It seems that basic understanding of psychology has
been erased from contemporary teaching of the subject
at university, where I am constantly reminded of how
'out of fashion' some fairly solid ideas in neo-Freudian
psycho-analysis have become.
The result over recent years has been a regression
in society to infantile behavior.
There are various types of 'fixation' as described in
my good old psych text books which relate to early
lessons in life that were not adequately learnt:
At 1 year of age a child is in the 'oral phase', and
this type of fixation typically results in addiction.
From 2-3 years, the lesson is 'anal', and from 4-6
years, the lessons are 'genital'.
Some examples are repeat offenders who steal,
violently attack, or perpetuate other compulsive
criminal behavior or anti-social behavior such as
harassment.
Do not confuse the habitual thief with somebody
who steals as a last resort to simply get some food.
(The thief of need vs the thief of greed).
The thief of greed suffers clearly from an oral fixation.
The key word here is 'overweening' personality.
Another example would be if somebody was banned
from an internet forum and yet became 'fixated',
returning under another name and then disrupting all
dialog that he or she could. This could be a combination
of various types of fixation, often anal, but not only.
Issue of rejection and acceptance are vital here.
Homosexuality, is related to fixation in the genital phase.
The details and case studies are immense, but what
interests me most is the metaphysics and cosmology
of such analysis. I think Freud correctly observed
behavior, but did not properly understand the cause
of these fixated behaviors.
This is the main reason why such analysis has been
rejected because it shifts blame to the parent,
specifically the mother.
But if you consider the thesis of the transmigration
of the soul, these personality problems are inherent,
and thus not the fault of child-rearing techniques.
This last point is what I would most like to discuss,
but any other such issues are welcome.