Psychodynamic Explanations for Offending

Blackburn (1993) argued that criminal behaviour arises as the result of an underdeveloped superego. Freud's tripartite personality structure consists of the id (selfish, impulsive, pleasure principle), the ego (reality principle), and the superego (morality principle, punishes id for its impulses and rewards moral behaviour). If the superego, formed at the phallic psychosexual stage, is inadequate, the id is given 'free reign' to carry out its selfish impulses, which manifests in criminal behaviour. 

Three types of inadequate superego have been proposed:

• Weak: same-sex parent is absent during the phallic stage, so child does not internalise a fully-formed superego (there is no parent to successfully identify with).
• Deviant: a child may be raised by a criminal parent, meaning the superego internalises deviant behaviour.
• Over-harsh: the superego is excessively harsh and focused on punishment, leading to a heightened sense of guilt and an unconscious drive to commit crime in order to be punished.

Proposed by Bowlby, who argued that a warm, continuous maternal bond was essential for normal development and well-being.

If this is not present (for instance, through the disruption of the mother-child attachment), then a personality type known as affectionless psychopathy will develop. The features of this include a lack of guilt and empathy, and an increased likelihood of criminal behaviour.

This was shown in the 44 thieves study, where 14 of the sample were classed by Bowlby as showing affectionless psychopathy. Of these, 12 had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers during their early childhood. Only two had experienced similar separation in a non-criminal group. 

Therefore, the maternal deprivation experienced may have led to subsequent criminal behaviour.

- Freudian theory suggests that girls have weaker superegos than boys, as they are under less pressure to identify with the same-sex parent due to a lack of castration anxiety. However, males show more criminal behaviour than females, which contradicts the prediction of the inadequate superego explanation.

- There is little evidence that children raised without a same-sex parent are more likely to go on to offend, weakening the inadequate superego explanation. Also, if children have been raised by a deviant parent then go on to commit crime, this could be due to genetic inheritance rather than superego formation, a concept which is almost impossible to test scientifically.

- It is hard to establish a casual link with maternal deprivation and criminal behaviour. Lewis (1954) interviewed 500 young people and found no reliable link between the two, suggesting maternal deprivation may be just one of a range of factors affecting the likelihood of criminal behaviour.