Essay on Stages of Erik Erikson's Human Development Cycle

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).

An individual is made up of his or her frames of reference. Our social interactions and beliefs are all a reflection of our surroundings, environment, things we hear, feel or touch. A frame of reference can simply be defined as “The context, viewpoint, or set of presuppositions or of evaluative criteria within which a person's perception and thinking seem always to occur, and which constrains selectively the course and outcome of these activities" therefore one can say, Gender, Age, Religion, Environment, Education, Occupation, Political Class, Family and Press are the common determinants of individual frames of reference.

In this stage the child learns to feel comfortable with parents and trusts their care or develops a deep mistrust that makes them feel unsafe. Although Aileen’s mother did not leave her until age 3 she neglected them at a very young age and Aileen did not have a father to nurture her either.

Lifespan development is essential, as it is the changes that happen to us throughout a person’s lifespan. Our development occurs at ages stages where we develop from infancy till death. This essay will contain my life story to display the domains in 5 age stages in my lifespan development. The domains I will be exploring is in this essay is physical, emotional, cognitive, social, cultural and moral domain. The influence of biological and environmental play a significant role in my development. Development is influenced by nature or nurture and its affect will occur throughout lifespan. The changes that occur during development have stage. Each theorists has stages of development where they display the changes. This essay will explore my

Erik Erikson was born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1902. Because his mother was Jewish and his father was not, he was often bullied in school. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, so his Jewish peers mocked him for standing out and being different, and his peers at school teased him simply for being Jewish. His own internal conflict with his identity sparked his interest in identity formation and development. Although he never actually received a degree in medicine or psychology, he became friends with Anna Freud who helped him study psychoanalysis. Erikson supported and was influenced by many of Sigmund Freud’s ideas. Freud had a theory on development, he called it the 5 stages of psychosexual development, this is one of the theories that Erikson

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,

20 is a strange age, you don’t have the excuse of being a teenager to fall back on but people still treat you like a child. Since high school, I’ve been interested in psychology, a topic many people engage in because as humans, we all naturally try to learn more about ourselves as a whole, but also as individuals. Erik Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development mark the eight points people go through from infancy to elder hood. Based on Erikson’s theory, twenty year olds are at the end of adolescence where we wonder who we are and what we can be, as well as being at the beginning of early adulthood where we have formed most of our identity but are also now trying to find love and where we fit into the world.

No matter who you are I believe that everyone will go through stages in their life that will get them to where they are on today. I am a person who has a very interesting story; this is the first time it will be told in full. We were asked to use Erik Erikson’s theory of development as a guideline to telling the story of our lives. At first I was very nervous; however, I soon realized that this would be a fun task. Erik Erikson has eight stages of Development (Zastrow and Kirst-Ashman). I will be walking you though my life using each one of his stages drawing out the map of my life. Within my life I have had some very interesting encounters. I have been through foster care, abuse, rape, molestation, starvation, adoption, depression, and

As human beings age, according to Erik Erikson, they go through developmental stages that help to create and transform their personalities. If needs are met and the ego is gratified, then the individual is able to move on to the next challenge. Onward they march in life and in stage until they find the end level: integrity versus despair. This has been categorized as adults 65 years and older by Erikson. Here, people are to reminisce and judge their lives in terms of merit or disappointment. Erikson himself had a lot to comb through in his later years.

Before you can enhance Erikson’s first stage of human development you must understand it. Feldman (2017) says that it is called Trust versus Mistrust. Erikson named this stage trust versus mistrust because, it is a period during the first 18 months of a child’s life where an infant must learn to gain a sense of trust or mistrust from the people caring for them (Feldman, 2017). Infants unable to communicate or fend for themselves are strongly influenced by their environment around them. At such a young age their brains are still able to be modified because they are experiencing things for the first time (Feldman, 2017). This can be where behavior and where a development of structure in their lives comes from.

In Erik Erikson’s theory he explains that in every stage, a positive or a negative attitude is developed within an individual. During our developing stages we are either successful or we fail. Each stage will come to us whether or not we’re ready for them or not. You can think of the stages as learning stages where crisis occur .Only if we have learned from the previous crisis we are successful. You cannot avoid 1 stage and move to a next stage because of the developing process. The outcome of our lives depends on the way we chose to progress throughout each stage in life. Erikson had his own way in describing each stage in life that we all must go through.

Autonomy versus shame and doubt is the next stage in Erikson's psychosocial theory. This stage primarily deals with the issue "Can I act on my own?" and it last from about age one until age three (Sigelman, C. & Rider, E., 2009, pg.332). According to Erikson (2009) in this stage a toddler begins to assert their will and they develop a greater sense of their own identity. Research supports this developmental stage as well, and 18 month olds begin to "recognize themselves in a mirror and lace their speech with me and no" (Sigelman, C. & Rider, E., 2009, pg.332). To develop this stage parents should let their children have some control over small areas of their lives. One way a parent could do this would be give their toddler a choice in what they wear between several outfits, or a choice of activities. Parents could ask their 3 year old "do you want to go to the pool or do you want to go to the park today?" This would allow their toddler to act on their own and develop a sense of autonomy without relinquishing too much control to them.

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

The first stage happens when you are at the age of one .The first stage is called Trust versus mistrust. Infants learn to trust or mistrust their caregivers. The world is based on whether if the child’s needs were met or not. As children we depend on our mothers to feed us and our fathers to protect us. It also matters if you grow up with two parents or just one, and where you live. I grew up in a small community with a mother and a father who loved me unconditionally. I learned to trust my parents instead of mistrust.

Adolescence is the fifth stage in Erikson's psychosocial development theory. It is posited to last from ages 12 to 18, and the basic conflict inherent in the adolescent stage, which the person must resolve, is between identity and role confusion. This conflict between identity and role confusion especially plays itself out in peer relationships, but the teenager also navigates through identity and role confusion with relationships in the family unit. Identity and role confusion issues can arise with sexuality, as well as worldviews.