Forensics: Psychodynamic Explanations Flashcards
What are the 3 aspects to the personality?
Id
Ego
Superego (most relevant for this explanation)
What is the ID?
Intrusive part of personality. Can be very demanding.
Works on pleasure principle.
What is the ego?
-Rational part of the personality because it works on reality principle.
What is the superego?
Works on morality principle.
Is your conscience given to you by parents, society, rules etc.
How is the superego linked to offending?
Likely to be linked to criminal behaviour as its part of the personality that deals with moral behaviour and deciding between right and wrong.
What are the three reasons for a deficient superego?
Blackburn (1993) suggested 3 reasons:
- Weak superego
- Harsh superego
- Deviant superego
Describe a weak superego?
- Identity with same-sex parent hasn’t occurred.
- Weak superego results in little control over anti-social behaviour and gratify their Id’s instinctual drives.
Describe a harsh superego?
- Caused by the internalisation in the phallic stage of a strong identification from same-sex parent.
- Results in excessive guilt and anxiety.
- Commits a crime with an unconscious desire to be caught so they can be punished and alleviate guilt.
Describe a deviant superego?
- Normal identification with same-sex parent results in the child adopting their parents values + morals.
- If the parent is deviant/criminal then the child takes on same set of criminal attitudes.
Other than deviant superego, what other psychodynamic explanation for offending is there?
Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation.
What is Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation?
Maternal deprivation leads to consequences such as affectionless psychopathy and delinquency.
Lack of mother presence.
44 thieves study.
A03 points
- Gender bias - focuses mainly on the male.
- No supporting evidence.
- Not falsifiable.
