Psychodynamic explantions

• the superego is formed at the phallic stage of development when children resolve the Oedipus complex.
• The super ego works on the morlaity principle and exerts influence buy punishing the ego through guilt and wrongdoing, while rewarding it with pride for moral behaviour
• Blackburn argued that if the superego is inadequate criminal behaviour is inevitable because it gives the id ' free rein'
• three types of inadequate superego:

  • the week superego
  • the deviant superego
  • the over-harsh superego
• the weak superego

  If the same-sex parent is absent during the phallic stage.

  • child cannot internalise a fully formed superego as there is no opportunity for identification
  • making immoral or criminal behaviour more likely
• the deviant superego

  if the superego that the child internaileses has immoral or deviant values.

  • a boy raised with a criminal father is not likely to associate guilt with wrong doing
• the over-harsh superego

  an excessively punitive or overly harsh superego means that the individual is crippled by guilt and anxiety.

  • this may unconciously drive the individual to perform criminal acts to satisfy the superego's need for punishment
• the maternal deprivation theory: explanation for crime

  Bowbly

  • argued that the ability to form meaningful relationships in adulthood was dependent upon the child forming worm continuous relationships with a mother figure
  • failure to establish this bond leads to damaging and irreversible consequences
  • these individuals engage in acts of delinquency and can not develop close relationships
• an effect of maternal deprivation

  affectionless psychopathy personality type

  • characterised by a lack of guilt and empathy towards other
• the maternal deprivation study

  Bowbly's 44 juvenile thieves

  • interviewed the thieves and the families
  • 14 of the sample had shown personality and behavioural characteristics of the 'affectionless psychopathy'
  • with the majority of the 14 experiencing prolonged separation from their mothers during infancy
• weakness of the psychodynamic explanation for crime: Gender bias

  the Freudian theory assumes that girls develop a weaker super ego than boys due to not experiencing castration anxiety

  • girls are under less pressure to identify with their mothers so their superego isn't fully realised
  • suggesting that females are more prone to criminal behaviour

  this doesn't have any supporting evidence

  • in studies where children had to resist temptation hardly any evidence of gender differences were found
  • at some point the girls tended to be more moral than the boys
• Weakness of the psychodynamic explanation for crime: contradictory evidence

  very little evidence that children raised without a same-sex parent are less law-abiding.

  • if children who are raised with parents who have pro-crime attitudes are influenced to go commit crimes themselves rather than not developing a deviant superego
  • the idea that criminal behaviour reflects an unconscious desire for punishment seems implausible - most offenders go to great lengths to conceal their crimes
• weakness of the psychodynamic explanation for crime: unconscious concept

  psychodynamic explanations lack falsifiability

  • many unconscious concepts mean that they are not open to empirical testing
  • arguments such as the inadequate superego can only be judged on face value rather than scientific worth
  • Therefore psychodynamic explanations are regarded as pseudoscientific and contribute little understanding of crime
• Weakness of Bowlby's research in the psychodynamic explanation of crime: methodological issues

  Blowbly's 44 thieves studies has been heavily criticised

  • accused of researcher bias as his preconception may have influenced the responses of his interviews
  • failed to draw a distinction between deprivation and privation within his research
  • many of the thieves had experienced privation which many consider to be more damaging than deprivation