Preview

Adolf Hitler, the Child:

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
3008 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Adolf Hitler, the Child:
RUNNING HEAD: Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler, the Child:
A Look at the Childhood Development of Adolf Hitler
Eileen Callahan
GEN 505. Adult Human Development

Adolf Hitler, the Child Adolf Hitler was dictator, murderer, and the Chancellor of the German Reich. Hitler used his position as Chancellor to act upon his own ideologies and biases. He led a nation into the murder of innocent Jewish people, seeing his actions as self-righteous. Hitler’s mental state can not easily be explained; nonetheless, we can examine his development into adulthood to attempt to comprehend his actions. This paper will attempt to understand Adolf Hitler’s violent actions by means of examining his life in relation to different childhood development stages; this is best understood using the development theories of Sigmund Freud.
Psychoanalytic Theorist
According to Sigmund Freud, there is no randomness in the life of the mind (Koenigsberg 2004). A psychoanalytical theorist, he claimed all human beings are born with certain instincts. When we satisfy our basic needs, it becomes a source of pleasure, which Freud refers to as the “sexual” (Quigley 1998). Freud believed the sexual drive is awakened as early as a baby suckling at their mother’s breast.
We can view Freud’s analysis by looking at his stages of human development. Oral, the first stage ranging from birth to one year, focuses on pleasurable sensations for the baby. An example of this type of sensation would be a mother nursing her baby. Freud believed a baby receives pleasure from the sucking when feeding. Conflict arises as the baby is weaned from the breast, thereby ending the pleasurable activity for them. Anal, the second stage, ranges from one to three years old, focuses on the child’s pleasure to the body, sexual curiosity, and toilet training. Freud viewed this as sadistic, because the child takes pleasure in expulsion. Ages three to six years make up the third stage called Phallic, which focuses on



References: Berke, Joseph, H. (1995). When little men become big. History Today, 45, issues 4. April 4. Dreijmanis, J (2005). A portrait of the Artist as a Politician: The case of Adolf Hitler. The Social Science Journal, 42,115-117 Jacob, Alexander. (1993), Freud and Jung: The Social Implications of Psychological Theory. Mankind Quarterly: 33, issue 4 p 379 -409. Koenigsberg, Richard, (2004) Retrieved March 7, 2005 from PsycARTICLES database. Noakes, Jeremy, (2001)

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    The final key feature is Freud’s view of the psychosexual stages of development. He says humans pass through a series of discrete psychosexual stages of development. These stages are the oral stage, the anal stage, the phallic stage, the latency stage and the genital stage. At each of these stages, pleasure is focussed on a particular part of the body. Too much or too little of any stage can result in fixation and lead to various psychological…

    • 286 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Holocaust is one of the most horrific events in modern history. It is estimated around 11 million Jews were killed during the time frame of the Holocaust (Wegner G.). That time frame spans from 1933 when Hitler became Chancellor of Germany to 1945 when WWII ended. During that time period Jews, cripples, mentally handicapped, Jehovah witnesses, homeless, homosexuals and many other undesirables were removed to purify the Aryan race and to advance the German people or so it was believed.…

    • 7367 Words
    • 30 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    What were the factors that shaped the man who is view today as the symbol of pure evil; yet in the early 20th century was cheered by Germans and those who believed in his views and goals? What was the foundation for Adolf Hitler’s character and worldviews? There is no clear and simply answer to the reasons behind Adolf Hitler but we are going to be piecing together the fact in an attempt to understand the psychological aspect to which underlies his life.…

    • 1179 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Life Span Development

    • 1129 Words
    • 5 Pages

    References: Bremner, C. (2005). Neurotic, hysterical, schizophrenic: the psychology of Hitler. The Times. Retrieved from http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article1078773.ece…

    • 1129 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Adolf Hitler- Outline

    • 297 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Adolf Hitler was born on the 20th of April 1889 in a small town in Austria called Brannua. He was raised in a broken home and was abused by his father while growing up. Hitler was known to have a keen interest in art and actually applied to an art school in Vienna but was turned down. He later began a career in the military as a messenger to deliver instructions to generals behind enemy lines and return with feed back to commanders. During his time as a corporal, Hitler received awards for bravery several times and was also given the highest military honor in Germany known as the “iron cross”. After the war, Hitler returned to Germany to begin his rise to power.…

    • 297 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Today the topic of discussion will focus on the famous Sigmund Freud and his viewpoints on developmental psychology. This discussion seeks to answer four questions about Sigmund Freud’s life. The first topic is Sigmund Fraud’s influences and environment in psychological development. Second the discussion seeks to reveal Sigmund Freud’s view of family issues or support systems that influenced Freud’s developmental growth and adjustment. Third the discussion seeks to explain two different theories of personality. The discussion seeks to explain how each theory differs in terms of the explanation of Freud’s unique pattern and traits. The fourth and final topic of discussion seeks to explain the theatrical approach that explains both Freud’s behaviors and achievements. The reason this paper chose to write about famous Sigmund Freud explained.…

    • 1125 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Holocaust: Germany Adolf

    • 1672 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Adolf Hitler, the cruel man whom started the Holocaust, did not always have power. Surprisingly, Adolf Hitler grew up in a poor family, and had a horrible relationship with his father. Alois Hitler, Adolf’s father, wanted Adolf to become a civil servant for the Austrian Empire as he did, but Adolf wanted to study art and become an artist. However, after Alois died, Adolf pursued his dream with his mother’s support and studied art. Adolf’s goal was to enter the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, but after applying he had been refused. Vienna Academy of Fine Arts stated that Adolf’s work was of unsatisfactory and did not meet their standards. Vienna, filled with 200,000 Jews alone, describes the race of people who kept Adolf Hitler from pursuing his lifelong dream of becoming an artist. With this being sated, Hitler soon grew anger towards the race of Jews. In 1914 World I Began and Adolf enlisted in the German Army, after serving four years and making his way back to Munich, Germany Adolf got a job as a political training official. Here Adolf met the…

    • 1672 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Evaluate Freud's Theory

    • 2540 Words
    • 11 Pages

    In 1905 Freud published ‘Three Essays on the theory of Sexuality and other Works’, one of these essays was titled ‘Infantile Sexuality’. In this essay Freud sets out his theory of psychosexual development. He asserts that there is in all humans an innate drive (or instinct>another theory to be debated) for pleasure, a sort of psychic energy, which he calls the libido and this energy needs to be discharged. He then goes on to describe how this drive finds outlet at the earliest stages in life, as babies, toddlers and infants and describes the oral, anal and phallic stages and the psychological effects of fixation at these stages. It is important to note that Freud separated sexual aims and objectives. What Freud meant by sexual in his own writing in German, was ‘life force’ or ‘emotional energy’ (Bettelheim 1983). While this concept has a sexual aspect to it, it is unfortunate that the English translation focuses mainly on this aspect. His work on sexuality and perversions led to the wider theory of sexuality whereby he differentiated the sexual aim (the desire for pleasure) and the object (the person or thing used to fulfil the desire). He asserted that sexuality is more than just a genital copulation between adults and this work is the background to his theory on infantile sexuality. He emphasized particular erogenous zones as being of primary importance at different stages of infancy. Each stage impacts in three significant ways: physical focus where the child’s energy may be concentrated and their…

    • 2540 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    A central point, of this essay will be that Hitler’s role in the final solution was vital but this does not mean shifting the guilt of the Holocaust onto one individual. Nonetheless, Hitler’s criminal charismatic energy persistently instigated local and widespread anti- Semitism. He provided his Henchmen, as well as local counterparts within the regime with…

    • 1458 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Psychology of Hitler

    • 1942 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Although I am sure many psychological perspectives would have a field day trying to analyze the mind of Adolf Hitler, there are two that prove most significant to the explanation of why Hitler turned out the way he did; these theory are Freud 's psychoanalytical theory and Erikson 's psychosocial theory. Although Piaget’s theory of personality would have been valuable in determining what is the root behind the development of a madman, I feel there is relatively too little detailed information relating to Hitler’s childhood to properly employ the theory. The psychoanalytical and psychosocial theory seem to almost fit Adolf Hitler’s personality to a tee. They both emphasize the importance that a child’s environment or interactions play in the development of personality and given Hitler’s very traumatic upbringing, it is the most likely the point in his life that influenced what the future man would become. It seems our very earliest experiences and interactions in life tend to be the foundations to which our individual identities form. An example of Freud and Erikson’s theories that environment and social interaction are so vital in development of personality is written in passages In…

    • 1942 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I might want to investigation the identity of one of the famous individual on the planet, Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler is one of the significant individual that have an extremely remarkable identity.…

    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Reams, K. (2008, March 26). Adolf Hitler - The Child and Youth. Suite101. Retrieved April 24,…

    • 1127 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Rise of Hitler

    • 1112 Words
    • 4 Pages

    After WWI, Adolf Hitler, politician and leader of the Nazi party, was able to steadily gain political support, leading to his ultimate reign as chancellor of Germany and casting the world into the turmoil of WWII. Some argue that it was mostly WWI that was crucial to Hitler’s rise to power. However, Hitler’s rise to power cannot be contributed to one event, but rather a number of factors, including events happening outside Germany - such as the Great Depression - the strength of the Nazi party, and the ineffectiveness and weakness of the Weimar Republic. Hitler’s use of propaganda and his own personal qualities as a speaker and politician certainly aided in his rise to the position of Chancellor and leader of the Nazi party.…

    • 1112 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Psychosexual Theory

    • 2582 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Freud’s psychosexual theory is based on child development from birth through to adult hood. The idea is the association between the physiological developments being linked to the psychological development in early childhood. The first stage is set at birth to 18 months, it is the oral stage, this area is based on the mouth and the need to eat to survive also coupled with the pleasure that follows through with taste, this is instigated by breasting feeding. Babies enjoy breasting feeding it is soothing, it feels good and it tastes good, this is the first pleasure that babies have. This stage focuses on the mouth as babies learn through taste; they put things in their mouths to learn. It is at this stage that a child learns that the mouth gives instant pleasure through taste and that food gives pleasure. Following the oral stage is the anal stage which is based on the anus; this stage normally occurs around 18 months to three years old. This stage is based on control, this is the control of the bowels being able to control when and where to excrete. The pleasure principle here is based around potty training, the…

    • 2582 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays