Create a new account

It's simple, and free.

Personality Development

This paper is an examination of two different theories of personality development, Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic perspective and Erik Erikson's psychosocial perspective, which draws on Freud's theories but expands and deepens them. This study investigates the psychology of female prostitutes who, following the views of each theory, tend to suffer depression and low self-esteem caused by their inability to fully develop through the necessary stages of personality outlined by each psychologist. Both theories argue the necessity for every individual to move through specific stages that allow him or her to resolve internal and external conflicts, many of which have to do with the child's relationship to his or her parents. Psychiatrists who have studied prostitutes have generally concluded that individuals often turn to the "oldest profession" because of an inability to move beyond some of the earliest stages of development. Although Freud and Erikson differ in their precise description of these crucial early stages, they nevertheless agree that complete personality formation depends on resolving these early conflicts and progressing to more advanced levels. Prostitution can stand as a symptom of arrested development, signalling an individual unable to fully integrate her inner conflicts and therefore suffering from reduced self-esteem and a poor self-image.

During the 1960s, as the beginnings of the sexual revolution began to encourage people to talk about their sex lives (and showed publishers a new, respectable market for scandalous memoirs), several notorious members of the sex-for-hire industry published their autobiographies. Three of these provide interesting glimpses into the lives and minds of these women, as well as psychological clues to their development.

Virginia McManus (1960), writing of her first experience with prostitution, declares, "I had been able to go to bed with five men, all complete strangers, wit...

Page 1 of 9 Next >

More on Personality Development...

Loading...
APA     MLA     Chicago
Personality Development. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 03:51, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1708079.html