A General Introduction to PsychoanalysisFreud, Sigmund
Science
A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis
Freud, Sigmund
Psychoanalysis
Secondly, we must admit that the universal regression of the libido to
the period of childhood would be inexplicable if there were nothing
there which could exert an attraction for it. The fixation which we
assume to exist towards specific developmental phases, conveys a meaning
only if we think of it as stabilizing a definite amount of libidinous
energy. Finally, I am able to remind you that here there exists a
complementary relationship between the intensity and the pathogenic
significance of the infantile experiences to the later ones which is
similar to that studied in previous series. There are cases in which the
entire causal emphasis falls upon the sexual experiences of childhood,
in which these impressions take on an effect which is unmistakably
traumatic and in which no other basis exists for them beyond what the
average sexual constitution and its immaturity can offer. Side by side
with these there are others in which the whole stress is brought to bear
by the later conflicts, and the emphasis the analysis places on
childhood impressions appears entirely as the work of regression. There
are also extremes of "retarded development" and "regression," and
between them every combination in the interaction of the two factors.
These relations have a certain interest for that pedagogy which assumes
as its object the prevention of neuroses by an early interference in the
sexual development of the child. So long as we keep our attention fixed
essentially on the infantile sexual experiences, we readily come to
believe we have done everything for the prophylaxis of nervous
afflictions when we have seen to it that this development is retarded,
and that the child is spared this type of experience. Yet we already
know that the conditions for the causation of neuroses are more
complicated and cannot in general be influenced through one single
factor. The strict protection in childhood loses its value because it is
powerless against the constitutional factor; furthermore, it is more
difficult to carry out than the educators imagine, and it brings with it
two new dangers that cannot be lightly dismissed. It accomplishes too
much, for it favors a degree of sexual suppression which is harmful for
later years, and it sends the child into life without the power to
resist the violent onset of sexual demands that must be expected during
puberty. The profit, therefore, which childhood prophylaxis can yield is
most dubious; it seems, indeed, that better success in the prevention of
neuroses can be gained by attacking the problem through a changed
attitude toward facts.
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