freud's spcyhodynamic explanation of aggression Flashcards
what is a key assumption of his theories?
our awareness is in layers so much of what we think and feel and what motivates us is in our unconscious mind. Mental processes drive behaviour differs from bio approach about how brain drives behaviour
What is Freuds structure of the mind idea?
Just as most of an iceburgh is hidden from view so is some of the emind- 3 levels of consciousness
- conscious smallest part only part u are aware of and think about it in a logical fashion
- preconscious ready to be conscious= ordinary memory and a gatekeeper between the 2
- unconscious biggest area,not directly accessible storage area for anxiety,conflict and pain. These influence our actions are conscious awareness- where personality is made up of
Structure of personality?
-ID= Born with pleasure-seeking desires operates on the pleasure principle and wants immediate gratification
- Ego= Operates on reality principles and control desires of Id maintains balance between superego and id
-Superego Ethics of other people come into consideration inc patients, operator,morality principle providing a conscience
Defence mechanism?
Keep Id and Superego balanced
-Displacement- diverting emotions to more acceptable one
-Denial -rejecting painful thoughts
-Repression- push info out of consciousness but still expressed
-Projection- Attribute your own unacceptable faults or wishes to someone else
-Regression- Engage in behaviour characteristics of an earlier stage of development
What’s Eros and Thantos?
Behaviour caused by inborn unconscious drive Eros motivates us to live,love inc libido associated with sex drive and humans have inborn destructive drive deep in the unconscious Thantos return us to an inorganic state which causes aggressive behaviour
Theory of aggression?
Eros and Thantos 1st part of personality for 1st 2 years of our lives so aggression is innately in us
Around 2 years ego develops norms and rules of society are being learnt limited understanding aggressive behaviour is only appropriate at certain times. Ego (thinking and planning part) controls Id makes sure aggression is kept in unconscious part via sublimation,repression etc
Controlling aggression?
Ego and supergo keep aggressive urges under control but if issues in development in them aggression comes out. Can be regulated via Catharisis (unleashing neg energy from mind) eg watching aggressive behaviour
Evidence to support Catharsis
Megargee and Mendelsohn link between aggressionb and personality types, interviews ppl who committed brutal crimes and they had over controlled repressed anger
Verona and Sulivan ppl reacted in an aggressive way to being frustrated in activity that had a reduced heart rate compared to those who didn’t act aggressively
Evidence against catharsis
Bushman ppts who engaged in catharsis and vented anger after being deliberately angered were more aggressive
1st stage of psychosexual development
Oral stage 0-5 months- Id is present from birth Libido focused on mouth and infant gets pleasure from sucking and biting. Parents must achieve weaning if not leads to smoking,sarcasm,overeating
2nd stage of psychosexual development
Anal stage- 1-3 years - Ego develops and Libido focused on anus and kids gain pleasure from achieving control over their bodies inc retaining and elimitred faeces and other physical skills goal is toilet training if not overindulgence- messy and unorganised and underinduglence is tidy and obbsessive
3rd stage of psychosexual dev
Phallic stage 3-5 years Libido focsed on genitals pleasure comes from playing with it strong attachment to opposite sex parent must achieve successful resolution Oedipus complex allows dev of superego failure in this stage loeads to repression of sexuality
4th stage of psychosexual dev
Latency stage 5y to puberty, sexual feelings suppressed to allow kids to focus time of learning and adjusting to social envi
5th stage of psychosexual dev
Genital stage puberty onwards- renewed focus on genitals sexual intered and desires
Similarities of psychosexual and bio
** Deterministic as aggressive behaviour is beyond control of individual** P-because of death drive aggression builds up and must be released by catharsis
B-humans have evolved to be aggressive so aggression is built into out behaviour pattern don’t take into account people have free will +
Considred innate and support nature side
P-Born with thantos
B-Gentically inherited
Differences of psychosexual and bio
Bio has scientific evidence
P-Based on theoretical structures eg Thantos
B- Raine et al PET scans for brain dysfunctions
Assumptions of the main drive
P- Aggression is a result of unconscious mental mechanism & drive inc conflict between death and life
B- Aggression explained by physical properties of brain causing reactive aggression
Strength of the Psychosexual
Freud used detailed case studies of his paiteitnets to back his ideas collecting qualitative data from clinicaliterviews and observations eg case study of ra 5 year old Little Hans aggression Han’s showed to his father biting and hitting was Oedipus complex jealously over his fathers intimate relationship w his mother
Practical applications eg psychotherapy and idea of catharsis however Bushman role of catharsis in aggression found ppts engaged in catharsis and vented anger were more aggressive than those who did nothing
Weaknesses of psychodynamic explanation
Scientific cred low- eg Little Hans case studies any findings are based on qualitative data open to subjective so low validity so no accuracy in causes of aggression and only 1 ppt
Not falsifiable not directly observable or measurable eg Thantos lacks empiricism needed for scientific status
describe the superego
forms at end of phallic stage
works on morality principle
punishes ego with guilt
rewards ego with pride
how does a weak superego develop?
absence of same sex parent during phallic stage so we fail to internalize moral values of this parent
what is the consequence of a weak superego
morals not learned
more likely to act on pleasure principle as superego does not enforce guilt
behave to gain immediate reward as we don’t know right and wrong
lead to crime as won’t feel guilty
how does an excessively strong superego develop?
same sex parent overly harsh
crippled by guilt and anxiety
commits crime to satisfy need for punishment
what is the consequence of an excessively strong superego?
craves punishment in order to ease guilt
or won’t express antisocial influences until they build up until the desire overwhelms the ego and is suddenly expressed
how does a deviant superego develop?
child internalizes morals of a criminal or deviant same sex parent
what are the consequences of a deviant superego?
child develops skewed morals
don’t feel guilt if they believe the behaviour is acceptable
superego may not react to criminal acts
what is the maternal bond?
what is the maternal bond?
what is the consequence of a failed maternal bond?
forming an affectionless psychopathy personality type
lack of guilt and empathy
engage in delinquent acts
cannot develop close relationships with others
summarise Bowlby’s study
44 juvenile thieves and families
14 showed affectionless psychopathy characteristics
12 of 14 experienced separation from mother within first 2 years
control = 2 had separation
what are issues with Bowlby’s research?
researcher bias = preconceptions of what he expected to find
reduces internal validity
false conclusions
unrepresentative sampling
evaluate defence mechanisms (PEE)
- deterministic
a weakness is that it is deterministic. for example, it suggests that individuals have no control over their offending and defence mechanisms which cause behaviour are determined by the ego’s response to unconscious conflicts. therefore, this means they have no free will which raises the question as to whether they should be punished.
evaluate defence mechanisms (PEE)
- application
a weakness is that there is a lack of practical applications. for example, if defence mechanisms were the cause of behaviour, psychodynamic therapy would help overcome the root cause. however, this is time consuming and an impractical way of reducing criminal behaviour which limits the usefulness of this explanation.
what is a strength of Freud’s theory (PEE)?
- supporting evidence (Glueck and Glueck)
a strength is the supporting evidence from Glueck and Glueck. they compared 500 young people in offender institutions and 500 controls and found that young offenders were 1.5x more likely to have experienced distant relationship with their mother.
what is a weakness of Freud’s theory (PEE)?
- unfalsifiable
a weakness is that the theory has unfalsifiable concepts. for example, the deviant superego and dominant id cannot be proved true as it is impossible to test scientifically. therefore, this limits the usefulness of the explanation as it lacks validity.
what is a weakness of Freud’s theory (PEE)?
- gender bias
a weakness is that the theory has gender bias. for example, it suggests that girls have weaker superegos as they are under less pressure to identify with the same sex parent due to lack of castration anxiety. however, the prison population is 95% male which suggests that males show more criminal behaviour, contradicting the prediction.
what is a weakness of Freud’s theory (PEE)?
- opposing study (Lewis)
a weakness is opposing research from Lewis. for example, 500 young people were interviewed and no reliable link was found between maternal deprivation and criminal behaviour. therefore, maternal deprivation may be only one factor contributing to the likelihood of criminal behaviour.
what is a weakness of Freud’s theory (PEE)?
- criticism of methodology
a weakness is that the assessment of childhood experiences is difficult as it is retrospective information. for example, self report data is open to distortions. therefore, the evaluation of the relationship between early experience of crime is complicated. additionally, the conclusions are dependent on social and cultural ideologies of childhood/acceptable behaviour; children and parents of different groups interact differently.
what is an alternative explanation of criminal behaviour other than personality?
social learning theory
- learning by observation of a criminal role model
- vicarious reinforcement
- bobo doll study
