Philip Larkin - This Be The Verse

1. Philip Larkin - This Be The Verse They fuck you up, your mum and dad They may not mean to, but they do They fill you with the faults they had And add some extra, just for you But they were fucked up in their turn By fools in old-style hats and coats Who half the time were soppy-stern And half at one another's throats Man hands on misery to man It deepens like a coastal shelf Get out as early as you can, And don't have any kids yourself.

2. The Psychodynamic Model • Main assumptions: • Abnormal behaviour is caused by conflicts in the unconscious mind • The causes of these conflicts can usually be traced back to early childhood experiences • Psychopathology is psychological in origin resulting from the dynamic working of the personality, rather than physical causes

3. Thoughts Perceptions Memories Stored knowledge Fears Unacceptable sexual desires Violent motives Irrational wishes Immoral urges Selfish needs Shameful experiences Traumatic experiences The conscious. The small amount of mental activity we know about. The preconscious. Things we could be aware of if we wanted or tried. The unconscious. Things we are unaware of and can not become aware of. Bad Worse Really Bad The Unconscious Mind

4. Id: Instincts Pleasure principle Ego: Reality Reality principle Superego: Morality Morality principle The Psyche – our personality

5. Id Ego Superego • Freud believed that people are motivated by interactions between their the parts of the psyche; Id, ego, and superego • If the ego does not balance the demands of the id and superego, conflicts may arise and cause abnormality • The ego protects itself from anxiety caused by intra-psychic conflict, by using defence mechanisms (to reduce anxiety)

6. Structure of personality • Strong ego: well-adjusted person develops strong ego capable of coping with demands of id and superego. Weak ego = dominant id/superego • Unchecked id impulses: expressed in destructiveness or immorality, resulting in conduct disorders and psychopathic behaviour • Dominant superego: Rigidly restricts id so person deprived of even socially acceptable pleasures; causes neurosis, anxiety disorders and phobias

7. Early experiences • Immature ego not developed enough to deal with traumatic/confusing events in childhood • These pushed into unconscious – repressed – because they are too painful for ego to bear or because child hasn’t developed sufficient knowledge of world to cope with event • Repressed thoughts expressed in psychological disorders such as depression

8. Psychosexual stages According to the psychodynamic theory, the child goes through a series of stages where the id looks for gratification in different body areas; the erogenous zones If the developing child is either deprived or over-gratified at a stage they may become fixated at this stage and this will influence their adult behaviour Fixation at a stage may lead to abnormal adult behaviour or a psychopathology – an anxiety disorder such as OCD could be the result of fixation at the anal stage

9. Psychosexual Stages Oral Pleasure gained from eating/sucking. Weaning most important developmental achievement Anal Pleasure gained from expelling or retaining faeces. Bowel and bladder control important achievements. Phallic Child becomes aware of gender, focus on genitals. Oedipus complex and castration anxiety for boys, electra complex and penis envy for girls. Successful development = firm gender identity. Latent Focus on social development (calm before storm of adolescence). Genital If conflicts experienced during earlier stages resolved, greatest pleasure comes from mature heterosexual relationships.

10. Defence mechanisms • To balance demands of id and superego, ego employs defence mechanisms • Ego defence mechanisms distort reality to protect ego from distress and allow person to cope with life • Defence mechanisms not long term solution and if used too frequently can create psychological problems of their own

11. Defence mechanisms • Repression: • Regression: • Denial: • Displacement: