Erickson 's Theory On The 8 Stages Of Development Essay

In the early 20th-century, interest in the field of child development emerged. Researchers and theorists studied the ways in which children grew, learned, and, in some instances, were shaped by societal influences (Weiland, 1993). The study of child development enables us to appreciate and understand the social, emotional, physical, educational, and cognitive growth that children go through from birth to early adulthood. Grand theories attempt to organize and arrange concepts and aspects of development using a step approach. Such as that of Erik Erikson’s theory, the Psychosocial Identity Development theory, in which he addresses the development of personal, emotional, and social progression in an individual through stages (Pretorius et al., 2015). Erikson’s model for the approach of development involves the focus of overcoming conflicts that individuals encounter over the span of their childhood that influence their ego identity, or the conscious sense of self that develops and constantly changes due to new experiences and information that is acquired through daily interactions with others and events. In Erikson’s theory, he believed that each person experienced a conflict that served as a defining moment in their development that essentially shaped who they would become later on in life; he believed that unresolved problems of adult life echoed unresolved conflicts of one’s childhood (Berger, 2011).

Before I go into the details of my observations I am going to explain Erickson’s Stages of Psychosocial development. These include, stage one: Trust versus mistrust, Stage two: Autonomy versus doubt, Stage three: Initiative versus guilt, Stage four: Industry versus inferiority, Stage five: Identity versus role confusion, Stage six: Intimacy versus isolation, Stage seven: Generativity versus stagnation, and finally Stage eight: Integrity versus despair. Stage one takes place from when a child is born until the age of one. In stage one “the infant is uncertain about the world in which they live”. (Saul

The first stage of Erikson's psychosocial stage is trust vs. mistrust, which is experienced, in the first year of life. Infants learn to trust in order to satisfy their needs thus developing a feeling of self-worth. When infants receive inconsistent care they

Eric Erikson was one of the most famous theorists of the twentieth century; he created many theories. One of the most talked about theories is his theory of psychosocial development. This is a theory that describes stages in which an individual should pass as they are going through life. His theory includes nine stages all together. The original theory only included eight stages but Erikson‘s wife found a ninth stage and published it after his death. The nine stages include: trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame and doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. identity confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, integrity vs. despair, and hope and faith vs. despair (Crandell and Crandell,

The first stage of Erickson’s theory is trust versus mistrust. This stage is from birth to one year old and is based on the baby’s environment and the baby’s primary care giver. During this period, the baby builds a feeling of basic trust. If the baby’s primary care giver is consistent, predictable, and reliable, then, most likely the baby will carry this trust into other relationships, hoping

with family members. We moved each year and never stayed in a home for more than two years.

Freud saw the psyche structure into three parts, the id, ego and superego, all developing at different stages in our lives (McLeod). Freud's id can relate to my experience because when when the id is denied we will feel unpleasure or tension. When this situation was happening I was not happy and very tensed about the situation. This situation could question on how I look at relationships as I begin to grow older into that stage. Ericksons ideas were influenced by Freud’s theory regarding the structure of personality (McLeod). Erickson stated that the ego develops at it successfully resolves crises that are distinctly social in nature (McLeod). These involve establishing a sense of trust in other people and developing a new identity in society (McLeod). Erikson thought that if you witness others making decisions that you will follow and make that decision. During this hard time I did not know if I was going to be able to trust my uncle again because of the situation and stress he caused in our family, but I learned that you have to forgive others and to trust them again. I hope that I will never have to experience this situation myself even though I had witnessed this in my childhood. Vygotsky's theories stress the fundamental role of social interaction in the development of cognition, he believed that community plays a role in the process of “making meaning” (McLeod).

The first stage of Erikson’s eight stages of development is called Trust vs Mistrust, and these two coexists on how the infant will later be affected in the world. Trust revolves around how often the parent attends to their children. Mistrust of course is the complete opposite from Trust. According to Erikson, my mother informed me that I developed a sense of Mistrust/Trust. She explained to me that at first she used to attend to my needs, and pick me up every time I cried, therefore, I developed trust. That all went downhill when my great grandmother told my mother to not pick me up because, crying will help my lungs. Ending with mistrust, is part of the reason why I don’t try to get close to others as much. Nowadays, I tend to keep my distance from other people.

Successfully resolving this stage leads to the child developing the virtue of hope. The child will also develop “optimism, trust, confidence, and security” when they effectively complete this stage (Davey, 2014, para. 5). Failure to complete this stage will result in “insecurity, worthlessness, and general mistrust” to everyone around them (Davey, 2014, para. 5). This stage lasts from birth to 18 months (Davey, 2014). I think I successfully completed Erickson’s first stage. My mother and father provided adequate care for me. They provided comfort and the proper necessities for me to grow. I am optimistic and I generally trust others; I am not overly trusting to a point where I am naïve, but I have a sense of security within myself and the

Erik H. Erikson had eight stages of development that he used to identify personality and identity. These stages of development are Infancy—the challenge of trust{versus mistrust), Stage 2: Toddlerhood—the challenge of autonomy (versus doubt and shame), Stage 3: Preschool—the challenge of initiative (versus guilt), Stage 4: Preadolescence—the challenge of industriousness (versus inferiority), Stage 5: Adolescence—the challenge of gaining identity (versus confusion), Stage 6: Young adulthood—the challenge of intimacy (versus isolation), Stage 7: Middle adulthood—the challenge of making a difference (versus self-absorption), and Stage 8: Old age—the challenge of integrity (versus despair). Now that I've given you the stages of development I'm

German psychoanalyst Erik Erikson developed eight stages of psychosocial theory of development where the main key to developmental task was “development of identity”. (SITATION HERE). The book “The life Cycle Completed” by Erik H. Erikson emphasizes on how each individuals need to go through trust and mistrust or also known as crisis to get to the right solution, to find their identities. During the early adolescence is when we develop bonding with parent, friend, and romantic partners. In

As human beings age, according to Erik Erikson, they go through developmental stages that help to create and transform their personalities. If needs are met and the ego is gratified, then the individual is able to move on to the next challenge. Onward they march in life and in stage until they find the end level: integrity versus despair. This has been categorized as adults 65 years and older by Erikson. Here, people are to reminisce and judge their lives in terms of merit or disappointment. Erikson himself had a lot to comb through in his later years.

Erikson’s theory was based on Freud’s psychosexual theory of ego psychology. He desired to determine that psychosocial development of an individual is due to the interaction between the innermost self, the social, historical, cultural background and the living individual (Seligman & Shanock, 1998). This theory is described basing on principals such as a) Epigenetic Principal, a) Radius of Relationship, b) Psychosocial Crisis, c) Prime Adaptive Ego Qualities and d) Core Pathologies (Newman & Newman,2012). Erikson also described the succession of eight stages of development. They are a) Oral sensory, b) Muscular-anal, c) Loco

In Erik Erikson’s theory he explains that in every stage, a positive or a negative attitude is developed within an individual. During our developing stages we are either successful or we fail. Each stage will come to us whether or not we’re ready for them or not. You can think of the stages as learning stages where crisis occur .Only if we have learned from the previous crisis we are successful. You cannot avoid 1 stage and move to a next stage because of the developing process. The outcome of our lives depends on the way we chose to progress throughout each stage in life. Erikson had his own way in describing each stage in life that we all must go through.

During the first stage of Erikson’s theory trust vs. mistrust – hope it includes from infancy to the first two years of life. The main importance is on the mother and father’s development skill and care for a child, particularly in terms of visual contact and touch. The child will build up hopefulness, trust, confidence, and security if correctly cared for and handled. If a child does not receive trust,