Psychoanalysis and Criminology

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Psychoanalysis and Criminology

• A Mind To Crime?

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Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

• Freud is known as one of the most influential
  thinkers of the twentieth century. He was born in
  Austria and was of Jewish descent.
• He was trained as a physician or doctor and
  turned his attention to mental illness early on
  in his career.
• Freud and his colleague Breuer sought to
  understand the illness known as hysteria that
  women were suffering from in late 19th century
  Vienna.

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A New Theory of Mind

• In his studies of hysteria, Freud revolutionized
  the theory of mind. This notion of the mind has
  come to dominate much of modern thinking.
• One of the main innovations that Freud introduced
  was the notion of the Unconscious.
• The psychoanalytic theory of the unconscious
  stated that our actions (as well as the
  motivations to action) were dominated by unstated
  desires and wishes that emerged from the
  unconscious.
• The theory of the unconscious was an overturning
  of the enlightenment or rational sense of self
  because it claimed that we are often not in
  control of our actions and our selves. There are
  dark forces that interrupt our rational
  calculations and push us in directions that we
  are not fully aware of.
• Slips of the tongue (Freudian slips) and jokes
  often express unconscious wishes, desires, and
  secrets that poke through the surface of our
  conscious façade.

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Traumatic Repression and Fantasy

• Hysteria is a disorder involving organic symptoms
  with no apparent organic cause.
• Freuds early claim was that hysterics suffer
  mainly from reminiscences of buried memories of
  traumatic experiences. These memories emerged in
  the distorted form of physical symptoms.
• Freuds treatment or cure involved the
  recovery of repressed memories to allow the
  cathartic discharge or abreaction of the
  previously displaced and strangulated affect.
• This become known as Freuds seduction theory.
  He believed that these hysterical symptoms could
  be traced to traumatic prepubertal sexual
  assaults (typically by fathers).
• Freud later abandoned the seduction theory
  because he came to believe that fantasy could
  have the same effects as the memory of actual
  events psychical reality was of more importance
  than material reality.
• People could repress desires as well as memories
  and a basic sexual energy often fuelled these
  desires and fantasies.

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Freud and Sexuality

• One of the most known and common assumptions
  about Freuds theory is that he reduced and
  understood everything in terms of sexuality.
  However, this is not essentially true.
• For Freud, sexuality was a fund of psychic energy
  that extends into general forms of desire.
  Therefore, anything we desire or seek in a
  sensual manner is sexual. Sex is the energy
  that drives us to action but it cannot always be
  reduced and grasped through the simple act of
  sex. In other words, sexual activity is only one
  of the channels through which sexual energy might
  pass.
• In truth, psychoanalysis is a theory of internal
  psychic conflict. This internal conflict is
  inherently dualistic . Freud believed that
  instinct was a determining factor in human
  psychology. At first, Freud spoke of libido
  versus ego or the self-preservative instincts.
  At the end of his career Freud would speak of
  Eros versus Thanatos, life against death.

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Human Development

• In a text entitled, Three Essays on the Theory
  of Sexuality Freud made a startling claim. He
  said that infants and children are sexual beings
  and that sexual instincts begin early on in
  childhood.
• Once again, this did not mean that children were
  interested or aware of sexual activity but that
  they had energy that needed channeling.
• He argued that phenomena that do not appear as
  sexual on the surface (i.e., such as
  thumbsucking) share essential characteristics
  with sexual activity. The mouth is, after all,
  an erotogenic zone.
• Human children, as they mature, pass through
  various developmental phases in which particular
  erotogenic zones become the focus.
• These phases are 1) The oral 2) The anal 3)
  The phallic 4) The genital.
• The importance, for us, of these phases is found
  in the notion that abnormal development could
  lead to life-long personality disorders. Freud
  said Every pathological disorder of sexual life
  is rightly regarded as an inhibition in
  development. (p. 279)
• Sexual crimes, for example, are the product of
  fixations upon earlier forms of development. To
  understand these crimes, we must examine how
  individuals develop through these phases.

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The Oedipus Conflict

• Neurosis, something that essentially all humans
  are prone to, often results in the struggle of
  the Oedipus Conflict. Drawn from Oedipus Rex.
• It is important that we do not oversimplify this
  notion. What we are talking about is attachment.
  Freudians argue that attachment to a caregiver
  (usually the mother) is a primary form of loveit
  is the source of how we learn to become members
  of society. Infants and children jealously guard
  the attention that they receive.
• The sexual desires that an infant feels are
  unconscious and symbolic. The young boy child
  identifies with his mother and sees his father as
  a rival. Normal development involves the
  acceptance of ones position and an
  identification with the father. If this process
  is interrupted or stalled problems will ensue.
• Freud occasionally spoke of an Electra complex
  for women but, in sexist fashion, saw male
  development as the most significant and did not
  spend as much time analyzing women.
• The love that a child feels for the mother is the
  prototype for all future relationships. We
  simply transfer our feelings, understandings, and
  experiences to new love objects.

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The Tripartite Structure of the Mind

• Superegomorality of parents and society inner
  voice of conscience self-punishing faculty
• Egoconscious and rational part of our self the
  essential awareness of ourselves as individuals.
  For Freud the ego should be a source of growth.
  A well adjusted person has a large ego
  (self-awareness).
• IdLatin word for it. This is the unconscious.
  It includes a timeless world in which childhood
  re-emerges (for example, in dreams) the desire
  for immediate gratification aggression and
  sexual energy pleasure-seeking. The unconscious
  is the most powerful and largest part of our
  mind. Therefore, the ability of individuals to
  control this part of their mind is crucial to
  their ability to adapt to society.
• In Civilization and Its Discontents, Freud
  claimed that war (and possibly crime) was the
  product of unchannelled aggression caused by
  excessive repression. If we continue to force
  repression on people this explodes in the form of
  war and destruction.

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Psychogenic Causes of Crime

• Two early psychoanalytic criminologists, Franz
  Alexander and William Healy, applied Freuds
  principles to the study of criminal behaviour.
  They spoke of four unconscious needs that could
  result in criminal conduct
• 1) an overcompensation for a sense of
  inferiority, 2) the attempt to relieve a sense of
  guilt, 3) spite reactions toward the mother, 4)
  gratification of dependent tendencies by being
  caught and living in prison.
• Bowlby, a prominent psychoanalytic figure,
  claimed that we needed to examine the prolonged
  separation from maternal figures during infancy
  (especially when it comes to juvenile
  delinquents).
• Contemporary theories (such as Control Theory)
  also draw on Freud. They claim that crime is the
  result of a lack of internal controls.
  Therefore, we need to develop secure controls
  from childhood onwards.
• Others have turned to examine the role of shame
  and guilt.
• In sum, I would say, psychoanalysis teaches us
  something very important about the supposed
  criminal subject. The criminal subject is
  conflicted and not necessarily rational in all
  their choices (Gadd and Jefferson, 28).
• As a result, psychoanalysis can be quite useful
  in trying to understand certain types of crime
  such as rape and sexual assault, serial killing,
  drug use and addiction, and any crime which
  results from a conflicted self. Psychosocial.

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Test Format

• Part One 20 multiple choice questions. Each one
  is worth one ½ a grade for a total of 10 marks.
• Part Two A choice from a list of concepts. Your
  task is to explain the meaning of the concept and
  explain its significance for criminological
  theory. You will have a choice of two from a
  list of six concepts. Each will be worth 10
  marks for a total of 20 marks.
• Part Three A choice from a list of three essay
  questions. You will choose one from a list of
  three or four. This section is worth 20 marks.

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Hints

• Concepts
• Critique of Arbitrary Power
• Enlightenment
• Certainty of Punishment
• Atavism
• Hegemonic Masculinity
• Oedipus Conflict

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Hints

• Essay Questions
• Describe the main contributions of Cesare
  Beccaria to the emerging discipline of
  criminology. How were his ideas a product of the
  Enlightenment? What do you think are his most
  valuable insights for the discipline of
  criminology?
• Some claim that biology is destiny. Do you
  agree with this statement? Make sure that you
  discuss the importance of the work of Lombroso
  and his notion of the born criminal.
• Do you think that masculinity is a contributing
  factor in crime causation? Discuss this
  statement with reference to the work of Connell
  and Messerschmidt. What is the significance of
  the concept of hegemonic masculinity?
• Why is the work of Sigmund Freud important for
  the study of crime? In your answer discuss the
  relevance of the unconscious and Freuds new
  model of the mind.