Psychological Explanations: Psychodynamic

Question 1

what is a weak superego and how is it formed

Answer 1

• absence of same sex parent in phallic stage
• child cannot internalise a superego and has no opportunity for identification

Question 2

how is a deviant superego formed and what is it

Answer 2

• same sex parent is present but has immoral/criminal attitudes
• child has a superego that is immoral also

Question 3

how is a over harsh super ego formed and what is it

Answer 3

• very strong identification with a strict parent
• leads to excessive guilt and anxiety

Question 4

how would a psychologist explain the following individuals behaviour:
1. Jake was raised by very neglectful parents who set no rules and rarely corrected bad behaviour. As an adult, Jake has little guilt about lying, stealing, or hurting others if it benefits him.
2. Ava grew up with a father who was a career criminal. She admired him and internalised his values as her moral standard. Now, she engages in fraud and justifies it by saying, “It’s how I was raised — nothing wrong with it.”
3. Maya was brought up in a strict, punitive household. She constantly feels guilty and believes she must be punished. She sometimes commits petty crimes, then turns herself in, saying she deserves it.

Answer 4

1. jake has a weak supergo and lacks internalised morals
2. ava has a deviant superego where she has internalised immoral values
3. maya has an over harsh superego driven by guilt and need for punishment

Question 5

the psychodynamic explanation suggests….

Answer 5

an inadequate superego leads to offending behaviour

Question 6

how can defresne machnisms lead to offending behaviour

Answer 6

• offender justifies their actions
• eg, denial where a person doesnt believe what they have done is wrong

Question 7

strength

evaluate the psychodynamic explanation

Answer 7

• P - supporting evidence
• Eg - gorota analysed ten offenders and found disturbances in their superego in all 10
• Ex - this reinforces the fact that an inadequte superego can lead to offending hehaviour which is what the explanation proposes
• L - this increases the validity of the explanation
  H - study uses only a small sample so maybe has limited generalisability

Question 8

limitation

evaluate the psychodynamic explanation

Answer 8

• P - contradictory evidence
• Eg - evidence suggests parents who are harsh tend to raise children who are rebellious and rearely express feelings of guilt
• Ex - this goes against the idea that harsh parents leads to an over harsh superego and ecessive guilt
• L - wekanes the explanation as is lacks consistent support
• H - it still draws attemntion to the importance of early childhood experience