P - research support for the link to the superego
E - Goreta (1991) conducted a Freudian-style analysis of ten offenders referred for psychiatric treatment. In all those assessed, disturbances in superego formation were diagnosed
E - each offender experienced the need for punishment manifesting itself as a desire to commit acts of wrongdoing and offend
L - this evidence seems to support the role of psychic conflicts and an over-harsh superego as a basis for offending
- if this theory were correct we would expect harsh, punitive parents to raise children who often experience guilt. Evidence suggests that the opposite is true, such children rarely express guilt (Kochanska et al. 2001)
- this calls into question the relationship between a strong, punitive internal parent and excessive feelings of guilt within the child