Gilligan Human Development

The Generativity vs. stagnation stage ranges from ages thirty-five to sixty-five and is when we ask ourselves if we produced anything of value in our lives, and if not then we find some way to fulfill that desire (Erikson, 1994). Lastly, the Ego integrity vs. despair stage ranges from sixty-five years old until death, and is when we look back on our lives and decide if we made an impact or made a difference while we were on this earth (Schultz, 2008).

Erikson’s (1968, 1980, 1982) psychosocial stages of development provide a framework for the different stages of development throughout the human lifespan. These stages of development begin at birth and continue until death, and separate the lifespan into eight stages based on chronological age. Within these eight different aging stages are corresponding psychosocial stages. Each of these psychosocial stages represent a conflict between two characteristics of development for that particular time period in a person’s life.

The second theory examined is Erik Erikson’s eight stages of psychosocial development. Each stage in Erikson’s theory involves a conflict/crisis that a person must work through to evolve their personality. Rosenthal (1981) explains that, “Each stage arises because a new dimension of social interaction

Cherry, K. (2014). Erikson's Psychosocial Stages Summary Chart. Retrieved January 14, 2014, from About.com: http://psychology.about.com/library/bl_psychosocial_summary.htm

During this stage, the thought process becomes more rational, mature and 'adult like ', or more 'operational ', although this process most often continues well into the teenage years.

This stage in the life span is considered the time when a person moves from the childhood stage into the adulthood stage. During this time there are many physical, cognitive, and personality developments that affect the

Gillian was a former student of Kohlberg’s and noted that the model was tested on boys only and posed the question if women were really “morally inferior” (“The Differences Between Kohlberg's & Gilligan's View”). Therefore, she did her tests with females. The main perspective of Kohlberg’s theory was that of justice. Santrock explains this perspective as a moral perspective that puts the focus on the rights of the individual, and the individuals are viewed as making moral decisions independently (235). While Kohlberg’s theory focuses on justice, Gillian’s theory focuses on care. Santrock explains Gillian’s care perspective as the moral perspective which views people in terms of their connectedness with other people and emphasizes the interpersonal communication relationships with others, and concern for others (235). Gillian did this because through her research she came to the discovery that females prioritize empathy over logic as well as they define and understand themselves more within their relationships to other people (“The Differences Between Kohlberg's & Gilligan's View”). So, overall Gillian did the same moral development tests, but focused on the perspective of caring rather than justice and focused on girls rather than

The next stage is known to be the ego, at which, it works in fulfilling the urges developed from id. It works partially with each of the three consciousness levels. It made us to think and act accordingly by the reality principle; nevertheless, it is informed of the real world and such consequences basing from our behavior. This stage has promoted us to do things and taking steps which are always in safe and reasonable in various conditions. The last stage of personality is known as the superego,

The three theories I have chosen to discuss are all extremely relevant ideas; although I prefer Erik Erikson’s stage of psychosocial development. Erik Erikson’s theory covers a person’s entire lifespan showing the many different stages throughout one’s life. A person is always

Ego: In this second developmental stage, compromises in instinctive responses to environmental circumstances begin to develop. The ego mediates with the id by considering the rules of the real world and the consequences of actions taken in that world.

Erikson developed eight stages of human development. Briefly I would describe all eight my I will concentrate on stages five and six which are adolescence and young adulthood. Myer describes the stages in the following manner. Stage one occurs during the first year This stage is called infancy (trust vs. mistrust) during this stage if needs are dependably met, infants develop a sense of basic trust. The second stage is called the toddler stage (autonomy vs. shame and doubt). This stage occurs while the baby is two years old, in this stage toddlers learn to exercise will do things for themselves, or they doubt their abilities. The third stage is called the preschooler between the ages of three and five (initiative vs. guilt). During this stage preschoolers learn to initiate

While ethics theories often focus on justice, care, an "equally valid moral perspective," is usually disregarded because of male bias. The two perspectives are often pleasant-sounding, but a need for care point of view precedence exists. While truth is evident in both these statements, the problem of distinguishing between them becomes apparent soon after. Many feminist look to psychologist Carol Gilligan's research for evidence to confirm the difference between characteristically male and female approaches to moral decision making. Her research illustrated how men almost unfailingly focus on justice when making moral decisions and women use justice and care in equal proportions in their moral judgments. While men and women take different

Gilligan’s moral development of “care ethics” is based on the findings that men tend to establish their relationships in a ranked order and pledge to the morality of rights. Women in comparison are more focused on the interpersonal relationships with people that include caring, sensitivity and being connected (Skoe, 2014). Gilligan’s “care ethics” differs from Kohlberg in that she believes emotions, cognition and action are not separate and to really act upon morality one has to know that they are intertwined. Knowing what moral actions to take therefore involves understanding the other person and caring is expressed through emotions. Kohlberg sees moral reasoning directed by principles of right actions and involves less emotions and more rationality (Blum, 1988). Nevertheless, Gilligan stresses that the male “justice” and female “care” theory of moral development are both equal and valid and by integrating the two forms the full potential of moral development (Skoe,

This theory focused on how children socialize and how they develop their sense of self. This happens in eight distinct stages. I will only be discussing the ones that occur from birth to puberty. Each developmental stage has two possible outcomes. According to the theory, successful completion of each stage results in a healthy personality and successful interactions with others. Failure to successfully complete a stage can result in a reduced ability to complete further stages and therefore a more unhealthy personality and sense of self. These stages, however, can be resolved successfully at a later time.

According to Freud this is the final stage and it continues throughout a person’s life. He calls it the Genital Stage. During this stage he believes that a person seeks balance between their biological instincts and sense of morality. In other words, Freud believes that a person learns to channel their biological instincts into socially acceptable displays of love and career goals. Erikson called this stage Identity Vs. Role Confusion. He believed it was a period where the focus of development shifts to social bonding in order to establish meaning in one’s life as an