Psychodynamic theory

Question 1

Psychodynamic theory– cause of criminal behaviour

Answer 1

• Criminal behaviour is caused by childhood trauma.

Question 2

Psychodynamic theory – description of theory

Answer 2

• Tripartite personality is made up of id, ego and superego
o Id is innate, selfish, greedy and works on the pleasure/self gratification principle
o Superego is the conscience and morality
o Ego balances the demands of the id and superego
• Childhood trauma results in unresolved conflicts between the id and superego
o An example of childhood trauma is maternal deprivation - a child loses their bond with their mother through separation, resulting in losing the sense of having a safe world and feeling rejected
• For example Bowlby compared criminal and non-criminal juvenile delinquents and found the criminals were more likely to have suffered maternal separation.
• Imbalance in the tripartite personality in turn makes it impossible for the child to control later delinquent impulse.

Question 3

Psychodynamic theory – explanation for criminal behaviour

Answer 3

• Criminal behaviour results from a superego which is over harsh, weak or deviant.
• Over harsh - extreme anxiety from a harsh supergo could result in a person committing crimes in order to get caught and punished to assuage the guilt imposed by their own superego.
• Weak - results in a person with few if any of the usual inhibitions against antisocial behaviour. They would act in ways that gratified their id, regardless of the social restraints on doing so.
• Deviant - a child might develop a superego in the normal way, but the superego itself has deviant values. Consequently, a son raised normally in a family with a criminal father might develop a superego that does not react to criminal acts that the father would engage in so that he could be accepted by his father.