Cards (6)

  • Claims
    • psychodynamic theory, Psychoanalysis Theory
    • 3 parts of the mind: conscious, preconscious, unconscious
    • unconscious mind controls behaviour
    • childhood trauma leaves a mark on the unconscious mind
    • to understand behaviour you need to examine early childhood experiences
  • Components
    • 3 parts of personality: Id (instincts), Ego (reality) and Superego (morality)
    • imbalance of the three parts results in criminality
    • criminals don't progress from the pleasure principle (id) to the reality principle (ego)
  • Credibility
    • foundation of psychoanalysis and psychiatric therapies
    • links can be made between the parts of the brain and their function
    • cognitive psychology has identified unconscious procedures
    • unrepresentative sample
    • deterministic
    • reductionist
  • Application
    • Patrick Mackay: serial killer who was a frequent victim of physical abuse as a child
  • Refuting Evidence
    • unrepresentative sample
    • androcentric study
    • subjective theory
    • Clarke and Clarke 1976: studied children from deprived backgrounds and found many contributing factors to criminality
  • Supporting Evidence
    • Bawlby 1946: studied 44 juvenile delinquents and found 39% had suffered complete separation from their mothers whereas only 5% of the control group suffered the same circumstances
    • Fischer and Greenburg 1996: concluded there is evidence to support Freud's personality theory