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• Psychodynamic explanations originate from the work of Sigmund Freud. Although Freud himself did not address the issue of offending behaviour, other psychologists have attempted to apply some of his key theories to this behaviour.
• Psychodynamic explanations describe innate instincts and unconscious drives that influence the mind and impact on behaviour.
• Freud describes the unconscious mind as a controlling force on all human behaviour. This idea suggested behaviour was driven by an instinctual energy that has come to be known as the ‘libido’.
• According to Freud the libido controls behaviour at an unconscious level. This is evident in his theory of psychosexual development.
• Freud’s theory of psychosexual development is made up of 5 key stages that determine a child's development. These stages are the oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital stage.
• Freud believed that fixation during the psychosexual stages of development, leads to characteristic behaviours in adulthood.
• During the phallic stage children experience either the Oedipus (boys) or Electra (girls) complex. They resolve this by identifying with the same-sex parent and internalise their behaviours. This might explain why children imitate their parents behaviours.
• Freud developed a tripartite theory of personality which included the Id, Ego and Superego.
• The Id instinct is known as the pleasure principle and seeks to satisfy the libido with immediate gratification. This stage occurs between the ages of 0-2 years.
• The Ego is the mediator who tries to balance the demands of the Id instinct and the Superego. This is known as the reality principle and occurs between the ages of 3-4 years.
• The Ego engages in secondary process thinking, which is rational, realistic, and orientated towards problem-solving.
• If the Ego fails in its attempt to use the reality principle, and anxiety is experienced, unconscious defence mechanisms are employed, to help ward off unpleasant feelings such as anxiety.
• The Superego is known as the morality principle and has the function of persuading the Ego to turn to moralistic goals rather than simple, realistic ones and to strive for perfection.
• The Superego which works on the morality principle exerts its influence by punishing the Ego through guilt or wrongdoing, whilst rewarding it with pride for good moral behaviour.
• According to Freud unconscious aspects of the Superego include the standards that we try to live up to (our ego-ideal), which lead to the experience of guilt or ‘conscience’ when we fail.
• One psychologist that uses Freud’s psychodynamic explanations is Blackburn (1993). He argued that if the Superego is inadequate then offending behaviour is inevitable.
• Weak superego - absense of same sex parent during phallic stage, therefore the child grows up to have no firm idea of right and wrong, superego is not sufficiently punitive resulting in no guilt being caused therefore no inhibition
• Deviant superego - same sex parent with whom the child identifies with in the phallic stage is an immoral person, therefore the child internalises a moral code that is deviant, with what most people would consider to be immoral values and standards
• Harsh superego - child's superego is demanding of guilt leading the child to seek out opportnities to be chastised and punished to satisfy this need, therefore they will engage in compulsive criminal behaviour because they have an unconscious desire to be punished
• According to Freud (1936) thoughts and desires that cause anxiety or guilt are managed by the Ego. Offending behaviour results from Ego defences which are employed to manage these negative feelings.
• Defence mechanisms such as denial, displacement and sublimation are unconscious processes which protect the ego from harm. These mechanisms may be employed by offenders to reduce their feelings of guilt.
• Sublimation is a defence mechanism where a strong, socially unacceptable desire is expressed in an alternative form of behaviour. For example a desire to kill a sibling, may be sublimated to animal cruelty.
• Another psychologist following on from Freud's work is Bowlby (1952) and his idea of maternal deprivation. He argued that a break in the maternal bond during childhood increases the likelihood of delinquent behaviour.
• Bowlby's work on attachment explains how the theory of maternal deprivation can affect a child's development later in life.
• Bowlby suggests being deprived of a continuous and loving relationship with the mother in the first 2y of a child's life results in irreversible consequences including delinquency and affectionless psychopathy
• Bowlby proposed that disruption of the attachment relationship with the mother in early childhood affects a child's internal working model. This framework forms the foundation for expectations and behaviours in future relationships.
• Bowlby (1944) interviewed 44 boys and their families and found that the delinquents displayed particular personality traits such as affectionless psychopathy, which is characterised by a lack of guilt, empathy and feeling for others.
• 14/44 of the thieves were affectionless psychopaths
• 12/14 affectionless psychopaths had experienced prolonged separation of more than 6 months from their mothers in their first two years of life suggesting affectionless psychopathy may have led to criminal behaviour and may be linked to the periods of separation that thieves experienced in early life