How does the freudian psychoanalysis explain homosexuality and heterosexuality?

Question

I've heard that a child's sexual orientation is fixed in childhood. What does Freud say about it? How does the Oedipus complex play its role on this? Is there any difference between Freud's theories about sexual orientation and the contemporary psychoanalysis?

Answer 1

First off, remember that we don't use Freud anymore.  He lacked empirical research, and his theories used subjective measures and circular reasoning.  That said, here's his theory on it.

Freud posits that as a child you become sexually attracted to your mother.  This is confounded, naturally, by your father.  As your father is sexually paired with your mother, and much bigger than you, you develop castration anxiety - the fear that he will recognize your sexual interest in your mother, and castrate you as punishment.  To cope with this, you begin to model yourself after him.  As a result, Freud argues, you model yourself in a heterosexual fashion and are sexually attracted to women who look like your mother.  Any difficulty in this process can lead to "abnormalities", including homosexuality and attraction to women who don't look like your mother.  

Modern psychology doesn't have such value laden interpretations of homosexuality.  It is understood as a result of biological and environmental factors.  Individuals are typically considered to fall along a range of sexuality, from "purely" heterosexual to "purely" homosexual, with the vast majority of individuals falling somewhere in between (bisexual, with a strong preference).  As the other answerer noted, homosexuality is nolonger considered a DSM diagnosis, and it would be considered unethical to "treat" someone for homosexuality in a modern clinical context.

Answer 2

I'm sorry; I'm a bit fuzzy on my Freudian theory but I do know that his take on homosexuality is very outdated. He did a lot of groundbreaking theory and methods but psychoanalysis has progressed a lot since his time. The most important advancement in regards to this question is that in 1973 homosexuality was removed from the DSM as a psychological disorder. In short, the contemporary view is not a negative one.