What are your opinions on Freud's beliefs on childhood?

Question

Please feel free to let loose

Answer 1

Great question!

Freud was a pioneer and, as such, ventured beyond convention and the norms of the time.  That, in itself, is critically important to consider whenever attempts are made to evaluate Freud's contibution to Psychology specifically, and science generally.

In my view, Freud was a brilliant person who sought to advance the quite limited yet about-to-blossom discipline of Psychology.  Although he was not the first to posit psychological considerations, he was at the forefront in illuminating aspects of human behavior that were -up until that point- rarely offered for open discussion and research.

Freud's theories about childhood are extensive and, it seems reasonable to say, cannot be fairly judged by isolating one component -let's say the Oedipus Complex- and then generalizing, for better or worse, across all his works, findings, and propositions.  In fact, for me, here is where Freud gets a"bad name."

However, I feel confident and comfortable enough to say that if we decided to engage in a conversation about Psychology today (2008) and outlawed any contributions by Freud, the conversation would indeed be sparse and short-lived.

It seems unreasonable -and immensely difficult- to dispute, out-of-hand, Freud's positions on childhood generally ... although there certainly are some dubious positions when we examine the particulars of any given, specific belief.  However, it's my view that when Freud and his beliefs are examined within the context of the time period and the severely limited resources in existence at that point, he scores more points -and deserves more credit- than he is often given by the psychological community of today.

Answer 2

i am definatley not a believer in freudian theorys, the only thing i believe to be true is his theory on oral fixation.