Erik Erikson 's Life Span Development Theory

    According to Erikson’s first stage of development, “Trust vs. Mistrust” begins as soon as the infant is born. Erikson believe that when an infant is first born, they must learn how to trust others. In other words, their parents are the ones who are suppose to

On October 13, 2017, our Life-Span Development class had the opportunity to observe the physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional development of Levi, a seventeen-month-old male toddler. When he came to the observation with his mother, father, and sister. With the whole family coming to the observation, we were able to observe more interactions, and learn more from the parents. The observation was conducted at Dordt College in room 1309, and the infant’s parent consented to participate in the live observation.

| Development of basic trust, a derivative of the positive attachment between the infant and the primary caretaker, occurs during the first year. This is a cornerstone of emotional development. (0 - 1) Ability to control oneself in a given environment. Developing rudimentary selfconcept - displaying pleasure at being ‘good‘, yet shame, upset, distress and embarrassment at being ‘bad’. (1 - 3) Initially no moral development, as baby but shows needs by crying, cooing, smiling etc. (0-1). No understanding of right or wrong, starts to understand yes/ no. Can have tantrums and sudden mood changes,

Trust vs. Mistrust- During this stage the infant is uncertain about the world in which they

Mistrust. An infant trusts that their caregiver is going to be there to meet their needs. If a caregiver does not appear the infant will experience conflict of trusting others. Erikson believed that this shaped a person’s interactions for the rest of their life. Benjamin Spock stated in his book Dr. Spock’s Baby and Child Care that infants learn during early infancy a sense of trust by having their needs met promptly and lovingly. He does go on to say that after six months a baby can wait a bit for a parent’s attention, especially, if the parent is feeling overwhelmed or anxiety due to the fact that the she is feeling enslavement by the baby always needing to be held (2012. pg. 112-113). Mary Ainsworth has four categories of behavior based on maternal care: sensitivity-insensitivity, cooperation-interference, and acceptance-rejection. Ainsworth believed that a mother to form positive attachment should be able to interpret her baby’s signals and respond promptly, understand that the baby is individual, to intervene in the babies activities without inferring, and the mother’s feelings toward her baby (Benson, Haith. 2009. pg. 32). It seems though that Raj took it to one extreme of not answering cries after in the night after six months, while I was at the opposite end of not putting my six month old down. Cheryl is the balance between us because she has the balance that Ainsworth’s theory requires.

Erik Erikson’s views on the eight stages of development formalized and systematized the concept of life span development. His framework suggested that humans should be understood longitudinally and socially in the development of personality. Erikson is generally regarded as having a comprehensive, time tested, and well-established theory for growth along the life span.

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.

Our lifetime is full of lessons and trials that we go through to help us mature and learn. As mentioned before, babies have several needs that have to be met as they rely on their caregivers for all of their dependencies. They will form a healthy amount of trustworthiness in people if their needs are met but if they are not consistently met, the infant will start to distrust the individuals. When their needs are met with unavailability or rejection the child forms a sense of mistrust in their caregivers, the outcome is fear and a conclusion that the world itself is very unreliable and erratic. The infant looks to their main caregivers for reliability and consistency to dissolve those uneasy feelings of doubt. If the child’s care was harsh and undependable, they will not have assurance in the world or in their own capabilities. They will bring that distrust from their infancy to their adulthood and into future relations. If the care they received was bad it will result in major feelings of anxiety, insecurities, and an overall feeling of

Stage one of Erikson’s theory is described as “trust vs. mistrust.” This stage occurs from birth to year one of a child’s life (Erickson H., 1964). It is obvious that overcoming this developmental crisis is out of the hands of the child at this point in their lives. If there is stable and consistent care, the child will gain a feeling of trust that carries on in relationships later on in life. On the other hand, inconsistency and neglect will instill in the infant a sense of mistrust that carries on in future relationships (Erickson H., 1964).

Trust versus mistrust. This is the first stage which comes in the first year after a child’s birth. In this stage, children depend entirely on adults for basic needs such as warmth, comfort and food. If the caretakers provide these needs in a reliable manner, the children become attached to them and develop a sense of security (Scheck, 2014). Otherwise, the babies may develop insecure attitude or mistrust. This theory affirms the response received from the interviewee regarding her childhood years. She explained that she used to feel more secure and trusted her father more than her mother. This can be associated with the fact that

Infancy through toddlerhood embodies the stage of life during which we emerge from the womb up until about 1 ½ years old. This period of growth as we become a human in the world is punctuated by the crisis that Erikson describes as “Trust vs. Mistrust”. During this time, infants are unsure of just about everything, because they have no experience with anything (maybe change to lack experience). Learning what things they can and cannot trust is crucial and they look to their primary caregiver to guide them. For example, a person who was not given close caregiver relationships during infancy and toddlerhood may grow up to be reserved and less likely to confide in others or look for (seek out) guidance in them(delete). I spoke with my mother

Parents are primarily responsible for satisfying this stage of development in their child. It is imperative parents are attentive to their infant's needs so trust can be developed.

If the individual’s needs are not met in this stage the individual will most likely develop a mistrust that will hamper relationship in the future. The relationship between parent and caregiver is vital. “It is during the first months of life that the baby comes to trust or not, to have faith or not. Whether trust and faith are developed has direct implications for identity formation” (Goodwin, 1998) The goal of this stage is to gain ‘Hope’.

Erikson’s theory of ‘trust vs. mistrust’ will be outlined in this paper to suggest how it can be implemented to support parents in developing positive relationships and attachment with their infant and lay the foundations for trusting relationships into adulthood.

In his theory of development, Erikson suggests that a child develops a blend of trust and mistrust during the first year of his/her life if he/she receives consistent and healthy care. Therefore, a child needs warm, attentive, consistent, and predictable care in order to develop trust during the initial eighteen months of his/her life. Kim's