Analyzing Erikson's 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

Erikson theory Basic Mistrust vs. Mistrust, “Comfort, certainty, and care allow the child to develop basic trust.” The strength of Erikson theory is the trust they have in their parent. Having this healthy trust will help develop the infant’s trust of other caregivers.

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.

The first stage of Erikson's psychosocial stage is trust vs. mistrust, which is experienced, in the first year of life. Infants learn to trust in order to satisfy their needs thus developing a feeling of self-worth. When infants receive inconsistent care they

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,

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

Psychoanalyst Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory is also part of the psychodynamic perspective. According to Erikson (Berk, 2007) society and culture have an influence on human development. In contrast to Freud whose theory that proposed development was complete by adolescence (Berk, 2007), Erikson’s theory argues that development is continuous throughout the lifespan and occurs in eight stages. The first stage of development, trust versus mistrust, occurs during infancy (birth to 1-year-old). During this stage if an infant’s basic needs are met by a responsive and attentive caregiver, the infant will begin to trust the caregiver, thus establishing the foundation for future trust relationships. In contrast if an infant does not receive enough or irregular care, or if caregivers are unresponsive, the infant can develop mistrust. The autonomy versus shame and doubt is the next stage, which occurs between the first and third years

The eight psychosocial stages of development are all vital in some way to our advancement as humans but the stage that is the most important to us is the first stage of Trust vs. Mistrust. This stage takes place from the moment the baby is birthed into this world all the way until they are almost two years old. It can also occur near the end of people’s lives as they have to trust they will be taken care of when they are too old to do so themselves. In this psychosocial stage, this is when infants learn to either trust or mistrust the world around them and Erikson believed that it helps to regulate and employ a prevailing impact over a person’s relations with others for the rest of their lifetime. Infants need care and attention because they fully rely on others for their numerous needs to be met. These particular needs

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).

Erikson's first psychosocial conflict is trust versus mistrust. This stage begins at birth and continues until about one year of age. The central issue that

Erikson’s theory of basic trust versus mistrust focuses on not the amount of feeding and time spend but the quality of the parent-infant relationship. If the parent is available to tend to the needs to the child, such as relieving the discomfort with sensitively during the first year then the results are positive in the child’s development of the world. It’s during this stage that the infant comes to trust the caregiver and learns from the comfort it receives from the caregiver and connection to its environment. Mistrust is form when the needs of the infant are not attended to and is neglected or mistreated.

This theory is the third of eight parts to Erik Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development. Erikson states that we progress through these eight stages of development in a fixed order with each stage involving a crucial event or predicament that must be overcome in order to progress to the proceeding stage. This event takes place during a critical period within the individual’s development, thus if it is negatively resolved then it will prevent optimal development into the following stages however if it is positively resolved then the individual will advance normally. The manner in which we progress through each stage shapes our personalities and abilities, as even if we negatively complete a stage, we still pass through it, however the consequences are revealed later on in the next stage and so forth.

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

Trust in infancy sets the stage for a lifelong expectation that the world will be a good pleasant place to live, or a place to mistrust and filled with uncertainty (Berzoff, 2011). The challenge of this stage is