Freud's concept of defense mechanisms

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Where can I find information about Freud's theory of defense mechanisms and how it can explain the development of personality?

-- Beth Hayes (bethmhayes@hotmail.com), March 25, 2002

Answers

I believe that the general psychoanalytic theory of defense mechanisms was comiled and elaborated mainly by *Anna* Freud (based on scattered writing of her father, of course). I'm afraid I cannot say exactly which publication she did this, however.

-- Christopher Green (christo@yorku.ca), March 25, 2002.

Beth....Freud's daughter Anna Freud did indeed elaborate (quite brilliantly) on her father's theories regarding defence mechanisms, and her writings can be found in "The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense". It's out of print however, so you'll have to search in used-books departments to locate it.

This book is also included in an anthology of all her writings, which is titled "The Writings of Anna Freud".

-- visualize me (visualizeme@webtv.net), March 26, 2002.


more info regarding defense mechanisms can be available in various behavioral sciences books. though freud was the one who introduced the concept of the Id, Ego and Superego.

Feud classified mental activity to exist at three levels: the Id, the Ego, and the Superego. The Id is the centre of our primitive instincts; it is blind and ruthless and caters to the business of gratifying our desires and pleasures; the new born infant is the personification of the Id. The Ego develops out of the Id as the child grows. The Ego is not so inward seeking and recognizes that there does exist a world beyond; the Ego acts as censor to the Id, checking the primitive desires for immediate gratification, recognizing the larger picture, so to speak. Conflict between the Id and the Ego can result in a person having neuroses. The third state is the Superego. The Superego is the highest state at which we have arrived in our evolutionary "progress." The Superego is an overseer, our conscience; and, like the Id, is something of which we are not conscious. Though we are not aware of the struggle, according to Freudian theory, there exists a continuing battle between the id and the Superego with the Ego in the center trying to keep them apart. Well, based on my limited study, that is about all I can make of this subject of the Id, the Ego and the Superego; it is but the briefest of descriptions; one can spend a life studying the subject, there are any number of text books to consult if one cares to do so.

i hope this info would help u clarify some of your doubts.

-- ravi chivukula (ravizshankar@hotmail.com), May 06, 2002.


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