9. psychological explanations: psychodynamic

Question 1

THE INADEQUATE SUPEREGO

The superego works on the morality principle and exerts its influence by

Answer 1

punishing the ego through guilt for wrongdoing, whilst rewarding it with pride for good moral

Question 2

THE INADEQUATE SUPEREGO

Blackburn argues that if the superego is somehow deficient or inadequate, offending behaviour is inevitable because

Answer 2

the id is given free reign and not properly controlled

Question 3

THE INADEQUATE SUPEREGO

There are 3 types of inadequate superego

Answer 3

THE WEAK SUPEREGO
THE DEVIANT SUPEREGO
THE OVER-HARSH SUPEREGO

Question 4

THE INADEQUATE SUPEREGO

THE WEAK SUPEREGO:

Answer 4

if the same gender parent is absent during the phallic stage, a child cannot internalise a fully formed superego as there is no opportunity for identification. This makes immoral behaviour more likely.

Question 5

THEORY OF MATERNAL DEPRIVATION

Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation suggests that the ability to form meaningful relationships in adulthood was dependent upon

Answer 5

the child forming a warm, continuous relationship with a mother figure.

Question 5

THE INADEQUATE SUPEREGO

THE DEVIANT SUPEREGO

Answer 5

if the superego that a child internalises with has immoral or deviant values, this would lead to offending behaviour. E.g. a boy raised by a criminal father does not associate guilt with wrongdoing.

Question 6

THE INADEQUATE SUPEREGO

THE OVER-HARSH SUPEREGO

Answer 6

an extremely punitive/over harsh parenting style leads to a child who is crippled by guilt and anxiety. This may unconsciously drive them to perform criminal acts to satisfy the superego’s need for punishment

Question 7

THE ROLE OF EMOTION:

the psychodynamic approach acknowledges the role of

Answer 7

anxiety and guilt in the development of offending behaviour. This also means that lack of guilt is relevant to understanding offending behaviour.

Question 8

THEORY OF MATERNAL DEPRIVATION

Failure to establish such a relationship will during the critical period means a child is likely to experience several damaging and irreversible consequences later in life. One of these is a particular personality type 

Answer 8

affectionless psychopathy, characterised by a lack of guilt, empathy and feeling for others. These individuals are likely to engage in acts of delinquency and cannot develop close relationship with others.

Question 9

THEORY OF MATERNAL DEPRIVATION

Bowlby supported his claim with his own investigation of 44 juvenile thieves. He found through interviews with the thieves and their families that

Answer 9

14 of the sample he studied showed personality and behavioural characteristics that could be classified as affectionless psychopathy.

Question 10

THEORY OF MATERNAL DEPRIVATION

Of the 14, 12 had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers during infancy. In a non-offender control group,

Answer 10

only 2 had experienced similar early separation.

Question 11

THEORY OF MATERNAL DEPRIVATION

Bowlby concluded that the effects of maternal deprivation had

Answer 11

caused affectionless and delinquent behaviour among the thieves.

Question 12

AO3: limitation of the psychodynamic approach

gender bias (hoffman)

Answer 12

The Freudian theory is gender biased.
An implicit assumption within this theory is that girls develop a weaker superego than boys because identification with the same-gender parent is not as strong. This is because girls do not experience the intense emotion associated with castration anxiety and therefore are under less pressure to identify with their mothers. Therefore, according to Freud, their superego so their sense of morality is less fully realised. The implication of this is that women should be more prone to offending behaviour than men. However, rates of imprisonment show that the opposite is true, there are 20 times more men than women imprisoned in the UK. Hoffman also found that little girls tended to be more moral than little boys.
This means that there is alpha bias at the heart of Freud’s theory and therefore it might not be an appropriate explanation of offending behaviour.

Question 13

AO3: strength of the psychodynamic approach

RESEARCH SUPPORT - Goreta

Answer 13

There is research support for the link between offending and the superego.
Goreta conducted a Freudian-style analysis of 10 offenders referred to psychiatric treatment. In all those assessed, disturbances in superego formation were diagnosed. Each offender experienced unconscious feelings of guilt and the need for self-punishment. Goreta explained this because of an over-harsh superego, the need for punishment manifesting itself as a desire to commit acts of wrongdoing and offend.
This evidence seems to support the role of psychic conflicts and an over-harsh superego as a basis for offending.

Question 13

AO3: limitation of the psychodynamic approach

other factors (monotropic) - lewis

Answer 13

Bowlby’s theory is only based on an association between maternal deprivation and offending.
Lewis analysed data drawn from interviews with 500 young people and found that maternal deprivation was a poor predictor of future offending and the ability to form close relationships in adolescence. Even if there is a link between children who have experienced frequent of prolonged separation from their mothers and offending behaviour in later life, it is not necessarily a causal relationship. There are other reasons, for example maternal deprivation may be due to growing up in poverty, this might explain later offending.
This suggests that maternal deprivation may be one of the reasons for later offending behaviour, but it cannot be the only reason.