Although Sigmund Freud is hailed as the father of psychodynamic theory and has since paved the way for other theorists to formulate different strains, Freud’s original theory is not without criticisms. Many argue that this theory is (a) sexist, (b) deterministic, (c) not sensitive to diversity, and (d) lacking in scientific evidence. Because of these criticisms, his theory is still very controversial.

Often, controversial topics lead to heated debates. As a scholar-practitioner, you will inevitably enter provocative debates and will need to engage with objectivity. What this means is that you enter the discourse using research evidence rather than personal opinions.

In this Discussion, you practice objectivity while examining the criticisms levied against Freud’s psychodynamic theory.

To prepare:

Review the Walden Writing Center web pages listed in the Learning Resources.

Post:

• Take a position on one of the criticisms of Freud’s theory, and start by writing a thesis statement.
  • Expand on your position using literature to support your claims.
• In 1–2 sentences, evaluate your thesis statement using the guidelines from the “Writing a Paper: Thesis Statement” web page.
• In 3–4 sentences, evaluate the degree to which your argument contains bias by using the guidelines from the “Scholarly Voice: Avoiding Bias” web page.

References

Robbins, S. P., Chatterjee, P., & Canda, E. R. (2012). Contemporary human behavior theory: A critical perspective for social work (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

• Chapter 3: Conflict Theories
• Chapter 7: Psychodynamic Theory
• Chapter 14: Application of Theories

Walden University Writing Center. (n.d-b). Writing a paper: Thesis Statement. Retrieved from http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/writingprocess/thesisstatements