Biology And The Oedipus Complex
Richard C. Friedman, M.D. and Jennifer I. Downey, M.D.
Recent observations in the behavioral and neurosciences have raised questions about the ubiquity of the oedipus complex as well as about its significance for psychological development. The authors argue that the construct Freud called the oedipus complex in males is best examined in its component parts. One component— the incestuous wish—does not occur in all individuals. Another component—the boy's urge to engage competitively with other male figures, including the father—does appear to be biologically based in testosterone's effect on the brain and to be manifested in childhood rough and tumble play behavior. It is proposed that reexamination of the oedipus complex in light of recent findings about the brain and behavior is indicated and that play, in particular, can usefully be considered as a separate developmental line.
I venture to say that if psycho-analysis could boast of no other achievement than the discovery of the repressed Oedipus complex, that alone would give it a claim to be to be included among the precious new acquisitions of mankind.
Freud (1940, pp. 192-193)
INTRODUCTION
Freud's personal investment in the validity of the oedipus complex as a fundamental building block in psychological development was intense and lasted his entire life (Freud, 1905, 1933, 1940; Masson, 1985). Psycho-analysis as a system of thought has
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largely retained the primacy of the oedipus complex as Freud described it. Thus, the vast majority of practitioners today still rely heavily on psychodynamic formulations that rest on the validity of the oedipus complex construct (Greenberg, 1991). Numerous therapists find that their clinical experience is organized and made coherent by such formulations. For the practicing psychoanalyst, oedipal conflict is “experience near.”
Recent observations in the behavioral and neurosciences have raised questions about the ubiquity of the oedipus complex as well as about its significance for psychological development. These new findings have led us to re-examine Freud's original oedipus complex construct.