The mind plays a big role in determining human actions, both consciously and unconsciously. Sigmund Freud is a psychologist who developed a theory to explain the reasons why people behave the way they do, by focusing on the minds conscious and subconscious part-psychoanalytic theory. Sigmund Freud is a psychologist who didn’t believe in religion or Greek mythology as part of shaping human character. Psychoanalytic theory is also known as a Freudian theory. According to Freud, the mind is made up of two parts the conscious and unconscious. The conscious mind contains materials that are accessible to a person. They include memories, ideas, perceptions, and thoughts while the unconscious mind contains materials that are suppressed such as sexual desires emotions and instincts (Cameron, 1967).
Sigmund Freud believed that there were three aspects of the mind that make up a person’s personality that is, the id, ego, and super-ego (Cameron, 1967). The id is contained in the unconscious part. The id is self-centered and pleasure oriented. The id controls the human behaviors that seek immediate satisfaction. It is irrational since it makes people engage in need satisfying behavior without focusing on what is good or bad. Babies are born with the id which explains their selfish behavior. The ego is what the society instills into an individual. It is rational, but still instills the idea of a human behaving about attaining pleasure. The ego operates based on a reality principle in that a person understands that not all desires will be met according to society. The ego is developed through a person's experience in life and tries to balance the id. The superego is considered as a person's conscience since it enables a person to identify with reality as well as differentiate between what is right and wrong. Sigmund Freud also studies five stages of developed, namely; the oral stage, which begins from birth to one year, the anal stage from one year to three years, the phallic stage three years to six years latency stage six to puberty and genital puberty to death.
Teenage Pregnancy
Most girls get pregnant before the age of twenty. This is referred to as teenage pregnancy. Teenage pregnancy has become a menace worldwide with many girls dropping out of school as young as fifteen years. The society has tried to explain the cause of this problem in many ways while the root of this problem can be explained using the psychoanalytic theory. According to Sigmund Freud, a child passes through developmental stages whereby if fixation occurs in one of the stages, an abnormality may occur to the child in the latter years of the child's future. Therefore, it's vital for those around a child to make sure that a child goes through all these stages without risking fixation. Fixation can be explained as a situation where a child ceases to exhibit some expected behavior at a certain stage in their development, or child enjoys a particular behavior at a certain stage of development and becomes reluctant to drop the behavior (Kline, 1979). For instance, in the oral stage of development, a child is expected to associate everything with the mouth for personal pleasures. If fixation occurs at this stage, adult behaviors such as, nail biting, smoking, and thumb sucking are expected to occur in an individual’s behavior.
In most countries, teenage pregnancy is associated with irresponsible behavior, while in others like the sub-Saharan African countries it is culture. When children are associated with a culture, where they are to be married off at early age, chances are they are not likely to get to maturity before they are married hence their development is compromised. The superego is shaped by their culture which dictates that getting married at a young age is accepted morally. In most countries, men tend to engage in sexual activities at an age of 20 years a time when they are just at the peak of the genital stage of development hence girls engage in sexual activity at a younger age. Research has also proven that many families with siblings where the elder sister or brother has had a child before marriage tend to accept it. The younger siblings grow up accepting the concept of sex before marriage. Their super-ego is, therefore, shaped to accept sex before marriage as not being wrong. When they reach the genital stage, they tend to practice sexual activities without fear of consequences.
About teenage pregnancy, the cause of the problem can be explained by fixation at stages of development in the psychoanalytic theory. The phallic stage involves the child focus on his or her genitalia. They become aware of their differences in their genitalia. If a child gets fixated at this stage, then he or she will develop feelings of confusion and shame in the latent stage. At the phallic stage, children tend to associate with the same sex and make friends who influence them in life choice. During the phallic stage, children tend to be interested sexually with parents or guardian of the opposite sex (Kline, 1979). After sometimes, they realize that their feelings and wishes for the opposite sex cannot be fulfilled by their parents. They divert their attention on being friends with parents of the same sex with the aim of becoming like them in the latent stage If fixation occurs at the latent stage, the child then becomes sexually insecure and can easily engage in sex which can lead to pregnancy. The child in the genital stage will divert his energy from family and hobbies with friends of the opposite sex with their focus on the genitals. If not handled carefully, the child can easily get into premature sex relationship which can lead to teen pregnancy
The psychosexual development of an individual is also constructed by the libido which is acquired throughout the developmental stages. The libido is associated with having a high urge for sexual activities, which in this case might be the cause of teenage pregnancy. The libido is supposed to enable a child have sexual instincts, and desires, and be able to control them. In the oral stage, a child may acquire a fixation which might cause a desire and pleasure in oral sex and kissing in the genital stage. In the anal stage, a fixation can occur, and an individual develops a behavior where they lack self-control; which is vital in the genital stage. In the phallic stage, the child becomes aware of their sexual state, and they may practice masturbation. The child also identifies with parents of the opposite sex.This stage is also associated with sexual fears, and if a fixation occurs, it may lead to the child having sexual fears in the latter stages such as a girl child will be inferior to their mother for not being able to compete with them for the attention of the father. In the latent stage, sexual feelings are repressed, and the libido is directed towards gaining social values by interacting with peers of the same sex (Kline, 1979). The genital stage is where all the lessons acquired from previous stages are to be utilized to avoid sexual pervasions. In this stage, the individuals engage in heterosexual behavior which includes in engaging in sex. Without the guidance of parents, a fixation in this stage exposes the children to the risk of teenage pregnancy.
Teenage pregnancy can be attributed to the society's failure of guiding teenager on the right moral to follow. In the absence of parents, or busy parents, the parenting responsibility will be transferred to caretakers, media, and friends. During the genital stage, which is from puberty adolescents, sexual pleasures are once again awakened, and the lessons an individual has acquired in the previous stages enables them to direct their sexual desires to the opposite sex and peers. This calls for the attention of parents to guide adolescents on their sexuality.
At puberty, the adolescent will tend to identify themselves with groups. They will tend to dress talk and do things the same way so as to fit the groups’ standards. Some group may involve themselves in unconstructive activities such as sexual activities and taking drugs, child may find herself engaged in a sexual relationship to fit into a certain group or to look ‘cool.' In these, the child ego is constructed through the society which is made up of his or peers copy things from the media or use trial and error method to create rules for themselves (Kline, 1979). This may lead to teenage girls getting an unwanted pregnancy. Such a situation can be avoided by the society providing clear moral and be a good example to the teenager.
Moreover, lack of one parent is said to be a source of teenage pregnancy. Teenagers can be said to rebel or look for one of the missing parent, especially if it’s the opposite sex. By finding father, like figure, young girls find themselves indulging in sexual activities with older men leading to pregnancy. Their unconscious mind leads them to fulfil their desires to have a father and be like other children
Teenagers may be blamed for being pregnant and looked down upon by the society, but parents need to know that they are responsible for the young one's actions. Proper parenting should be taught to avoid fixation in the developmental stages which may result in unwanted behavior in future.
One simple mistake in the stages of development may have a big effect on molding a person's character. Freud is of the idea that children should go through the developmental stage with the help of understanding parents (Cameron, 1967). The society should be made aware of its implication in the lives of children. What it instills in children is what they bring back in the form of their lives. By allowing social media to take full control of the adolescents, the society should expect youths with rotten morals in return.
References
Cameron, P. (1967). Confirmation of the Freudian psychosexual stages utilizing sexual symbolism. Psychological Reports, 21, 1, 33-9
Kline, P. (1979). Psychosexual personality traits, fixation, and neuroticism. The British Journal of Medical Psychology, 52, 4, 393-5.
