Analyzing Erikson's Psychosocial Stages Of Development

Since the development of Erik Erikson’s psychosocial model of development in the 1960s, it has become one of the most widely used measurements for studying emotional and personality development across the human lifespan (Dunkel & Harbke, 2017). Erikson’s model contains eight developmental stages, beginning in infancy and progressing until old age, and as a person ages they begin to pass through the stages, with a new psychological crisis arising at each stage (Svetina, 2014). Whitbourne, Sneed and Sayer (2009) describe how the outcome of each crisis is met with identity attainment and new personal adaptations (positive outcome), or with an incoherent identity (negative outcome). Additionally, each new stage allows for the reassessment of previous achievements, and in some cases, failures (Dunkel & Harbke, 2017). Erikson’s model is commonly recognised as a developmental ladder – each previous stage lays a foundation before an individual can progress toward the next stage (Malone, Liu, Valliant, Rentz & Waldinger, 2016). It is important to note that whilst they are referred to as “stages”, they should be viewed as being on a continuum rather than fixed categories (Dunkel & Harbke, 2017).

Erikson theorizes that in such a period, adolescents have certain tasks, one of which is identifying who they are. An individual successfully completes the task by staying true to his or her self, whereas when a person fails that stage, it leads to role confusion; consequently creating a weak sense of self. (Block 2011). The stage also entails a variety of personal challenges and limitations faced as well as a series of needs to be met, including: attention, guidance, independence, stability, and acceptance, among other needs. Meeting an adolescent’s needs is fundamental to their healthy development and personal growth. Nevertheless, adolescence remains as puzzling of a period in time for both the teens experiencing it, as well as for the individuals surrounding them, watching them as they navigate through the trials that adolescence brings them.

A follower in the footsteps of Sigmund Freud, Erik Erikson agreed with Freud on certain aspects of development but differed in the psychological field. Unlike Freud, who believed human beings went through stages of psychosexual development, Erikson created his own stages focusing less on sexual pleasures and more on the psychosocial aspects of an individual from birth to late adulthood. Therefore, the psychosocial development focuses on how a person develops his identity. While Freud devised five stages in his theory, Erikson created eight stages to describe the changes a person experiences after adolescents. Within each stage of development, a person undergoes a crisis or learns a specific concept about themselves that will determine how they are in the future. Once someone overcomes the crisis or predicament, he has then established one part of himself and is able to continue on to the next stage.

Erikson’s ideas were greatly influenced by Sigmund Freud in regards to the structure of personality. (Freud’s ID, EGO and SUPEREGO) Erikson has since expanded on Freud’s theory by focusing on characteristic of the ego, and expanding the stages of personality development to include the entire lifespan. Erikson emphasized on the role that culture and society play in the development of humans and the effects that they have. According to Erikson “the ego develops as it successfully resolves crises that are distinctly social in nature. These involve establishing a sense of trust in others, developing a sense of identity in society” Unlike Freud focusing on the psychosexual ideas, Erikson focused on how children socialized and how this affected their own sense of one’s self.

The age of adolescents is generally a time of great change within a person's life. Between the ages of twelve and eighteen, adolescents do not only experience rapid physical change, but also begin to find their own unique personality by completing cognitive, behavioral, moral and social stages. These stages were defined by different theorists such as Erik Erikson, Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg. After completing these stages an adolescent should be able to develop into a healthy and happy adult who can think abstractly and has their own set of morals and identity (Berk, 2014, pg. 402).

This week I can not stop referencing the last scene of the breakfast club. There are so many different personalities in the eighth grade class at Chief Joseph. I have observed that at this age each student is trying to define themselves without drawing too much attention to themselves. With that being said, I have to ensure that I am taking this into account when I am giving direct instruction, and in passing.

At the age of 6 years old, a child would most likely experienced the school system which would include pre-school and kindergarten. There are many physical, cognitive and social changes that are happening in middle childhood development. This paper will examine what these changes affect the child’s ability to function in society. This analysis will focus on the normal course of development in middle childhood as it applies to the theorist Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages and then give examples of what may happen if the developments are not carried out.

Erik Erikson was born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1902. Because his mother was Jewish and his father was not, he was often bullied in school. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, so his Jewish peers mocked him for standing out and being different, and his peers at school teased him simply for being Jewish. His own internal conflict with his identity sparked his interest in identity formation and development. Although he never actually received a degree in medicine or psychology, he became friends with Anna Freud who helped him study psychoanalysis. Erikson supported and was influenced by many of Sigmund Freud’s ideas. Freud had a theory on development, he called it the 5 stages of psychosexual development, this is one of the theories that Erikson

The first person I interviewed is a 19 year old Hispanic female high school student. She is very short and meets criteria to be considered a midget. In regards of the Five-Factor Model described in Craig & Dunn 2013, p. 436, this person is emotionally stable with traits associated with high end. Specifically she is relaxed and very extroverted. In terms of openness to experiences, she described herself very imaginative, creative and intellectual. On the last two factors she identified herself as a warm, friendly, organized, and persistent person clearly showing her transitioning from adolescent to the young adult stage.

20 is a strange age, you don’t have the excuse of being a teenager to fall back on but people still treat you like a child. Since high school, I’ve been interested in psychology, a topic many people engage in because as humans, we all naturally try to learn more about ourselves as a whole, but also as individuals. Erik Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development mark the eight points people go through from infancy to elder hood. Based on Erikson’s theory, twenty year olds are at the end of adolescence where we wonder who we are and what we can be, as well as being at the beginning of early adulthood where we have formed most of our identity but are also now trying to find love and where we fit into the world.

Rachel Getting Married is a movie about a drug addict who 's coming home from rehab to attend her sister’s wedding. The main character’s name is Kim. In the movie, she is shown to have many issues going on, ranging from an incomplete stage of Erikson 's to symptoms of depression. Throughout the movie, she goes through many emotional turmoils and drama, which changes her behavior.

According to Erik Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development, Neveah is in middle adolescence, which is focused on the conflict of identity verses role confusion (Ashford & LeCroy, 2010). The developmental characteristics of middle adolescents include sexual identity, role experimentation, moral development, and self-discovery (Ashford & LeCroy, 2010). Adolescents are evaluating how they fit into society and more specifically their social sphere. During this time, friends, social groups, and cultural trends greatly impact the adolescent. According to Gibbs (2015), at this stage in development it is critical to be valued and accepted by a peer group. To evaluate Neveah’s stage of development, her ethnicity, immigration, and history of childhood abuse must be taken into consideration. According to Ashford and LeCroy (2010), adolescent immigrants face the unique challenge of fulfilling their sense of belonging, while facing issues of acculturation and minority status. As they seek to develop their own identity, they must combine the norms, values, and culture of their minority status and the dominant Caucasian culture (Ashford & LeCroy, 2010). Adolescent immigrants face more discrimination as well as are hyper-cognizant of their differences in appearance and language (Ashford & LeCroy, 2010). According to Chicchetti and Toth (1995), child maltreatment effects the development of attachment and affect regulation. They further state that studies

I am now in Erikson's fourth stage of psychosocial development and I am experiencing only industry and not inferiority. I am six years old and I am switching schools already. School is really hard for me because I am incredibly timid and I do not speak to any other classmates. My teacher also makes me cry everyday before and after school, so my parents and grandmother decided to take me out of private school in kindergarten. But I like school because it gives me a place to be productive in. I have a hard time adjusting to other classmates in my new school but I like my teacher in first grade, Mrs. Barnehart, and form a good relationship with her due to behaving well in class. She writes my mom notes and praises me for listening

Adolescence is the fifth stage in Erikson's psychosocial development theory. It is posited to last from ages 12 to 18, and the basic conflict inherent in the adolescent stage, which the person must resolve, is between identity and role confusion. This conflict between identity and role confusion especially plays itself out in peer relationships, but the teenager also navigates through identity and role confusion with relationships in the family unit. Identity and role confusion issues can arise with sexuality, as well as worldviews.

My mother was in denial that she was pregnant and did not take proper care of herself or get the proper prenatal care that is recommended. I was born through a scheduled cesarean on January 22, 1993 at 36 gestational weeks, in Plainview Texas. “Babies born before the 37th week of gestation are known as preterm (premature) infants” (Papalia & Martorell, 2015, p. 96). My mom suffered postpartum depression that lasted about three weeks after my birth, and she does not remember much of my first month of life. Either my aunt or dad took care of me when they were off but when they were at work my mom does not know how she cared for me. According to Erikson’s psychosocial stages “the crucial theme of infancy, for example, is basic trust versus basic