strengths and weaknesses of psychodynamic theories

What is a strength of freuds study?

Highlights the importance of early socialisation and family relationships. This is because Freud suggests that through stable socialisation this will lead to a superego

Weakness of Freud

There is no evidence that the unconscious mind exists and it is difficult to scientifically prove its existence. This means it may be lacking in validity

Strength of Freud

The theories have had some impact on policies in relation to dealing with crimes. For example the therapy of psychoanalysis. This is useful because there is also a practical solution in dealing with crimes using the theory than just understanding why people commit crimes

Weakness of Freud

Argued to be deterministic. This is because poor socialisation doesn’t always lead to criminal behaviour. People may choose not to commit crimes for various reasons such as they know it’s morally wrong

Strength of bowlby

The explanation is supported by his own research. The 44 thieves study shows that criminals were more likely to have affectionless phsycothapy compared to the non criminals. This suggests validity

Weakness of bowlby

There may be other reasons for criminal behaviour as only 39% had a broken maternal relationship which may explain their criminal behaviour but this doesn’t explain the other 61%.