Psychological explanations: Psychodynamic Flashcards
How does this approach explain offending behaviour ?
Offending behaviour ca be explained by an imbalance between the 3 components of the tripartite personality (ID, Ego, Superego) because the ID isn’t sufficiently controlled.
Blackburn suggested that if an individual has an adequate superego then offending is inevitable because the ID is given free rein and isn’t controlled.
He says there are 3 types of inadequate superegos that can cause someone to commit crimes:
- Weak superego
- Deviant superego
- Over-Harsh superego
What is meant by a weak superego ?
When there’s an absence of a same-sex parent during the phallic stage meaning that the child can’t internalise a fully formed superego and has no opportunity for identification. This means that immoral or offending behaviour is more likely to occur.
This is because the ID will outweigh the superego due to it not being fully developed meaning the individual will lack guilt and has loose morals
What is meant by a deviant superego ?
There is a same sex parent present but they are immoral/criminal. This means that the child will internalise a superego with deviant morals and values. Therefore, this leads to crime as they are not going to associate and guilt with wrongdoing and their morals and values see no wrong in committing criminal acts.
This is because the superego is now encouraging the id instead of acting as the morality principle to discourage it so no guilt or remorse for their actions will be felt
What is meant by an over-harsh superego ?
When a child develops a very strong identification with a strict parent and as a result have excessive feelings of guilt and anxiety, especially if they act on their ID impulses. They would commit a crime in the hopes that they will get caught and be punished which would reduce their feeling of guilt.
This means they commit crimes to satisfy their superego as when they are punished this will reduce their guilt
What theory does this link to ?
Bowlby’s Maternal Deprivation Theory
How does Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory link to offending?
(Attachment based explanation)
If a child does not form a secure, meaningful relationship with a mother figure in the first 2 years of their life (critical period) then this can cause irreversible damage later on in life. This can lead them to develop a personality type called affectionless psychopathy
This leads to crime as this is characterised as having a lack of guilt and remorse and empathy for others. This means they are more likely to commit crimes
Outline the study that Bowlby did that links to offending
Bowlby’s 44 theives
He interviewed the theives and their family and found that 14 of them showed signs of having affection less psychopathy and 12 of them had experienced prolonged separation from their mother during the critical period compared to the non-offender group where only 2 had experience separation. Bowlby concluded that it was the separation from their mother that had led to affectionless psychopathy which led to them committing crimes
How can the defence mechanisms lead to crime ?
Defense mechanisms may lead the person to unconsciously justify criminal behaviour
Denial - they reject the reality/ seriousness nature of crime
Displacement - They release their anger out onto a weaker target as they can’t express it to the actual target
Rationalisation - Attempt to justify
Strengths of the psychodynamic explanation to offending
P - Practical applications
E - This is because this theory links early childhood experiences to how it will impact them in the future and cause them to commit crime. This means that interventions can be put in place if they, for example, lack a mother figure or have a same sex parent missing as their growing up.
E - This is a strength as it means that crime is prevented from early on and means that the child will internalise a good set of morals from their parents which will reduce the chances that they will commit crime
L - Therefore, a strength of the psychodynamic explanation is that it has practical applications as it has improved our knowledge of how childhood experiences can cause crime in later life so interventions can be put in place to reduce this.
Weaknesses of the psychodynamic explanation
P- Psychic determinism
E - Suggesting that a child has no free will on whether they will commit crime or not and it is all down to their childhood and whether they have a same sex parent with good morals. It suggests that if they don’t then crime is inevitable as the child will have an inadequate superego.
E - This means that it is ignoring the fact that people do have free will even if they don’t have adequate morals, they still can decide not to do a crime as they know it is wrong as they can be punished for it
L - Therefore, a weakness of the psychodynamic exlanation is that it shows psychic determinism and suggests that no one has free will in whether they commit a crime or not and its all down to their unconscious thoughts.
P- Unfalsifiable
E - This is because it is talking about the tripartite personality, specifically the ID and the superego which operate at an unconscious level
E - This means that this theory cannot undergo empirical testing to be proven wrong as we do not have access to our unconscious
L - Therefore, this is a weakness as we cannot prove this theory wrong as it is unfalsifiable and cannot undergo empirical testing meaning that it lacks scientific credibility
