers with a therapist.
ROCHELLE LENTZ
In response to Ellen F. :
You make a very good point in saying that psychoanalysis is slightly more effective than drug therapy. I think that people take drugs so that they feel that they are in control. If they need to talk to a therapist, this makes them have a feeling of helplessness. But, like you mentioned, the drugs will only get rid of the symptoms, not the problem.
KELLY GUSTOFSON:
In response to Ellen Folman: I agree 100% with you on saying that talking to someone long enough will get to the deeper problem. And you are right, drugs are only going to mask the real problem for so long.
In response to Claire Gibbons: I don't agree with you when you say "there are certain instances where drugs are required." What's going to happen to those American's who think drug therapy is everything, when we can't make a drug for a certain problem, or the drugs stop working all together?
JAYMIE BURT:
In response to Lindsey Envall’s response to me:
I get what you’re saying about being able to have someone to bounce your thoughts off of. Even in cases of just talking out problems with parents or friends, this can be extremely helpful. As far as the medication goes, I also don’t agree with diagnosing certain “conditions” especially at young ages, because not only may you feel there is something wrong with you, you may feel that you can never actually beat it. Medications are sometimes necessary, but it’s hard to support ones that cure your symptoms without fixing the actual problem.
MORGAN RENO
IN RESPONSE TO KELSEY'S COMMENT
That's a good point now that you mention it. I can see how shy people may open up in attempt to fix their problems. I guess I really never thought about it like that, but I still think it is somewhat true and a disadvantage.
ELLEN FOLMAN
IN RESPONSE TO:
Claire Gibbons
Thank you for your comments about my opinion of drug therapy. You understood what I was trying to say about drug therapy being administered too often and how it will not get to the deeper meaning of the problem.
You also make a good point about how children's love for the opposite sexed parent may sound ridiculous, but there are parts of it which make sense.
Mr. Andrew Motley
In response to JEFFREY COTTRELL:
Jeff-rah, I hate to pick on you bud but I have to get this out of my system.
I agree with you when you say that "He [Freud] believed that how we will end up in life is set in our first 5 years of living. These first 5 years are a very important section of out lives." However, it seems like Freud put extra emphasis on this whole "5 years old" topic when he talks about how we are shaped when we are young. But hey, I ask you this; doesn't it make sense that our whole entire life determines who we are at the end of the day? I understand when Freud talks about how we behave when we're young effects us as mature adults when we grow up. I just can't help but to argue that it's much more than just those first 5 crucial years of life that shape us as beings. Sure, most of our behavioral learning happens when we are iddy-biddy toddlers, but doesn't that whole period of time between elementary school and college really add the meat to our unique ensemble? Maybe it's just me. I think high school in itself is a huge barrier that helps to defines us as people, rather than just the first 5 years of our lives. By the way, who sets the age limit on behavioral learning? Why 5? If anyone has an answer or two i would be more than willing to listen to what you have to say.
In response to ANDREW SAMBERG:
Sam-ram, no offense dude, but you kind of worded your comment to make it sound like women hardly compare to men. That's what I got out of reading it at least. In your disagreements paragraph, you say, "The penis theory is something I believe is completely wrong. Women are more than incomplete men. Women are just as capable of solving problems as men are." I more than agree with you bud. However, (I'm a jerk) it seems to me like when you say that women are "just" as capable of solving problems that you mean they barely equal to men. You sort of make it sound like we are the superior sex, when actually, there is no superior sex. We, both men and women, share everything as one. Women are indeed more than capable of solving problems. Just had to point that out.
MY NAME IS JEFF COTTRELL____HERE'S TO YOU ANDREW
Well Dr. Motley... I wasn't saying every little piece of our personality, and every move we make for the rest of our lives will be made in those first 5 years...or 2...or 3 or 4 or 6... I was aiming more at what we will learn, and our basic behavioral learning for the future. I know it is just a saying, but I would love to be an ass..so when you say, "...doesn't it make sense that our whole entire life determines who we are at the end of the day?" To my current knowledge, many days went by in your life. I would really love to know which day your are exactly talking about? hahahaha. And yes, I am very sure you learn stuff in college and elementary school. But regardless there is deffinetly some meat added there. Which were you referring to?...Pork, Venison, or just plain Beef? Yes, High School may truly define our character, but what would you be doing if you bypassed the first "5" years of your life. I'm guessing if you had no knoweldge and started from scratch (and no cheating, you didn't learn it later on) what would you be doing. You wouldn't know how to walk, eat, talk, etc. If your memory was completley cleared, you'd know jack! Those first few years, when you learn how to live can be quite valuable...I LOVE YOU.......THE END
RUDI SUMMERS.
in response to:
CLAIRE: I totally agree with your ideas about the penis envy theory. Women are gaining more and more control in society and in politics, and I'm sure most of them aren't envious of a man's penis.
HANNAH AHLBERG: On your perspective of the Oedipus Complex: I don't totally agree with you. I'm sure it happens, just not as often as Freud makes it sound. I never had those feelings for my father (as verified by both parents) and was actually closer to my mom. My sister, on the other hand, has always been closer to my dad, but never said anything like "I'm going to marry dad when I grow up."
Jeffrey James Cottrell
TO MR ZACHARY SCHADE
BEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
I also share an awkward agreement with Freud, when he talks about children having sexual thoughts. It is a very disgustingly strange topic, but it may be the truth. Also, some females disagreed with you, and that right there just might be the difference. Young boys sexual thoughts > Young girls sexual thoughts.
OLIVIA CARLSON
In Jerry Alder 's article about Freud, he states that psychoanalysis has changed and how it is used way different nowadays. Instead of doing the basic talking sessions with a doctor, and telling all your problems, they have come up with alternative ideas. This includes, drug therapy. Drug therapy is used for people (prescription drug) so that instead of talking out all their problems, because they might not have the time, they take the drugs. Modern medicine is used more often now than ever. But back then psychoanalysis was the only treatment available, so that is what people had to use.
Freud's theory states that a childhood's experiences, are what shapes the child when it becomes older. He states that the first five years of our life are the most important, and will determine how we are when we're older.He believed that by diagnosable diseases can be cured by recollection and reflection. It says that patients would seek cure in talk sessions, (therapy). This theory is helpful i think, in explaining repression. Because it shows what your body can do in the unconcious state of mind.
I completely disagree with Frued's Penis envy theory. That women are just men, but incomplete. I do not believe he had any backup on his evidence, and nothing to support this theory, i simply believe this is just his sexist ways that he believes. I also do not agree with the theory that a disease can be cured by just talking your problems out? This makes no sense to me. I believe in prayer, sure. But talking about things i believe just makes a person feel better, but they're body is still with the disease. I do not think that a disease can be cured by talking. Especially the diseases that are not curable.
I do however believe that some of our problems can be helped through the unconcious, our dreams. I think that our childhood memories, (the first five years) really does not have that much of an impact on our lives as a teen or adult. I think it is just a matter of how you're brought up your WHOLE life. not just the first five years.
I also agree in some others ways. An advantage i think is talking out peoples problems. I think that talking about problems, can however help, but not in curing a disease, but curing a person from hard conflicts or past good/bad memories. Talking and working out problems with another, from my own experience, helps.
A disadvantage from this theory is actually sharing this information. People have different emotions when it comes to telling others things. It all comes down to how comfortable you are with someone to tell them you're problems. So this theory isn't all helpful when a shy person comes around with a huge problem.
Mary Tierney:
in response to faith:
I understand now the fact that the illnesses he was talking about could be mental illnesses. However, i am re-reading the article now, and the words "Diagnosable diseases" seems to me to mean more than a mental illness. becuase it seems that it is obvious that talking about feelings can help with mental illness. I do agree strongly with your response to brett's comment. Although i can see where he is coming from-you are just one case- but i feel that you are completely right in saying that you as a person know yourself best. Talking about feelings with a professional may help, but only you know what is going on inside your head. Another reason i feel you are correct is that because of social expectations, many people may not say everything on their minds to their psychiatrists, due to embarrassment. I guess to sum it up, the discussion of one's feelings can be helpful or not helpful, depending on the person's personality and openness.
in response to carl:
carl, i can see where you are coming from with the social expectations of men and women, but i disagree with your statement that women are jealous of mens' power and "how freely men can express themselves". I think that if a women wants power in today's society, she can get it. Look at all the women who are senators, governers, and CEOs today. Women are becoming more and more involved in the roles that used to be covered by men. I, as a woman, do not feel jealous of mens' power in our country. I know i am only one opinion, but i can guarentee you that there are plenty of women who would agree with me. Also, i disagree with your thought that women are jealous that men can express themselves more freely. Im not quite sure what you meant by "express themselves", but I feel that women can express themselves just as much, if not more than men in today's society. Becuase of the expectations of men, they are often limited in their expression, because they want to fit into the stereotype of a "manly" man. However, women do not have such a restriction on how they are "supposed" to be. A woman can be anyone she wants, and still have the respect of her peers and everyone around her. So, if anything, i think that women would be more free to express themselves than men, and i dont see nearly as much jealousy of men from women as it seems you have thought there to be.
in response to stocke:
i completely agree with your agreement that a person is shaped within the first five years of their life. You know how they say: a first impression is a lasting impression? well, that line sort of applies to this. When one is an adolescent, they are being exposed for the first time to virtually everything in life. They see other peoples' reactions, and after time, transform them into their own. They also see different peoples actions and responses to certain situations, and respond in the same way. These actions form who they are as a person. And just as a first impression is difficult to change, the scrupples and morals we base when we are young are also hard to change, as they are a huge part of who we are. I also think that young childrens' minds are like sponges; they soak up anything they can get. Because of this, they often form opinions and habits that last a lifetime.
OLIVIA CARLSON
in response to MISS FOLMAN....
i completely agree with your statement on the drug therapy.
how you stated that its just a "quick fix" to a problem.
that it takes more than just a drug to fix someone's problems. i believe that it's a good solution, just only for a certain amount of time, until they eventually work things out.
The United States has violated and disregarded international laws and standards in their treatment of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. These standards included the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Geneva Conventions, and the International Fair Trial Standards. A United Nations panel has called for the Guantanamo Bay detention center to be shut down, but the U.S. refuses to adhere to the order (“The Deaths at Gitmo”).
The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) grants every human being freedom from torture. The UDHR allows some rights and freedoms to be limited during times of emergency. However, it declares that “there are certain rights that are ‘nonderogable’—in other words, under international law, no state can limit or deny them under any circumstances. These include:…freedom from torture…” (Gibb, Blair 28). The UDHR also states that “the freedoms and rights it contains are universal and apply to all human beings” (Gibb, Blair 28). The detention center at Guantanamo Bay clearly disregards the UDHR. Prisoners are not only denied the basic civil rights given to Americans, but they are denied even basic human rights such as freedom from torture.
Amnesty International, a leading international human rights organization, has said that the Military Order on the Detention, Treatment, and Trial of Certain Non-Citizens in the War Against Terrorism signed by George W. Bush does not give detainees, such as those at Guantanamo Bay, a fair trial. They have called for the order to be withdrawn because “It [the Military Order] is fundamentally flawed and because trials under its provisions will violate international fair trial standards” (Amnesty International 26). It does not meet international standards because “the right to counsel of choice and to an effective defense is severely restricted. There will be no right of appeal to an independent and impartial court established by law. Only foreign nationals are eligible for such trials, violating the prohibition on the discriminatory application of fair trial rights. A US citizen charged with a similar crime would not face trial by military commission, and would have the right to appeal; to higher courts of Law” (Amnesty International).
Michael Byers, a professor of international law at Duke University, points out how the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay has violated the Geneva Conventions in his article “The United States Has Violated the Geneva Convention in Its Treatment of Terrorist Suspects”.
Former U.S. secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld declared that the detainees at Guantanamo Bay were not Prisoners of War, (who would be protected by the Geneva Convention), but that they were “unlawful combatants”, thus the Geneva Convention should not apply to them. However, Byers states that “The Geneva Conventions also makes it clear that it isn’t for Rumsfeld to decide whether the detainees are ordinary criminal suspects [as Rumsfeld claims they are] rather than POWs [prisoners of war]. Anyone detained in the course of an armed conflict is presumed to be a POW until a competent court or tribunal determines otherwise. The record shows that those who negotiated the convention were intent on making it impossible for the determination to be made by any single person. Once in front of a court or tribunal, the Pentagon might argue that the Taliban were not the government of Afghanistan and that their armed forces were not the armed forces of a party to the convention. The problem here is that the convention is widely regarded as an accurate statement of customary international law, unwritten rules binding on all. Even if the Taliban were not formally a party to the conventions, both they and the U.S. would still have to comply. The Pentagon might also argue that al-Qaida members were not part of the Taliban’s regular armed forces. Traditionally, irregulars could only benefit from POW status if they wore identifiable insignia, which al-Qaida members seem not to have done. But the removal of the Taliban regime was justified on the basis that al-Qaida and the Taliban were inextricably linked, a justification that weakens the claim that the former are irregulars.” (Byers, Micheal)
The Bush administration tries to justify their treatment of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay by claiming that the prisoners there are all terrorists who want to kill Americans, and so they don’t deserve rights. However, that statement is not true. The process in which the prisoners were captured was very questionable. A majority of the prisoners who have somehow been linked to the Taliban or al-Qaida are not the dangerous members of those organizations. Even though some of the prisoners have already been found innocent, the government refuses to release them.
Professor Marx Denbeaux published a report on Guantanamo detainees that was a profile of 517 detainees through analysis of Department of Defense Data. This profile is based completely on U.S. government documents. Denbeaux is on of Seton Hall Law School’s most senior faculty members, and he is the Seton Hall Law School Center for Policy and Research director. He also has represented two of the detainees held at Guantanamo Bay. Denbeaux has written several reports on Guantanamo, which have been cited in the United States Supreme Court, the Congressional Record of the House Armed Services Committee, the Senate Armed Services Committee, and the Senate Judiciary Committee. Denbeaux has testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Armed Services Committee . According to the report “The Guantanamo Detainees: The Government’s Story”, “Only 5% of the detainees were captured by United States forces. 86% of the detainees were arrested by either Pakistan of the Northern Alliance and turned over to United States custody. This 86% of the detainees captured by Pakistan or the Northern Alliance were handed over to the United States at a time in which the United States offered large bounties for capture of suspected enemies.”(pg 3) Offering bounties to people who capture “terrorists” gives people an incentive to turn in innocent people.
The report goes on to state that “55% of the detainees are not determined to have committed any hostile acts against the United States or its coalition allies” (pg 2) and “only 8% of the detainees were characterized as al Qaeda fighters” (pg 2). National Journal also conducted a detailed review of government transcripts from the Combatant Status Review Tribunals of 314 detainees at Guantanamo Bay. After the review, Corine Hegland, a journalist for National Journal, stated in her article “Empty Evidence” that “many of them [the detainees] are not accused of hostilities against the United States or its allies. Most, when captured, were innocent of any terrorist activity, were Taliban foot soldiers at worst, and were often far less than that. And some, perhaps many, are guilty only of being foreigners in Afghanistan or Pakistan at the wrong time” (Hegland, Corine par. 2).
Some of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay have already been found innocent, but they are still being held there. The article “The Rule of Law in Guantanamo” explains that Federal judge Ricardo Urbina has ordered that 17 detainees be freed immediately from Guantanamo Bay (par. 1). Dahlia Lithwick’s article “A Guantanamo Homecoming”, explains that those 17 detainees are Uighurs, who are Chinese Muslims that are heavily persecuted by the Chinese government. They fled to Afghanistan to escape the persecution, but after the 2001 U.S. bombing raids there, they were forced to move to Pakistan. Local villagers then turned the innocent Uighurs over to American authorities for a $5,000 bounty per head. They were then sent to Guantanamo Bay and have remained there ever since, even though they were cleared for release in 2004. The government won’t send them back to China because they may be tortured if they return, but they won’t let them into the U.S., so these 17 innocent people are still in jail in Guantanamo Bay, as they have been for the past seven years (Lithwick pars. 1-3).
The way prisoners have been treated at Guantanamo Bay is inhumane and unfair. The prisoners there are tortured, and the living conditions are terrible. Also, the prisoners may be detained there indefinitely, and they often aren’t given a fair trial.
In the article “Amnesty International: Geneva Conventions Apply to All Prisoners.”, Amnesty International explains that all people who are not currently taking part in hostilities are entitled to the fundamental protections of the Geneva Convention, which include the rights to humane treatment and a fair trial, even if they aren’t determined to be POW’s (par 4). However, the detainees at Guantanamo Bay are not given those rights. They prisoners have been hooded, which even if done temporarily violates the 1984 convention against torture and cruel inhuman or degrading treatment. They detainees have also had their beards forcefully shaved off against their will, which violates the right to human dignity under the 1966 international covenant on civil and political rights (Byers 70-71). According to Andrew Sullivan’s article “Guantanamo”, a logbook of the interrogations of Mohammed al-Qahtani, a detainee at Guantanamo, reveals that during interrogations “He was doused with water and kept in a room air conditioned to induce hypothermia; he was hooded and menaced by a dog; he was injected with fluids and forced to urinate on himself” (par. 7). Red cross
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/353/24/2529
The detainees are not even provided with adequate living conditions in Guantanamo Bay. Some are kept in “kept in tiny chain-link outdoor cages, without mosquito repellent, where (their captures assure us) they are likely to be rained upon” (Byers, 68). Some detainees are held in solitary confinement, where they are not allowed to see or talk to anyone, or even receive mail FIND SOURCE. The prisoners are disrespected; there have been at least five confirmed cases of Koran abuse by guards, which is highly offending for religious detainees.
It is extremely difficult to put a finger on exactly what causes a society to operate in a specific fashion. There are too many variables to account for, such as the environment an individual is brought up in, the type of people they are associated with, the distribution of wealth and power, and the types of institutions that are in place just to name a few. That is why three main sociological perspectives have been formed, each touching ground where the other stops in order to explain how society is best functioned. The first perspective, functionalism, implies that society is a stable, methodical system that has institutions in place to maintain order and integrity throughout. The next approach, conflict theory, suggests that a resurging power struggle for limited resources occurs amongst society, latently creating distinct social classes. The final method is the interactionist theory which denotes society as a combination of all interactions of individuals and groups and is more at a personal level rather than studying an entire group’s actions. These perspectives work fantastic when a social ill is applied to each, helping create a greater understanding of what really occurs in each theory. For example, poverty is an instance that will be used for each method to not only put these words into real life scenarios, but it is also used because it a problem that many can relate too, or have at least seen what it can be like.
There are things in life that need each faction to run smoothly in order for them to function properly. In fact, it can be thought of as an offense in football. The base of the offense starts with the offensive linemen. They create protection and reliability within the unit so the rest of the players can perform there designated assignments. The same goes for functionalism, however, the lineman are the institutions that hold everything in place, and they are relied upon so all parts can protect and reinforce the common beliefs and expectations within that society. If these lineman, or institutions, were to break down, a ripple effect would be created, putting stress and conflict within other positions such as the quarterback, or the beliefs and values. Once this foundation, the lineman, is disturbed, it then becomes difficult to repair because the other positions, or morals and values, become precarious and begin to fade away, which can lead to violence, crime, or other forms of conflict. This theory explains society well because when corruption within our government and high public officials occurs, our moral values slowly diminish, causing people to act out in ways they normally may not. For instance, an under control protest that slowly gets aggravated and becomes out of hand can turn into a riot with the blink of an eye because there beliefs and moral codes are thrown out the window. When our institutions are broken down, it is difficult to remain in a calm, normal manner. These breakdowns occur because people do not all have the same beliefs and way of life. This can spark others to follow this lifestyle or cause individuals to ridicule it, which, in turn, creates controversy and people begin to question the universal way of life. That can then lead to social change, in most cases rapidly. These extreme changes cause people confusion and can lead to riots, rape, violence, and other negative topics because people’s morals are depleted and they do not know how to act in the proper fashion. To try and answer there fluster of thoughts, they try to gain it back by taking violent acts on weaker individuals. These ideas were well illustrated in the film Pleasantville. David and Jennifer, siblings that came from the same household but lived different lifestyles, were magically transformed into a 1950’s television show. David respected everything about the show and wanted Jennifer to do whatever the script called for, hoping not to change the dynamics of the airing in order to maintain consensus. However, Jennifer was stubborn and did things her own modern way. For example, she would say “cool” instead of a universal saying like “gee wiz”. Others would follow, slowly changing speech. The straw that broke the camels back was when she introduced sex to others. That was a rapid change that the community was not used to seeing. When these changes did occur with an individual that was not accustomed to demonstrating such an act, they went from black and white to colored. This led others to judge and harass the colored people. They went from a conforming little town that followed all proper morals and ethics to a city that turned on each other, leading to violence, lies, crime, and chaos that was not expected. That explains functionalism precisely because rapid change caused a normal town to nearly destruct because one institution was dysfunctional.
Poverty is a social ill that can be seen throughout the entire world, unfortunately. There are many different situations that can cause a citizen in the United States to reach this undignified sanctuary, but when the functionalism approach is applied, it becomes simplified. It all begins with the institutions within the individual. If they do not have strong morals and beliefs when it comes to religion, family, or education, it becomes difficult to succeed because an education is the key to finding a sufficient job that can provide stability and comfort. If the family does not push for hard work in that area or in any other task they may need to work on, it makes the individual feel like they do not need to do anything as long as they find a way to get by. However, that is not what employers are looking for which can lead them and there poor education and work ethic to a job that can barely get a family by.
Another reason there is poverty in the United States right now is because of the government failing to supervise funds and money with large corporations. Greed has caused businesses to find ways to beat the system and hide money. However, as these businesses are being caught, it causes the economy to suffer tremendously, effecting a large portion of America. The depleting of the stock market then leads to difficulties within families to provide sufficiently for what they need in order to be above the poverty line. Once the family is effected, it puts a strain on education because divorce, arguing, and other unhealthy habits can occur within the family, making it difficult to succeed in that area, which is instrumental for an individual to become successful in the later years.
Another perspective that is able to account for how a society functions is the conflict theory. This assumption characterizes society as a struggle to fulfill personal goals, and always climbing a constant ladder to try and obtain resources that are unique and limited. Wealth and power are the main objectives that are being tussled with within social classes. The upper class are ones who contain the power, allowing them to manipulate the ideas within society and obtain the resources. Whether it’s an enormous house, fancy cars, a successful business, or a ring of established, affluent friends, these are only a few of the many resources that can be acquired with authority and prosperity. Some people are born in or out of this power struggle. For example, during the civil rights movements, the white males were the ones that maintained the clout while the black males and females were thrust to the bottom because of the variable of skin color and gender. It was nearly impossible for a black man or woman to receive any power from the whites because they were born into this unfair variable, having no control of what there appearance is. They could move up the chain within the black community, but it stopped there because of the extreme animosity surrounding blacks and whites, creating a significant power struggle at the time.
Once power is earned, it is difficult to manage from there because if you share the power you lose it because others are not all on the same page on how the power should be used. However, if you have authority, the only way it can be maintained is if people are left out. Because the individual in power has control and goods that people in lower classes desire, conformity occurs within these classes, aiding the people in control by making them appear more in charge, putting them on a pedestal. This increasing conformity has led to the middle class to battle amongst themselves for the limited resources, causing them and the poor to have worse conditions than ever before, slowly eliminating the median between rich and poor. In fact, the top of the upper class consists of ten percent of all the classes combined, yet they hold eight percent of all the wealth being distributed while the bottom is ninety percent of the total and hold merely twenty percent of all them money. That statistic clearly demonstrates how that the people with power do not divide it up because they do not want to lose it and only want to increase there status more than it is already. A fitting example of the conflict theory is illustrated in the animated film Animal Farm. Throughout this movie, animals slowly were put into classes by the people they were associated with and there role on the farm. This created an unfairness in wealth because it was not distributed equally. Food symbolized wealth in the film, and the group that was in control of it used it as much as they wanted, but gave as little as they could to the lower class citizens they were employing so their wealth could be maintained. If they began distributing this wealth, they would have lost much of it, which would lead to a loss in power as well.
The lower class in the United States has suffered mightily recently, making poverty more prevalent than it has for several years. It can best be explained by using the conflict theory. The common quote stating, “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer” hits this topic head on because of lack of authority the poor people have in America. They cannot afford many things like health care or retirement funds. Those are two services that are important to a person having a secure future. Without them, it leads to uncertainty amongst themselves and their families. That can put an individual in a bad situation because it can lead to the next generation to get bombarded with bills, adding yet another obstacle to climbing the classes. Also, poor people have lost the urge to vote on important issues because they feel like they do not have a say in what is being debated. With a tremendous loss in votes, it will cause issues that are effecting them negatively to be passed, only making their situation that much more difficult. Because the people that are in control aren’t dealing with the struggles of being poor, it is sometimes difficult for an affluent politician to help the exact needs that poor families across the United States are facing. In addition, the prosperous individuals are able to use campaign contributions to influence politicians to create laws that they want, which, in most cases, is not beneficial to the poor.
The final theory that explains how society is run is the interactionist perspective. Unlike functionalism and the conflict theory, this view examines social structures at an individual level, helping relate with more people on certain topics. The main criteria for this perspective asserts that people act and respond to certain situations differently because of own personal experiences and varying interpretations of the situation at hand. It is understood that interactionist beliefs look at an individual’s parents, friends, media exposure, and sports they are involved in to come to conclusion with why a person is the way they are. It is a proven fact that if you are raised in a violent household, your chances of being violent are much higher than that of a child that is not raised in a violent setting. For example, if a person has a dysfunctional family, insubordinate friends, views media programs that are violent, and plays an aggressive sport, odds are that this person will be violent because that is how there environment has been and what they have observed throughout the course of their lifetime. These subtle characteristics are the building blocks of how a person and there attitude is formed. The view can be compared to a melting pot because there are such a wide range of topics that make up who a person is and how they act. The media is influential because they offer images that others should follow. For instance, many television shows and films portray men as being tough, emotionless, and aggressive. That view is then passed down to the viewer, which can create false assumptions towards groups and individuals, but, nonetheless, is still influencing the viewers to meet the standards of the character shown, which can be negative or positive. Another confusing matter is the construing of language. There are an endless amount of words that can have connotative meanings, which, in turn, creates confusion amongst people. However, past experiences also can cause a dilemma because they may perceive a situation in a different way. An example is if a person has been treated poorly on a regular basis, they will begin to treat others poorly as well because they don’t know any other way. Experiences like that are what lead to crime and violence because constant exposure illustrates how they think a problem at hand can be dealt with.
It is difficult to look at poverty in a general sense because there are so many different reasons and cases as to why a person is poor. That is why interactionist perspective is a theory that can apply to it well. Poverty occurs in the United States because people that are born into homes that are deprived with the basic necessities cannot escape the surroundings without putting up a hard fight because they grew up in an environment with little resources and found ways to make the bare minimum in order to survive. If they are brought up like that, they don’t know much of what it’s like to not be that way and may not be able to socialize with the more wealthy groups of people because they may act completely different in a situation compared to a middle class individual. For example, the person in poverty may not be able to shower everyday and they get used to it while a person in the middle class believes it’s absurd to not shower daily, making it harder for them to relate and communicate with each other. Also, if an individual that’s in poverty uses language that’s not recognized by people in higher classes at, for example, a job interview, it makes it harder for them to get jobs that pay well that would get them out of poverty because there are different meanings words have that can make a person appear either intelligent or uneducated.
An example of a social group that I belong to is the baseball team, which is best represented by functionalism. Each player that is on the team has common goals with each other, which make bonding and spending time much easier to do. That assumption can be verified because in order for the team to function at its best, each area must do their job properly. The pitcher is the government because they set the stage for everything else that is to occur. If he doesn’t do his job well, the rest of the institutions, or positions, have stress placed upon them to compensate for where the pitcher went wrong. The defense is the economy because it’s up and down at times, and it helps form a firm base for the rest of the factions. When the defense is playing well, it creates confidence for the rest of the team to build upon. Hitting represents family because when times get tough, there is always a chance to mount a resurgence and start from square one. You don’t need to have flashy ways to score runs, as long as you have more than the other team. Education is like stealing a base because although it isn’t necessary to have in order to win, it is extremely beneficial because it opens up the door for opportunity to score runs. When all of these aspects of the game are working together efficiently, the team runs smoothly and there is not much too worry about. However, if one of these areas break down, there is a domino effect because then a burden is placed on the rest of the factions to carry out more responsibility. Injury represents rapid change, and can change the dynamics of the whole team because when there is an injury, the team is forced to have a battle within the team to try and find someone to replace the original. That takes away from the common goal of winning and can create chaos within a team because the players begin to question each other and the coach for making a decision that may not be correct. When the younger players see this erosion of morals, they get the idea that the team is not working how it should be and have been passed on the negative attitude by the older players. Also, if the team has been struggling as of late and feels a lack of control, they try to fix the problem too fast because they want the order restored. Unfortunately, it does not work that way so to try and pick their confidence up they will harp on a different player for making the same mistake they did so they feel better about themselves.
Of the three theories that explain society, the method that best represents how society works is the conflict theory. It is able to explain various ways how a society works, but yet still being easy to relate to and understandable for many. For instance, the upper class, middle class, and lower class all are topic of conversation in politics and the real world and are easy to understand. The concept that people are constantly working to fulfill personal goals and achieve high seems true to me because if people admit it or not, we are all working to have nice material items. Whether it’s a fashionable house, a shiny, fast car, or a new RV, people like to obtain materials that give them a sense of accomplishment, but at the same time make them look good. Also, it appears to be true that the upper class have the power because they acquire the resources to have their voice heard in many different ways, and the majority of them are in politics or are involved with them because then they can have their ideas expressed even more. These same people posses a narrow minded ability to share with others because they care about their needs, not others. Individuals that see these affluent people yearn to be in their shoes and conform to their demands to avoid conflict and have hopes of moving up classes if they follow what is said. This has created a shriveling middle class, and a top heavy country, which is the reason for our severe debt and other current issues with our country.
Ultimately, society can best be explained by three perspectives: functionalism, conflict, and interactionist. Although they all have different reasons for why our society is, they have common ground that can help us understand society as it is today. The only way to grow from mistakes in the past and move on to bigger and better things is if we understand where society has gone wrong. Even as times change, people remain the same for the most part, making it much easier to research answers to these topics surrounding the theories.
Social class is transforming into a problem throughout America because it causes a discrepancy on treatment of others and creates stereotypes. The article “Pride, Prejudice and the Not-So-Subtle Politics of the Working Class” discusses this topic, and how a worker wearing a uniform is looked down upon rather than a worker that is sporting a suit and tie. In fact, people that wear uniforms have actually become embarrassed about that, and almost feel like their freedom is slowly being taken away. In a sense, being forced to wear a certain outfit is a bit demanding, but it’s simple to do and you get paid without any hassles if you have it on. However, if you were to fight the issue, it may not be worth it because it can lead to someone being fired for merely fighting over what an individual should wear. I don’t think many people can afford to lose their job in times like this, especially if a person is fired for complaining about what they wear to work each day.
However, there are uniforms that exist that are more normal than others. For example, a police uniform or military outfit is more of a higher class symbol than a janitor’s outfit or truck driving apparel. In fact, Alison Lurie believes that to wear a uniform is to give up the freedom of free speech in the language of clothes and disallows someone to mask their financial means by not letting people wear upscale clothing. This belief is right in the sense that it does put restrictions on what people should wear, which is a luxury that is nice to have. However, when you work for someone else with demanding power and they want their employees to all match, it is difficult to see why people should be able to all pick what they want to wear because it can create classes within a class and also make an occupation look less professional if they are all walking around with different paraphernalia.
I believe that this article was marvelous at explaining the fact that workers that are restricted to uniforms are becoming disgruntled about wearing such bland clothing and feel as if they are on a lower class because of it. Research says they are looked down upon and helped less compared to an employee in a suit and tie, but every worker in America cannot be working around various jobs in a suit and tie and expect it to make them feel better or get them improved treatment because some jobs are just not meant for apparel like that and if there were millions of new jobs that allowed that to be worn, the people in the original suits would then find something different and better that would create a whole new problem. Education has been a hot topic of discussion in recent years because of the time and effort it takes and how costly it has become. It is a quality that has the power to make a person earn thousands of dollars more than a person without an education and can help a person rise on the social ladder. For example, in the article labeled “The Rise of the Educated Class”, it discussed how an education can lead to people rising to the ruling social class along with a strong family history of brains. The author, David Brooks, uses the New York Times wedding pages as an example of what individuals must have in order to meet the incredibly high standards of being in the upper-upper class. These pages believe that college degrees, graduate degrees, career path, and parents’ profession all are contributing factors as to whom is in the upscale portions of America in terms of class.
Also, if the person does not have a rich family history of being intelligent or having tremendous jobs, it is not easy to reach this extremely high goal. These successful people were forced to mature at a young age and diligently work in school so they can be above and beyond the others and be accepted in a heralded school. It doesn’t stop there either. These individuals usually finish school before they finally take a relationship seriously or begin to loosen up.
Because of heavy schooling and meticulous work, it leads to a person having a successful occupation such as a lawyer, professor, business executive, or even a journalist. This already lucrative family has now been continued yet another generation, and the hidden rules amongst this high stature can be passed on to the children seeking to find similar success.
I believed that this article was interesting to read because it allowed me to have more insight as to where our idea of high class originates from and it allows me to understand how there can be high class family names that exist for generations because of the hard work they develop and the hidden rules they learn to follow. However, I did not like how the article kept talking about hypothetical situations and filling in the blanks with thriving occupations or could be activities that this make-believe character is involved in. It would have been more effective to share real life examples in more detail because then it becomes much easier to relate to and makes it easier to understand. This article did, however, shed light on the issue of how this money is maintained within a family for many years. For example, there are stereotypes that say the children of rich families are always snobby and spoiled. Sure, that may be the case often, but this article explained how hard these kids work in order to reach similar stature of their parents rather than have everything in life handed right to them. When times are difficult and money is scarce, it is tough to figure out an exact plan that can help you get from paycheck to paycheck. Whether it be working an extra job or even being forced to find simple handyman jobs to earn a few extra bucks, it can be a struggle to buy the basic needs an individual may have. However, as discussed in the article “Where to Go When You’re Broke”, pawn shops can be a safe place for a person to exchange any items they may not find valuable anymore so they can make a few extra bucks.
Almost any item that has value can be exchanged at pawn shops, ranging from movies, to golf clubs, and jewelry, this unconventional business has many items to offer at, in most cases, a descent price. As the author Bendan I. Koerner mentioned, the process of putting a pawn through is simple. The customer will loan the object to the store for a certain amount of money. This loan has an interest of 15 percent. If the loan is not repaid within a month, the pawn shop can sell whatever merchandise that was loaned for two or even three times more what they spent for it, making it a fair and respectable cycle. There were several examples of how the pawn shop can be used throughout the article, starting from the basic loan and pay back with interest and ending with the customer letting the pawn shop keep what they loaned because they did not use the items they sold in the first place.
After reading the article, I really enjoyed discussing the various stories people had to share about their experiences with pawn shops, most of which sounded positive. It is encouraging to see a blue-collar business like that flourish and be there to help people that need that extra cash to make it through a week or two. I was able to learn that pawn shops worked on a loan system rather than just simply selling an item to them and getting money. I never understood that loaning was an option with a store like that, but nonetheless it is a feature that is great for aiding people when money is needed quick but they want to keep their prized possessions. Even though all of that was great, I believe that they could have talked more about other pawn shops around America and maybe even include statistics that could be related to the topics to add more detail and diversity to the end result. I was able to grow from this article because it provided insight as to how poverty has become an issue because if stores like that are doing very well, that means there are either a lot of thieves and construction workers selling tools or there are many poor people that are trying to make an extra buck by selling items they see as unnecessary. My bet is that the second option is what is occurring, but it is fantastic there is an option for people that are struggling to find ends meet to sell items that still have value so they can trade an item of luxury for money that can get them basic items such as food or water. The working poor is a grueling place to be when it comes to class. There is constant, difficult work that is complimented by poor pay and long hours. This also makes it tough for the individual to make enough money to provide for the family and by the time they go home they just want to relax after a strenuous day at work. This was illustrated in the article titled “Working Poor” where the basic days work of a maid and description of co-workers are shared to give a reader an idea of what they have to do day in and day out.
This editorial described the maids job, in short, to be feverish for low pay. The maids were given guidelines that consisted of a time limit for certain house sizes. Under sixty minutes for a 1-½ bathroom apartment or up to two hundred or more for a multi-bathroom house. They have work that is exhausting ranging from bathroom cleaning, vacuuming, dusting, or even cleaning and drying floors on the workers hands and knees. Because there is so much for the maids to do, they have a mere five minute lunch break that is usually not even nutritious. The majority of the co-workers cannot afford money to buy a normal lunch, which would explain one of the maids eating a small bag of Doritos for lunch often. Also, many of the maids do not live on their own because they cannot find enough money to pay for something that high in costs when they can be living for free with family.
This article was easy to read and kept my attention throughout the story. The real life scenarios, descriptive stories, and details of the working conditions allowed me to paint a picture in my head to give me a better idea of what was occurring. For example, the back breaking work on the hands and knees of a maid in 95 degree weather without the privilege to drink any beverages inside for little pay and next to nothing for lunch break would explain the working poor in a nutshell. It is unfortunate people have to suffer through situations like that, but it is a job and that is all the people that are employed there are looking for even if it does yield less then perfect situations. I felt like I was able to walk away with a much better sense of what it is like for a person to be in the working poor after reading this true story.
Women in society and their house holds are shown with not having much power and have different expectations. This is with their family at home and also in the work force. In the story “White Angel”, the mother refers to both. She also has two types of Feminist types that apply to her character.
The mother does fulfill her expectation as the typical “housewife” by cooking many times in the story. Right off the bat the mother is standing in the kitchen cooking. “…while out mother paused over the bacon.” (pg 230). There are plenty of other times she is noted as in the kitchen cooking dinner or something along those lines. She never does complain to doing so because she cares for and nurtures her children very much.
Nowadays, having equally demanding jobs is very common in households. Considering the time period in this story though, women are somewhat expected to have minimal demanding jobs. Jobs such as a secretary or have no job at all. However, the mother in the story has a higher demanding job. She taught children that were called “exceptional”, which seems to be a bit more of a hands on job like her husband’s, as a high school music teacher. Her job is not frowned upon by her community nevertheless.
Radical feminists are partly women who try to take power over something that they usually wouldn’t have power in. The mother in this story tries to take power over her children many times, but her boys only sometimes will allow it to happen. One time that they do allow it in the story is when she asks them to come set the table and they don’t fuss at all about it. “… ‘Set the tables like good citizens,’ she calls. ‘Okay, Ma,’ Carlton replies.” (pg. 232). But there is a time that Bobby will not obey his mom whatsoever. When their family has their annual party in the spring, Bobby is up way past his bed time. Given that he is not completely sober, he will not for any reason listen to his mother and go to bed. So instead of her having the power for him to listen, the mother has to call his father into the room to forcefully take him to his room. Even though she badly wants to have some power, she doesn’t always receive it or she isn’t allowed it. And she hates that her boys don’t listen or appreciate her as much as she’d like them to.
Material Feminists have a different belief; they think that material oppression via childbirth should be looked upon more. This could relate to why the mother in the story is so caring and worries for her children. When she is trying to figure out why the police have been around her house so much lately she goes to the children first. She asks Bobby, “Is your brother taking drugs?” (pg. 234). This means she cares and also notices differences in her son. One thing she doesn’t notice is that Bobby lied to her but she does notice that something is wrong. Bobby however doesn’t see this as caring he thinks that “She is still trying to overcome her habit of modest expectations.” (pg.234). Material Feminists also refer to economics as an issue, but the mother never complains about her job in the story. Therefore, she seems to have more than one type of feminist types in her.
In essence, women are expected not to have much power in certain circumstances. The mother tries to overrule this expectation in a few cases with her boys and her job. With her boys, one way seems to work with Carlton, but with Bobby it doesn’t work to the extent that she intended it to. When it comes to her job, she seems to overexceed expectations because it is a more hands on job. Her job is not the conditions that most women are thought of to work in. It isn’t only power she looks towards though. She does always seem to be caring of her children and wondering how they are. So her character does succeed in having more power than other women at some points in the story, but she doesn’t seem to fulfill these expectations at all times. The father did have to step in once or twice to overpower their children and make them obey her rules.
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