Forensics - Psychodynamic Flashcards
what is the psychodynamic explanation
- perspective that describes the different forces that operate on the mind and direct human behaviour and experience
what are the components of the inadequate superego
Blackburn
- if the superego is deficient then offending behaviour is inevitable
- Id is given free rein and not controlled
- weak superego
- deviant superego
- over-harsh superego
what is the weak superego
- same gender parent absent in the phallic stage a child cannot internalise and there is no identification
- offending behaviour more likely
what is the deviant superego
- if a child internalises a superego with deviant values leads to offending behaviour
- child raised by criminal parents
what is the overharsh superego
- overly harsh parenting style
- crippled by guilt and anxiety
- unconsciously drive the individual to perform criminal acts in order to satisfy the superego’s overwhelming need for punishment
what is the theory of maternal deprivation
Bowlby
- maternally deprived outside the critical period then a child can develop affectionless psychopathy = lack of guilt
44 Juvenile thieves
- 14 had AP
-12 of the 14 had prolonged separation
what are the strengths
Goreta
- conducted Freudian style analysis of 10 offenders referred for psychiatric treatment
- each offender had unconscious feelings of guilt
- consequence of the over harsh superego it needs punishment so commits acts of wrongdoings
what are the limitations
Gender Bias
- girls develop a weaker superego as they don’t experience the intense emotion of castration anxiety and have less pressure to identify with their mothers
- rates of imprisonment show that in the UK there is 20x more men than women
- Hoffman found no gender differences
Lewis
- analysed data from 500 interviews with young people and found maternal deprivation was a poor predictor of future offending
- other factors play a role - poverty
