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Erik Erikson 's Social Stages Of Development

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Erik Erikson was born in Germany to a Danish mother and three years later, a German stepfather. He never knew his real father from Denmark. Growing up in Germany in a Jewish environment was sometimes difficult for him because of his Nordic features among his brown eyes, brown haired peers. Erikson was largely influenced by Sigmund Freud and expanded upon his Human Development theory with his own, the Psych-Social Stages of Development. Erikson moved to America in 1933 with his family to Boston, becoming the first child analyst in that area at Harvard Medical School. He taught other institutions such as Yale and UC Berkeley. During his long career, he wrote about a variety of topics ranging from issues of race and sexuality to influential figures in history.
Erikson’s Psyco-Social Stages of Development was extremely influential the field of developmental psychology because it laid down stages for ages to come. There are eight stages that span the human life expectancy. The first stage is called Trust vs. Mistrust, which deals with infants. The infant is developing trust within the mother and parental figures and with that trust, stability is either established or not. The mistrust that infants may develop comes from a lack of stability with their caregivers. The second stage is Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt, between the ages of a year and a half and three. Children are either encouraged or criticized by their parents as they seek independence. The autonomy comes from being

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