Lesson 8 - Psychodynamic Explanation

Question 1

What 3 Parts make up the personality?

Answer 1

• Superego
• Ego
• Id

Question 2

Explain the Id

Answer 2

• Operates on the pleasure principle

- Wants immediate gratification regardless of morality

Question 3

Explain the ego

Answer 3

• Mediates between impulsive demands of the jd with the reality of the world
• Operates on reality principle
• Delays gratification from the id, waiting for a more appropriate opportunity to satisfy its demands
• Compromise between id and superego

Question 4

Explain the superego

Answer 4

• Operates on morality principle
• Contains conscience and internalisation of social rules
• causes feelings of guilt or pride when exhibiting moral behaviour

Question 5

What is the last aspect of personality to form?

Answer 5

• Superego
• Develops at the end of phallic stage at 3-6 years
• The conflict is the Oedipus or Electra complex

Question 6

What are the two complexes?

Answer 6

Oedipus:

• Boy unconsciously wishes to possess their mother and rid their father
• Boys experience castration anxiety and fear their father will punish them by removing their penis
• To resolve anxiety, the child will identify with their father and will internalise their fathers superego

Electra:

• Similar process
• No castration anxiety, so do not internalise their mothers superego to the same extent
• Their superego is less well developed than a male superego

Question 7

What did Blackburn argue?

Answer 7

• If a superego is somehow deficient then criminal behaviour is inevitable because the id is not properly controlled.
• There are 3 types

Question 8

What are the three types?

Answer 8

• Weak Superego: same sex parent is absent so child cannot internalise a fully formed superego as there is no opportunity for identification
• Deviant Superego: Superego that the child internalises is immoral or has deviant values
• Over-Harsh Superego: Excessively punitive superego = individual is crippled by guilt and anxiety = unconsciously drives the individual to perform criminal acts to satisfy the superego’s need for punishment

Question 9

Evaluation (-)

Answer 9

• An Assumption is that girls develop weaker superegos than boys implying females are more prone to offending. Criminal statistics do not support this.
• A psychologist tested children’s ability to resist temptation. Found hardly any difference, girls were slightly more moral than boys
• Little evidence that children raised without a same sex parent are less law-abiding
• If children raised by deviant parents go on to commit crime, this could be due to genetics or the environment
• The idea that some criminals have an unconscious desire for punishment is implausible as many offenders go to great lengths to conceal their crime to avoid punishment