Developmental Theories Paper
Nicole McCarty-Carter
BSHS/361
September 29, 2014
Ms. Kechia English
Developmental Theories Paper
Erik Erikson, as a psychologist, does not present psychosexual stages, he addresses the Sigmund Freud’s work, reflecting Freud’s theories about the organization and structure of personality. On the other hand, Erikson was an ego psychologist and Freud was an id psychologist. Erikson highlighted the use of society and culture and the strife’s that are able to take inside the ego, while Freud highlighted struggles concerning the id and the superego (Parke & Gauvain, 2009). Erik Erikson (1993) states that the ego strengthens as it effectively solves catastrophes that are clearly common within society. These struggles include building a feeling of security in others, an increasing feeling of individuality in society, and supporting the subsequent generation provide for the future. Erikson expands on Freudian concepts by means of concentrating on the ability to change and artistic ability of the ego, and developing the concept of the stages of character development to accommodate the complete lifecycle (Erikson, 1993).
Erikson suggested a lifespan model of development, bringing in five stages capable of explaining development up to the age of eighteen years, plus three additional stages, going completely into adulthood (McLeod, 2013). Erikson proposes that there are, be that as it may, copious amounts of opportunity for never-ending maturity and development all the way through one’s lifecycle. Erikson placed a lot of importance on the adolescent stage, considering it was a critical stage for developing a person’s individuality. Similar to Freud and countless others, Erikson stated that the character develops in a calculated order, and strengthens upon each preceding stage. This method is called the epigenetic principle (Erikson, 1993).
The result of this 'maturation timetable' is an extensive and unified set of life skills and techniques that operate collectively within the independent individual (Erikson, 1993). Nevertheless, as opposed to concentrating on sexual development (similar to Freud), he was fascinated in how children meet and socialize with other people and to what degree the indicated influences their understanding of self. Early life experiences and friend and family relationships are extremely important to development. Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development includes eight distinctive stages of the lifecycle. Each stage of life has its own tasks to success at, to be able to develop and move on to the next stage. The eight lifecycle stages of psychosocial development are (Parke & Gauvain, 2009):
Trust vs. mistrust- Hope, Infancy (0-1 ½ years)
Autonomy vs. shame and doubt- Will, Early childhood (1 ½- 3 years),
Initiative vs. guilt- Purpose, Play age (3- 5 years)
Industry vs. guilt- Competency, School age (5- 12 years)
Ego identity vs. Role confusion- Fidelity, Adolescence (12- 18 years)
Intimacy vs. Isolation- Love, Young adult (18-40 years)
Generativity vs. stagnation- Care, Adulthood (40-65 years)
Ego integrity vs. despair- Wisdom, Maturity (65+ years)
Erikson believes that a crisis happens at every stage of development. For Erikson (Erikson, 1993), these catastrophes are of a psychosocial nature since they include psychological demands of the individual (psycho) clashing with the desires of society (social). According to the theory, positive achievement of every stage brings about a healthy character and the attainment of essential attributes. Primary virtues are inherent strengths that the ego can use to solve subsequent crises. Failure to reach a stage can cause a decreased ability to perform further stages and consequently a more weak character and understanding of self. These stages, nevertheless, are able to be successfully completed at a later time and date and date Erikson's model of psychosocial
