AC 2.2 & 3.2 Individualistic - Psychodynamic Flashcards
What are the psychodynamic theories?
• freud’s psychoanalysis
• bowlby’s maternal deprivation
What is freud’s psychoanalysis?
Unresolved childhood conflicts affect behaviour, including crime
Psychodynamic theory our personality is containing active forces that causes to act as we do. These forces are powerful urges, feelings and conflicts within the unconscious mind. Criminal behaviour is the result of an individuals failure to resolve these in a conflict in a socially acceptable way.
Our early childhood experience determine our personality and future behaviour
Our early experiences determine whether we will go onto act in an antisocial way
The human personality contains three elements: the ego, ID and super ego
What is your ID?
The selfish, instinctual part of the mind
Present birth and operates on the pleasure principle – it gets what it wants
Unconscious 100% demand immediate gratification
Pleasure principal
– Gain pleasure
– avoid pain
– reduce tension
A baby = 100% ID
A personal act impulsively taken what they want, leading to criminal behaviour
What is ego?
The rational part of balance is that id and super ego
Developed at the age of two and it works on the reality principle. It reduces conflict between ID and ego using defence mechanisms.
Mostly conscious the executive reality principal
Balances demands of ID, super ego and reality
Conscious mind of the self
Struggle to accept changed and have fixed/rigid lifestyle
What is the superego?
The moral conscience
Develops at the age of five years old and it works on the morality principle. It represents the moral standards of the same-sex parent and is responsible for guilt.
Mostly unconscious
Your conscience
Moral principle
– must never do wrong
– Guilt, guilt, guilt
A person will be more realistic and judgemental when perfection is not achieved
How does a weekly develop super ego linked to crime?
The individual will feel less guilt about antisocial actions and less inhibition about acting on IDs selfish or aggressive urges
How does a too harsh and unforgiving super ego link to crime?
Create deep seated guilt feelings in the individual, who then craze punishment as a release from their feeling. The person may engaging compulsive repeat offending in order to be punished.
How does a deviant ego link to crime?
This is where the child is successfully socialised, but into a deviant moral code. A son may have a good relationship with his criminal father and so he internalises his criminal values.
As a result, the super ego would not inflict guilt feelings on him for contemplating criminal acts
Freud’s psychoanalysis- EVALUATION
STRENGTHS
– supports the need for early socialisation and family relationships to understand (criminal behaviour too)
– Has helped develop policies for dealing with crime and deviance
WEKNESSES
– There is criticism of the ‘ unconscious mind’
How can it be proven/how would we know if it’s unconscious
– Psycho analytic explanations are unscientific and subjective
They rely on a psychoanalysis claim to understand in a conflict and motivations
What is bowlbys maternal deprivation theory?
Children who lack stronger attachment to a caregiver may develop emotional and behavioural problems, including criminal tendencies
Bowlby argues that there is a link between maternal deprivation and deviance/antisocial behaviour. In his view, the child needs a close, continuous relationship with its primary caregiver from birth to the age of five in order to develop normally. This is known as a mono Tropic bond if the motherchild attachment is broken through separation even after a short period, it can leave the child unable to form meaningful emotional relationships with others and this could lead to affection this psychopathy.
What is the attachment theory?
A secure bond with the caregiver is crucial formational development
What is affectionatless psychopathy?
A lack of girl empathy due to early neglect
What is a monotropic bond?
A child needs a close continuous relationship with its primary caregiver (mother) from birth to the age of five in order to develop normally
What is the research for Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory?
Bowlby (1944) studied 44 juvenile delinquent and compared them to non-criminal juveniles, of the criminals, 39% had experienced separation from their mothers for six months or more, during the first five years compared to just 5% of the control group.
Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory - EVALUATION
STRENGTHS
– His study of 44 juvenile delinquents was evidence to support Freud
– Supported the argument that parent child relationships are vital within development
WEAKNESSES
– It was based off retrospect – demanded on people recalling events from childhood and it’s a fact. Events could be altered due to them being emotional/traumatic.
– The research showed that 39% of children in the study may have been delinquent due to the deprivation but not for the remaining 61%
– Bowlby did another study with 60 children with long period of separation from parents before five years old and found no correlation
– Sammons and Putwain show that maternal decoration is no longer widely accepted as a theory of criminalality
