Psychological explanations of offending behaviour Flashcards
Psychodynamic approach
- Likelihood of developing or exhibiting offending behaviour determined by level of conflict between id and superego
ID
Pleasure principle
Superego
Morality principle
- No concept of morality until superego is fully formed
Harsh or weak superego = imbalance between 3 components of personality
Harsh = feeling of guilt and obsession when the id attempts to get satisfaction
Strong superego = law abiding = occasion forcing from id becoming so overwhelming = guilty and commit antisocial behaviour = punished
- Offending behaviour arising from a weak or underdeveloped superego
Underdeveloped superegos
= Psychosis
= Inability to feel sympathy for victims of crime
Unloving or absent parents
- Parents play a key role in the development of a fully functioning superego
= Bowlby’s maternal deprivation hypothesis
Criticism of psychoanalytic perspective
- lacks empirical support
- Very small number of patients = subjective interpretations of therapists interviews
Eysenck’s theory of criminal personality
- Crime arises from certain personality traits are biological in origin
Individual’s personality traits could be reduced to 2 key dimensions;
1. Neuroticism
2. Extroversion
High neuroticism
Prone to;
- Anxiety
- Variable moods
- Depression
Low neuroticism
Emotionally stable
Extroversion dimension
Amount of external stimulation an individual craves;
Extrovert = seeking a large amount
Introvert = require low amounts
Extroverts
- Impulsiveness = relevant in relation to much of offending behaviour
Eysenck personality inventory (EPI)
- Developed as a psychometric measure of these key traits
- In the majority of the population the types are normally distributed.
- Extroversion and neuroticism persoanlity traits are related to the CNS.
