Psychodynamic Explanation

    Cards (15)

    • Psychodynamic explanations
      Explanations of offending behaviour based on Freudian psychoanalytic theory
    • Main psychodynamic explanations of offending behaviour
      • Inadequate superego
      • Maternal deprivation
    • Superego
      Part of the personality that operates according to the morality principle and represents our internalised sense of right and wrong
    • Inadequate superego
      • The superego is weak, harsh, or deviant
    • Development of the superego
      1. Formed at the end of the phallic stage when the child identifies with the same-sex parent
      2. Child adopts the same-sex parent's sense of right and wrong
    • Weak superego
      Occurs when the same-sex parent is absent during the phallic stage, so the child does not have the opportunity to identify with them
    • Harsh superego
      Occurs when the same-sex parent is very strict, and the child identifies with them strongly, leading to crippling guilt and anxiety
    • Deviant superego
      Occurs when the child identifies with a criminal same-sex parent, adopting their deviant moral attitudes
    • Maternal deprivation
      Loss of emotional care normally provided by a mother figure
    • Maternal deprivation
      • Prolonged separation from the mother figure in infancy or childhood can cause serious and long-term psychological damage
      • This only occurs if it happens before age 2.5 and there is no substitute mother figure
    • Affectionless psychopathy
      Lack of affection, guilt and empathy, leading to increased likelihood of offending behaviour
    • Bowlby's study of 44 juvenile thieves found that 12 out of 14 affectionless psychopaths had experienced prolonged separations from their mothers during the first 2 years of their lives
    • Bowlby's study has been criticised for potential researcher bias
    • Lewis (1954) found that maternal deprivation was a poor predictor of future offending behaviour
    • The link between maternal deprivation and offending behaviour may not be causal, as other factors like genetics could explain the link
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