Intergenerational Interview - Essay Example

At this state, the psychological crisis as characterized by Erickson is “integrity” versus “despair” (Shaffer & Kipp, 2009). Individuals in this stage are more associated with wisdom. For Erickson, integrity brought out two meanings. The first meaning involves consistency of values, actions, measures, methods, expectations, principles, and outcomes. It entails the ability of an individual to achieve his or her goals. The second meaning is an immanent quality of truthfulness and honesty as the major motivators of an individual’s actions.

Despair is as a result of lack of hope (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2009). On reflecting on her life, Catherine feels like she has achieved enough in terms of taking care of her family. Integrity associated with this stage of life is evident in relation to Catherine when she looks at both her daughters, who are all independent, and feels successful. However, despair steps in when Catherine feels like she failed to do enough to keep her husband alive, even though there was nothing she could do, as she is very lonely.

In addition, she feels like she did not make enough financial achievements and that she is going to run out of money, when in real sense she is not poor. One of the most significant developmental life events that Catherine went through was marriage. It is important to note that young adults have a need for establishing loving, intimate relationships with other individuals. The success of her marriage was highly important in her young and middle adulthood as she built a strong relationship with her husband and children.

This is evident in her loneliness and her memories of her husband who died. Also, the distance of her daughters has increased her level of loneliness as they have established their families and live independently. However, the presence of her grandchildren has enabled her to establish new