8) Psychodynamic Explanations for Crime

Name two psychodynamic explanations for crime?

• Ronald Blackburn’s idea of the inadequate superego

• John Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory

Both of these explanations stick to the freudian principle that the roots of behaviour are formed in childhood.

Describe the inadequate superego?

The superego is one of three parts of the tripartite personality and is formed at the end of the phallic stage.

• Morality principle.

• Exert influence by punishing the ego through guilt and rewarded with pride.

BLACKBURN:
These three types of superego explain offending behaviour:

• Weak superego

• Deviant superego

• Over-harsh superego

Describe the weak superego as part of the inadequate superego?

Features:

Absence of the same sex parent.

No opportunity for identification

The child cannot identify.

• Thus, they develop a weak superego which has weak morals, and so they experience less guilt upon offending.

• So, the reward gained from the id after offending outweighs the guilt from the weak superego.

Thus, criminality is more likely.

Describe the deviant superego as part of the inadequate superego?

The superego that the child internalises has deviant or immoral values.

This is due to being raised by a same sex parent that encourages criminality.

• Thus, their superego is deviant, and involves offending and so, they would feel pride after offending rather than guilt from the superego, as well as pleasure from the id.

  • E.G: A boy that is raised by a criminal father is likely not to associate guilt with wrongdoing.

Thus, the risk of crime increases.

Describe the over-harsh superego as part of the inadequate superego?

The superego is based on identification with an authoritative figure.

• They are strict and firm but forgiving.

An excessively punitive or harsh parenting style leads to an over-harsh superego which is used to punishment.

• The individual is thus crippled by guilt.

• It needs to be punished therefore, to be satisfied.

This could unconsciously drive the individual to commit crimes to satisfy the punitive superego’s excessive need for punishment.

Describe the role of emotion in psychodynamic explanations for crime?

A key feature in the psychodynamic approach to crime is that it deals with the emotional life of individuals.

• Inadequate superego results in a primitive system to take control and guide our behaviour where we give in to our emotions.

• It also acknowledges the role of guilt and anxiety.

It emphasises that the driving force for crime is our emotions.

Describe Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory?

Bowlby argued that the ability to form meaningful relationships in adulthood was dependent upon the child forming a warm, continuous relationship with a mother figure.

• The bond is unique, superior and vital to the Childs wellbeing and development.

• Failure to establish a bond means the child would experience a number of damaging and irreversible consequences.

  • Affectionless psychopathology

  • Lack of guilt, empathy and feeling for others.

  • Acts of delinquency and a lack of ability to develop close relationships with others.

• 44 thieves study

(DONT NEED TO USE THIS AS IT CAN BE CONFUSING!!!!)

Evaluate a piece of research support into Freud’s psychodynamic explanation for crime?

STRENGTH: RESEARCH SUPPORT

GORETA:
Conducted a Freudian style analysis of 10 offenders.

• She found disturbances in the superego formation.

• Each offender experienced unconscious feelings of guilt and the need for self punishment.

  • These are both consequences of an over-harsh superego - the need for punishment manifests itself as a desire to commit crimes.

This seems to support the role of psychic conflicts and an over-harsh superego as a basis for offending.

LIMITATION: COUNTERPOINT

If this theory were correct, we would expect harsh punitive parents to raise children who constantly experience feelings of guilt and anxiety.

KOCHANSKA ET AL:
Found evidence, however, to suggest that the opposite is true.

• Harsh forms of discipline tended to result in children who are rebellious and rarely expressed feelings of guilt or self-criticism.

Evaluate two further limitations of Freud’s psychodynamic explanation for crime?

LIMITATION: GENDER BIAS

An assumption within the theory is that girls develop a weaker superego than boys.

• Girls do not experience the intense emotion associated with castration anxiety - thus identification seen as less strong.

• This results in less pressure to identify with their mothers.

  • Arguably, this should mean that females should be more prone to offending than males.

However, prison rates do not support this - around 20x more men in prison than women in the UK.

HOFFMAN:

• Also found that females are slightly more able to resist temptation and more moral than men.

This suggests there is alpha bias at the heart of psychodynamic theory.

Therefore, it may not be appropriate as an explanation for offending behaviour.

LIMITATION: SOCIALLY SENSITIVE

If we assume that single mother households with boys will be more likely to become criminals this could be socially sensitive!!!

Evaluate one limitation of Bowlby’s maternal deprivation explanation for offending?

It is only based on an association between maternal deprivation and offending.

LEWIS:

Analysed data drawn from interviews from 500 young people and found that maternal deprivation was a poor predictor of future offending, and the ability to form close relationships in adolescence.

• Even if there is a link between the two, it is not a causal link.

• There are many other reasons for this apparent link.

  • E.G: Maternal deprivation may be due to growing up in poverty which could explain later offending.

This suggests that maternal deprivation may be one of the reasons for later offending behaviour, but not the only reason.