Erik Erikson's Theory and Legacy

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).

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.

*Social and emotional development: at this age the child becomes more independent and confident, they like to help adults, they start sharing with other children, and considering other people’s feelings.

Erikson’s theory would suggest that Betty’s behavior is externally motivated, being driven by external forces as a child by her parents, and as an adult her husband and her kids. This behavior is motivated by the fact that her parents were unsupportive and condescending and were constantly comparing her to her older brother, who was much more successful in academia. This ultimately led to her dependent lifestyle which needs external forces to drive her behavior. The system of personality primarily involved in the formation of personality is the ego, with a focus on her ego-identity. The ego-identity is how an individual determines who they are and they desire to be. Since Betty is reliant on outside factors to motivate her, in terms of her ego-identity, her ego is impaired.

If this stage is successful the child have the virtue of purpose. The fourth stage is industry vs. inferiority which happens in elementary school from the age 6 until puberty. During this stage, the child’s teacher and peers become the source of self-esteem. Children in this stage feel like they need to fit in and gain approval of those around them. They feel confident and gain a sense of pride when they are praised for their accomplishments. If this stage is successful they will gain the virtue of competence. If they feel they can’t do what is asked of them, are rejected by their peers, or their parents/teachers treat them insensitively, they will learn inferiority. Stage five is ego-identity vs. role-confusions which occurs during adolescence. Teenagers being to wonder who they are. This leads to them going through phases and rebelling to search for where they fit in and belong. They explore themselves, others, and roles. If they are unable to establish who they are, they’ll experience role-confusion and suffer an identity crisis. Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of fidelity, but failure means they feel they have no place in society. Stage six is intimacy vs. isolation, this

| During this stage the child begins to feel more secure and is able to cope with the different surroundings and unknown adults around them for a certain period of time, they become more willing with their teachers and love to help out in class and are sociable and friendly with

Social/Cultural: In this stage the child develop a sense of self and a sense of belonging to a family. They begin interacting with other children and they also play in stages (playing alone, playing near others but not really playing with them, not wanting to share, playing and sharing, and playing with a purpose). This stage is also were the child also learn to respect the rights and feelings of others.

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,

My name is Erik Erikson. I was born on June 15th, 1902 in Frankfurt, Germany (Thomas, 2015). Growing up I was raised by my Jewish mother Karla Abrahamsen and by my step father Dr. Theodor Homberger, who was my former pediatrician (Thomas, 2015). My biological father abandoned my mother and me before I was born (Thomas, 2015). I don’t really know much about him and I prefer to keep it that way. I fell in love with and married Joan Serson in the 1930s (Cherry, 2015). Together we had three children, 2 boys and a girl; their names were Kai, Jon, and Sue (Cherry, 2015). Although, I must admit I am most proud of my son Kai T. Erikson for pursuing a career as a sociologist.

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.

Intellectual development relates to this stage because at this stage children learn about the power that the mind has. They learn how to smile and make eye contact. They realise who the main people in their lives are. As they see these people all the time their mind remembers each person and knows that they are the main people that will be taking part in his/her life.

ABSTRACT: The work and legacy of Erik Erikson are described in this brief outline of

Erik Erikson was a researcher of the Psychodynamic perspective who lived through the years 1902 to 1994. He developed a theory that dealt with the stages of human development and was referred to as a Neo-Freudian. A Neo-Freudian are those “who have revised Sigmund Freud’s theory” (Massey, 1986). His theory argued that “both society and culture challenge and shape us” (Feldman, 2011). Erik Erikson’s theory of psychological development does not specify specific ages, so the age categories can only be guessed upon. It is my personal thought that this was a smart move due to different age milestones for different cultures. The essay titled Erik Erikson: Ages, stages, and stories argues that the stages “are organized into a system of

Erik Homberger Erikson was born in 1902 near Frankfort, Germany to Danish parents. Erik studied art and a variety of languages during his school years, rather than science courses such as biology and chemistry. He did not prefer the atmosphere that formal schooling produced so instead of going to college he traveled around Europe, keeping a diary of his experiences. After a year of doing this, he returned to Germany and enrolled in art school. After several years, Erickson began to teach art and other subjects to children of Americans who had come to Vienna for Freudian training. He was then admitted into the Vienna Psychoanalytic Institute. In 1933 he came to the U.S. and became Boston's first child analyst and obtained a position

Erik Erikson was born June 15, 1902 in Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany. Erikson grew up with a fairly average childhood life, while never knowing his biological father; he was raised by his mother and stepfather. In his beginning years of adulthood Erikson did some work as an artist and married his wife, Joan, the couple later then had three children. In the beginning years of Erikson’s career he taught at many schools, including Harvard, Yale and University of California at Berkley. While teaching he also opened