Jungian Analytical Psychology- Essay, Research Paper
Jungian Analytical Psychology-
Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) was a son of a minister in
Switzerland. He was born on July 26, in the small village of Kesswil
on Lake Constance. He was named after his grandfather, a professor of
medicine at the University of Basel. He was the oldest child and only
surviving son of a Swiss Reform pastor. Two brothers died in infancy
before Jung was born. Jung’s mother was a neurotic and often fought
with his father. Father was usually lonely and very irritable. When
the child could not take his mother’s depressions and his parents’
fights, he sought refuge in the attic, where he played with a wooden
mannikin. Carl was exposed to death early in life, since his father
was a minister and attended many funerals, taking his son with him.
Also, Jung saw many fishermen get killed in the waterfalls and also
many pigs get slaughtered. When he was eleven, he went to a school in
Basel, met many rich people and realized that he was poor, compared to
them. He liked to read very much outside of class and detested math
and physical education classes. Actually, gym class used to give him
fainting spells (neurosis) and his father worried that Jung wouldn’t
make a good living because of his spells. After Carl found out about
his father’s concern, the faints suddenly stopped, and Carl became
much more studious.
He had to decide his profession. His choices included
archeology, history, medicine, and philosophy. He decided to go into
medicine, partly because of his grandfather. Carl went to the
University of Basel and had to decide then what field of medicine he
was going to go into. After reading a book on psychiatry, he decided
that this was the field for him, although psychiatry was not a
respectable field at the time. Jung became an assistant at the
Burgholzli Mental hospital in Zurich, a famous medical hospital. He
studied under Eugen Bleuler, who was a famous psychiatrist who defined
schizophrenia. Jung was also influenced by Freud with whom he later
became good friends. Freud called him his crown-prince. Their
relationship ended when Jung wrote a book called “Symbols of
Transformation.” Jung disagreed with Freud’s fundamental idea that a
symbol is a disguised representation of a repressed wish. I will go
into that later. After splitting up with Freud, Jung had a 2 year
period of non-productivity, but then he came out with his
“Psychological Types,” a famous work. He went on several trips to
learn about primitive societies and archetypes to Africa, New Mexico
to study Pueblo Indians, and to India and Ceylon to study eastern
philosophy. He studied religious and occult beliefs like I Ching, a
Chinese method of fortune telling. Alchemy was also one of his
interests. His book, “Psychology and Alchemy,” published in 1944 is
among his most important writings. He studied what all this told about
the human mind. One of his methods was word association, which is when
a person is given a series of words and asked to respond to them.
Abnormal response or hesitation can mean that the person has a complex
about that word.
His basic belief was in complex or analytical psychology. The
goal is psychosynthesis, or the unification and differentiation of
the psyche (mind). He believed that the mind started out as a whole
and should stay that way. That answered structural, dynamic,
developmental questions. I will attempt to restate the major ideas and
terms in this book in a pseudo-outline. It will make the understanding
a bit more clear.
—
STRUCTURE
Jung said that there are three levels of mind. Conscious,
Personal Subconscious, and Collective Subconscious. The conscious
level serves four functions. The following are the functions of people
(not types!): A. Thinking: connecting ideas in ordered strings. B.
Feeling: evaluating ideas upon feelings about them. C. Sensing:
wanting to get experiences. D. Intuiting: following unfounded ideas.
A & B are called rational, and C & D are called irrational. If
they don’t make much sense, they will be explained in more detail
after explaining Types. There are also 2 classes of conscious
behavior:
A. Introverted, which are people who are content to stay within their
own psyche. They base their whole life on analyzing their mind.
B. Extroverted, which are people who seek out other people. They care
about the outside world and adjust to it.
Also, one of the two classes usually dominates, and rarely
does one see an individual with perfectly balanced classes of
behavior. Jung said that an ego is a filter from the senses to the
conscious mind. All ego rejections go to the personal subconscious.
The ego is highly selective. Every day we are subjected to a vast
number of experiences, most of which do not become conscious because
the ego eliminates them before they reach consciousness. This differs
from Freud’s definition of ego, which we studied in class. The
personal subconscious acts like a filing cabinet for those ego
rejections. Clusters of related thoughts in the personal subconscious
form Complexes. One type of complex we have talked about in class is
the Oedipus Complex. For example, if one has a mother complex, (s)he
can not be independent of his/her mother or a similar figure.
Complexes are often highly visible to people, but unfelt by the
individual who has the complex. As already mentioned, complexes can be
revealed by word association, which will cause hang-ups, if mentioned.
A strong or total complex will dominate the life of a person, and weak
or partial complex will drive a person in a direction of it, but not
too strongly. A complex, as Jung discovered, need not be a hindrance
to a person’s adjustment. In fact, quite the contrary. They can be and
often are sources of inspiration and drive which are essential for
outstanding achievement. Complexes are really suppressed feelings. Say
you want to be a fireman, but your parents don’t let you, so you might
have suppressed feelings about it and let it drive you, so you might
think that firemen are heroes, because you never could be one.
The Collective Subconscious is hereditary. It sets up the
pattern of one’s psyche. A collection of so called primordial images
which people inherit, also called archetypes are stored here. They are
universal inclinations that all people have in common somewhere by
means of heredity. The four important archetypes that play very
significant roles in everyone’s personality are Persona, Anima(us),
Shadow, and the Self. Here is a brief explan ation of each. Persona –
from Latin word meaning “mask.” Something actors wore to portray
a certain personality. In Jungian psychology, the persona
archetype serves a similar purpose; it enables one to portray a
character that is not necessarily his own. The persona is the mask or
facade one exhibits publicly, with the intention of presenting a
favourable impression so that society will accept him. This is
necessary for survival, for the reason that it enables us to get along
with people, even those we diskike, in an amicable manner. Say, you
have to get a job, and what is expected of you is such personal
characteristics such as grooming, clothing, and manners, so even if
you don’t exhibit those at home, you have to demonstrate them at work,
in order to get this job. A person may also have more than one
persona. Anima, Animus – Jung called the persona the “outward face” of
the psyche because it is that face which the world sees. The “inward
face” he called the anima in males and the animus in females. The
anima archetype is the female side of the masculine psyche; the animus
archetype is the masculine side of the female psyche. Man has
developed his anima archetype by continous exposure to women over many
generations, and woman has developed her animus arch etype by her
exposure to men. Anima and animus archetype, like that of the persona,
have strong survival value. If a man exhibits only masculine traits,
his feminine traits remain unconscious and therefore these traits
remain undevel oped and primitive. This, if you will remember, is like
Jack, who was a macho guy, and was encouraged to discard all feminine
traits. Jung said that since this image is unconscious, it is always
unconsciously projected upon the person of the beloved, (i.e.
girlfriend) and is one of the chief reasons for passionate attraction
or aversion. So, for example, if I always thought that women were
nagging, then I would project that notion onto my wife, and think that
she is nagging, although she is perfectly customary. If he experiences
a “passionate attraction,” then the woman undoubtedly has the same
traits as his anima-image of woman. Western civilization seems to
place a high value on conformity and to disparage femininity in men
and masculinity in women. The disparagement beings in childhood when
“sissies” and “tomboys” are ridiculed. Peter was expected to be kind
and gentle, which would bring derision. Boys are simply expected to
conform to a culturally specified masculine role and girls to a
feminine role. Thus, the persona takes precedence over and stifles the
anima or animus. The Shadow – This is another archetype that
represents one’s own gender and that influences a person’s
relationships with his own sex. The shadow contains more of man’s
basic animal nature than any other archetype does. Because of its
extremely deep roots in evolutionary history, it is probably the most
powerful and potentially the most dangerous of all the archetypes. It
is the source of all that is best and worst in man, especially in his
relations with others of the same sex. In order for a person to
become an integral member of the community, it is necessary to tame
his animal spirits contained in the shadow. This taming is
accomplished by suppressing manifestations of the shadow and by
developing a strong persona which counteracts the power of the shadow.
For example, if a person suppresses the animal side of his nature, he
may become civilized, but he does so at the expense of decreasing the
motive power for spontaneity, creativity, strong emotions, and deep
insights. A shadowless life tends to become shallow and spiritless.
The shadow is extremely persistent and does not yield easily to
suppression.
Say, a farmer was in spired to be a psychology teacher.
Inspirations are always the work of the shadow. The farmer does not
think this inspiration is feasible at the time, probable since his
persona as a farmer is too strong, so he rejects it. But the idea
keeps plaguing him, because of the persistent pressure exerted by the
shadow. Finally, one day he gives in and turns from farming to
teaching psychology. When the ego and the shadow work in close
harmony, the person feels full of life and vigor. The Self – The
concept of the total personality or psyche is a central feature of
Jung’s psychology. This wholeness, as pointed out in the discussion of
the psyche, is not achieved by putting the parts together in a jigsaw
fashion; it is there to begin with, although it takes time to mature.
It is sometimes manifested in dreams, it leads to self realization,
its the driving force to be a complete person! The self is the central
archetype in the collective unconscious, much as the sun us the center
of the solar system. It unites the personality. When a person says he
feels in harmony with himself and with the world, we can be sure that
the self archetype is performing its work effectively.
There are three ways how your psyche works together. One
structure may compensate for the weakness of another structure, one
component may oppose another component, and two or more structures may
unite to form a synthesis. Compensation may be illustrated by the
contrasting attitudes of extraversion and introversion. If
extraversion is the dominant or superior attitude of the conscious
ego, then the unconscious will compensate by devel oping the repressed
attitude of introversion. Compensation also occurs between function,
which I briefly mentioned earlier. A person who stresses thinking or
feeling in his conscious mind will be an intuitive, sensation type
unconsciously. As we studied in class, this balance, which
compensation provides us with, is healthy. It prevents our psyches
from becoming neurotically unbalanced. We need to have a little Peter
and Jack in all of us. Opposition exists everywhere in the
personality: between the persona and the shadow, between the persona
and the anima, and between the shadow and the anima. The contest
between the rational and irrational forces of the psyche never ceases
either. One’s integrity of “self” can actually determine whether or
not this opposition will cause a shattering of a personality. Must
personality always by a house divided against itself, though? Jung
thought not. There can always be a union of opposites, a theme that
looms very large in Jung’s writings.
—
DYNAMICS
The psyche is a relatively closed system that has only a fixed
amount of energy also called Values, which is the amount of energy
devoted to a component of the mind. There are some channels into the
psyche through which ene rgy can enter in form of experiences. If the
psyche were a totally closed systems, it could reach a state of
perfect balance, for it would not be subjected to interference from
the outside. The slightest stimulus may have far-reaching consequences
on one’s mental stability. This shows that it is not the amount of
energy that is added, but the disruptive effects that the added energy
produces within the psyche. These disruptive effects are caused by
massive redistributions of energy within the system. It takes only the
slightest pressure on the trigger of a loaded gun to cause a great
disaster. Similarly, it may take only the slightest addition of energy
to an unstable psyche to produce large effects in a person’s behavior.
Psychic energy is also called Libido. It is not to be confused with
Freud’s definition of libido. Jung did not restrict libido to sexual
energy as Freud did. In fact, this is one of the essential differences
in the theories of the two men. It can be classified as actual or
potential forces that perform psychological work. It is often
expressed in desires and wants for objects. The values for things are
hidden in complexes.
The psyche is always active, yet it is still very difficult
for people to accept this view of a continuously active psyche,
because there is a strong tendency to equate psychic activity with
conscious activity. Jung, as well as Freud, hammered away at this
misconception, but it persists even today. The source of psychic
energy is derived from one’s instincts and diverted into other uses.
Like a waterfall is used to create energy, you have to use your
instincts to turn into energy as well. Otherwise, just like the
waterfall, your instincts are completely fruitless. For example, if
you think that to get a beautiful wife, you have to be rich, so you
direct your sexual drive into a business persona, which will bring you
money.
There are two principles of psychic dynamics. What happens to
all that energy?
1. Principle of Equivalence. Energy is not created nor destroyed. If
it leaves something, it has to surface. For example, if a child
devoted a lot of energy to reading comics, it might be redirected into
a different persona, som ething like being Mr. Cool Dude! He then will
loose interest in reading comics. Energy also has an inclination to
carry tendencies of its source to its destination.
2. Principle of Entropy. Energy usually flows from high to low. If you
have a highly developed structure (persona, for example), instead of
equalizing, it may start drawing values from other systems to boost
itself even higher. Such highly energized systems have a tendency to
go BOOOOM! So, entropy can destroy those high energy systems if they
get too big. The operation of the entropy principle results in an
equilibrium of forces. Just like two bodies of different temperatures
touching each other would soon equalize temperatures. The hotter one
will transfer heat to the cooler one. Once a balance is reached in
your psyche, according to Jung, it will be then difficult to disturb.
Those two principles influence the following:
Progression and Regression. Progression is the advance of
psychological adaptation. For example, if you need a shadow
(creativity, perhaps), you will try to develop one. When conflicting
traits loose power, your psyche enters regression. Say, your persona
and shadow are in opposition and because they are in opposition, they
both would be suppressed, because neither would get enough libido, or
energy.
—
DEVELOPMENT
Jung stated that there are basically four stages of life. They
are Childhood, Youth and Young Adulthood, Middle Age, and Old Age. In
the beginning (childhood), a person’s psyche is undefferentiated and
this person becomes a projection of the parents psyche. Children are
not individuals in the beginning of their life, because their ir
memories don’t have too much stored in them and they lack a sense of
continuity because of that. As they gain experience, they realize that
they are their own person and not their parents’ projection. The stage
of youth and adulthood is announced by the physiological changes that
occur during puberty. During this stage, an individual establishes
his/her position in life. His vocation and marriage partner are
determined. A person usually uses his Anima and Shadow to decide those
things. Values are channeled into his establishment in the outside
world. Once one is independent, even a small experience can influence
him greatly. The Middle Age is the one often neglected by
psychiatrists. Lots of people have problems in this stage. They
usually don’t know what to do with the energy left over that was
devoted to establishing positions in society as youth. As the
principle of entropy suggests, the energy is conserved, so once an
adult put it to use, he must redirect it elsewhere. Jung stated that
those left-over energies can be usefully diverted into spiritual
contemplation and expansion. Nothing much happens in old age. People
have so much energy of experiences in their psyche that even a major
experience won’t upset their psychological balance.
Often, society will force people to assume prefered types.
Types are categories of classifications of psyches which
are non-absolute and have no definite boundaries. There are eight
“types.” Types are combinations of functions and attitudes (page 3).
The following are the eight main types:
1. Extraverted Thinking Type. This type of man elevates objective
thinking into the ruling passion of his life. He is typified by the
scientist who devotes his energy to learning as much as he can about
the objective world. The most developed extraverted thinker is an
Einstein.
2. Introverted Thinking Type. This type is inward-directed in his
thinking. He is exemplified by the philosopher or existential
psychologist who seeks to understand the reality of his own being.
He may eventually break his ties with reality and become
schizophrenic.
3. Extraverted Feeling Type. This type, which Jung observes is more
frequently found in women, subordinates thinking to feeling.
4. Introverted Feeling Type. This type is also more commonly found
among women. Unlike their extraverted sisters, introverted feeling
persons keep their feelings hidden from the world.
5. Extraverted Sensation Type. People of this type, mainly men, take
an interest in accumulating facts about the external world. They are
realistic, practical, and hardheaded, but they are not particularly
concerned about what things mean.
6. Introverted Sensation Type. Like all introverts, the introverted
sensation type stands aloof from external objects, immersing himself
in his own psychic sensations. He considers the world to be banal and
uninteresting.
7. Extraverted Intuitive Type. People of this type, commonly women,
are characterized by flightiness and instability. They jump from
situation to situation to discover new possibilities in the external
world. They are always looking for new worlds to conquer before they
have conquered old ones.
8. Introverted Intuitive Type. The artist is a representative of this
type, but it also contains dreamers, prophets, visionaries, and
cranks. He usually thinks of himself as a misunderstood genius.
Variations in the degree to which each of the attitudes and
functions are consciously developed or remain unconscious and
undeveloped can produce a wide range of differences among individuals.
This book is an extremely valuable source of thought provoking
logic. Jung wrote with common sense, passion, and compassion, and the
reader experiences a “shock of recognition”; he will recognize truths
he has known, but which he has not been able to express in words. This
book made me think about myself, and people in general. How people’s
minds work, including my own. I found a lot of “truth” or at least I
though I did in Jung’s teachings. I could relate some of the reading
material to elements studied in class. One will be astounded by the
number of Jung’s ideas that anticipated those of later writers. Many
of the new trends in psychology and related fields are indebted to
Jung, who first gave them their direction. The book is also
interesting, because of its challenging nature. I suppose that not all
people would enjoy reading such type of literature, since many people
in this world are sensational types. I certainly did enjoy it, and
have found out some things about myself in the process. The book is
very well written. It has many good analogies and explanations which
even the most sensational type would understand. The collection of
information is tremendous. There is so much information bundled in 130
pages, that it makes you think that 500 pages would not be enough to
really explain deeply the subject matter. This book can be faultlessly
used as a textbook, which could prove to be salutary in psychology
classes. I strongly recommend reading this book to all audiences that
want to. A person, content with the world around him, not wishing to
challenge the puzzles of nature, should not. This book is a treasure
for all who seek to explore the human mind.