The Domain of Psychology Commence with Freud - Annotated Bibliography Example

Name) (Instructor) (Institution) (Course code) (Date) Sigmund Freud was a psychologist, physiologist, and a medical doctor. He is the founder of a psychoanalytic theory. He was among the leading thinkers of the early twentieth century. Initially, he worked together with Joseph Breuer where they expounded the theory that the mind is a complex energy system, a field of psychology. Sigmund expressed and developed the perceptions of infants’ sexuality, unconsciousness, and repression. He also put forward a tripartite explanation of the mind’s structure – as part of a drastically new theoretical and therapeutic frame of reference for the explanation of human mental growth and the management of abnormal psychological conditions. Despite the many different expressions of psychoanalysis as it is today, it is basically drawn back to Sigmund Freud’s original work (Freud, 2003) Freud’s advanced management and treatment of human dreams, actions and social and cultural artifacts as always possessing inherent symbolic importance has been established to be very successful. This is because it has had immense implications for an extensive variety of areas including not only psychology but also anthropology, artistic creativity, and semiotics. Biography Sigmund Freud was a distinguished Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist. He was born in 1856 in the small Moravian town of Freiberg, Austria. This is located in the Austrian Empire, which is now known as Czech Republic. His father was Jacob was a Jewish businessman of limited means. His father was a widower who later married Sigmund mother Amalia as a second wife. Sigmund Freud exhibited aptitude for studies at an early age where he read a lot of Shakespeare work at an early age of eight. Due to his curiosity, the young Sigmund Freud explored many fields of interest including medicine philosophy and law At the age of four Freud’s family moved to Vienna where he grew up. By the age of eight, Sigmund Freud was reading he was reading the Shakespearean work. He enrolled at the University of Vienna at the age of seventeen where he graduated in 1881 with a degree in medicine. His key interest and concern were the working of the brain. He drew many perspectives from Charles Darwin’s work on evolution. This is where he began with the perception that physiology and evolution influences a person’s character Sigmund Freud perceived that the secrets of behavior dysfunction were expected to be shown through physical and scientific study of the brain together with its related systems. Sigmund Freud was also very eager to further explore the field Sigmund Freud’s ability to conduct pure research on paid basis was inadequate. He was therefore forced to take up work at the Meynert Psychiatric Clinic. In this clinic, Freud started his research on a new drug, cocaine. He perceived that this new drug would eventually become a common cure for depression along with other conditions like indigestion. He became a passionate user of the cocaine drug. He also gave out too colleagues and relatives including his sisters. He praised the cocaine merits in many scholarly works. Freud sent some to his fiancée Martha Bernays. This was meant to make strong as well as to give her cheeks a red color (Palombo, Bendicsen, & Koch, 2009) While working in Vienna with Josef Breuer on the case of Anna, who was suffering from hysterical, was the basis of Freud’s development of psychoanalysis and its associations with sexuality. He tried the method of hypnosis due lack of substantial results in the work medicine traditional nerve. This amazingly gave irrefutable results which became popular and published in Studies on Hysteria 1895 Sigmund Freud is definitely the most celebrated name in the field of psychology. Taking keen effects of his childhood and the relationship with his parents together with the desire to perform research on human conduct and behavior was the foundations of the development of the formation of his ideas. It all started with the concept of defense mechanism, then to psychosexual stage theory as revolutionary ideas for his time. However, in today’s world, the validity of his theories is debatable as a result of their limitations. Despite the questionable validity of his work, it is evident that most of his work a massive effect on the theories and concepts that had been put in place after his (Gillam, 2012) Sigmund Freud totally transformed how the Western world perceived the mind and the human character. He was the first to scrutinize the concept of the unconscious. By employing and developing practices such as dream analysis and interpretation and free association, Sigmund Freud is known as the father of Psychoanalysis. He referred to as so in 1896. The therapy is still extensively used today Sigmund Freud’s work has shaped the thinking in the 20th and 21st centuries. His work has spread through the Western culture to the global creative arts. This is evident in the literature, art, cinema and stage. The concepts of memory, identity, sexuality, childhood and of meaning have been designed in tandem with and against Freud’s work. Certainly his impact will still continue into the future What kept Sigmund going is his fight against religion. To him, he considered it as an impediment to the development of human intelligence. This is true because some people fail to reason and think outside the box because their religion prohibits them to do so. This is especially to very important matters in life. With this he was able to give an account of collective phenomena like the prevention of incest, in his work Totem and Taboo (1913) and a powerful analysis faith and religion in The Future of an Illusion (1927). Sigmund Freud had to relocate to London in 1938 from the University of Vienna where he had taught since 1883 (Freud, & Brill, 2008). He did so to escape anti-Semitism (Prejudice against the Jews) Sigmund Freud sacrificed a lot. Despite having brilliant medical and biological studies, he sacrificed his career and opened a practice where ventured into psychological practice. Psychological practice had not been explored much and attention was needed there. Despite major disappoints by poor reception of his work, he continued to write Psychoanalytic theory Freud came up with the psychoanalytic theory. This theory attempts to explain how human behavior and character is shaped by the interaction of the three key parts of the mind. The three parts are the superego, ego, and id. This theory placed a lot of significance of the role played by human unconscious psychological conflicts. These conflicts are responsible for shaping both the personality and behavior. It is through the interactions of these key parts of human brain that is responsible for shaping human character through the five psychosexual stages of development. These stages include latency, genital, phallic, oral and anal. Each stage of development needs the mastery for a human to develop normally before moving to the next stage effectively. This theory, however, has faced a lot of criticism because it solely concentrates on sexuality as the key factor of human personality development (Andersen & Taylor, 2006) Pros of Freud’s theories It is through Freud’s theories that gave rise to other theories and therapies as well. This also changed people’s perception of mental illness. It is through his theory that it enables people to seek professional help concerning ways of tackling their mental illness and other psychological problems. Freud came up with these theories from experiment and observations rather than his own assumptions. His theories have been the foundation of human personality. It is through this understanding and theories that it enabled Erikson to come up his theory on psychosocial studies (Sites.google.com, 2014) Cons of Freud’s theories Many of his findings were purely centered on clinical observations and case studies. It is also very important to note that his theories hugely overemphasized on childhood experiences, aggression, the unconscious mind and sex. Another reason is that it is how he came up with conclusions based on the fact that he studied a wide variety of patients having in mind that different people handle problems different ways (Sites.google.com, 2014) Psychology has gained the respect of science itself. This is because it has given rise to both the researchers and professionals who have helped many patients. Despite Freud’s belittling of women being well-known, it became blessing in disguise as he is the one who started the sexual revolution which enabled them to become enlightened of their power. Freud also showed the world about the harmful effects of trauma on young children and kids Reference Andersen, M., & Taylor, H. (2006). Sociology. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth. Freud, S. (2003). Psychopathology of everyday life. Mineola, N.Y: Dover Publications. Freud, S., & Brill, A. A. (2008). Totem and taboo: Resemblances between the psychic lives of savages and neurotics. Stillwell, Kan: Digireads. Gillam, S. (2012). Sigmund Freud: Famous neurologist. Edina, Minn: ABDO Pub. Palombo, J., Bendicsen, H. K., & Koch, B. J. (2009). Guide to psychoanalytic developmental theories. New York, NY: Springer Sites.google.com,. (2014). Freud's Personality Theory - Psychology of Personality Period 6. Retrieved 14 March 2015, from https://sites.google.com/site/psychologyofpersonalityperiod6/home/psychodynamic-theories/freud-s-personality-theory Sugarman, S. (2010). Freud on the psychology of ordinary mental life. Lanham, Md: Rowan & Littlefield Publishers. Read More