Psychoanalytic Approach to Criminal Behaviour

Dr. N. T. Alee
GITAM University
 Psychoanalytic theory/Psychodynamic theory/Freud’s theory of Personality
The structure of personality
Sigmund Freud's structural theory of personality posits that the mind is divided into three
interconnected components: the id, the ego, and the superego. These components operate in a dynamic
and sometimes conflicting manner, influencing an individual's thoughts, behaviors, and feelings.
a.) Id: The id is the most primitive and innate part of the mind, present at birth. It operates on the
pleasure principle, seeking immediate gratification of desires and needs, regardless of societal norms or
consequences. The id is driven by instincts and unconscious impulses.
Functions:
• Seeks pleasure and avoids pain.
• Demands immediate satisfaction of needs and desires.
• Operates based on unconscious motives.
Example: A hungry infant crying loudly to be fed, showing the desire for immediate satisfaction of the
hunger drive, representts the functioning of the id.
➢ The id functions on pleasure principle, and demands immediate gratification of its needs, desires and
wishes regardless of the circumstances. Psychodynamic theorists are of the view that the individual’s
personality is controlled by unconscious mental processes having their origin in the person’s
childhood. Thus, the id represents the basic biological drives for food, sex and other needs for the
individual’s very survival.
b.) Ego:
The ego develops later in infancy and early childhood. It operates on the reality principle, aiming to mediate
between the desires of the id and the constraints of the external world. The ego helps individuals make
rational and realistic decisions.
Functions:
• Mediates between the id and the superego.
• Considers the consequences of actions and societal norms.
• Strives for balance and realistic solutions.
Example: A person feeling hungry (id) but choosing to wait until lunchtime to eat (taking into account
societal norms and responsibilities) demonstrates the functioning of the ego.

➢ The ego is the logical, rational, realistic part of the personality. The ego functions on the reality principle,
in the sense that it looks for the available sources in the environment that could gratify the id’s needs.
Thus the ego evolves from the id and draws its energy from the id. The ego must consider the constraints
of the real world in determining the appropriate times, places and objects for gratification of the id’s
wishes.
c.) Superego:
The superego develops during early childhood and represents the internalization of societal and parental
values, morals, and standards. It acts as a moral compass, striving for perfection and imposing guilt or pride
based on adherence to these internalized ideals.
Functions:
• Internalizes societal and parental standards.
• Represents morality, conscience, and ideals.
• Evaluates behavior and produces feelings of guilt or pride.
Example: A person feeling guilty for lying or doing something morally wrong is experiencing the influence
of the superego, which holds internalized moral values.

➢ The Super ego is considered the moral arm of the individual’s personality. It is the embodiment of all the
‘rights’ and ‘wrongs’, imbibed by the individual on the basis of do’s and don’ts, dictated by the parents
and significant others. When someone develops moral standards and values of the community, family,
friends, good or bad behaviour or morality is developed is super ego.
 The Psychodynamic approach
➢ This theory largely comes from psychologist Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), founder of psychoanalysis. He argued
that everyone has instinctual drives (called the “id”) that demand gratification. Moral and ethical codes (called
the “superego”) regulate these drives, and adults later develop a rational personality (called the “ego”) that
mediates between the id and superego. Based on this idea, criminal behaviour is seen primarily as a failure of
the superego.
➢ Thus, psychodynamic theory sees criminal behaviour as a conflict between the id, ego and superego. This
conflict can lead to people developing problematic behaviour and delinquency.
➢ When the child is age 5 or 6 years, the superego, the moral component of the personality is formed. The
superego has two parts:
▪ The conscience is the sense of guilt when the person does something wrong. The conscience consists of all the
behaviours for which we have been punished and about which we feel guilty;
▪ Ego Ideal is the idealistic view of all that which is correct/right. The ego ideal contains the behaviours for which
we have been praised and rewarded and about which we feel pride and satisfaction.
➢ At first the superego reflects only the parent‘s expectations of what is good and right, but it expands over time
to incorporate teachings from the broader social world. In its quest for moral perfection, the superego sets
moral guidelines that define and limit the flexibility of the ego.
➢ Any conflict between these three forces or an imbalance between them could cause delinquent and deviant
behaviour in a person. While the Ego tries to gratify all the needs of the id, it also makes sure that the super
ego’s requirements are not ignored and the ideal self remains and the person is not overwhelmed by guilt
feelings. Thus the ego strives to strike a balance between the id’s desires and wishes and the moral requirements
of the super ego. So long as the ego is strong and capable, neither the id nor the super ego becomes dominant or
overpowering. An approach called psychoanalytic criminology is drawn from Freudian psychoanalysis, which
uses a method to study crimes and criminal behaviour.
➢ According to psychodynamic theory, the Id has been considered responsible for criminal behaviour. As
mentioned above, Id is concerned with immediate gratification of its needs with no concern for others or
what is right and what is wrong.
➢ For instance, criminals have no concern for their victims or the society or its laws and regulations. They
are generally lonely, interested in getting what they want by forcibly taking away from others their
possessions in the process injuring, harming the persons, to such an extent that if situation warrants, they
may take away the victim’s life too.
➢ Thus, psychodynamic theory explains criminal behaviour in terms of a dominant Id, frustration,
provocation and childhood experiences such as being neglected, unhappy and miserable, lack of love and
nurturing and a very weak super ego and a weak, which is linked to immaturity, and dependency on
others.