Psychodynamic theory

Question 1

Psychodynamic explanations

Answer 1

-Ronald Blackburn’s idea of the inadequate superego.
-John Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory.
-Both follow Freudian principle = roots of behaviour are formed in childhood and unconscious conflicts drive future behaviour.

Question 2

Id

Answer 2

-Desires/instincts.
-Present from birth (babies = bundle of id).
-Only in the unconscious.
-Demands immediate satisfaction and pleasure.

Question 3

Ego

Answer 3

-Balance.
-Develops at 2.
-Resolves conflict between impulsive and moralistic demands of the superego.
-Anchored in the reality of the external world.

Question 4

Superego

Answer 4

-Conscience.
-Develops at 5.
-Determines which behaviours are acceptable.
-Causes feelings of guilt when rules are broken.
-Moral compass.
-Related to offending behaviour because it is concerned with right and wrong.

Question 5

Healthy psyche

Answer 5

-Ego is in charge.
-Blackburn argued if superego is somehow deficient or inadequate, then criminal behaviour is inevitable because the id is given free rein and not properly controlled.

Question 6

Oedipus complex

Answer 6

-Boys sexually attracted to their mother, and see their father as a love rival.
-Experience castration anxiety which is a punishment from their father.
-Boys learn to identify with their father and use him as a model for moral behaviour.
-Superego is then developed.

Question 7

Electra complex

Answer 7

-Penis envy.
-Girls fall in love with their father and want their mother gone.
-Resolved by the desire to have a child which leads to identification with mother.
-Results in a normal development of the superego.

Question 8

Weak/underdeveloped superego

Answer 8

-No identification with same sex parent or absent parent = weak superego.
-Consequence = little control over anti-social behaviour. Likely to act in ways that satisfy their id impulses.

Question 9

Harsh/overdeveloped superego

Answer 9

-Strong identification with strict parent = excessive feelings of guilt and anxiety as anytime they would act on id impulses, they were made to feel bad.
-Individual would commit a crime wanting to be caught so that punishment would reduce feelings of guilt.

Question 10

Deviant superego

Answer 10

-Normal identification with same sex parent = child takes on same moral attitudes.
-Criminal parent = child will adopt the same deviant attitudes.