Download to read offline
Approaches_1_psychodynamic_approach.ppt
- 1. Psychodynamic Approach Abrahamsen โโevery element that prevents children from developing in a healthy way, both physically and emotionally, tends to bring about a pattern of emotional disturbances which is always at the root of antisocial or criminal behaviourโ
- 2. Psychodynamic approach ๏ Evolvedfrom psychiatry ๏ Approach associated with Freud (1856-1939) ๏ Developed method of psychoanalysis ๏ Freud wrote little about crime ๏ Psychoanalysis and the ascertaining of truth in courts of law ๏ Neo-Freudian influence on aetiology of criminal behaviour ๏ Provided explanation and treatment ๏ Used as basis for early DSM categories Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) (APA) ๏ Approach fallen from favour ๏ However Freud very influential
- 3. Psychodynamic approach ๏ Freud -Personality theorist ๏ First to apply principle of ๏ causality to the study of ๏ personality ๏ Concept of unconscious ๏ mental processes central to the theory ๏ Concept of psychic energy important
- 4. Psychodynamic approach ๏ Deterministicapproach ๏ Personality developed ๏ in first 5 years ๏ Innate biological urges ๏ Have to learn to control ๏ How these controlled ๏ Profound impact on later personality ๏ Role of early caregivers/ mother important
- 5. Personality comprises 3 interactingforces Id and superego located in unconscious mind Ego located in conscious mind Id ๏ Primitive desires expressed as bodily needs ๏ Life enhancing ( libido/ eros ) ๏ Life threatening ( thanatos) Superego moral aspect of personality ( ego ideal) ๏ Contains values which have become internalised through early interactions ๏ Punishment we expect if we violate our own / societies rules ๏ Source of guilt
- 6. Ego ๏ Obeys thereality principle ๏ Strives to maintain Psychic equilibrium ๏ Drives which upset equilibrium tend towards tension reducing gratification ๏ Ego directs the desires to an appropriate outlet ๏ Or delays gratification until the desire can realistically be met 3 interacting forces
- 7. The unconscious mind ๏Unconscious plays a predominant part ๏ Takes its energy from instinctual/ biological drives ๏ Contents threat to ego ๏ Desires and painful memories repressed into unconscious mind but seek an outlet ๏ Manifest in physical symptoms, neuroses, traits ๏ mistakes, slips of tongue, dreams, repetition compulsion ๏ Represent compromise to conflict between primitive drives and learnt behavioural patterns ๏ True nature of drives remain hidden to person ๏ Personality is most clearly revealed ๏ When intellect exercising least control ๏ Drunk, dreaming, forgetting of incidents
- 8. Concept of theid ego and superego and stages of psycho- sexual development ๏ Suggested crucial periods in childโs development ๏ Where instincts dominate ๏ Need to learn to control these ๏ Causes threat and conflict ๏ Noted 3 areas of the body - the mouth anus and genitals particularly associated with libido ๏ Proposed interest in these areas developed chronologically from birth
- 9. Stages of psycho-sexual development ๏ Oral stage (1 โ 2 years ) Pleasure derived from sucking later sadistic pleasure of biting ๏ Interest in mouth never really super-ceded ๏ Anal stage ( 2-4 years) focus of pleasure shifts to anus ๏ Pleasure of defecation ๏ Learn power and control ๏ Phallic stage ( 4 โ 6 ) focus shifts to penis ๏ Freud focused on males ๏ Assumed clitoris female inferior biological equivalent
- 10. Stages of psychosexual development Oedipuscomplex ๏ Feelings of attraction to mother ๏ Jealousy resentment of father ๏ By around 5 fear of father โ ๏ castration complex ๏ Learns to identify with father ๏ Gains mothers love vicariously Electra complex ๏ Motivated by feeling of inferiority and penis envy ๏ Girl comes to terms with castration anxiety โ reconciliation that she will never have a penis Complexes never completely resolved but how feelings dealt with affects capability to feel deep love in later life
- 11. Conflicts ๏ At eachstage child is faced with a conflict ๏ Between desires and control ๏ Stages where instinctual desires are either completely unmet or too easily satisfied ๏ May become points of fixation in the development of personality ๏ The adult may return to these fixations if confronted by major stress in later life
- 12. Defence mechanisms (AnnaFreud) ๏ Unconsciously we develop ways to distort reality ๏ To exclude certain feelings to prevent anxiety and guilt ๏ Arises from conflict between Idโs desires and prohibitions from Superego ๏ If used excessively they interfere with psychological development ๏ Prevent dealing with the world realistically ๏ Defence mechanisms become automatic through habit formation
- 13. Defence mechanisms Displacement Ifwe cannot get what we want channel desires in another direction - wish fulfillment. Both id and superego are so strong and ego is so weak that person settles for second best or any available substitute (something better than nothing) Sublimation Desires of the Id are diverted to healthy outlets approved by the superego physical contact sports can also be included as sublimated homosexual or aggressive tendencies Repression Desires of the Id pushed back into subconscious and the person denies they exist or engages in Freudian slips Denial Anxiety about following desires of the id goes unacknowledged โ saying opposite of how you feel denying something has happened
- 14. DEFENCE MECHANISMS Projection Prohibitionsof the superego are applied as standard for judging others and not oneself Reaction formation Adoption of attitudes or behaviours which are opposite to oneโs true feelings. Both Id and superego are so strong that person does the opposite of both, sometimes identifying with aggressors Fixation Prohibitions of the superego are so strong that the person develops fears/phobias Returning to a fixed point โ aim to avoid new situations Regression Desires of the id are followed impulsively to escape from hearing the superego Reverting back to earlier comfort zones
- 15. CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR ๏ Freudcautious about applying his theories to criminality ๏ However the approach has been ๏ applied by others โ Neo Freudians ๏ Criminal behaviour comes from within ๏ Dictated by biological needs and urges ๏ Human nature innately antisocial ๏ Humans biologically driven to get what ๏ they want when they want it ๏ Desires have to be held in check to ๏ maintain social order ๏ By internal or external processes
- 16. Criminal behaviour ๏ Approachused to โexplainโ range of criminal behaviours ๏ Juvenile delinquency ๏ Aggression ๏ Theft ๏ Arson ๏ Paedophilia, ๏ Rape etc ๏ The theoretical explanations form basis of psychoanalytic, or psychodynamic therapy ๏ Up to the 1970s, treatment dominated by these methods ๏ Counselling and group therapy widely applied
- 17. Criminal Behaviour ๏ Problemswith the balance of power between id ego and superego ๏ Can result in criminal behaviour ๏ Review 4 offender types in psychodynamic theory ๏ ( Andrews & Bonta, 2003) ๏ Weak superego type ๏ Weak ego type ๏ Normal anti-social offender ๏ Neurotic offender
- 18. Offender types Weak superegotype โ most popular in literature ๏ Id creates desires which if not neutralized or re- channelled make social interaction difficult ๏ This type needs immediate gratification ๏ Will be aware of the dangers of being apprehended/ punished ๏ But the instant gratification of the crime will outweigh these fears (Warburton, 1965) ๏ Could explain why punishment may not be a deterrent ( Kline, 1987)
- 19. Weak superego Behavioural indicators ๏Reckless disregard for rules ๏ Lack conscience ๏ Early conduct problems ๏ Conflict with others/ authority ๏ Bravado ๏ Isolation Features consistently linked to criminal behaviour ๏ Psychopathy ๏ Anti-social personality disorder
- 20. Weak superego ๏ Crimemay provide compensation for desires not met as a child due to unloving parenting ( unresolved Oedipus complex) ๏ E.g. security status and acceptance ๏ If not received via family need to get from others ๏ Eg criminal group โGlasgow delinquents (Stott, 1982) ๏ Healey & Bronner (1936) 105 families ๏ One son criminal one not ๏ Criminal child more likely to have been frustrated / rejected by parents
- 21. Offender types Weak egotype ๏ Immature Gullible ๏ Poorly developed social skills ๏ Dependent ๏ Tend to misread external environment and follow a leader Normal anti-social type ๏ Normal development ๏ Criminal by identification with criminal parent ๏ May not develop sense of wrong for anti social acts Glover (1960)
- 22. Offender types Neurotic offendertype ๏ Over-active superego ๏ Criminal behaviour result of need to be punished for past misdemeanours / perceived or real ๏ Extreme guilt over repressed desires ๏ Suggested to result from harsh parenting ๏ Neurotics not always likely to become criminal ๏ May be likely to develop compulsive behavioural problems ๏ But for some the neurosis may precipitate criminal behaviour ๏ Eg damage may be caused to property with a symbolic significance ( Glover, 1949)
- 23. Kernbergโs Theory ofBorder line Personality Organisation ๏ Kernberg (1966: 1992) ๏ Personality on continuum psychotic- border line โ neurotic ๏ Defined by capacity for reality testing and unconscious defensive processes Psychotic personality organisation ๏ Absence of reality testing ๏ Use of primitive defences ๏ Splitting and related mechanisms ๏ Identification, idealisation, denial, omnipotence, devaluation
- 24. Kernbergโs Theory ofBorder line Personality Organisation Border-line personality organisation ๏ Capacity for reality testing ๏ Use of primitive defence mechanisms Neurotic personality organisation ๏ Capacity for reality testing ๏ Use of higher level defences ๏ Repression, reaction formation , intellectualisation, rationalisation, isolation
- 25. Kernbergโs Theory ofBorder line Personality Organisation ๏ Psychotic and particularly borderline types ๏ Splitting - Conflicting ego states ๏ Need to keep these separate to avoid intrapsychic conflict ๏ Via primitive defence mechanisms ๏ Weakness ego functioning reduces adaptive effectiveness ๏ However psychotic does not employ reality testing ๏ Borderlines do ๏ Differ from higher level functioning of neurotic ๏ But again defence mechanisms protect from intrapsychic conflict
- 26. Kernbergโs Theory ofBorder line Personality Organisation ๏ Primitive defences facilitate criminal behaviour ๏ Can objectify others ๏ Whilst maintaining positive image of self ๏ Borderline most susceptible to criminal acts ๏ Psychopaths suggested to fall into this category ๏ Psychotics if cannot employ reality testing may not be held responsible for crime
- 27. Aggression and violence ๏Humans by their very nature always predisposed to aggressive impulses ( Thanatos) ๏ Psychodynamic or hydraulic model ( Freud) suggests susceptibility from birth to build up of aggressive energy ๏ Inwardly directed aggression harmful to self (E.g. suicide self damage, addictions, crime committed with unconscious intent of being found out ) ๏ Necessity to make it less destructive ๏ Erotising it by combining with libido ๏ Sadism/ masochism ๏ Turn it outwards towards others
- 28. Aggression ๏ Violence inall forms a manifestation of aggressive energy discharge ๏ Needs to be discharged appropriately by catharsis ๏ If violent crime is to be controlled excess energy must be dissipated in socially acceptable ways ๏ By actual behaviour or vicariously โ eg indulging in sport watching sport etc ๏ Approach predicts that children who indulge in/ watch sport will be less aggressive than those who do not( Bartol, 2002).
- 29. Juvenile delinquency ๏ Healy(1909) - delinquent behaviour a result of unresolved conflicts in childhood ๏ Suggested displacement most common defence mechanism used by delinquents ๏ Used "life history" method - estimated that 91% of delinquents were emotionally disturbed ๏ 50% because of a broken home 50% because of too much or too little parental discipline ๏ Work very influential in America during 1920โs
- 30. Juvenile delinquency ๏ Bowlby(1953) Criminal activity a substitute for love and affection ๏ Disruptions in the mother-son bond were at the root of most criminal careers ๏ Attachment Theory โ Bowlby very influential in England ๏ 44 โJuvenile thieves โ Bowlby (1946). Case history method 6 week study ๏ Contrast clinical case histories 44 those convicted theft with 44 other children referred to psychiatric services
- 31. Juvenile delinquency ๏ Foundover representation in criminal sample of 3 psychological dispositions ๏ 9 clinically depressed 13 hyperthymics ( tendency to over activity) 14 โaffectionless charactersโ โ little โnormalโ emotional reactions ๏ Range problems โ family conflict, severe abuse, neglect, death of parent etc ๏ Range psychosomatic problems โ stigmatised, bullied, sexually abused, physical abuse, religious guilt etc ๏ Children persistent liars, bedwetters, runaways truants
- 32. Juvenile delinquency ๏ Affectionlesscharacters most persistent thieves ๏ Few real friendships lonely ๏ These children had suffered prolonged separation from parents ๏ โCausesโ- failure of superego development ๏ Failure in development of love object inhibition ๏ Resulting from rage and motives of self protection
- 33. Juvenile delinquency ๏ Aichhorn(1925) suggested some underlying predisposition termed โlatent delinquencyโ ๏ Resulted in a child becoming a criminal later in life ๏ Believed that each child was asocial at first ๏ Due to a failure in psychological development this asocial tendency (latent delinquency) persisted ๏ Suggested many juvenile delinquents had under developed superegos
- 34. Aichhornโs Work withjuvenile delinquents (1925) ๏ Studied 12 violent delinquents who had not responded to treatment ๏ Felt they had regressed to anal stage ๏ Needed to learn to develop superego which functioned better ๏ Allowed them to vent anger by destroying living quarters ๏ Important aspect โ they were not punished for the destruction
- 35. Aichhorn 1925 workwith juvenile delinquents ๏ Lack of punishment meant they could not rationalize their feelings of hatred and eventually began to feel guilt ๏ Worked on their emotional as opposed to chronological age ๏ Suggested failure to obtain properly formed superego due to unloving/ absent parents ๏ Began to improve behaviour and were eventually able to re enter society
- 36. The delinquent ego ๏Redl & Wineman studied โchildren who hateโ ๏ The "delinquent ego." ๏ Oedipus complex- Criminals should hate their fathers more than their mothers ๏ Found that criminals hated both their parents ๏ Assumption - had not gone through genital stage at all ๏ Their egos were therefore undeveloped โ still in pregenital stage ๏ Personalities an endless series of conflicts
- 37. Paedophilia ๏ Finkelhor& Arajii(1986) 4 basic explanations found in research and clinical literature ๏ Most common Emotional Congruence Theories ๏ Why relating sexually to a child would be emotionally gratifying and congruent with the paedophileโs needs ๏ Focus on arrested development ๏ See themselves as children with childlike needs ๏ Feel most comfortable with children ๏ Experience low self esteem and loss of efficacy in everyday life ๏ Relating to child is congruent- feels powerful and in control ๏ Provides sense of mastery in own life
- 38. Sexual crimes โregression to earlier stages? ๏ Paedophiles often narcissistic โfixation on pre genital stages ๏ Choose children like they were at that age ๏ Then treat them as they wished to be treated by their mothers (Jones, 2000) ๏ Suggested rapists may regress to anal phase at times of stress ๏ Displace their hostility on women ๏ Could explain buggery in sadistic attacks
- 39. Sex offending ๏ AttachmentTheory ( Bowlby, 1969: Ainsworth, 1989) and link to sex-offending ( e.g. Marsa et al, 2004) ๏ Psychopaths ( Meadows & Kuehnel, 2005) ๏ Serial killers ( Hickey, 2001) ๏ Primary care-givers inconsistent/ absent ๏ Failure in bonding process ๏ Sex offenders have insecure/ disorganised attachment styles ๏ Cannot form close interpersonal relationships ๏ No strategies for dealing with need for security and comfort when stressed ๏ Sex offending distorted attempt to seek closeness
- 40. Pyromania (DSM111) ๏ Multipleepisodes of deliberate fire-setting ๏ Failure to resist temptation to fire-set ๏ Characterised by high levels of tension or ๏ emotional arousal before the act ๏ Relief of tension when setting the fires or watching the aftermath ๏ Approach suggests link between fire- setting and sexual disturbances ๏ Sadistic-destructive drives ๏ Abrahamsen ( 1960) suggested a โsubstitute for a sexual thrillโฆ. destructive powers of the fire reflect the intensity of pyromaniacs desires and sadismโ (p 129)
- 41. Pyromania (DSM111) ๏ Fenichel(1945) link between pleasurable urination ( urethral eroticism) and fire-setting โ pouring water on fire ๏ Gold ( 1962) suggested link also with urinary malfunction ๏ Assumption many firesetters are enuretic ( bed-wetter) ๏ However little evidence found for this assumption ๏ Yesavage (1983) study 50 French arsonists found no link with sexual pleasure ๏ Also research (eg Icove & Estepp, 1987) suggests little evidence of diagnostic label pyromaniac
- 42. Summary ๏ Psychoanalytic theoriesof crime stress the role of inner processes and conflicts in determining behaviour Basic tenets ๏ Socialization depends on the internalization of societyโs rules during early childhood ๏ Impaired parent-infant relationships are causally related to later criminal behaviour ๏ Unconscious conflicts arising from disturbed family relationships at different stages of development are the causes of some criminal acts (Blackburn, 1993)
- 43. Critique Strengths ๏ Approach madean important contribution to early psychiatric treatments ๏ Use case studies allows rich analysis of complex nature of criminal behaviour ๏ And underlying โcausationโ ๏ Important contributions to psychosocial criminology - ๏ Identifies important connections between psychic and social ๏ Significance of childhood attachments to adult relating ๏ Symbolic defensive quality of criminal behaviour
- 44. Critique Strengths ๏ Approach highlightsthat criminals cannot be โscientificallyโ differentiated from non criminals ๏ โ The so called normal person has closer affinities with the psychopath than he is willing to admit himself, much less publically avowโ ( Glover, 1960: 295)
- 45. Critique Weaknesses ๏ The difficultyto demonstrate that the familyโs effect is through an influence on unconscious motives is not subject to scientific measurement ๏ Problems associated with emphasizing biological motivation, early childhood experiences, sexual drives. ๏ De - emphasis on both social factors and conscious motivations to break the law
- 46. Critique Weaknesses ๏ Theories primarilysuited for those types of crimes that result from unconscious conflicts ๏ Not well suited for explaining crimes that incorporate planning and rational goals such as white collar and computer crimes (Blackburn 1993; Feldman, 1993; West, 1988)
- 47. References Agnew, R. (1995).Testing the leading crime theories: An alternative strategy focusing on motivational processes. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 32, 363-398. Aichhorn, A. (1925) Wayward Youth. New York, Viking Press. Akhar, S. & Thompson, A. (1982) Overview of narcissistic personality disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 139: 12-20 Alexander, F & Healey, W. (1935) The Roots of Crime. New York, Knopf. Alexander, J. F., & Parsons, B.V. (1973). Short-term behavioral intervention with delinquent families: Impact family process and recidivism. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 81, 219-225. Andrews, D.A. & Bonta, J. (2003). The Psychology of Criminal Conduct, (3rd Ed.). Cincinnati, Anderson Publishing. Barak, G. (1998). Integrating Criminologies. Needham Heights, MA, Allyn & Bacon.
- 48. References Bartol, C. (2002).Criminal Behavior. A psychosocial approach 6th edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Blackburn, R. (1993). The Psychology of Criminal Conduct: Theory, Research and practice. Toronto: John Wiley & Sons Bowlby, J (1951) Maternal Care and Mental Health. Geneva, WHO. In S. Jones (2001) Criminology, 2nd Ed. London, Butterworths. Feldman, P. (1993) The Psychology of Crime. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Fine, R. (1962) Freud: A critical re- evaluation of his theories. New York, McKay. Fisher, S & Greenberg R (1997) The Scientific Credibility of Freudโs Theories and Therapy. Brighton Harvester Press. Freud, S. (1906) Psychoanalysis and the ascertaining of truth in courts of law. Collected Papers; vol. 2, New York, Basic Books Freud, A (1946) The Ego and Mechanisms of Defence. New York, International Universities Press.
- 49. References Freud, S. (1961).The Complete Works of Sigmund Freud (Vol. 19). London: Hogarth. Galdston, R. (1965), Observations of children who have been physically abused and their parents. American Journal of Psychiatry 122:440443 Glueck, B. (1916). Studies in Forensic Psychiatry. Boston: Little Brown. Helfgott, J. (2008) Criminal Behaviour: Theories, typologies and criminal justice. Los Angeles, Sage. Hickey, E.W. (2002). Serial Murderers and their Victims. Belmont CA, Wadsworth. Hollin, C. (1989). Psychology and Crime: An introduction to criminological psychology. New York: Routledge Jones, S. (2000) Understanding Violent Crime. Buckingham, Open University Press Jones, S. (2001) Criminology, 2nd Ed. London, Butterworths. Marsa, F. OโReilly, G. Carr, A, Murphy, P. OโSullivan, M. Cotter, A. & Hevey, D. (2004). Attachment styles and psychological profiles of child sex offenders in Ireland. Journal Of Interpersonal Violence, 19(2) : 228-251.
- 50. References Meadows, R.J. &Kuehnel,J. ( 2005). Evil Minds: Understanding and responding to violent predators. Upper Saddle River, NJ, Pearson/ Prentice Hall. Rutter, M. (1972) Maternal Deprivation Reassessed. Harmondsworth, Penguin. Steele, B. J. & Pollock, C. B. (1974), A psychiatric study of parents who abuse infants and small children. In: R.E. Helfer & C. H. Kempe. The Battered Child, 2nd Ed. Chicago: University of Chicago, pp. 80-133 Walsh, A. & Ellis, L. (2007). Criminology: An interdisciplinary approach. Thousand Oakes, CA, Sage