... passive is not a 'male action' and so a male will have a more profound effect on the children because it's strange. This theory is also prevalent when you consider that the boys showed more imitative physical aggressive behaviour compared to the girls-a typically 'male' trait. The 'analysis of phobias in a 5 year old boy' case study by Freud also gives an insight into the developmental approach. It shows how we go through the 'psychosexual' stages in childhood and considers the effects that this has on us. This is shown in the Oedipal complex that Freud interpreted through consultation through the child's father, when little Hans had fantasies about his mother showing him her 'widdler', and his father going away (the crumpled giraffe dream) and his mother being his wife in another fantasy. Hans was scared that his mother would leave him and liked to sleep in his ...

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