The role of society in psyche development

The role of society in psyche development and health can be clearly seen in the Freudian theory of the mind and sexuality. Freud claims that humans have to forego some of their libidinal impulses to form a society, so that the tension between social norms and libidinal drive partitions the psyche into two entities: the id and the ego. The ego, which functions in controlling the desires of the id, is formed and shaped by the moral values of the society. Furthermore, the superego, the ego ideal that watches over the ego, is formed by the resolution of the Oedipus complex and is later influenced by social contact. Since neurosis involves a conflict between the morality of the socially constructed ego, the libidinal impulses of the id and external reality, it stems from social causes. According to Freud psychoanalysis, in which the therapist brings the repressed unconscious desires into the consciousness and strengthens the ego by influencing the moral values of the patient, can cure neurosis. In this paper, I will argue that psychoanalysis can only be effective if the moral transformation of the patient is accompanied by a social transformation towards a sexually liberated society with minimum surplus libidinal renunciation.
To understand the role of society in the development of the psyche, it is essential to look at Freud’s theory of the mind. Freud differentiates between three forms of consciousness: the unconscious, the pre-conscious and the conscious. The Cs. consists of things that the individual is actively thinking about and is spatially the first one reached from the external world. Only external perceptions can become conscious directly, internal thought processes need to pass the barrier between the Ucs. and the Pcs. in order to get to the preconscious-unconscious system. The Pcs. consists of ideas that are latent, in order for unconscious ideas to enter the Pcs., they need to be connected with word-presentations. The Ucs. consists of desires, sexual impulses, ideas which fail to pass into the Pcpt.-Cs. system either because they fail to find expression in language or encounter the resistance and repression of the repression barrier. Therefore, all repressed is unconscious, while the converse does not hold true. The repression barrier is constructed by the moral, aesthetic and ethical ideals of the society and is the medium through which society exerts its influence over individuals.
Similarly, Freud divides the human mind into three realms: the id, the ego and the superego. The id is the unconscious mental apparatus that is biologically inherent, it contains all unconscious impulses and animalistic desires such as the libido and the nutritional drive. The id operates on the pleasure principle and does not know any morals and values and comes to external contact through the ego. The ego is the part of the id that is modified by contact with the external world and controls the id by trying to substitute the pleasure principle with the reality principle. The pleasure principle conflicts with the reality since civilization is created at the cost of the satisfaction of the instinct, out of which sexual impulses play the most important part. The ego belongs to both Ucs. and Pcpt.-Cs. systems; the repression process is carried by the ego and is unconscious. The superego is the embodiment of the parental and social values and forms when the child gives up the object-cathexis for his mother and in order to fill the void, identifies with the father figure, who has the authority in the patriarchal household. It is further shaped as the role of the paternal figure is replaced by others in authority. The superego generally functions as a censor over the id, using guilt and self-punishment to enforce the ego ideal. According to this model, the society plays a big role in the development of the mind, since it constructs and shapes the ego and the superego which control the id like a rider on horseback.
Libidinal development, in which society plays a big role, coincides with the development of the ego. According to Freud, sexual impulses are extraordinarily plastic; they can take on different forms, and if external reality does not allow one of them to be realized, the satisfaction of another can provide complete compensation. The form that these desires take, with the cathexis of the libido to a certain object or aim, is partly a result of biological growth. However, the society also plays a big role in shaping sexuality, since society is established on libidinal forces diverted from their biological aim and put to work for the continuance of society.

The normal libidinal development processes involve oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital phases in that order. The object of the libido is also altered during sexual development; the main sexual object is first the mother’s breast and infant’s own body in an autoerotic fashion. When the child gives up the mother with the resolution of the Oedipus complex, the body of the opposite sex becomes the object of libidinal cathexis. The social norms push the child toward the genital phase by condemning his autoerotic desires, so that the sexual desires are organized under genitalia and aimed at reproduction. The child is initially bisexual, the heterosexual identitiy is socially constructed as the child is taught to assume a sexual identity and identifies with one parent strengthening his sexuality with the resolution of the Oedipus complex.

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