PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPLANTIONS : PSYCHODYNAMIC

Question 1

WHEN IS THE SUPER EGO FORMED

Answer 1

AT THE END OF THE PHALLIC STAGE WHEN KIDS RESOLVE THE ELECTRA/OEDIPUS COMPLEX

Question 2

what prinicple does the super ego work on

Answer 2

morlaity prinicple

Question 3

how does the supergo exert its infleunce

Answer 3

by punishing the ego through guilt for wrong doing

whilst rewarding it with pride for good moral behaviour

Question 4

what did blackburn argue about the superego

Answer 4

if its somehow deficient or inadequate then offending behaviour is inevitable

Question 5

why did blackburn argue if the superego is somehwat deficient then offending behaviour is inevitable

Answer 5

the id is gove free rein and not properly controlled

Question 6

stsate the three types of inadequate superego

Answer 6

the weak superego

the deviant superego

the overharsh superego

Question 7

explain he weak superego

Answer 7

if same gender parent is absent during phallic stage

then child cannot internalise a fully formed supergo

as there is no opportunity for identifaction

this would make offending or immoral behaviour omre likely

Question 8

explain the deviant superego

Answer 8

if superego the child internalises has immoral or deviant values

this woudl elad to ofending behaviour

Question 9

give example of deviant superego

Answer 9

a biy whis raised by criminal father isnt likely to associate guilt with wrong doing

Question 10

explain the overharsh superego

Answer 10

overly harsh parenting style leads to a child with an overharsh supergo

who is crippled by guilt and anxiety

this may (unconscioulsy) drive th eindiidual to perform criminal acts in orer to satisy the superegos overwhelming need for punihemnt

Question 11

what is a helathy superego based on

Answer 11

identification with a parent who has firm rules but forgives transgressions

Question 12

ROLE OF EMOTION - what is the effect of an inadequate superego

Answer 12

allows primitive, emotional demands to become uppermost in guiding moral behaviour

Question 13

ROLE OF EMOTION - how is psychodynamic approach differnt to otehr explanations of crime

Answer 13

deals with the emotional life of the individual

e.g it acknowledges the role of anxiety and guilt in the development of offending behaviour

Question 14

ROLE OF EMOTION - in the pychoduanmic approach what is relevant to understanding offending behaviour

Answer 14

lack of guilt

Question 15

outline thoery of amternal deprivatio

Answer 15

by bowlbby

argued ability to form meaningful relatinoships in adulthood was dependent upon a child forming a warm continous relationship with a mother figure

failure to estbalish such a relationship during the first few years of life means child is likely to xp some damaging irreverible consequence later in life

e.g affectionless psychopahty

Question 16

what is affectionless psychopathyc hactersied by

Answer 16

lack of guilt

empathy

feelings for otehrs

Question 17

afectionless psychopathy / maternally deprived individuals are liekly to do what in relation to crime

Answer 17

enagge in acts of delinquency

cannot develop close relatinoships with others

Question 18

explain 44 juevenile thieves in relationship to offending

Answer 18

foudn through interviews with theives and famo

14 of sample showed affectionless psychopathy chactersitics and behaviours

12/14 experienced prolonged seperation from mum during infnacy(ptclry first 2 years of lives)

in a non offender group only xp early seperation

bowlby concluded effects of amternal deprivation caused affectionles and deliquent behaviour among juvenile thieves

Question 19

gender bias limitaiton

6 parts

Answer 19

One limitation of Freudian theory is that it is gender-biased

An implicit assumption is that girls develop a weaker superego than boys because identification with the same-sex parent is not as strong.

This is because girls do not experience the intense emotion associated with castration anxiety and therefore, are under less pressure to identify with their mothers (than boys are with their fathers).

According to Freud, their superego (and consequently their sense of morality) is less fully realised. The implication of this is that females should be more prone to offending behaviour than males.

However, the rates of imprisonment show that the opposite is more likely to be true (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.

Question 20

lack of flasifiablity

Answer 20

One limitation of the psychodynamic explanation in general is that it suffers from a lack of falsifiability.

The many unconscious concepts with Freud’s theory means that application to crime are not open to empirical testing.

In the absence of supporting evidence, arguments such as the inadequate superego can only be judged on their face value rather than their scientific worth.

For this reason, psychodynamic explanations are regarded as pseudoscientific and may contribute little to our understanding of crime, or how to prevent it.

Therefore, this is a limitation as the psychodynamic explanation lacks scientific support.

Question 21

strength research supprot for offenidng and superego

Answer 21

One strength of the psychodynamic approach is research support for the link between offending and the superego.

Goreta (1991) conducted a Freudian style analysis of 10 offenders.

in all those assessed Disturbances in the superego formation were diagnosed.

Each offender experienced unconscious feelings of guilt and the need for self punishment.

goreta expalined this as a Consequence of an over-harsh superego - the need for punishment manifests its self as a desire to commit acts of wrongdoing.

This seems to support the role of psychic conflicts and an over harsh superego as a basis for offending