Psychodynamic Explanation

Question 1

What did Blackburn state

Answer 1

If superego deficient/ inadequate criminal behaviour inevitable as id given free reign and not properly controlled

Question 2

What causes weak superego

Answer 2

If same sex parent absent during phallic stage child cannot internalise fully formed superego as no opportunity for identification- makes immoral/criminal behaviour more likely

Question 3

How is deviant superego formed

Answer 3

If superego child internalises has immoral/deviant values this would lead to offending behaviour eg boy raised by criminal father likely not to associate guilt with wrong doing

Question 4

How is over harsh superego formed

Answer 4

Caused by overly harsh parenting, leads to excessively punitive superego meaning individual crippled by guilt and anxiety
-may unconsciously drive individual to perform criminal acts to satisfy superegos overwhelming need for punishment

Question 5

What other theory involved

Answer 5

Bowlbys maternal deprivation theory

Question 6

Expand on limitation of Freud’s that theory involves alpha bias

Answer 6

-over exaggerates differences between girls and boys, suggests girls develop a weaker superego than boys having not experienced castration anxiety so under less pressure to identify with their mothers however approx 20x more men than women in prison
-contradicts theory, influence of superego on criminal behaviour may be overstated

Question 7

Expand on limitation of Freud’s that many components unfalsifiable

Answer 7

-unconscious concepts, not open to empirical testing,
-inadequate superego can only be judged on their fact value rather than scientific worth, regarded as pseudoscientific
-may contribute little to our understanding of crime or how to prevent it

Question 8

Expand on limitation of Bowlby’s that been accused of researcher bias

Answer 8

-preconceptions of what he expected to find may have influenced the responses of interviewees, also worked at centre so may have selected sample to fit what he wanted to find
-SDB in interviews and errors due to restrospective recollections
-must interpret conclusions with caution

Question 9

Expand on limitation of Bowlbys that correlational data

Answer 9

-only correlation between maternal deprivation and future offending, does not indicate cause and effect as could be third variable eg genetics/influence of other people
-challenges validity of causation conclusion