Freud's theory of personality linked to aggression

Question 1

Id

Answer 1

driven by thanatos and libido

unconscious desires

driven by the pleasure principle

Question 2

Ego

Answer 2

balances Id and Superego

Question 3

Superego

Answer 3

learnt

a persons moral compass

works on the morality principle
punishes the ego through guilt

rewards ego with pride for moral behaviour

Question 4

thanatos

Answer 4

the death instinct

drive for death, aggression, destruction and violence

Question 5

libido

Answer 5

life instinct/ lust

Question 6

conscious

Answer 6

everything that we are aware on/ mental processes

Question 7

uconscious

Answer 7

part of the mind that influences behaviour, but it cannot be accessed

Question 8

defence mechanisms

Answer 8

negative feelings are displaced onto something else, to prevent hurting a person

used by the unconscious mind to reduce anxiety

Question 9

when is the superego formed

Answer 9

at the end of the phallic stage of development

Question 10

what does Blackburn (1993) argue about the superego

Answer 10

if the superego is deficient then criminality is inevitable

as the id is not properly controlled and we are going to give into our urges and impulses

Question 11

how does a weak superego develop

Answer 11

same-sex parent absent during phallic stage of psycho-sexual development

fail to internalise the moral values of the same sex parent

Question 12

consequence of weak superego

Answer 12

Id will dictate behaviour

No longer know right from wrong

aggression- impulses/ urges from id need satisfying

Question 13

what causes an excessively strong superego

Answer 13

same-sex parent is overly harsh

Question 14

consequences of an excessively strong superego

Answer 14

an individual is cripples by guilt and anxiety

commits crime in order to satisfy the superego’s need for punishment

as aggressive urges are not acceptable

Question 15

causes of a deviant superego

Answer 15

if the child internalises the morals of a criminal or deviant same sex parent

Question 16

Bowlby (1944) - main ideas

Answer 16

child is asocial and motivated by pleasure seeking and self-destructive impulses

if a child is raised in a dysfunctional family, it may cause long term damage to their psyche

the ability to form meaningful relationships in adulthood was dependent on the child forming a warm, continuous relationship with a mother-figure

Question 17

Bowlby (1944) - consequence of not forming a maternal bond

Answer 17

forming the affectionless psychopathy personality type

Question 18

Bowlby (1944) - results

Answer 18

interviewed 44 juvenile thieves

14 had affectionless psychopathy

12 had experiences prolonged separation from their mothers during infancy

only 2 in the non criminal group had experienced similar seperation

Question 19

issues with Bowlby’s research

Answer 19

researcher bias

his preconceptions of what he expected to find may have influenced the response of his interviewees

cause and effect can be questioned

Question 20

what do psychodynamic theories believe about anxiety

Answer 20

anxiety will weaken the ego

leading to a dominant id or superego

Question 21

3 types of defence mechanism

Answer 21

displacement

rationalisation

sublimation

Question 22

displacement

Answer 22

satisfying an impulse

could explain lashing out on a stranger in the street instead of attacking a work boss

Question 23

rationalisation

Answer 23

explaining behaviour in a rational and acceptable way when it is actually very negative

offenders may use this to justify criminal behaviour

could explain why an offender feels no remorse

Question 24

sublimation

Answer 24

id’s urges are acted upon but transformed into something socially acceptable

ego doesnt consider guilt

could explain why people commit lesser crimes
e.g. petty theft instead of the heinous crime they unconsciously wish to commit

Question 25

deterministic

Answer 25

suggests individuals have no control over their offending behaviour - no free will

as defence mechanisms are determined by the ego’s response to unconscious conflicts

should individuals be punished for a crime that they have no free will over?

Question 26

falsifiability

Answer 26

the ability of something to be able to be proved false

nearly impossible to yest freud’s theory - not falsifiable

Question 27

gender bias

Answer 27

freud’s theory suggests girls have a weaker superego than boys - under less pressure to identify with the same-sex parent due to lack of castration anxiety

males show more criminal behaviour than females - contradictory

only 4% of UK prisoners are female

Question 28

subjectivity

Answer 28

may be subjective what is morally right or wrong, as people have different morals

Question 29

reductionist

Answer 29

only focusses on childhood expeiriences and features a person may be born with

genetics, biological structures and environmental factors may have an influence

Question 30

opposing research - superego formation

Answer 30

if children are raised by a deviant parent then go on to commit crime, this could be due to genetic inheritance instead

Question 31

opposing research - Lewis (1954)

Answer 31

could not establish a causal link between maternal deprivation and criminal behaviour

interviewed 500 young people

Question 32

why is the assessment of childhood experiences difficult

Answer 32

retrospective information

rely on self-reported information - open to distortion, development and minimisation of events