psychodynamic explanations

Question 1

what did Blackburn 1993 argue?

Answer 1

argued that if the superego is deficient or inadequate then criminal behavior s inevitable because the id is given free reign

Question 2

what are the 3 types of inadequate superego?

Answer 2

weak superego
deviant superego
over-harsh superego

Question 3

what is the weak superego

Answer 3

if same sex parent is absent during phallic stage then child can not internalise a fully formed superego as no opportunity for identification
makes criminal behaviour more likely

Question 4

the deviant superego

Answer 4

if the superego the child internalises with has immoral or deviant values then this would lead to offending behaviour

Question 5

the over harsh superego

Answer 5

the individual is crippled by guilt unlike a healthy superego which will act as a parent and forgive.
the individual may be crippled by anxiety which may cause the individual to perform criminal acts

Question 6

bowlby (1944) maternal deprivation theory

Answer 6

• argued he ability to form meaningful relationships in adulthood was based upon the child forming a continuous relationship with a mother figure
• if this fails to happen the damage on the child is irreversible
• maternally deprived individuals are likely to engage in acts of delinquency

Question 7

44 juvinile thieves bowlby

Answer 7

he found 14 of his sample showed personality characteristics defined as affectionless psychopathy
out of 14 criminals 12 had experiences long term separation compared with 2 in non criminal

Question 8

what did bowlby conclude?

Answer 8

that maternal deprivation had caused affectionless and delinquant behaviour

Question 9

gender bias

Answer 9

freudian theory suggests girls develop a weaker superego as they have not experienced castration anxiety and are under less pressure to identify with mothers . the implication is females should be more prone to criminal behaviour

Question 10

Hoffman (gender eval)

Answer 10

statistics of prison populations do not support this idea

hoffman found hardly any evidence of gender differences and wen there was girls they tended to be more moral than boys

Question 11

contradictory evidence

Answer 11

-little evidence that children raised without same sex parent are less law abiding (contradicts blackburn)

Question 12

contradictory evidence (deviant parents)

Answer 12

if children with deviant parents go on to commit crimes this could be as a result of genetics or socialisation rather than a deviant superego

Question 13

unconscious concepts

Answer 13

issues with falsifiability and therefore many concepts cant be tested
concepts such as inadequate superego can only be judged at face value
psychodynamic explanations are therefore regarded as pseudoscientific

Question 14

methodological issues with Bowlby’s research

Answer 14

accused of researcher bias
he failed to make a distinction between deprivation and privation in research
many thieves experienced privation rather than deprivation which some consider to be more dangerous

Question 15

correlation not causation (hilda and lewis)

Answer 15

analysed interviews from 500 young people and found maternal deprivation was a poor predictor of offending
even if their is an experience of deprivation and offending it does not mean its causal - may be one reason but there may be other factors