James Erikson's Theory Of Identity And Identity Development

However, adolescence brings a plethora of challenges, such as eating disorders, substance abuse, sexuality, and crime (Rathus, p.324). Known as Sturm und Drang, or “storm and stress”, adolescence is the period in which we question who we are and search for our identity (Rathus, p. 312). For many adolescents, the struggle for identity is a lifelong process that some never will figure out. Searching for their identity, adolescents will likely experiment with different values, beliefs, and relationships, due to the uncertainty of what they want and what they stand for (Rathus, p. 316). For myself, I never experienced the earlier mentioned challenges, such as eating disorders or substance abuse, but I still experienced an identity crisis and the every day struggles of figuring out who I was. While I still am in the process of completely finding my true self, I feel like I have a great sense of self and know myself better than most people my age. When conflicts arise in my life, I try to face them and understand what I need to do to make the situation better. For many teenagers, facing problems is a difficult thing to do, and many will fall into a certain reaction pattern, known as an identity status (Rathus, p.316). The identity status I believe I am currently in is called identity achievement, which means you have coped with various problems and know what you want

As previously stated, Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages of Developments depend on the outcome of the preceding stage in order for the current stage to develop any specific way. In the Identity versus Role Confusion stage, the adolescent begins to comprehend themselves in multiple facets due to experimentation throughout this stage (Editorial Board, 2014). Erikson theorized that the adolescent’s identity would focus on two major perspectives: sexual and occupational (McLeod, 2013). The adolescent must accept and be comfortable with the many sides of which they are and apply those features to formulate an identifiable self (Editorial Board, 2014). They strive to belong to a specific society and fit in with others (McLeod, 2013). The adolescent starts thinking in the future sense of careers, family, relationships etc. and go on to search for someone to inspire themselves so they can systematically develop a set of ideals that assist in their desire to belong (Child Development Institute, 1999). Success in this stage produces the attribute of fidelity (McLeod,

The word “identity” is an unclear concept; it debates a social category or distinguishable features. Identity development is the process through which individuals go through in life. Identity development is examined in various stages. These stages happen around different ages. In Erikson’s psychological identity development theory. He explains the eight stages through which identity is present during adolescent and early adulthood. His ideas were influenced by Freud’s theory. The eight stages of Identity development is more significant during childhood and adolescent to during an adult.

1 Describe the growth and developmental tasks that were displayed by the child you interacted with in this setting (Erikson, Piaget, and Freud). Were these tasks age appropriate? Did you assess any developmental challenges in the client that you interacted with? How were they dealt with (by you and by the health care team)?

Marcia's work compliments Erikson's work around the psychosocial stages and crisis', “descriptively categorizes four main points along the continuum of identity development. These points describe different identity conditions, ranging from a diffuse and indeterminate individual identity to a precisely defined and highly specific individual identity." (Oswalt, 2010) During adolescence young adults struggle to find their identity. There may be conflicts between what someone wants to achieve from life and the kind of person they want to be, versus expectations from society or their peers. "Erikson suggests search for identity is ongoing during adolescence, they may experience more than one stage." The four stages described

Even though Erikson believed that an individual’s identity was discovered by the end of adolescence, he advised that identity will continue to grow throughout adulthood. With that being said, Erikson lacked in providing information of that growth (Sokol, 2009). Erikson’s theory was also unclear of the causes of the psychosocial stages of development and how the resolution of one stage influenced an individual’s personality. He did however stress that his theory was merely an instrument that provided an outline that development growth could be measured by (McLeod, 2013).

In this research project several individuals, both parents and children were surveyed and asked various questions to see what their views on morals and values were and if teaching them had an impactful effect on children. With the secondary research conducted the teachings of morals and values will be linked to socialization as well as being looked at through different developmental theories. Many pages in the Individuals and Families, Diverse Perspectives (Holloway, Holloway & Witte, 2010) will be used to help relate the primary research to the secondary research of this project. The ways of socializing children will be mentioned as well as the concept of teaching morals and values to children and how it can be explained through different developmental theories.

The development of an individual’s identity although it varies among individuals usually requires both the primary and secondary level of socialization. Whether in intimate family circles or social institutions, the socialization process that occurs makes us who we are. On the basis of this, I will explain how agents in both primary and secondary socialization process has shaped the way I developed myself and how they will also continue to shape me throughout my life. I will do this by exploring some tenets of Charles H. Cooley Looking Glass Self, Erik Erikson Stages of Development and Erving Goffman’s Dramaturgy and the Presentation of Self. In my analysis these theories are blended together to highlight their application in the development of myself.

Identity Foreclosure – the status in which the adolescent seems willing to commit to some relevant roles, values, or goals for

When I was in high school, I used to babysit. After each job, I’d not only leave a little richer, I also left with some pretty funny stories. The kids always had some pretty interesting information to share with me. I had one tell me that he could talk to horses, and had another that was convinced that the tooth fairy lived in his closet. Although I find it funny now, when I was their age, I probably had some pretty crazy thoughts myself. This is account to the different stage we go through during our psychosocial development. In Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development, we go through eight distinctive stages each with a crisis we must overcome. With successful completion of each stage resulting in a healthy personality and the acquisition of basic virtues. These stages include Trust vs. Mistrust, Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt, Initiative vs. Guilt, Industry (competence) vs. Inferiority, Identity vs. Role Confusion, Intimacy vs. Isolation, Generativity vs. Stagnation, and Ego Integrity vs. Despair.

Erik Erikson was a psychoanalyst who accepted many of Freud’s ideas while placing more importance on the social and cultural features of human development across the lifespan (Upton, 2011).

Erik Erikson was a German born, American developmental psychologist. He is known best for his theory of psychosocial development, and creating the phrase “identity crisis”. He practiced after Freud, adopting some and disagreeing with some of his theories.

“Erik Erickson (1902-1994) was best known for his work on stages of psychosocial development and identity crisis” (Cherry, A Brief Biography of His Remarkable Life, 2016). Erickson was able to gain a clear focus on children and was able to interpret what he was seeing by observing children throughout the life, including events of childhood, adulthood, and old age. "Erikson 's theory posits that every human being passes through several distinct and qualitatively different stages in life, from birth to death." According to him, the stages are universal, and the ages which one is said to have passed from one to another stage are also fairly universal" (Ramkumar, 2002).

James Marcia is another influential theory of Erikson, who expanded upon the concept of identity confusion and identity crisis. Marcia used the terms of identity status to describe four unique development identity points. Those points are identity diffusion, identity foreclosure, moratorium and identity achievement. Besides, Marcia’s theory does not assume that every teenager or adolescent will go through and experience all four identity status. Firstly, Identity diffusion explained that the teenage haven’t considered their identity at all and does not establish any life goals (Oswalt, 2015c). For example, Sheldon does not have any life goals or future plan after his finish his foundation and he just go with flow of his life.