Psychodynamic explanation

• Outline the psychodynamic explanation for offending behaviour.

  Weak superego: If a child’s same-sex parent is absent during the phallic stage, the child will not have the opportunity to identify with them and internalise their morals.

  This results in a weak superego that has less control over the impulsive, peasure-seeking id, leading to impulsive reward-based crimes such as theft.
• Outline the psychodynamic explanation for offending behaviour.

  Deviant superego: If a child’s same-sex parent whom they identify with and internalise their morals from has deviant (pro-crime) values, it can lead the child to develop a deviant superego.

  This means that the superego is unlikely to punish the individual for offending behaviour (through making them feel guilty), making them more likely to engage in it.
• Outline the psychodynamic explanation for offending behaviour.

  Over-harsh superego: If a child internalises an overly-harsh superego from their same-sex parent during the phallic stage, they will have an unconscious drive to feel guilty.

  This may unconsciously drive them to engage in crime to satisfy the superego’s overwhelming need for punishment/to feel guilty.
• Evaluate the psychodynamic explanation for offending behaviour: opposing evidence. 


  E.g. not all children raised by a single parent of the opposite sex go on to offend. This is a limitation because, according to the theory, they should have developed a weak superego that makes them more likely to commit crime.
• Evaluate the psychodynamic explanation for offending behaviour: opposing evidence. 


  E.g. Freud proposed that girls develop weaker superegos than boys because they do not experience castration anxiety and, as a result, are under less pressure to identify with their mothers and internalise their morals. This means that females should be more prone to criminal behaviour than males. This is a limitation because this means that females should be more prone to criminal behaviour than males. However, this is not supported by offending statistics and the male-female ratio of inmates in prison.
• Evaluate the psychodynamic explanation for offending behaviour: alternative theories.


  This is because, if children who are raised by deviant parents go on to commit crime themselves, it could be due to the influence of criminal genes being passed on rather than them internalising a deviant superego. This is a limitation because it means the psychodynamic explanation cannot establish cause and effect.
• Evaluate the psychodynamic explanation for offending behaviour: unscientific. 


  This is because the superego is an unconscious concept so it cannot be directly tested. This is a limitation as it makes the theory unfalsifiable i.e. cannot gather evidence to prove it false.