The psychodynamic approach 2

The psychodynamic approach 2

1. The mother as primary care giver

   • PESTLE
     • shared 52week
       • move from traditional view
       • we need and effective workforce otherwise the economy suffers
     • anual cost of nursery is £9,850, tax relief is possible
   • Yes
     • NHS recommends breastfeeding for first 6 months
       • father limited to supporting role
     • mother is important for the oral stage
       • separation anxiety caused by infant realising their bodiliy needs will go unsatidfied
     • seperation from mother can have emotional effects
       • monotropy, attachment to one caregiver important
     • oestrogen underlies caring behaviour
       • Heerman et al,1994- men less sensitive to infant cues than mothers
       • Frodi et al,1978- videotapes of infants crying and no difference in the biological responses of men and women
   • No
     • Harlow,1959- monkeys prefer mother with doft cloth, contact comfort
       • Schaffer and Emerson,1964-attacgments formed with parent who responds quickly and sensitively to infant signals
     • Freud wrote at a different time and recognised the importance of the father in the Oedipus complex
     • Bowlby not exclusively talking about a childs mother , only a mothering figure
       • some children show no ill effects from early seperation
     • changing stereotypes, men capable of emotional attachment
       • Gettler et al,2011-a father's testosterone level drops to respond more sensitively to child

2. Evaluation

   • Strengths
     • Nature and nuture
       • adult personality product of innate drives and childhood experiences
         • psychosexual stages and Id
     • Usefulness
       • Highlights that childhood is critical
       • Freuds views have impacted therapies, recognised that psychological factors could be used to explain physical sympotoms
     • Complexity
       • holistic, behaviour influenced by multiple factors
   • Weaknesses
     • Can't be falsifyable
       • a good theory is one that can be tested to see if it is wrong
         • confusion found in Freuds view that all men have repressed homosexual tendencies , we cannot prove it
     • Determinist
       • we have no free will , only innate drives
         • people not held responsible for their actions
     • Reductionist
       • simplifies complex behaviour to the mechaniics of the brain and experiences
         • used to believe that autism was caused by mother being distant from their children and it was a withdrawal from lack of involvement