Psychodynamic theories

Question 1

Freud

Answer 1

• Subconscious mind is made up of three parts.
• The id is the pleasure principle.
• The ego is the mediator.
• The superego is the conscience.
• An undeveloped superego can lead to criminality.
• A weakly developed superego can result in not feeling guilty after anti-social actions.
• A harsh superego can result in cravings for punishment.
• A deviant superego can result in thinking criminal behaviour is normal (being raised in a criminal setting) which can then cause less guilt when contemplating deviant acts.
• Early socialisation and the link to crime (strength)
• Critics doubt the existence of an unconscious mind (limitation).

Question 2

Bowlby

Answer 2

• Maternal deprivation.
• Not having a maternal figure from birth until age 5 can lead to criminality.
• Unable to form meaningful emotional relationships, affection-less psychopathy.
• 44 juvenile thieves, 39% suffered from maternal deprivation.
• Shows the need to take parent-child relationships into consideration (strength)
• Recalling past events might be difficult (limitation).

Question 3

Eyesenck

Answer 3

• Criminality is caused by a certain personality type.
• Created a personality quiz predicting how criminal an individual may be.
• High E, P and N scores can lead to criminality.
• E = extraversion. P = psychoticism. N = neurotic.
• Measurable tendencies can predict the risk of someone offending (strength).
• Self report questionnaires are not always reliable, people may lie (limitation).