Psychodynamic Explanations

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Psychodynamic Explanations

` * Freud never attempted to explain offending behaviour, but the following aspects of the psychodynamic theory can be used: * Inadequate superego * Freud argued that the personality has three components: * The id – demanding, self-gratifying instinct * The superego – conscience or internal parent who develops through identification with same-sex parent in the phallic stage as part of the resolution of the Oedipus/Electra complex * The ego – moderates the demands of the id and the harsh strictures of the superego, and responds to the demands and expectations of external society * Freudian theory would say that offending behaviour is caused by an imbalance between the three components of the personality, mainly because the id is not properly controlled * Blackburn argued that three types of superego may result in offending behaviour: * The weak superego – absence of same-sex parent at phallic stage. This means the child has no opportunity to identify with the parent and learn their moral code. The superego does not cause guild, so the individual has no inhibitions about what is right and wrong * The deviant superego – the same-sex parent is immoral. The child internalises a moral code that is deviant. Their views of what is right and wrong are different from those of society * The over-harsh superego – the child’s superego causes too much guilt, leading them to seek out opportunities for which they will be punished. They commit criminal offences because of an unconscious desire to be punished * Superego-based explanations rely on Freud’s psychodynamic theory of psychosexual development * According to Freud, boys identify with their fathers more than girls relate with their mothers because of their fear of castration * Therefore, according to Freud, girls are less morally developed because they didn’t internalise a moral code as much as boys * Defence mechanisms * Unconscious processes designed to defend the unconscious self from unpleasant events and truths * Some defence mechanisms work by keeping emotions hidden (denial * Others allow the individual to release pent-up emotions (cathartic) * Defence mechanisms can be used to explain offending behaviour in a number of ways: * Denial – refusing to acknowledge that an unpleasant event is happening consciously, because of the
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