Class, One aspect I find interesting is the way in which Klein differentiated he
ID: 130367 • Letter: C
Question
Class,
One aspect I find interesting is the way in which Klein differentiated herself from Freud. She though that the development of the superego occurred much earlier in childhood than Freud believed. Blass (2012) stated that "It is well known, however, that Klein posited an early development of the superego. In contrast to Freud, she thought this occurred prior to the resolution of the Oedipus complex" (p. 157). What do you make of this? Do you agree or disagree? Why?
Reference
Blass, R. (2012). The ego according to Klein: return to Freud and beyond. The International Journal Of Psycho-Analysis, 151-166.
Explanation / Answer
Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. Also, I have answered based on my agreement with Klein, if you disagree with her, you will have to change the second half of the answer.
(Answer) Based on Sigmund Freud, Superego is “the part of a person's mind that acts as a self-critical conscience, reflecting social standards learned from parents and teachers.” (Source: dictionary)
Freud believed that the “id” is the “primitive and instinctual part of the mind that contains sexual and aggressive drives and hidden memories.” (Source: simply psychology) The ego, however, from the conscious mind that mediates between the id and superego.
Freud believed that superego formed much later in an individual’s life. He believed that id formed first and superego formed much later.
However, Klein believed that superego (the good conscience) formed early. In fact, she believed that it formed much before the Oedipus complex formed.
I agree with Klein. First, let us consider that the superego restrains an individual from acting upon their poor instincts that arise from id. The Oedipus complex is where a child is instinctively attracted to the parent of the opposite sex. A child does not act upon these instincts from a very young age. Neither do children indulge in inappropriate behaviour that would arise from this complex. Therefore, it can be justified that the superego kicks in much earlier than Freud believed.