Evaluating Freud's Theory of Development

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  • Created by: Danni
  • Created on: 19-05-16 09:48

Evaluating Freud's Theory of Development

Advantages

  • There are everyday examples of the defence mechanisms in real life - such as crime victims often experiencing repression, and denial frequently found in everyday language.
  • Freud provided some new treatments to patients with mental health problems - which were otherwise unavailable. Plus, he needed to develop treatments for the otherwise unmeasurable theories and concepts he was using.
  • Freud generated his theory from in-depth case studies which provided him with very rich and in-depth information. Including his own studies which support his theory.
  • His theory was built from valid data and it focused on the dreams and problems of each individual.

Disadvantages

  • Freud's approach does not use any scientific method as the data is qualitative and specific to the individual - it is therefore not generalisable.
  • The concepts Freud studied are not measurable - such as the unconscious mind - and therefore cannot be tested; the unconscious is unreachable by normal means - hence why he developed his own methods e.g. dream analysis.
  • The case studies that he used required his own personal interpretation e.g. of dream symbols, and so the findings may be subjective and thus not generalisable as a theory.

Evaluation

Freud's theory of defence mechanisms is understood because there are everyday examples of them in real life, for example, crime victims often experience repression, and denial is frequently found is everyday language. Freud also provided some new treatments to patients with mental health problems which were otherwise unavailable or even barbaric. Plus, he needed to develop treatments for the otherwise unmeasurable theories and concepts he was looking at. Freud generated his theory from in-depth case studies which provided him with very rich and in-depth information. Including his own studies which support his theory, e.g. Little Hans. His theory was built from valid data and it focused on the dreams and problems of each individual. Freud's approach does not use any scientific method as the data is qualitative and specific to the individual and so it is therefore not generalisable to others. The concepts Freud studied are not measurable, such as the unconscious mind, and therefore cannot be tested; the unconscious is unreachable by normal means - hence why he developed his own methods e.g. dream analysis. The case studies that he used required his own personal interpretation, e.g. of dream symbols, and so the findings may be subjective and thus not generalisable as a theory.

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