Psychodynamic theories of offending behaviour

define Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory

continuous emotional care from a primary attachment figure, usually the mother, is essential for a child's psychological development

the absence of this care can lead to emotional and behavioural issues in later life

Bowlby’s 44 thieves study

to investigate the long-term effects of maternal deprivation on children's emotional and social development

selected 44 children who had been referred to a child guidance clinic for stealing and 44 children who had been referred to a child guidance clinic for emotional problems but had not yet committed any offenses. pps were matched on similar IQs and age, parents were interviewed about the child’s early life

14/44 from the thief group were identified as affectionless psychopaths and 12 of these had experienced prolonged separation for more than 6 months before 2 years old.

2/44 from the control group had experienced prolonged separations but 0/44 were classified as affectionless psychopaths

concluded that maternal deprivation in the child’s early life caused permanent emotional damage and increased likelihood of criminal behaviour in later life

list 4 problems with Bowlby’s research

interview data

retrospective data

researcher bias

correlational data

how does affectionless psychopathy make someone more likely to offend

disruption of attachment before the age of 2 years can lead to impaired ability to relate to others

define affectionless psychopathy

a lack pf normal affection, shame, or sense of responsibility

‘delinquent‘ behaviour

one strength of Bowlby’s research is it has real world applications

Bowlby showed that emotional separation would have negative effects on a child’s development

therefore it may be possible to prevent the negative effects by providing a child with substitute emotional care in the event that their attachment with their caregiver disrupted

define superego

morality principal

causes anxiety when desires of the Id are considered an d guilt when these are carried out

develops during phallic stage

weak superego

develops when child does not identify with their same-sex parent

little control over the Id’s impulses allowing gratification of the Id regardless of social constraints

deviant superego

develops when child identifies with the same-sex parent who is immoral criminal

guilt is not felt in response to criminal behaviour

harsh superego

develops when child identifies with a very strict parent

person feels anxious most of the time since acting on their Id’s desires would elicit punishment from their superego

results in person committing crimes to get caught and be punished to try alleviate the guilt

one strength of psychodynamic theories is they recognise the importance of emotional factors

Freud’s notion of the weak, deviant, and harsh superegos recognise how anxiety and rejection cam contribute to offending behaviour

a key criticism of other theories (e.g. cog) is that emotions are overlooked. the psychodynamic theory also incorporates bio factors

therefore, less reductionist than other approaches

one limitation of psychodynamic theories is they are genderbiased

Freud stated that women develop a weaker superego than men because they do not identify with the same sex parent as strongly