Sigmund Freud put forward the notion that a child goes through their development in 'Psychosexual Stages'. Freud viewed this theory as a child needing to change their erogenous zones as they age. With this he claims that if a child transfers its libidinal energy, meaning the emotional energy which is usually sexually related, successfully then the energy will move on to the next zone. Yet if there are problems such as frustration or overindulgence, then the energy will become either transfixed in the zone it is in or it will fall back to an earlier zone. This will mean that development will be impaired.
There are altogether five stages in Freud's theory, they are:.
1) The Oral Stage. This is from birth to 18 months old.
2) The Anal Stage. This is from 18 months to 3-5 years old.
3) The Phallic Stage. This is from 3-5 to 6-8 years old.
4) The Latency Stage. This is from 6-8 to puberty.
5) The Genital Stage. This is from puberty to death.
Freud believed that from birth to 18 months old, a child has the mouth as an erogenous zone. The child suckles on the mother's breast and starts to form a bond.
The next zone in the anal stage is the anus. The problems for parents of a child in this stage are toilet training. Parents who put a demand on exactly when the child goes to the toilet leave the child to develop into having strong habits. The parents who leave their child to be able to decide for itself when they should go to the toilet have a child that develops expressively.
The phallic stage has the genitals as the erogenous zone. It is at this age that children walk around without any clothes and explore their own genitals openly. The problem here lies within the understanding that the mother and father have a relationship separate to that of the child, and thus jealousy forms. Freud claims that it is at this stage that a boy starts to lust after his mother and wants to become her lover from his preconceptions of sexual life.
