Individualistic Theories
Psychoanalysis
- According to Freud, our early childhood experiences determine our personality and
future behaviour
- Early experiences determine whether we will go on to act in anti-social ways
- If you have a fixation at the oral stage you are more likely to smoke or bite pens as
an adult
The Id:
- The ‘pleasure principle’
- Present from birth 0-2 years old
- Lots of emotional impulses and desires with a demand for immediate gratification-
pleasure seeking needs (sex, food, sleep)
- Located in the unconscious ‘animal’ part of the mind
- If we acted on the urges they would lead to antisocial and criminal behaviour
The superego:
- Contains our conscience or moral rules
- Learn through interaction with our parents during early socialisation in the family
- For example: punishment for trying to satisfy urges without regard for others
- Through socialisation, the child internalises its parents ideas of right and wrong and
superego develops as an internal ‘nagging parent’
- If we act on our Id it punishes us with feelings of guilt and anxiety
The ego:
- Develops at the age of 2
- Manages desires of the id
- Governs and controls your personality
- Controls your id’s desires
- Predicts your mental health and logic
What causes anti-social behaviour?
- Psychoanalytic theories see anti-social behaviour to be caused by an abnormal
relationship with parents during socialisation, for example due to neglect or strict
parenting
- Results in a weak, over harsh or deviant superego- link to criminality.
A weakly developed superego- individual will feel less guilt about anti-social actions and
less inhibition about acting on the Id’s selfish or aggressive urges.
A too harsh and unforgiving superego- creates a deep seated guilt feeling in an
individual, who then craves punishment as a release from those feelings, the person may
engage in compulsive repeat offending in order to be punished
A deviant superego- child is successfully socialised, but into a deviant moral code, a son
may have a perfectly good relationship with his criminal father and so he internalises his
fathers criminal values,the sons superego would not inflict feeling of guilt on him for
contemplating criminal acts.
, Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory
- He argued that there is a link between maternal deprivation and deviant or anti-social
behaviour
- Child requires a close, continuous relationship with primary caregiver (mother) from
birth to 5 years old to develop normally
- If a child does not form the correct attachment at an early stage such as the mother
and child attachment being broken through separation, even if its for a short period of
time this may then lead to the child being unable to form meaningful relationships
- This is called ‘affectionless psychopathy’ which is a sense of no shame or guilt
- In some cases this leads to criminal behaviour
Evidence:
- 88 children (5-16 years old) were referred to a child guidance clinic
- 44 thieves and other 44 were non criminals, he interviewed children and families
about early life experiences
- He found that 39% of thieves had suffered maternal deprivation before the age of 5
- There was a link between early separations and later social and emotional
adjustment
- Severe maternal deprivation leads to affectionless psychopathy
3.2 Evaluate the effectiveness of criminological theories
Psychodynamic theories: Freud
- Freud's psychodynamic theory explains criminal behaviour in term of faulty early
socialisation preventing the individual resolving unconscious conflicts between Id and
superego
Strengths:
- Psychoanalytic explanations have some influence on policies for dealing with crime
and deviance, psychoanalysis brings unconscious to conscious through dream
analysis
- Points to the importance of early socialisation and family relationships in
understanding criminal behaviour, psychoanalysis is a therapy developed from this
theory
Limitations:
- Critics doubt the existence of an ‘unconscious mind’ ; how can we know about it?
- Psychoanalytic explanations are unscientific and subjective rely on accepting the
psychoanalysis claims that they can see into the workings of individuals unconscious
mind to discover their inner conflicts and motivations
Psychoanalysis
- According to Freud, our early childhood experiences determine our personality and
future behaviour
- Early experiences determine whether we will go on to act in anti-social ways
- If you have a fixation at the oral stage you are more likely to smoke or bite pens as
an adult
The Id:
- The ‘pleasure principle’
- Present from birth 0-2 years old
- Lots of emotional impulses and desires with a demand for immediate gratification-
pleasure seeking needs (sex, food, sleep)
- Located in the unconscious ‘animal’ part of the mind
- If we acted on the urges they would lead to antisocial and criminal behaviour
The superego:
- Contains our conscience or moral rules
- Learn through interaction with our parents during early socialisation in the family
- For example: punishment for trying to satisfy urges without regard for others
- Through socialisation, the child internalises its parents ideas of right and wrong and
superego develops as an internal ‘nagging parent’
- If we act on our Id it punishes us with feelings of guilt and anxiety
The ego:
- Develops at the age of 2
- Manages desires of the id
- Governs and controls your personality
- Controls your id’s desires
- Predicts your mental health and logic
What causes anti-social behaviour?
- Psychoanalytic theories see anti-social behaviour to be caused by an abnormal
relationship with parents during socialisation, for example due to neglect or strict
parenting
- Results in a weak, over harsh or deviant superego- link to criminality.
A weakly developed superego- individual will feel less guilt about anti-social actions and
less inhibition about acting on the Id’s selfish or aggressive urges.
A too harsh and unforgiving superego- creates a deep seated guilt feeling in an
individual, who then craves punishment as a release from those feelings, the person may
engage in compulsive repeat offending in order to be punished
A deviant superego- child is successfully socialised, but into a deviant moral code, a son
may have a perfectly good relationship with his criminal father and so he internalises his
fathers criminal values,the sons superego would not inflict feeling of guilt on him for
contemplating criminal acts.
, Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory
- He argued that there is a link between maternal deprivation and deviant or anti-social
behaviour
- Child requires a close, continuous relationship with primary caregiver (mother) from
birth to 5 years old to develop normally
- If a child does not form the correct attachment at an early stage such as the mother
and child attachment being broken through separation, even if its for a short period of
time this may then lead to the child being unable to form meaningful relationships
- This is called ‘affectionless psychopathy’ which is a sense of no shame or guilt
- In some cases this leads to criminal behaviour
Evidence:
- 88 children (5-16 years old) were referred to a child guidance clinic
- 44 thieves and other 44 were non criminals, he interviewed children and families
about early life experiences
- He found that 39% of thieves had suffered maternal deprivation before the age of 5
- There was a link between early separations and later social and emotional
adjustment
- Severe maternal deprivation leads to affectionless psychopathy
3.2 Evaluate the effectiveness of criminological theories
Psychodynamic theories: Freud
- Freud's psychodynamic theory explains criminal behaviour in term of faulty early
socialisation preventing the individual resolving unconscious conflicts between Id and
superego
Strengths:
- Psychoanalytic explanations have some influence on policies for dealing with crime
and deviance, psychoanalysis brings unconscious to conscious through dream
analysis
- Points to the importance of early socialisation and family relationships in
understanding criminal behaviour, psychoanalysis is a therapy developed from this
theory
Limitations:
- Critics doubt the existence of an ‘unconscious mind’ ; how can we know about it?
- Psychoanalytic explanations are unscientific and subjective rely on accepting the
psychoanalysis claims that they can see into the workings of individuals unconscious
mind to discover their inner conflicts and motivations
