Psychological explanations: Psychodynamic explanations. Flashcards
Psychodynamic explanations - Freud.
All psychodynamic explanations originate from the work of Freud - although he did not address the issue of criminal behaviour himself, other researchers have attempted to apply some of his key concepts to offending.
- Both of these abide by the Freudian principle that the roots of criminal behaviour are formed in childhood.
Superego: morality principle
- The superego is formed at the end of the phallic stage of development when children resolve the Oedipus/Electra complex.
- This is important because if the same-sex parent is absent during this stage of development, it can implications on how the superego is formed.
- The superego works on the morality principle and exerts its influence by punishing the ego (reality principle) through guilt for wrongdoing, whilst rewarding it with pride for moral behaviour.
Blackburn (1993) - inadequate superego.
Argued if the superego is somehow deficient/inadequate then criminal behaviour is inevitable because the id is given ‘free reign’ and not properly controlled. Three types of inadequate superego have been proposed:
1. The weak superego
2. The deviant superego
3. The overharsh superego
1) Weak superego.
- If the same-sex parent is absent during the phallic stage, the child cannot internalise a fully-formed superego as there is no opportunity for identification.
- If it doesn’t help sufficiently, the ability to feel guilt and stop bad behaviour is impaired.
- This leaves the person dominated by their id. The id is the selfish part of the personality that acts on the pleasure principle which can lead to criminal activity.
2) Deviant superego.
If the superego that the child internalises has immoral/deviant values, this would lead to offending behaviour.
3) Over-harsh superego.
- A healthy superego has rules, but is also forgiving of transgressions.
- An excessively harsh superego means the individual is crippled with guilt and anxiety.
- The may (unconsciously) drive the individual to perform criminal acts in order to satisfy the superego’s overwhelming need to punishment.
- Crimes serves as a release from these overwhelming feelings of guilt.
- The relief comes when the person is punished - it makes them feel better.
Limitation of psychodynamic explanation - Gender bias.
P: A limitation of the psychodynamic explanation for crime is the assumption
that girls develop a weaker superego than boys.
E: This is because girls have not experienced castration anxiety so they are under less pressure to identify with their mothers (than boys are with their fathers), so their superego and sense of morality is less established.
C: This suggests that females should be more prone to criminal behaviour than males. But this is not supported by evidence of male-female ratios of
inmates in prison.
Limitation of psychodynamic explanation - Contradictory evidence.
P: A further limitation is that there is very little evidence that children raised without a same sex parent are less law-abiding as adults (or fail to develop a conscience). This contradicts Blackburn’s weak superego argument.
E: Similarly, if children who are raised by parents with pro-crime attitudes go on to commit crime themselves, this could be due to the influence of genetics or socialisation, rather than the formation of a deviant superego.
C: Therefore, the idea that criminal behaviour reflects an unconscious desire for punishment seems implausible, as most offenders go to great lengths to conceal their crimes which suggests they want to avoid punishment at all costs.
Bowlby (1944) - the material deprivation theory.
- Argued the ability to form meaningful relationships in adulthood was dependent upon the child forming a warm, continuous relationship with a mother-figure.
- Maternal bond = unique, superior to any other and vital to child’s development. Failure to establish such bond could lead to development of affectionless psychopathy - characterised by lack of guilt, empathy and feeling for others.
- Such maternally deprived individuals are likely to engage in acts of delinquency and cannot develop close relationships with others, as they lack necessary early experiences to do so.
Feminist critic of Bowlby - Germaine Greer.
She suggested that it is not just the woman’s responsibility to look after a child but the whole community - and that maternal deprivation does not inevitably lead to criminal behaviour.
Bowlby’s 44 thieves - Procedure.
- 44 thieves were compared with 44 non-thieves from a delinquency centre.
- Bowlby collected data via interviews and questionnaires from the 88 juveniles and their families.
Bowlby’s 44 thieves - Findings.
- 14/44 of the thieves were classed as affectionless psychopaths due to their personality and behavioural characteristics.
- Of this 14, 12 had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers during infancy, in particular the first 2 years of their lives (maternal deprivation).
- In the non-criminal group, only two had experiences similar early separation.
Bowlby’s 44 thieves - Conclusion.
Bowlby concluded that the effects of maternal deprivation had caused affectionless and delinquent among the juvenile thieves.
Limitation of Bowlby’s 44 thieves - methodological issues.
P: A limitation of Bowlby’s 44 thieves is that it has been heavily criticised.
E: He has been accused of researcher bias as his preconceptions of what he expected to find may have influenced the responses of his interviewees. Bowlby also failed to draw a distinction between deprivation and privation within his research.
C: Many of the thieves he studied had experienced privation, which many
commentators consider to be more damaging than deprivation.
Limitation of maternal deprivation - correlation, not causation.
P: A final limitation is that maternal deprivation was a poor predictor of future offending and the ability to form close relationships in adolescence.
E: Even if there is a link between children who have experienced frequent or
prolonged separation from their mothers and committing crime in later life,
this does not necessarily indicate a causal link between deprivation and delinquency.
C: This means that maternal deprivation may only be one factor that influences delinquent behaviour among many others (third variable).
