Category: Id Ego and Superego

According to Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality, the id is the personality component made up of unconscious psychic energy that works to satisfy basic urges, needs, and desires.

Overview

The id operates based on the pleasure principle, which demands immediate gratification of needs. The id is one of the three major components of personality postulated by Freud: the id, ego, and superego.

An understanding of Freud’s psychodynamic perspective is important in learning about the history of psychology. You may also often see references to the id, ego, and superego in popular culture and philosophy.

When Does the Id Emerge?

Freud compared personality to an iceberg. What you see above the water is actually just a tiny piece of the entire iceberg, most of which is hidden under the water. The tip of the iceberg above the water represents conscious awareness.

The bulk of the iceberg below the water symbolizes the unconscious mind where all of the hidden desires, thoughts, and memories exist. It is in the unconscious mind that the id resides.

The id is the only part of the personality that is present at birth, according to Freud. He also suggested that this primitive component of personality existed wholly within the unconscious. The id acts as the driving force of personality. It not only strives to fulfill the most basic urges that people have, many of which are tied directly to survival, it also provides all of the energy necessary to drive personality.

During infancy, before the other components of personality begin to form, children are ruled entirely by the id. Satisfying basic needs for food, drink, and comfort is of the utmost importance.

As people grow older, it would obviously be quite problematic if they acted out to satisfy the needs of the id whenever they felt an urge, need, or desire. The id contains all of the life and death instincts, which Freud believed help compel behavior. This aspect of personality does not change as people grow older. It continues to be infantile, instinctive, and primal. It isn’t in touch with reality or logic or social norms. It strives only to satisfy an individual’s most basic urges and needs.

The Id and Personality

Fortunately, the other components of personality develop as we age, allowing us to control the demands of the id and behave in socially acceptable ways. The ego eventually emerges to moderate between the urges of the id and the demands of reality.

The superego, or the aspect of personality that encompasses internalized values and morals, emerges to try to push the ego to act in a more virtuous way. The ego must then cope with the competing demands presented by the id, the superego, and reality.

How the Id Operates

The id acts according to the pleasure principle, which is the idea that needs should be met immediately. When you are hungry, the pleasure principle directs you to eat. When you are thirsty, it motivates you to drink. But of course, you can’t always satisfy your urges right away. Sometimes you need to wait until the right moment or until you have access to the things that will fulfill your needs.

When you are unable to satisfy a need immediately, tension results. The id relies on the primary process to temporarily relieve the tension. The primary process involves creating a mental image through daydreaming, fantasizing, hallucinating, or some other process. For example, when you are thirsty, you might start fantasizing about a tall, cold glass of ice water.

When you are hungry, you might start thinking about ordering your favorite dish from your favorite restaurant. By doing this, you are able to cope with the tension created by the id’s urges until you are realistically able to satisfy those needs.

Observations About the Id

In his 1933 book New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis, Freud described the id as the ‘dark, inaccessible part of our personality.’ The only real way to observe the id, he suggested, was to study the content of dreams and neurotic behavioral clues.

Freud’s conception of the id was that it was a reservoir of instinctual energy driven by the pleasure principle that works toward fulfilling our most basic needs.

Freud also compared it to a ‘cauldron of seething excitations’ and described the id as having no real organization. So, how do the id and ego interact?

Freud compared their relationship to that of a horse and rider. The horse provides the energy that drives them forward, but it is the rider to guides these powerful movements to determine direction. However, sometimes the rider may lose control and find himself simply along for the ride. In other words, sometimes the ego may simply have to direct the id in the direction it wants to go.

A Word From Verywell

Freud’s views of personality remain controversial, but a basic knowledge of them is important when discussing psychoanalysis and the practice of psychology.

The psychodynamic theory is a theory by Sigmund Freud. Freud’s theory helps us to understand why people behave in the way they do and why that is. Freud divided the human mind into three sections. These are id, ego, and superego. There are three consciousness levels. 1. Conscious Level – This is where our rationalisation, our thought process and our reasoning is located. The conscious level is only the beginning of the mind and does not delve deep inside it 2. Preconscious Level – This is where our Ego is located. It holds our memories, ideas and values and beliefs. It starts to look into the mind more and gather more information. 3. – The Superego and Id are here. It is seen as the deepest point of our mind. It holds how we think about ourselves and our self-image. It contains our fears and our self-absorbed needs.

The Id part of our mind looks at how we see ourselves biologically and it holds all of our instincts and what we are used to. It attempts to please our needs which in turn, releases us from tension. The Id is driven by pleasure. The Id does what the mind says, what’s in that moment, even if it may not be the morally correct thing to do or it could be looked down upon by other people. It is not affected by external experiences so it stays the same, in its original form.

The Ego part of our mind looks at how we see ourselves psychologically. The Ego’s job is to connect the Id’s requests with reality. It looks at what is achieved by secondary processes. The cognitive functions that are looked at in secondary processes are attention, perception, memory and thinking. The Ego looks at fulfilling our needs without any consequences. Functions of the Ego include Adaptive-Inhibitory Functions, which incorporate defence mechanisms, controlling impulses and reality testing. It also looks at Synthetic-Integrative Functions which is made up of secondary processes, synthesis and neutralisation. Freud has an example of comparing the Id and Ego which is a horse and its rider. He compares the Id with the horse and says it uses energy to get to the finish line of a race while the rider and its Ego leads the horse to the finish line.

The Superego part of our mind looks at how we see ourselves socially. It is regarded as the social part of our personality. It holds our social values and our morals. The Superego is made up of the Conscience which is the moral values and principles we consider to be okay and also what we feel is not allowed. Breaking or succeeding in our moral views will give either a feeling of guilt or a feeling of pride. It is also made up of the Ego Ideal which contains goals that people want to attain. These goals can be seen as unable to be achieved if they are set to a very high and unrealistic standard. The Superego tries to dismiss unwanted impulses and replaces real goals with ones that are morally correct and idealistic. If the Superego is too harsh then this can make a person very rigid and hard on themselves. It can make them feel guilty or have a judgement towards themselves or others.

Sigmund Freud’s Psychodynamic theory can be related to personality clashes in the workplace. This report found that workers in Hawthorn Ltd. may be clashing if different parts of the mind are stronger or weaker than others. What one worker sees as morally correct, another worker may have a completely different view on it because their Superego is a lot weaker. This can cause different personalities to clash as no two workers will be on the exact same level with the Id, Ego and Superego. It’s important for there to be a good balance in the workplace and for workers to be able to compromise and see things from different points of views so conflict can be avoided.

One of Sigmund Freud’s most well-known ideas was his theory of personality, which proposed that the human psyche is composed of three separate but interacting parts: the id, the ego, and the superego. The three parts develop at different times and play different roles in personality, but work together to form a whole and contribute to an individuals’ behavior. While the id, ego, and superego are often referred to as structures, they are purely psychological and don’t exist physically in the brain.

Freud’s work wasn’t based on empirical research, but on his observations and case studies of his patients and others, so his ideas are often viewed with skepticism. Nonetheless, Freud was an enormously prolific thinker and his theories are still considered important. In fact, his concepts and theories are the foundation of psychoanalysis, an approach to psychology that’s still studied today.

Freud’s personality theory was influenced by earlier ideas about the mind working at conscious and unconscious levels. Freud believed that early childhood experiences are filtered through the id, ego, and superego, and it is the way an individual handles these experiences, both consciously and unconsciously, that shapes personality in adulthood.

Id

The earliest part of the personality to emerge is the id. The id is present at birth and runs on pure instinct, desire, and need. It is entirely unconscious and encompasses the most primitive part of the personality, including basic biological drives and reflexes.

The id is motivated by the pleasure principle, which wants to gratify all impulses immediately. If the id’s needs aren’t met, it creates tension. However, because all desires can’t be fulfilled right away, those needs may be satisfied, at least temporarily, through primary process thinking in which the individual fantasizes about what they desire.

Newborns’ behavior is driven by the id—they are concerned only with meeting their needs. And the id never grows up. Throughout life, it remains infantile because, as an unconscious entity, it never considers reality. As a result, it remains illogical and selfish. The ego and the superego develop to keep the id in check.

Ego

The second part of the personality, the ego, arises from the id. Its job is to acknowledge and deal with reality, ensuring that the id’s impulses are reigned in and expressed in ways that are socially acceptable.

The ego operates from the reality principle, which works to satisfy the id’s desires in the most reasonable and realistic ways. The ego may do this by delaying gratification, compromising, or anything else that will avoid the negative consequences of going against society’s norms and rules.

Such rational thinking is referred to as secondary process thinking. It’s geared towards problem-solving and reality-testing, enabling the person to maintain self-control. However, just like the id, the ego is interested in seeking pleasure, it just wants to do so in a realistic way. It’s not interested in right and wrong, but in how to maximize pleasure and minimize pain without getting into trouble.

The ego operates at conscious, preconscious, and unconscious levels. The ego’s consideration of reality is conscious. However, it may also keep forbidden desires hidden by unconsciously repressing them. Much of the ego’s functioning is also preconscious, meaning it happens below awareness but takes little effort to bring those thoughts into consciousness.

Freud initially used the term ego to reference one’s sense of self. Often, when the term is used in everyday conversation—such as when someone is said to have a “big ego”—it’s still used in this sense. Yet, the term ego in Freud’s theory of personality is no longer referring to the self-concept but to functions like judgment, regulation, and control.

Superego

The superego is the final part of the personality, emerging between the ages of 3 and 5, the phallic stage in Freud’s stages of psychosexual development. The superego is the moral compass of the personality, upholding a sense of right and wrong. These values are initially learned from one’s parents. However, the superego continues to grow over time, enabling children to adopt moral standards from other people they admire, like teachers.

The superego consists of two components: the conscious and the ego ideal. The conscious is the part of the superego that forbids unacceptable behaviors and punishes with feelings of guilt when a person does something they shouldn’t. The ego ideal, or ideal self, includes the rules and standards of good behavior one should adhere to. If one is successful in doing so, it leads to feelings of pride. However, if the standards of the ego ideal are too high, the person will feel like a failure and experience guilt.

The superego not only controls the id and its impulses towards societal taboos, like sex and aggression, it also attempts to get the ego to go beyond realistic standards and aspire to moralistic ones. The superego works at both conscious and unconscious levels. People are often aware of their ideas of right and wrong but sometimes these ideals impact us unconsciously.

The Mediating Ego

The id, ego, and superego interact constantly. Ultimately, though, it’s the ego that serves as the mediator between the id, the superego, and reality. The ego must determine how to meet the needs of the id, while upholding social reality and the moral standards of the superego.

A healthy personality is the result of a balance between the id, ego, and superego. A lack of balance leads to difficulties. If a person’s id dominates their personality, they may act on their impulses without considering the rules of society. This can cause them to spin out of control and even lead to legal troubles. If the superego dominates, the person can become rigidly moralistic, negatively judging anyone who doesn’t meet their standards. Finally if the ego becomes dominant, it can lead to an individual who is so tied to the rules and norms of society that they become inflexible, unable to deal with change, and incapable of coming to a personal concept of right and wrong.

Critique

Many critiques have been leveled at Freud’s theory of personality. For example, the idea that the id is the dominant component of personality is considered problematic, especially Freud’s emphasis on unconscious drives and reflexes, like the sexual drive. This perspective minimizes and oversimplifies the intricacies of human nature.

In addition, Freud believed that the superego emerges in childhood because children fear harm and punishment. However, research has shown that children whose greatest fear is punishment only appear to develop morals—their real motivation is to avoid getting caught and prevent harm. A sense of morality actually develops when a child experiences love and wants to keep it. To do so, they engage in behavior that exemplifies their parents’ morals and, therefore, will gain their approval.

Despite these criticisms, Freud’s ideas about the id, the ego, and the superego have been, and continue to be, highly influential in the field of psychology.

Psychodynamic Theory

Origin and development

The perspectives in social work that we can call psychodynamic, all have an origin that leads back to Sigmund Freud (1856–1939). Freud was an educated physician and worked for many years as a researcher within the area of neurology before he developed a theory about:

• The personality’s construction
• Children’s development
• Mental illness and treatment

These three parts of the theory make up a whole. In the following, we want to present the fundamental classical psychodynamic theory. Freud wrote a lot, and it is self-explanatory that this presentation will be brief and more like an outline, but we have made an attempt at presenting the core of the theory.

The Personality

Freud worked for many years trying to describe the personality of a model. He ended up with a model where the personality is described as consisting of three main structures which are in a dynamic relationship to each other;

• The id
• The ego
• The superego

In a reasonably balanced person, these three structures will harmonize and be part of a unit, operating together and in a continual exchange. The “purpose’ of the personality is to control the link between the drives and the needs on one side, and the individual as a member of society on the other. The id is the fundamental and only hereditary part of the personality and it consists of needs, drives, and impulses. The Ego and Superego are not hereditary, they develop. The id is driven by the pleasure principle, seeking immediate gratification of unsatisfied needs. The Id’s job is to avoid displeasure and suffering. The newborn is therefore completely controlled by the id, Freud argued. In addition to the fundamental needs for food and warmth regulation, he meant that aggression and sexual drives were the most important drives for the development of the personality (Freud 1972).

Freud describes the ego as created through stages of development. Ego represents a person’s reason and will which governs the behavior in a beneficial way. The purpose of the ego is primarily the fulfillment of the id’s drives, but in a way that is acceptable in the child’s social environment. The child is adapting to the environment, and ‘the pleasure principle’ is slowly being replaced by what Freud calls the “reality principle”. The reality principle is the strategy the ego learns to hold back impulses from the id until they can be satisfied in a socially accepted manner.

According to Freud, the superego consists of some ideal norms and values that the ego tries to live by, and which has its model based on societies and parents’ norms and values. Many of the conflicts that the child is experiencing between their instinctive drives and the demands of their surroundings take place as a sort of inner dialogue between the ego and the superego.

Children’s Development

Psychoanalytic theory has as its starting point that the personality develops and is shaped by a process where the reality principle takes control of the instinctive drives. The governing of the pleasure principle must take place in acceptable ways, that is, a restraint, possible to live with, and acceptable to the surroundings. If this process is not developing in a successful manner, libido could be ‘fixated’ on activities linked to this stage, and this may lead to difficulties later in life. Freud was of the opinion that the human being has a closed energy system and that each individual has a constant amount of energy given at birth. He argues that there are two fundamental drives (translated from Freud 1972: 77–78): After hesitating for a long time we have decided to assume that there are only two existing fundamental drives, Eros and the death drive … The goal of Eros is to continually procure and hold on to more and more, while the death drive has as its goal to dissolve the surroundings and thereby destroy everything.

He divides the child’s psychosexual development into stages. Each stage in the development is characterized by the dominance of one erogenous zone. First, it is the mouth, “the oral stage”, from birth to approximately two years of age. The child experiences satisfaction by sucking and putting everything into their mouth. The child is exploring through the mouth during these first years. The period from approximately one to three years old is what Freud calls “the anal stage”. He argues that the child finds pleasure from holding back and releasing feces, testing the parents’ focus on toilet training. In this way, the parents represent the outer world with their demands.

Freud calls the period from three to six years old ‘the phallic stage’. The libido is then specifically linked to the genitals. The child is becoming aware of the difference between men and women, and their sexual instincts are being directed towards the parent of the opposite gender. It is in this stage the Oedipus conflict has to be resolved. The child sees the parent of the same gender as a competitor whom he/she has to render harmless.

It is these first stages, towards the age of six, that Freud sees as especially important for further development. After this age, according to Freud, a more latent period follows until puberty. The psychosexual development is now stationary while the main focus is directed toward the world around them. The children are not as occupied with the body as they have been previously. The gaze is outwards and they use their energy to deal with the world and their surroundings. This stage is to be replaced by the genital stage in puberty which is characterized by adult sexuality and functioning.

Psychological Disorders and Treatment

Psychoanalysis is the form of treatment within the psychodynamic theory and is used in therapies. A characteristic of the ‘pure’ psychoanalysis is that the treatment takes a long time and that the focus is on the past, the childhood, in order to capture the situations that created anxiety. It is especially in the treatment of neuroses, Freud argues, that psychoanalysis can be of help. He is of the opinion that it is less accessible for people with more serious psychological illnesses because of the need for the ego to have retained a certain amount of inner coherence and insight into the demands of reality (Freud 192).

Neuroses, in this theoretical perspective, are seen as a sign that the defense mechanisms, which try to govern the anxiety, are having such an impact on the person that normal self-realization is inhibited. Through an analysis based on associations, dreams, and a free-floating of thoughts, the therapist will – together with the patient – analyze the dreams and thoughts. In this way, the unconscious is made conscious.

“The defense mechanisms” play an important role in Freud’s illness and treatment theory. He defines defense mechanisms as unconscious strategies used to deal with negative emotions, where repression is especially emphasized.

Elaboration of the Psychodynamic Theory

Psychosocial Stages throughout the Life

Erikson extends the theory of developmental stages further. He identifies eight developmental stages which he argues the human being goes through from birth to old age and then death (Erikson 1974). He is of the opinion that the development within the various stages comes about through crises which determine the formation of normal or deviant personality. While Freud divides the development in childhood into “psychosexual stages”, Erikson divides the lifespan into “psychosocial stages”.

Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages

Stage / Psychosocial conflict / Desirable conflicts

1. First-year of life / Trust vs. Mistrust / Trust and optimism
2. Second-year of life / Autonomy vs. Doubt / Sense of personal control
3. Third, the fourth and fifth years of life / Initiative vs. Guilt / Ability to take initiative to own activities
4. From the sixth year of life and up to puberty / Industry vs. Inferiority / Competency in intellectual, social, and physical skills
5. Adolescence / Identity vs. Role confusion / An integrated perception of oneself as a unique person.
6. Early adulthood (20-40 years) / Intimacy vs. Isolation / Ability to form intimate and long-lasting relations, establish a professional life
7. Middle age/ adulthood (40-65 years old) / Generativity vs. Stagnation / Care of family, society and future generations
8. Old age / Ego integrity vs. Bitterness and despair / A feeling of satisfaction when looking back and a ‘willingness” to face death.

Early Object Relations Important in Life

Object relation theory is another continuation of Freud’s classical theory. Mahler (1879–1985) together with Klein (1948) are leading representatives for this continuation. “Object” is understood as a love object; people who are emotionally important. The first important object is the mother or a mother figure. Then other objects enter the stage; that is, other people that whom the child makes an emotional relationship. Based on the early interactions, with emphasis on the mother/child relationship, they argue that the child is creating an inner picture of the object and the situation around the interaction. This picture, or object presentation, of the mother, becomes a psychological structure in the ego. It is the child’s subjective picture of the mother which is created. These inner structures are carried on in life and are important for the individual’s way of reacting toward others later in life. With a basis on the early experiences of interactions, the child is developing a view of himself, her/his career, and what he/she can expect from others.

Bowlby (1969, 1988) developed a theoretical framework for the study of the attachment between children and parents by integrating three theories; ethology (the study of animals’ development and survival), psychodynamic theory, and system theory. According to Bowlby’s attachment theory, all children are attached to their parents no matter how they are treated, but they attach themselves in different ways depending on the emotional interaction. The function of attachment behavior is to hold the child close enough to the mother so as to increase the possibilities of survival. In this way, the child is born with a range of specific characteristics. Based on the experiences from early interaction with the carers the child develops an opinion of itself, their carers, and what is expected from others. The experiences contribute to how the child is making attachment patterns. These become working models when they later become parents themselves.

Defense Mechanisms

Anna Freud (1994) together with others developed the theory about the function of defense mechanisms. Freud was especially focused on how the ego can use ‘repression’ as a defense mechanism to deal with unacceptable needs and thoughts. Successors have described a range of other defense mechanisms. “Intellectualization” is one of these and is about when a person is only relating intellectually to something which awakes anxiety. A defense mechanism where reactions are transferred to something other than what was originally the starting point is called ‘transference’. With ‘projection’, one’s own feelings that one does not want to admit to, are transferred to other people.

A Stronger Focus on the Ego’s Role in Personality Development

One of the characteristics of the shift in psychodynamic theory is that there is a greater focus on the ego and its relationship to the surroundings. Important characteristics are the ability to create meaning of the experiences and the down toning of the importance of the drives’ influence on ego’s development.

Erik Erikson and Anna Freud (Sigmund Freud’s daughter) place less importance on the conflict between the id and the superego and ascribe ego to a more independent role in personality development. Erikson describes three processes that govern human beings’ behavior: ego processes, physical processes, and social processes (1974). The human being is seen as a part biological organism, part person with an ego, and part social member of society. He states that the human being can be understood by observing these three parts as interrelated even though they can be described separately. In developmental crises, great emphasis is placed on the positive possibilities the individual possesses throughout their life. This more active view of human life can be said to be integrated into psychodynamic models in social work today.

Psychodynamic Theory and Social Work

Social work existed as a discipline when the psychodynamic theory was made accessible. The discipline was however new and with little theoretical ballast. Social work had its origin in practice. With this as its starting point, casework (work with individuals and families) was developed as a method. Mary Richmond was especially central in this work. She explains the background for why she started developing the work with casework as follows (Richmond, 1917)

With other practitioners – with physicians and lawyers, for example – there was always a basis of knowledge held in common. If a neurologist had occasion to confer with a surgeon, each could assume in the other mastery of the elements of a whole group of basic sciences and of the formulated and transmitted experience of this own guild besides. But what common knowledge could social workers assume in like case? This was my query of fifteen years ago. It seemed to me then, and it is still my opinion, that the elements of social diagnosis, if formulated, should constitute a part of the ground that all social case workers could occupy in common and that it should become possible in time to take for granted, in every social practitioner, knowledge and mastery of those elements, and of the modifications in them which each decade of practice would surely bring.

In this way, she wanted to contribute to developing a knowledge bank that should be common for social workers. In the method Richmond developed, she focused on a good relationship between the social worker and the client. In this relationship, information and advice are imparted, and discussions are held, the client is to gain greater insight into his/her own situation and solution alternatives so that he/she can act in alternative ways. With her strong connections to natural science, Richmond tried to give social work a scientific foundation. . Through a systematic gathering of data the social diagnosis is set and treatment procedures to correct the reasons for the problems are made and implemented. Richmond points out that both the economical and social situations influence the individual’s problems, so in the work of mapping out the causality, these reasons are included. She also emphasizes that each individual should be perceived and treated uniquely, also when these outer conditions are described. Richmond wanted to develop social work to become a profession. Her methods are thorough and systematic, concerned both with deciding diagnoses as well as forms of treatment.

One central representative of the development of psychosocial work from the1960s is Florence Hollis. She developed her models with a foundation in casework and with a strong influence from psychodynamic therapy. Hollis and Woods (1981) use psychodynamic theory to understand stress. In their model, stress is seen as more important than pressure in order to understand the cause of the problems and how the social worker can proceed in the work. Hollis and Wood are of the opinion that the reasons for the problematic living situation can be found in the following:

• A weak ego or superego influences how independently a person acts, how strong their character is, and if one can delay needs
• Fixation in earlier stages – needs not being dealt with acceptably, so that the person is impaired in further development.
• Pressure from the environment, bad economy, bad living conditions.

Characteristics in Psychodynamic Theories in Social Work

Main characteristics of psychodynamic theory in social work:

• The unconscious is assumed to be playing a vital role in behavior, thoughts, and feelings.
• The personality is seen as consisting of three parts: the id, the ego, and the superego which are all in a dynamic relationship.
• Experiences in childhood are seen as especially important in the development of the personality.
• Unsolved conflict-filled experiences and traumatic incidents will be consigned to the unconscious.
• Defense mechanisms are a way of dealing with difficulties
• The developmental crises, which are ongoing throughout life, have in them the possibility of both growth and stagnation.
• Good psychological health is characterized by being able to free oneself from unconscious conflicts and tensions.
• Ego strength is evaluated by how independently human beings can act, how energetic and how many characters they have, and if they can delay the gratification of needs and impulses and understand others’ needs.
• Essential in good interaction with others is to see other people as separate from oneself, see them as complex persons and not judge them in a black and white way of thinking.

The social worker-client relationship:

• A great emphasis is placed on the gathering of information to obtain a holistic picture.
• Concerned about bringing conflicts to the surface and working through them
• It is crucial to create a climate that is accepting of the client
• The goal of the work is to process previous conflicts (also unconscious ones), increase ego- strength, and find new and more appropriate adjustments to the surroundings and own life
• Resistance and defense mechanisms are cause for interpretations
• The client is to be seen as a unique person with a unique history

Case Study

Overview of Selected Approach

Archer and McCarthy (2007) state, that under Freud’s psychoanalytical theory human behavior is explained by conflicts that develop due to an individual’s unconscious sexual and aggression drives. To meet the norms of society, individuals attempt to control these drives which inevitably produce a conflict within us. Three structures that interact together resulting in this conflict are the id, ego, and super-ego. The unconscious id works on a pleasure principle satisfying immediate wants without reference to external consequences, whilst the conscious super-ego works to meet expectations considered the norm of society. The resulting conflict between the two structures is controlled by the ego which struggles to meet the reality principle; that is doing what is possible and yet practical (Kluft, 2005).

Client Information

George a 35-year-old male is a high school teacher who taught physical education and coached the school track team. Making false statements such as being the coach of an Olympic track along with the tendency to easily become enraged by minor provocation, George is now hospitalized. During university, he attended counseling and was prescribed anti-depressants because George presented signs incongruent to his normal personality.

Prior to his hospitalization George presented similar symptoms to his first episode and stated he experienced constant worrying about his job and team. His family state George has become tense, anxious, and depressed, adding George spends long hours asleep or staring at the ceiling. George has quit his job stating personal incompetence and sees suicide as the only possible solution to the current issues.

Freud’s Psychoanalytical Approach

Symptom formation. Freud states all adult experiences originate from childhood experiences and that issues such as attachment with parents, losses encountered, and traumas experienced as a child; can all impact current relationships and development. Freud’s psychosexual stage hypothesizes that during the phallic phase when George should have been forming an attachment to his father, he was experiencing trauma by seeing his parent regularly arguing. In addition, the father’s drinking habits also hindered attachment formation between father and son. According to Freud, this has led to issues in his adult life (Archer & McCarthy, 2007; Peterson, 2004).

Relevance to the client. From Freud’s perspective, George’s problems manifest in a conflict that he’s having within himself, stating that when conflicts arise between the id and superego the ego initiates certain defense mechanisms in order to reduce that anxiety (Archer & McCarthy, 2007; Kluft, 2005). Few defense mechanisms that strongly fit George’s behavior displayed in the past and present are described. Firstly using a defense of sublimation, Freud argues George has mentally shut out what seems to trouble him by converting that anxiety into something else (Punamäki, Kanninen, Qouta, & El-Sarraj, 2002). Observation of sleeping longer could be interpreted that, to minimize thinking about issues, he’s transferred that anxiety to a new medium of sleeping more. George might see sleeping as something he can consciously control in order to help shut out the issues he is having.

Secondly, George mentioned he worries about his job, combined with his later action of quitting his job, George could have employed a defense mechanism known as repression; whereby a person consciously ignores issues by not confronting them (Archer & McCarthy, 2007; Erdelyi, 2006). This is exemplified when George decided that the best way to deal with work concerns was best dealt by leaving the situation that was eliciting those feelings.

Finally, in contribution to thinking, he is an Olympic coach; in order to deal with the anxiety, the defense mechanism of dissociation could be in progress. This is when a patient mentally shuts out awful events in an attempt to avoid them (Erdelyi, 2006). However, Freud states an important by-product of dissociation is that sometimes it leads to a feeling of living two separate lives (Archer & McCarthy, 2007).

Assessment. The aim of Freud’s assessment is to enable patients to understand what is causing their conflict and in essence realize their own wishes, talents, and capabilities; whilst still accepting the limitations (Roth, 1996).

Gilmore (2002) states helping clients discover information stored within their unconscious is the most important technique possible. According to Archer and McCarthy (2007), free association can be used in order to let George release everything that he’s thinking and feeling, allowing both the client and therapist to discover suppressed thoughts. Further support by Kluft (2005) adds that free association can also show the therapist a possible transition point when George changes from his normal self to his alter ego of being the Olympic coach; entailing further investigation of what he said and thought just prior to switching to the alter ego.

Secondly, there’s the option of projective assessment such as Rorschach inkblot tests whereby George describes what he sees to presented stimuli. Archer and McCarthy (2007) state the aim of this exercise is not to answer judgment, but rather to discover hidden content in George’s unconscious. This enables therapists to identify any patterns of thought that may be suppressed and factors that might be triggering his actions.

The psychoanalytical approach hypothesized that George’s symptoms have occurred due to inner conflicts that resulted as a consequence of his psychosexual stages not being accomplished. Under this method, certain defense mechanisms have been discussed that seem to influence George’s anxiety.

References

1. Bowlby, J.: Attachment and loss. Basic Books. New York 1969.
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Sigmund Freud defines id, ego, and super-ego as the three parts of the psychic apparatus in his structural model of the psyche. Id is the part of someone’s personality that contains basic drives, ego deals with the organized part of someones personality and with reality principles, and superego contradicts Id and aims for perfection. The Lord of The Flies by William Golding is about a group of young boys who get stranded on an island and resort to their human nature to survive.

The three main characters, Ralph, Jack, and Piggy all share different point of views on how to run the island. The author represents Id, ego, and superego through Jack relying on his instincts, Ralph containing common sense, and Piggy’s sense of reality and righteousness (respectively). In this novel, Jack illustrates Id through his selfish and instinctual behavior. Throughout the book, Jack is fixed on killing a pig and does not listen to anyone telling him otherwise. According to the text, “‘We want meat.’ ‘Well, we haven’t got any yet. And we want shelters.

Besides, the rest of your hunters came back hours ago. They’ve been swimming.’” (Golding 51) In this scene, Ralph is trying to talk some sense into Jack and explain the group’s necessities while Jack only has one desire which is to kill a pig. Jack is so focused on getting meat that he doesn’t keep in mind the fact that the boys need shelter, someone needs to keep the fire lit, the little kids are having nightmares, etc. This demonstrates how Jack acts on impulse because he does not take into consideration any other factors and stays with his instincts without any common sense behind it. Thus, Jack represents Id because he is only concerned with his immediate satisfaction, in this case meat, and knows no judgement of value. This can also be seen on page 100 where it states, “ ‘This’ll be a real hunt! Who’ll come?” Ralph moves impatiently. ‘These spears are made of wood. Don’t be silly.’ Jack sneered at him. ‘Frightened?’” (Golding).

In other words, the boys have discovered a beast on the island and Jack decides to go kill it yet doesn’t realize the possible threat of it and the condition of their weapons. When his idea is challenged by Ralph, he insults him as a way of avoiding reality. Although he sees that Sam and Eric were attack and are quite possibly traumatized from the beast, he doesn’t stop to ask about their well-being or show any empathy. To analyze, this demonstrates how Jack only strives to gratify his instinctual needs and has no organization because he avoids confrontation and any sense of common sense and only bases his actions off of his desires. It also shows how he has no sense of morality since he didn’t acknowledge Sam and Eric’s safety. Overall, Jack’s personality represents Id because he only relies off of his basic drives and lacks a conscience. Throughout the book, Ralph is constantly using his judgement and sense of reality to face problems and keep the group’s priorities in mind. Moreover, in the text it states, “I bet if I blew the conch this minute, they’d come running.

Then, we’d be you know, very solemn, and someone would say we out to build a jet, or a submarine, or a TV set. When the meeting was over, they’d work for five minutes, then wander off or go hunting.” (Golding 51) To clarify, Ralph is explaining to Jack the problems that they are facing through logic. He is trying to make Jack see how things are not running smoothly on the island and changes must be made. Ralph understands their basic necessities and is realistic when it comes to setting things straight. He also recognizes how Jack’s selfish impulses can be problematic so he uses common sense to try to reason with him. Thus, this demonstrates how Ralph represents ego because he has judgement, intellectual functioning, and a sense of reality. He knows when something requires change, uses logic, and identifies how to fix a problem. Even when he was out of his natural state, Ralph still remained realistic and had his priorities straight.

According to the text, “No fire; no smoke; no rescue. He turned and limped away through the forest toward Jack’s end of the island.” (Golding 184) At this moment in the text, Ralph is trying to hide from Jack because he senses that they might kill him. He is injured and has just witnessed the death of Piggy, yet he still has his priorities in mind and understands what must be done in order for them to be rescued. Even through all of his traumatic experiences, Ralph remains realistic and his external environment directly influences him. Thus, Ralph represents ego because he has common sense and bases his actions on the idea that it will benefit him in the long term rather than bring immediate satisfaction. Piggy expresses a strong sense of morality and common sense throughout the story connecting him to the personality trait of superego. At the beginning of the book, Piggy is presented with a conflict and to help solve it he says, “‘We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They’ll come when they hear us—’…‘That’s what you meant, didn’t you? That’s why you got the conch out of the water.’” (pg 16)

To reiterate, Ralph and Piggy have just met and Piggy found a conch to use as device to call for meetings. This demonstrates how Piggy strives for unity and looks up to others. He prioritizes the well being of those around him over his needs or wants. Without realizing it, he has an organized personality that aims for perfection, in this case making sure everything is orderly and arranged well. As a result, he represents superego because of his impulse towards perfection and morality. This is expressed on page 91 during a disorderly assembly where Piggy erupts and says, “‘What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages? What’s grownups going to think? Going off—hunting pigs—letting fires out—and now!’” (Golding) In this scene, the boys are having an assembly and people are talking over the person who has the conch, while also reacting absurdly to the idea of ghosts. This highlights how Piggy is questioning everyone’s morality and is punishing their misbehavior with guilt. Bringing up the grown-ups shows how he strives to act in a socially appropriate manner and wants everyone else to do so too. His desire to please others and follow the norm drives him to act in this way.

Therefore, this demonstrates how Piggy represents superego because he is aware of his surroundings and has a clear sense of reality, and he strives for the right morality. Sigmund Freud’s idea of Id, ego, and superego can be connected to many aspects of life. In the Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Jack, Ralph, and Piggy each deal with challenges differently that reveal their human nature. Through the characterization of Jack, Ralph, Piggy, the author is able to represent Id, ego, superego. Jack illustrates Id through his unorganized instinctual tendencies, Ralph represents ego through his sense of reality, and Piggy depicts superego through his organized and righteous personality.