PSYCHOANALYSIS AND SEXUAL DISORDERS: THE LATENCY STAGE
The transition from the oedipal or phallic phase of psychosexual development to the subsequent latency stage is an area of particularly meager psychoanalytic understanding. Only recently have more specific psychoanalytic studies of the latency development yielded an increasing harvest of psychoanalytic understanding of this critical developmental phase. There is much yet to be learned. Latency is often regarded as a stage of relative quiescence or inactivity of the sexual drive in the period following resolution of the oedipal complex and extending through till pubescence at the threshold of adolescence.
Generally at this age there is a general impression of the quieting of the instinctually driven behaviors and the muting of other instinctual derivatives. Certainly the formation of superego at the close of the oedipal period and the further maturation of ego functions during the emerging latency phase allows for much more control of instinctual impulses. Usually sexual interest during this period is thought to be quiescent. In both latency-age boys and girls, one sees the development of primarily homosexual affiliations and the tendency to sublimate libidinal and aggressive energies into learning, playing, exploring the environment, and proficiency in developing skills and techniques which allow the growing child to deal with the world of things and persons.
This is a period for the development of the important skills and capacities that will serve the child during the journey through life. There is often a shift in libidinal organization and a relative predominance of regulatory capacities which produces patterns of behavior that seem obsessive or overly controlled. Such a heightening of defenses and regulatory mechanisms allows more room for the exercise of relatively non-conflicted functions and for the typical latency age expansion in learning and the development of skills. Needless to say, such tendencies to structure and control can easily reach pathological proportions and can lay the foundations for emerging obsessive-compulsive personality organization.
The latency stage is primarily for the further integration of oedipal identifications and a consolidation of sex-role identity and sex roles. The relative muting, quiescence, and control of instinctual impulses encourages development of ego apparatuses and the skills of mastery. There are further identifications which may take place and may be added to the basic oedipal identifications-broadening the organization of the personality through increased contacts with other significant adult figures outside the family, e.g., teachers, coaches, and others.
The latency period also has its risks and dangers. As we have suggested, the inner controls can be excessive and when they are, it may lead to a premature closure of personality development and to the precocious elaboration of highly structured and rigidly organized personality, often found in obsessive character traits. Inner controls may not develop or may fail to consolidate. In such circumstances the child may fail to develop a capacity sufficient to sublimate energies in the interest of learning and the development of skills. This often may be expressed in latency-age children by difficulties in learning or by conflicts over school activities and other involvements with age-mates.
If there has been a tendency to underestimate the importance of the latency period within the developmental schema, more recent efforts have paid greater attention to the latency period and have shown greater interest in the complexities of latency development. There are important consolidations of the basic post-oedipal identifications during this period. The previous psychosexual attainments must be integrated and consolidated so that decisive patterns of effective personality functioning and adaptive activity can be established.
It is in this phase that the child can develop a sense of industry and a capacity for mastery of objects and concepts that allows him to function effectively and autonomously with a sense of initiative and competence and without running the risk of failure or defeat or without incurring a sense of inferiority. Erikson has described the psychosocial crisis of the latency stage as one of industry versus inferiority. The latency period is an important stage for the determining and consolidating important dimensions of the organization of personality, particularly those pertaining to organization of ego capacities and skills. When this has been done, the child is then ready psychologically for the regressive upsurge of instinctual drives and conflicts marking the onset of puberty. The more effective the latency consolidation has been, the better able is the developing personality capable of sustaining the regressive pulls of adolescent development and of resolving them successfully in a more effective and mature direction.
*217/187/5*
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.