Context/background
Some people behave in ways that society finds strange or maybe they have unusual phobias, e.g. pickle girl
Phobia= an intense irrational fear and compulsion to avoid or escape that thing or situation
Freud believed that phobias are a mental manifestation of inner psychological conflicts and that all kids pass through psychological stages individually
Oedipus complex = experienced by boys around 4 years old during the phallic stage where they experience subconscious sexual feelings for their mother, while seeing their father as a rival. To resolve this, the boy identifies with the dad and imitates him
Electra complex = young girls around 4 years old, during the phallic stage, having subconscious feelings for their father and feeling rivalry for their mother
Sequence of psychosexual stages are determined by maturation and how the child is treated
Psychosexual stages
1- Oral stage = 0-1, mouth is the main focus
2- Anal stage = 1-3 years, learns to retain and expel feces at will
3- Phallic stage = 3-6/5 years, oedipus and electra complex
4- Latency stage = 6-11/12, puberty happens
5- Genital stage = puberty -> maturity
Aim
To give an account of a boy suffering from a phobia of horses, and to illustrate the oedipus complex
Method
Longitudinal case study, of Little Hans, a jewish boy from south Austria, documenting his life from 3-5, the data was gathered and given to Freud by Han's father
Procedure
Age 3, Han's showed interest in his "twiddler" (penis) and became aware of the fact that his mum didn't have one, he tended to masturbate, so his mum threatened to chop it off = resulting in a fear of castration
At 3.5, He got a baby sister, Hanna, and resented her, wishing she would drown in the bath
He saw a horse fall and kick around, which resulted in a fear of a horse biting him because his dad said "Don't point at it, the horse will bite you"
Horses also reminded him of his dad because of their large penises and blinkers appearing to resemble his dad's glasses
He used to climb into his parents' bed and his dad started protesting, Hans feared that his mum would leave him, then he had a fantasy that he was married to his mother, they had 2 children and his father was instead, his grandfather. He also had a fantasy that there was 2 giraffes on a bed and one was squashed = the squashed giraffe was the mother
He dreamt that a plumber came to the house, took off his penis and replaced it with a larger one, this resolved his feelings of rivalry with his father and resolved the oedipus complex
Findings
The fascination with his widdler was during the phallic stage, the giraffe dream was because of the oedipus complex and the plumber dream resolved the complex
Conclusions
It supported psychosexual development theory
It supported the oedipus complex
It supported the nurture arguments of phobias, and supported unconscious determinism
Evaluation
Sample- small, hard to generalise from 1 boy
Data- qualitative, there is little concrete information about Hans
Ethics- Hans did not consent although his dad did, it did not cause stress but there are socially sensitive and privacy issues
Validity- Could've been biased information from Freud's dad because he was a fan of Freud