Psychological explanations: Psychodynamic

Question 1

The inadequate superego

Answer 1

Blackburn (1993) argued that if the superego is inadequate then offending is inevitable because the id is not properly controlled.

Three types of inadequate superego have been proposed:
The weak superego
The deviant superego
The over-harsh superego

Question 2

The weak superego

Answer 2

if the same gender parent is absent during the phallic stage, a child cannot internalise a fully-formed superego as there is no opportunity for identification. This would make immoral or offending behaviour more likely.

Question 3

The deviant superego

Answer 3

if the superego that a child internalises has immoral or deviant values this would lead to offending behaviour.

Question 4

The over-harsh superego

Answer 4

an excessively punitive or overly harsh parenting style leads to a child with an over-harsh superego who is crippled by guilt and anxiety. This may drive the individual to perform criminal acts in order to satisfy the superego’s overwhelming need for punishment.

Question 5

Theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 5

Bowlby argued that the ability to form meaningful relationships in adulthood was dependent upon the child forming a warm, continuous relationship with a mother figure. Failure to establish this relationship can lead to damaging consequences. One of these consequences is affectionless psychopathy, characterised by a lack of guilt, empathy and feelings for others. Such maternally deprived individuals are likely to engage in acts of delinquency and cannot develop close relationships with others.

Question 6

Evaluation of psychodynamic explanation (brief)

Answer 6

strength - research support, Goreta
weakness - gender bias
weakness - bowlbys theory is only an association

Question 7

strength of psychodynamic explanation

Answer 7

there is research support for the link between offending and the superego. Goreta (1991) conducted a Freudian-style analysis of ten offenders referred for psychiatric treatment. In all those assessed, disturbances in superego formation were diagnosed. Each offender experienced unconscious feelings of guilt and the need for self-punishment. Goreta explained this as a consequence of an over-harsh superego. This evidence seems to support the role of psychic conflicts and an over-harsh superego as a basis for offending.

Question 8

weakness of psychodynamic explanation

Answer 8

this theory is gender-biased. An implicit assumption within Freud’s theory is that girls develop a weaker superego than boys because identification with the same-gender parent isn’t as strong. According to Freud, their superego and consequently their sense of morality is less fully realised. The implication of this is that women should be more prone to offending behaviour than men. Rates of imprisonment show that the opposite is more likely to be true as in the UK about 20 times more men are in prison than women. This suggests there is alpha bias at the heart of Freud’s theory and means it may not be appropriate as an explanation of offending behaviour.

Bowlby’s theory is only based on an association between maternal deprivation and offending. Lewis (1954) analysed data drawn from interviews with 500 young people and found that maternal deprivation was a poor predictor of future offending and the ability to form close relationships in adolescence. Even if there is a link between children who have experienced prolonged separation from their mothers and offending in later life, this is not necessarily a causal relationship. There are countless other reasons for this apparent link, for example poverty may be a factor. This suggests that maternal deprivation may be one of the reasons for later offending behaviour, but not the only reason.