Psychodynamic theory Flashcards
Define psychodynamic explanation:
Unconscious operate on the mind + direct human behaviour + experience
Who came up with psychodynamic explanation?
Blackburn (1993)
Argued superego = deficient/inadequte = offending behaviour is inevitable.
Id gives ‘free rein’
Describe the weak Superego:
Same-gender parents absent in phallic stage.
Child cannot internalise fully formed superego.
No opportunity for identification
–> immoral/offending behaviopur more likely.
Describe deviant Superego
Superego child internalises deviant/immoral value of same sex parent–> lead to offending behaviour.
Describe over-harsh Superego:
Leads to over-harsh superego –> crippled by guilt + anxiety.
May unconsciously drive individual to perform criminal acts to satisfy Superego’s overwhleming need for punishment
What is the role of emotions in psychodynamic explanation?
Inadequate superego = primitive, emotional demands guides moral behaviour
Deals with emotional life of individual
–> lack of guilt relevant to understanding offending behaviour (maternal deprivation).
What relevance does the theory of maternal deprivation have in psychodynamic explanation?
Bowlby (1944)
Argued ability to form meaningful relationships in adulthood dependant on child forming warm relationship with mother figure.
Failure = irreversible consequences
developes affectionless psychopathy -> characterised by lack of guilt + empathy
What is the study to support the claim?
44 juvenile thieves:
Found through interviews 14 of sample showed personality + behvaioural characteristics –> classified as affectionless psychopathy.
12 experienced prolonged separation from mothers during infancy
No offender group = 2 experienced early separation.
Maternal deprivation = affectionless + delinquent behaviour among juvenile thieves.
Research support:
Link between offending + Superego
Goreta (1991): conducted Freudian-style analysis of 10 offenders reffered for psychiatric treatment.
Each offender experinced unconscious feeling of guilt + need for self-punishment mainfesting itself as a desire to commit acts of wrongdoing + offend.
Supports over-harsh superego as basis of offending
COUNTERPOINT
Central principles of inadequate Superego theory not supported.
Expect harsh punitive parents to raise guilty children
Evidence suggests = opposite true
Raise rebellious + not guilty children (Kochanska 2001)
Questions relationship between harsh parents + excessive feelins of guilt in child.
Gender bias
Assumption in Freud’s theory = girls develop weaker Superego than boys –
> identification with same-gender parents not as strong.
Girls do not experience emotions associated with castration anxiety –> less pressure to identify with mothers
.: sugerego less realised
–> implications = women more prone to offending than men.
Rates of imprisonment = opposite (men 20x)
Hoffman = barely any gender differences + girls more moral than boys.
Alpha bias
Other factors:
Bowlby’s theory only based on association between maternal deprivation + offending
Lewis (1954) analysed data drawn from interviews 500 young people
Found maternal deprivation poor predictor of future offending + ability to form friendships in adolescene
Other reasons = poverty
Partial explanation
Pseudo science?
Relationships to parents = central + draws attention to emotional basis of offending –> largely ignored
Unconscious concepts not open to empirical testing
Only be judged face value not on scientific worth
Not meet criteria of falsifiability
Practical value = limited
Useful but lacks scientific credibility
