AO1

• What does the Superego do in terms of morality?

  It operates on the morality principle, furnishing the Ego with guilt for wrongdoing and rewarding it with pride for good moral behaviour
• What happens if the Superego is inadequate?

  The Id is given free rein, leading to offending behaviour due to lack of control
• Who proposed the types of inadequate Superego?

  Blackburn
• What are the 3 types of inadequate Superego?

  1. Weak (underdeveloped) Superego
  2. Deviant Superego
  3. Over-harsh (overdeveloped) Superego
• When does the weak superego occur?

  If the same gender parent is absent, preventing identification
• When does the deviant superego occur?

  If immoral/deviant values are internalised, leading to offending behaviour
• What is the over-harsh superego caused by?

  Excessively punitive parenting, leading to guilt, anxiety and criminal acts to satisfy the need for punishment
• Why does a weak Superego lead to offending behaviour?

  The child cannot internalise a fully-formed Superego due to a lack of identification with the same-gender parent
• How does an over-harsh Superego cause crime?

  The individual is driven by guilt and anxiety to commit crimes as a form of self-punishment
• The effect of an inadequate Superego is to allow primitive, emotional demands to become uppermost in guiding moral behaviour
• How is the psychodynamic approach different from other explanations of crime?

  It deals with the emotional life of the individual. For example, it acknowledges the role of anxiety and guilt in the development of offending behaviour. This also means that lack of guilt is relevant to understanding offending behaviour
• What was the aim of Bowlby’s 44 juvenile thieves study?

  To investigate the link between maternal deprivation and juvenile delinquency
• How many juvenile thieves showed affectionless psychopathy?

  14 out of 44
• How many of the affectionless psychopaths had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers?

  12 out of 14
• What did Bowlby conclude about maternal deprivation?

  It causes delinquent behaviour due to lack of affection and guilt
• The overharsh superego internalises the superego of a very strict same-sex parent meaning they develop an excessively harsh superego. The individual is crippled by guilt and anxiety most of the time because any time the person acts on their id impulses, they would feel bad. This may (unconsciously) drive the individual to offend with a wish to be caught in order to satisfy the superego’s overwhelming need for punishment and reduce their feelings of guilt.
• Examples of defence mechanisms linked to criminality :

  • Displacement (a strong emotion is shifted from the original source to another)
  • Sublimation (a strong id impulse is expressed in a socially acceptable way )
  • Rationalisation (explaining behaviour is a more acceptable way when it‘s still negative