Freud suggested that a dysfunctional superego is likely to lead to criminal behaviour. How does a dysfunctional superego form? According to Freud, the parents will have the biggest impact on the development of the child’s superego. If the boy fails to identify with his father- for reasons such as the father is rejecting, absent or weak, the Oedipus conflict is not resolved and the young boy will develop a weak superego. On the other hand, if the boys father is over strict then the boy s likely to over identify with him thus leading to the development of a strong superego.
(Later referred to by Blackburn as a harsh superego. ) Girls will only develop a weak superego because through fear of losing the love of their mother they identify with their mothers. Since girls do not have a penis, they are unable to develop a conscience through fear of castration in the same way as boys do and therefore the superegos of females are weak. The ID and the SUPEREGO are in constant conflict and it is the EGO’s task to strike a balance between them.
Freud called this the Ego defence mechanism, which prevents the system becoming dangerously unbalanced. When the id, ego and superego are reasonably well balanced, the defence mechanism can channel aggression through social activities such as sport. If the systems are extremely unbalanced then anti social behaviour will occur. Oedipus conflict- boys desire sexual possession of mother. He recognises that it is wicked and therefore fears that father will discover his thoughts and punish him through castration.
Comes to terms with the situation by identifying with father. Blackburn (1993) explains the causes of criminal behaviour by identifying three superego dysfunction’s: Harsh superego (resulting from identification with a strict parent)- leads to feelings of guilt and obsession whenever the ID attempts to get any satisfaction at all (especially sex). This can lead to the individual unconsciously seeking punishment and therefore committing a crime. Weak superego. An individual with this form of superego is selfish and uncaring, full of uncontrolled aggression.
They are likely to commit crimes due to no guilt or fear of punishment. Deviant superego. This may emerge in a boy if his father is deviant. There is likely to be a good father/son relationship with Freud’s Oedipus conflict being resolved and a superego that has developed normally. However the son’s superego standards are those of the fathers – antisocial, deviant ones, which inevitably leads to crime. According to this theory, females have weaker superegos which would lead us to expect more female than male criminals.
However females constitute a very small % of the criminal population. Hoffman 1977 indicated that females have a stronger moral orientation than males. This is the only theory that addresses the importance of emotional factors in criminal behaviour. The theory is limited in the types of crimes for which it can account e. g. Kline 1987 – white collar crimes are planned & motivated by a rational decision to profit from the proceeds of crime rather than an irrational thought process.
It offers a more plausible account than most theories for crimes that have no obvious gain and are incomprehensible to the logically minded. (such as stealing women’s underwear from washing lines. ) Some criminals show neurotic conflicts but this does not necessarily support the approach, conflicts may result from, rather than cause crime. Hollin 1989 – theory states criminal tendencies are a manifestation of unconscious conflict in adolescents and as variables have been identified, this theory provides useful pointers for later crime theorists.