psychodynamic

• inadequate superego blackburn 1993:

  • weak superego: same sex parent absent in phallic stage unable to identify so unable to internalise superego fully
  • deviant superego: if superego internalises immoral values
  • over-harsh superego: healthy parent forgives transgressions, but harsh punishes leading to over-harsh superego increases anxiety. unconcious drive individual to commit criminal acts to satisfy superego need for punishment
• role of emotion:

  effect of inadequate superego allow primitive emotional demands in guiding moral behaviour. deals with emotional life of the individual in development of offending behaviour. lack of guilt linked to criminality
• theory of maternal deprivation:

  bowlby 1944 44 thieves study. 14/44 AP 12/14 MD. non criminals 2 MD. effects of MD caused AP and delinquent behaviour

  bowlby argyed ability to form meaningful relationships in adulthood depend on continious relationship mother. failure to establish that relationship lead to damage and irreversible consequences
• -bowlby theory based link to MD and offending. lewis 1954 analysed data drawn from interviews 500 young ppl and found that MD 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 frequent/ prolonged seperation from mother and offending in later life, not casual relationship. countless other reasons for link MD grow up poverty therefore criminality. suggests MD one reason but is others
• +link offending and superego. Gorieta 1991 conducted freudian style analysis 10 offender referred psychiatric treatment. found superego disturbances. each offender experienced unconcious feeling of guilt and need self-punishment explained result over-harsh superego, need for punishment manifesting itself desire to commit acts of wrongdoing and offend. supports role of psychic conflicts and oveer-harsh supeerego as cause of offending
• -gender bias. implicit assumption girls superego weaker than boy as identification not as strong as girls not experience strong emotion associated castration, under less pressure to identify according to freud superego less fully realised. implication women more prone to offending. rates of imprisonment so otherwise UK 20x more men than women. hoffman 1975 study boy and girl resist temptation found little difference . girl more moral. suggests alpha bias not appropriate