The Different Stages In Women's Identity Development

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).

The interview was conducted with a married female, 59 ½ years of age. The purpose was to document the subject’s lifespan history with recollections of significant events in her development. The focus was to identify any dystonic outcomes during any of the stages of Erikson’s personal developmental theory, theory of the mind, Levinson theory, attachment theory and Identity theory. It is anticipated that the questions could quarantine specific areas and incidents that may have obstructed any of the developmental theories thereby influencing the subject’s later view of adolescent, young adult and middle age. The focus for the paper is inspired by Erickson’s emphasis on the identity crisis as the “psychosocial

Much like Maeve’s trial and error phase, Erikson’s theory of identity versus role confusion explains psychological conflict of adolescence. This theory states that this conflict is resolved positively when adolescents achieve an identity after a period of exploration and inner soul searching. If a young person’s earlier conflicts were resolved negatively or if society limits their choices to ones that do not match their abilities and desires, they may appear shallow, directionless, and unprepared for the challenges of late adulthood. (p. 314). Maeve luckily didn’t make many choices that were resolved negatively. These social and emotional changes weren’t always easy for the rest of the family to deal with, but they were a part of her growth. With us there to provide nurturing support, she was able to develop her own healthy identity after her period of “soul searching.”

As the mother of seven grown children, I agree with most of Jeffrey Arnett’s, author of Emerging Adulthood, theories. It is a time of change, with a developmental connection between adolescence and adulthood. During this phase of development, children experience periods of self-discovery transformation. There are favorable outcomes as well as adverse effects during this developmental stage. Furthermore, this successive stage encourages and promotes the change from the dependency of their parents to the independence that is distinctive for adults. This autonomy is beneficial because it prepares the emerging adult for their future independently from their parents. Arnett believes there are five characteristics of emerging adulthood that make it distinguishable from other time periods: the age of identity explorations, the age of instability, the self-focused age, the age of feeling in-between, and the age of possibilities.

According to Salmon, 1985 (Salmon 1985, p171), development and change are not limited to childhood but continue throughout our lives. It is however argued that personal identities are similar to social identities, and include group or collective identities.

The life pursuits and subjective judgments of many contemporary young people indicate that the transition to adult roles has become so delayed and prolonged that it has spawned a new transitional period extending from the late teens to the mid-to late-twenties, called emerging adulthood. During the college years, young people often refine their approach to forming their own identity. In these years, young people have left adolescence, but most have not yet assumed adult responsibilities. Many have dreams and those are what guides them in their decision making. In the video, 22 year old Casey describes her dream and comments on her identity development. Casey says that she became interested in Psychology in high school during her junior year when she took a psych course. She knew from then on that was what she wanted to do, but she hadn't picked a career yet. Casey said that she picked a career during her first year of graduate school, when she decided on gerontology. She said her happy and active grandparents had a lot to do with picking a career and wanting to work with the population. Casey thinks her identity was a gradual process and it's only really formed since last year. She feels her parents helped shape her morals and beliefs, but in between her senior year and her first year of graduate school, she started to form her own and integrated some of her own ideas. 24 year old Elizabeth and 25 year old Joel are shown discussing

James Marcia identity theory was the first psychosocial identity to focus on young adults and was built on the previous work of identity development by Erik Erikson (Evans, 2011). Marcia work enhances the

In order for Abby to be her true self she needed to leave the community of her birth, yet the spirituality that she had grown up with continued with her after her transition to a woman providing her with a strong sense of connection. I think I see this in my everyday practice with youth that I am working with. If a youth I am working with has been parentified in the family the youth’s ability to manage their stress levels it is also this sense or role of responsibility and connection that can be used to limit the stress by engaging the youth to transfer that role to another source such as being a mentor for younger youth. So the role that was not a good fit for the youth then becomes a protective factor by encouraging healthy relationships,

“Perhaps it is better to wake up after all, even to suffer, rather than to remain a dupe to illusions all one's life.”- Kate Chopin. This quote allows the readers to understand the state of mind the author of the novel The Awakening feels. This quote indicates a supportive awakening towards female recognition and their identity in society. Independence, especially for a woman was very hard during the time Chopin wrote the novel. Kate Chopin portrays two kinds of women in her famous novel, The Awakening. One was embodied as the ideal mother women like Mme. Adele Ratignolle who at that time were respected welcomed into the social life of New Orleans. She is an important character as she allows Edna to realize that she does not belong in the Creole culture. The other woman signified strong independent females like Mademoiselle Reisz. However the independent women were more of the outsiders and not quite approved and welcomed into the

Human development is a process that starts right from childhood to adulthood. Individuals’ success and life satisfaction depends on what they develop in the society from their childhood period. This is a topic that has always drawn the attention of many scholars and theorists who try to explain what development entails through various stages of life. This paper provides an analysis of various relevant theories and research that focus on the developmental changes that take place in early, middle, and late adulthood. It focuses on Schaie’s stage of achieving, and Erikson’s theory on intimacy, generativity, and identity development. It also explores life satisfaction in middle adulthood, and lastly, the common illnesses of the elderly.

According to Erikson, the development of the lifespan is a lifelong process from birth to death and includes the formation of identity (Broderick & Blewitt, 2010). I will cover in the paper six life events that influence my identity development from childhood to middle adulthood. Each life event will be explained based on the significance of the event as well as the impact the event had on my development. Also, theories will be discussed as they relate to my development.

This psychological interview analysis will compare and summarize the theoretical applications of Erikson’s Theory of Human Development and Levinson’s Life Structure Approach. The subject of the interview, Charlotte McBeth, will express the challenges that arise in the stable and transitional periods of life in a Scottish family, which she expresses in the various aspects of instability and transitional periods that Levinson defines. The death of an infant brother defines one such instability, which reflects the high infant mortality rate and a sense of guilt that Erikson would analyze through the “Initiative v Guilt” stage of childhood. However, Charlotte had a large and supportive family unit, which allowed her to find intimacy in adolescent with her close friend, Rena. In adulthood, Charlotte was able to transition to America by having a family support when leaving Scotland to find better job opportunities abroad. In essence, a summary of Charlotte’s interview will be accompanied by a psychological comparison of Erikson and Levinson’s life development theories.

All throughout our lives, we wrestle with the question of who am I and what do I want in life? However, it is usually during the adolescent years that this issue really comes to a head and we begin a more earnest search into finding ourselves and deciding the direction we want to take with our lives. One of the theorists who studied this idea of identity formation was James Marcia. Marcia proposed that there were four different stages or statuses in the development of identity which he labeled Identity Diffusion, Identity Foreclosure, Identity Moratorium, and Identity Achievement. In this essay, we will briefly summarize his four different stages and then apply his theory to my own identity development during the adolescent years.

James Marcia, an Eriksonian researcher believed that in to maintain the status “identity achievement” an individual must undergo crisis and make a commitment. Crisis is defined as “the period of identity development during which the individual is exploring alternatives.”(Santrock 386) The commitment is made when different approaches, ideologies, and vocations are explored on their own in response to the crisis. Key Changes in identity primarily occur in emerging adulthood. “Once formed, an identity furnishes individuals with a historical sense of who they have been, a meaningful sense of who they are now, and a sense of who they might become in the future.”(James Marcia)

It is clear to see every one of Erikson’s stages play out within my mother’s life. As a 46-year-old woman, she has achieved most all of the beginning stages, such as autonomy and industry, but it was not until after she was married, at age 22, that she gained a more clear and confident identity while she simultaneously worked toward achieving intimacy. Though Erikson believed that one must have a secure self identity before moving onto the next stage, which includes marriage, it is evident in the case of my mother that the relationships she formed after marriage are what makes up the majority of her current identity. In stage seven she developed a mature love and fully found her identity through experiences as a mother and wife. She even went as far as to say that she would have “most likely turned