Erik Erikson Essay example

Erikson was a German psychologist and psychoanalyst. He was a student of Freud, and was greatly influenced by his theories of personality development. Similarly to Winnicott, Erikson drew on his experiences as a child analyst, to inform his contributions. Erikson’s theories, like Winnicott, are highly regarded today.

Erik Erikson describes in his research eight psychosocial developmental stages. Although the first five are based on Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, he also added three adult stages. Erikson’s theories vary from Freud’s in that he believes genes and biological impulses, along with family and culture have the strongest consequence on human development.

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

Erikson believed that people develop in psychosocial stages. He emphasized developmental change throughout the human life span. In Erikson's theory, eight stages of development result as we go through the life span. Each stage consists of a crisis that must be faced. According to Erikson, this crisis is not a catastrophe but a turning point. The more an individual resolves the crises successfully, the healthier development will be.

Erikson was a psychologist who was greatly influenced by Freud. Although influenced by Freud there are some differences in there developmental stages. Erikson believed that development in an individual was molded by society, culture, and environment. While Freud’s belief was that development is in some way is influenced by the fixation of sexual interest of different areas of the body. The stages in Erikson’s development theory outline how important social experiences can shape us. While Freud’s theory is mainly based on ones sexuality. Additionally the other significant difference between Erikson’s and Freud’s theories is the outcome of a particular stage. Erikson believed that the outcome of a certain stage was not permanent and that it could be changed later on in life. While Freud presumed that if an individual became fixated on a stage problems associated with that stage would be carried on through life.

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,

Erik focused most of ideas and discussions towards the adolescent development, he referred to his own identity crisis as questions that surrounded these roots (Friedman, 1999). Erickson was born to a Jewish-Danish mother who possibility had sexual affair with male who was not Jewish-Danish. Where his mother’s family sent her while pregnant to Germany to have her baby. At the age 3 years old, his mother married his pediatrician Dr. Homburger only under the conditions that she never communicate his origins (Friedman, 1999). Yet Erikson believed that family story that was provided was not essentially true. Due to this conflict he lived in restraint because of his origins, this enhanced his creativity and provided him

Erikson believed that during this age children begin realizing that they have a will and they begin to understand that their actions are their own. Children will begin to accept and proclaim their own independence. However, just like Freud, Erikson believed that if parents are too strict with their children, or punished them too harshly this could result with the child having unhealthy feelings of shame and doubt.

Erik Homberger Erikson was born on June 15, 1902 in Frankfort, Germany. Erikson was born to his Jewish mother Karla Abrahamsen, and his biological father who was an unnamed Danish man who abandoned him before he was born. During his school years, he studied art and different languages instead of chemistry and biology. When he graduated he was interested in becoming an artist. During the 1920’s he decided to travel Europe, where he had to sleep under bridges. After traveling around Europe for a year, he decided to enroll in an art school back in Germany. He stayed at the art school for several years. Then he began to teach art and other subjects to American children who came to Vienna for Freudian training. Erikson was admitted to the Vienna Psychoanalytic Institute. In 1933 he moved to Boston, where he filled a position at Harvard medical school as America’s first child analyst. While he taught at Yale and Berkley, he did his famous studies on the modern life of the Lakota and the Yurok. Erikson is known for being a prolific writer. He has wrote many books and essays such as Childhood and Society (1950), Youngman Luther (1958), Youth: change and challenge (1963), Etc. Erikson went on to teach at a clinic in Massachusetts then back to Harvard before he retired in 1970. In 1994 Erikson passed away at the age of 92.

7).” The Formal Operational Stage (adolescence to adulthood): During this final stage, there is an increase in logic, deductive reasoning, and understanding in a child’s abstract ideas. Children become capable enough to develop numerous, different solutions to a problem. That said, physically seeing ‘objects’ or drawing pictures are no longer required because mental operations can be done, such as math calculations and imagining the outcomes of certain situations. Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development A German psychologist, Erik Erikson, believed that personality develops in eight separate stages and build upon each other. In each he identified critical issues we face from infancy to elderly and that our personality is influenced by the outcome of conflicts we face. Trust versus Mistrust (infancy): During this stage, the infant is unsure about the world, and look to their caregiver for care that is consistent and stabile. If the care they receive is, in fact, reliable and consistent, they will develop a sense of trust. For instance, feeding them, changing their diaper, tending to them when they cry,

Erik Erikson made leaps and bounds when it came to the field of psychology. Born in Frankfort, Germany in 1902, Erik always felt a

Freud and Erikson have similar but at the same time different ways of covering the Theories of Development. They may be from different backgrounds, different schools, worked at different jobs, but they both viewed development as something of importance. They both thought that they had the correct theory, and they both thought that they new best at what was suppose to happen between the different stages. Sigmund Freud had only five stages of development whereas Erik Erikson had eight. Erikson went through adulthood and Freud did not. They both can make some good points in their stages but, like any theory, there are complications or problems.

Erik Erikson believe that childhood is very important in personality development. He created a theory of psychosocial development that covers an entire life. I believe that Erik Erikson did a great job on creating these stages.

Identity is central to Erikson's thinking. Erikson coined the term "identity crisis". Erikson lived such a crisis in his own life. At a young age Erikson found out his father was really his stepfather. Erik Homberger Erikson was born on June 15, 1902 in Frankfurt, Germany to his mother

Erikson’s theory followed Freud´s and it was based on many of Freud´s ideas. He had studied at Anna Freud, Freud’s daughter in Vienna. Erikson´s and Freud´s theories have similarities. Both theories admit the importance of the unconscious on development. They also both separates development into stages of a person´s life and handle similar age spans for these developmental stages. However, there are also differences that exist between names of the stages and the developmental subjects that are assumed during each stage. Part of the reason for that is that each psychologist has his own exclusive view of what causes a person’s development.