Infantile sexuality

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With infantile sexuality that is human sexuality from birth until reaching puberty designated. This concept plays an essential role in classical psychoanalysis because it assumes that psychological development is significantly influenced by sexuality.

In psychoanalysis

The Sexology of the late 19th century discovered the sex of the child as a subject of research. This discovery culminated in Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory , which is still associated with the concept of infantile sexuality to this day. The Viennese doctor and sex researcher published his work Drei Abhandlungen zur Sexualtheorie from 1904 to 1905 , in which he endorsed the thesis that children, despite their sexual immaturity, showed certain sexual expressions from birth, despite their sexual immaturity. Freud's teachings on sexuality in children are controversial.

In 2016, a conversation between Sophinette Becker and Julia König was published under the title Sexuality, which disturbs , which brought together numerous positions of the sexologist on the current discourse on sexuality and especially child sexuality.

General concept

According to Freud, the child's alleged asexuality is an unrealistic ideal and an error with grave consequences. Human sexuality is effective from birth and has a complex history of development. Even the newborn child brings sexual impulses with them into the world, which initially develop for a while and e.g. B. express in the so-called desire to show , but would be subject to progressive suppression after a flowering phase around the third to fourth year of life. Only with puberty does sexual development resume. Freud spoke of a two-stage approach to human sexual development, interrupted by a period of sexual latency lasting several years . In the context of drive theory , Freud's expanded sexuality- genetic approach anchored psychosexual development in the physiological, phased development.

Stages of psychosexual development

According to Freud, every phase of psychosexual development is characterized by the predominance of certain erogenous zones , which Freud called pleasure centers .

  • The oral phase (from Latin os, Gen. oris: the mouth ) is the first expression of childlike sexuality. It takes place in infancy and toddler age and lasts until about 2 years of age. It represents the most primitive stage of psychosexual development in which the mouth serves as the primary source of satisfaction, e.g. B. by sucking and sucking. At the end of the oral phase, other erogenous zones replace the mouth as the predominant pleasure center; but the person retains the ability to gain oral pleasure, for example when his lips touch the lips of the partner as an erotic stimulus during a kiss . The unconscious wish fulfillment as well as its failure is the primary narcissism . The concept of the anaclise has given the theory of the oral phase a critical addition.
  • In the Anal phase (from Latin anus the anus), which takes place around the 2nd - 3rd year of life, the child first gainssatisfactionby excreting excrement ( defecation ) and then by holding back. Depending on cultural norms, external requirements can conflict with these needs, which regulates and suppresses the joy that the child feels in this stimulation zone. This phase contributes to toilet training , to learning how to interact socially, todealing with conflicts and to later superego development. According to Freud, the child canget into conflictin the anal phase , depending on how the educator deals with the toilet training. Unsolved problems can lead to the development of a so-called “anal character”, which is characterized by greed , pedantry and an exaggerated sense of order . Fixation and the resulting regression on the late anal phase can lead to the development of compulsive behaviors.
  • In the phallic or oedipal phase (from. Greek φαλλός phallós : the male member), which lasts from about 3 to 5 years of age, the majority of the attention is directed to exploring one's own body, as well as touching and stimulating the penis or the Clitoris . The instinctual wishes in this phase are usually expressed in the desire of the opposite-sex parent. This desire gives rise to a conflict which Freud called the “Oedipus conflict” - after the figure of Oedipus from the tragedy of the same name by Sophocles . The child identifies with the same-sex parent, which leads to the acquisition of the respective gender role . In the case of an unfavorable course of development, this conflict can persist, which is often called the Oedipus complex in the psychoanalytic literature. This is the case when a child or adult cannot break away from the beloved parent. Possible consequences of an unresolved Oedipus conflict are non-affirmation of one's own gender role, identification with the opposite sex or inability to love .
  • From the 5th to 11th year of life, in the latency period (from Latin latere: to be hidden), satisfaction takes place through acquiring skills and exploring the environment. The child becomes able to forego pleasure satisfaction, to postpone it to a later point in time or to convert it into other energy, for example in objective interest ( sublimation ). Cultural values ​​are adopted from role models (teachers, neighbors, acquaintances, club leaders, coaches) and cognitive skills are acquired. The school and playing with fellow males is increasing in importance, while sexuality is repressed. Although sexual energy is produced, it is channeled into social relationships and into building a defense against sexuality.
  • The The genital phase (from Latin gens, gentis: the sex) occurs around the age of 12. With the onset of pre-puberty , sexuality awakensto new powerunder the influence of sex hormones . It now takes on a further function: It also serves for reproduction , not just for pleasure satisfaction. If the child's interest in the early childhood was more or less self-centered and the sexual object was to be sought in the family, sexual partners outside the family are now chosen ( exogamy ). Sexuality serves the interpersonal partnership. It is no longer just a function that can be used for something - to satisfy pleasure or to have children - but an important form of social interaction and communication .

A development of the libido cathexis from autoerotism to narcissism to object choice correlates with these phases along the erogenous zone that is predominant in development . Here, however, Freud's theory is not uniform. His first model only knew the autoerotism of infantile sexuality in contrast to the adult, object-oriented libido. In a second step, he introduced narcissism as an intermediate stage, which is supposed to unify the partial drives by occupying the entire body (formation of a central body scheme as opposed to the disorder of regional libido zones as the first stage in the formation of an ego). He later called this synthesis "secondary narcissism"; at the same time he postulated a “primary narcissism”, which should characterize prenatal life.

According to the drive theory, there are developmental behavior and demands of the child which, even under normal conditions, come into conflict with the demands of the environment at certain points. As a rule, the child has to learn to set aside his instinctual wishes in favor of the reality principle . The resolution of the conflicts that arise in the respective development phases means another important step in personal development. Under problematic conditions, for example by repulsive, aggressive or also (latently) incestuous parents who do not (carefully) put the child in the necessary limits, starting points for later personality disorders of the child can be laid in the course of this development .

In this sense, Erik H. Erikson developed the Freudian concept into a step model of psychosocial development in Childhood and Society (orig. Childhood and Society; first time 1950) . On the basis of the drive theory phase theory, he designed a psychology of child development that progresses in typical, phase-specific conflicts.

The phase model also forms the basis of a psychoanalytic characterology which, following the example of Freud's description of the anal character, differentiates between further characters ( oral, urethral, phallic-narcissistic and genital character).

The polymorphic perverse system

According to Freud, the child brings so-called “polymorphically perverse” traits into the world, which can manifest themselves in various paraphilias when the sexual latency period breaks through (the term perversion is not used pejoratively (derogatory), but value-neutral). Compared to most adults, prepubescent children are more prone to paraphilias because their emotional dams - such as shame, disgust and morality - are only just beginning to emerge, depending on their age. The following sexual inclinations are among the paraphilias triggered in childhood:

According to Freud, paraphilic adults show a form of sexuality that has been inhibited in its development and has stopped at a child's level. Where an existing tendency to paraphilia is suppressed , a neurosis arises in its place . Freud describes neurosis as the negative of perversion . By contrast, the process of sublimation can transform a paraphilic tendency into intellectual or artistic creativity. Freud sees this as an engine of cultural development.

According to Otto Kernberg , polymorphic perverse sexual predispositions are a classic symptom of borderline personality disorders .

Castration complex and penis envy

Sigmund Freud diagnosed two sex-typical child complexes, which result from the anatomical feature that the female genitalia, in contrast to the male, can hardly be seen externally. According to this, boys suffer from the conscious or unconscious fear that their penis could be cut off, as the existence of penisless peers makes this a possibility. Girls, on the other hand, would miss an organ that is equivalent to the penis in their bodies and feel inferior as a result. Today's views assume that penis envy and castration fear do not inevitably occur, but only when the social and educational circumstances encourage it - e.g. B. through a social disadvantage of girls compared to boys, as was practically always the case in Freud's time.

Puberty

After overcoming sexual latency period according to Freud in receiving puberty the child's genitalia in front of other erogenous zones (pleasure centers). If the sex drive was mainly autosexual until then, it is now looking for its sexual object and serving the reproductive function.

The predominance of the genital zone arises through the exploitation of fore- pleasure , in which actions originally independent of it, but which are also connected with pleasure and arousal, now become preparatory acts for the new sexual goal, orgasm .

According to Freud's teaching, when choosing an object, the child is initially tempted to turn those people into sexual objects with a “dampened libido”, i.e. his parents or caregivers. However, during the period of sexual latency, the incest barrier matured alongside other sexual barriers. In this way, the choice of objects is directed away from these people, but often initially directed towards people who are similar to them. These can also be teachers or other persons with educational functions. Further social sexual barriers can be seen, for example, in the fact that young people rave about people who cannot be reached (for them). This crush is like being in love. Fulfillment and life of the partnership, however, is not aimed at and this is how this “infatuation” expresses itself e.g. B. in the worship of distant pop stars or film actors.

Sometimes the separation from the parents (→ dissolution of the Oedipus complex ) is insufficient. In these cases, according to psychoanalytic theory, the person suppresses their sex drive and thus manages to remain attached to their parents in child love well beyond puberty. However, the negative consequences of this are often disturbances in their partnership relationships.

The precocity

Sexual precocity manifests itself in the interruption, shortening or abolition of the sexual latency period. It induces sexual utterances which, due to the incomplete state of the sexual inhibitions and the underdeveloped genital system, always have the character of paraphilias. Sexual prematurity makes it difficult for the higher psychic authorities to control the sexual instinct later on and is often coupled with premature intellectual development. Several world-famous personalities were sexually precocious. The extent to which precociousness is hereditary or can be influenced by upbringing and other external factors is assessed differently by psychological opinions ( theories ).

Criticism of the model of child sexuality in psychoanalysis

In the 1980s, the psychologist Alice Miller began to criticize psychoanalysis for the fact that it conceals and hampers the detection and processing of actual child abuse in patients' childhood by “denying concrete facts with the help of abstract, disguising constructions” .

The psychoanalyst Jeffrey Masson , after studying Freud's correspondence, came to the conclusion that Freud turned away from his original, socially highly explosive seduction theory , according to which mental disorders were based on actual abuse in childhood, because it was not socially accepted. Instead, he then dismissed it "as a fantasy product of his patients", which he tried to explain with "mythological fantasies [...] (example Oedipus complex)". This is responsible for the fact that the abuse victims are punished twice, on the one hand by the act itself, and on the other hand by the fact that they are not taken seriously by the treating psychoanalysts.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ “The meaning of the known 'facts' about infantile sexuality was subject to continuous change between 1880 and 1910, depending on the various theories, including Freud's, into which they were integrated (...) In the historical alliance of psychoanalysis and sexology means it is a retroactive effect of Freud's later greatness that his name has been linked to many important ideas that he did not produce himself. ” Cf. Frank J. Sulloway: chap. Freud and the sexologists. In: Freud. Biologist of the soul. Beyond the psychoanalytic legend; Cologne-Lövenich 1982, p. 387 f. The self- attribution of Freud to be regarded as the discoverer of child sexuality is historically refuted by Sulloway and proven to be part of the "Freud legend".
  2. ↑ Sophinette Becker , Julia König: Sexuality that disturbs. A conversation . In: Free Association. Journal of Psychoanalytic Social Psychology . tape 19 , no. 1 , 2016, ISSN  1434-7849 , p. 113–127 ( psychoanalytischesozialpsychologie.de [PDF; 315 kB ; accessed on July 9, 2020]).
  3. ↑ a b c Sven Olaf Hoffmann , Gerd Hochapfel: Theory of Neuroses, Psychotherapeutic and Psychosomatic Medicine. (= Compact textbook). 6th edition. Schattauer, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-7945-1960-4 ;
    (a) p. 26 et seq. on head. "Oral phase";
    (b) p. 38 ff. on the section “Anal phase”;
    (c) p. 44 ff. on the “Oedipal phase”.
  4. ↑ Stavros Mentzos : Neurotic Conflict Processing. Introduction to the psychoanalytic theory of neuroses, taking into account more recent perspectives. © 1982 Kindler, Fischer-Taschenbuch, Frankfurt 1992, ISBN 3-596-42239-6 ; P. 90–93 on Stw. “Theory of the Anaklise”.
  5. ^ René A. Spitz : From infant to toddler. Natural history of mother-child relationships in the first year of life. 11th edition. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-608-91823-X .
  6. ↑ John Bowlby : Separation. Psychological damage as a result of the separation of mother and child. Kindler, Munich 1976, ISBN 3-463-02171-4 .
  7. ↑ John Bowlby: On the Nature of the Mother-Child Relationship. In: Psyche. 13, 1959/60, pp. 415-456.
  8. ^ Wilhelm Karl Arnold et al. (Ed.): Lexicon of Psychology . Bechtermünz, Augsburg 1996, ISBN 3-86047-508-8 ; Col. 81 to Lex.-Lemma: "Anal phase".
  9. ↑ See on this: Jean Laplanche , JB Pontalis : Das Vokabular der Psychoanalyse. Frankfurt am Main 1984, ISBN 3-518-27607-7 . (Art. Autoerotismus, p. 79 ff., As well as Art. Narcissism, p. 317 ff., Or Narcissism, primary, secondary, p. 320 ff.)
  10. ↑ See for example: Sven O. Hoffmann, Character and Neurose. Approaches to psychoanalytic characterology. 2nd Edition. Frankfurt am Main 1983, ISBN 3-518-28038-4 .
  11. ^ Rudolf Klußmann: Psychotherapy. Psychoanalytic developmental psychology, theory of neuroses, treatment methods, training and further education. Berlin / Heidelberg 1993, p. 136.
  12. ↑ Alice Miller: Demolition of the wall of silence. The truth of the facts. Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-455-08364-1 .
  13. ^ Rudolf Sponsel: The revocation of the abuse theory ("seduction theory") by Sigmund Freud. The groundbreaking research of Jeffrey M. Masson. September 9, 2006, accessed April 12, 2014.