Developmental Stages of Erik Erikson - Research Paper Example

 Developmental Stages of Erik Erikson Introduction Development is a life long process which starts from the birth and ends only at death. We are learning news things every day and it influences our personality development also. Even the elder people are learning heavily from the diversified life experiences which have strong impacts in their personality developments and behaviors. In fact this infinite learning process helps human being to make adjustments in life and to tackle problems when it occurs unexpectedly. Harder (2009) has mentioned that human can be optimistic or pessimistic, independent or dependent, emotional or unemotional, adventurous or cautious, leader or follower, aggressive or passive. He has also mentioned that many of the above traits appear to be learned from the environment. Of course heredity has wide influence on the development of a person, but environment also play a vital role in the development of personality. Erik Erikson and Sigmund Freud like famous psychologists have researched a lot about the human developmental stages which are considered as the base of psychological theories about human developmental stages. While Freud argued was of the opinion that both heredity and environment plays vital roles in human development, Erikson argued that environment plays major role than heredity in the shaping of the personality of a person (See Appendix). Erik Erikson first published his eight stage theory of human development in his 1950 book Childhood and Society (Erikson's psychosocial development theory).This paper researches various findings of Erik Erikson in human developmental stages. Developmental theory of Erik Erikson Erikson’s developmental theory divided human life into eight different stages. Infancy: Birth to 18 Months, Childhood: 18 Months to 3 Years, Play age: 3 to 5 years, School Age: 6 to 12 Years, Adolescence: 12 to 18 years, Young adulthood: 18 to 35, Middle adult hood: 35 to 55 or 65 years and late adulthood: from 65 till death (Harden). Most of the other developmental theories dealt only about the childhood developments. Such theories are of the opinion that development takes place mainly only at childhood period. But Erikson argued that such concepts are false and the development is a continuous process. Infancy: Birth to 18 Months Erikson argued that infancy is a stage during which the ego develops rapidly. In fact most of the traits for future activities will acquire during this period. The future behavior and attitude of the child will depend on how well he/she was cared during this period according to Erikson. For example, a child who is succeeded in getting the love, affection and care from the parents during this period will most probably become good citizens. On the other hand, negligence from the parents during this period may make the child an antisocial element in the future. It is a fact that violence and criminal activities are growing in the current world. It is also a fact that current parents are not much interested in caring their infant much because of their increased social and professional commitments (Most of the parents are working now). When we analyze both the above facts we can see that why the current generation is derailing from the main streams of human life. Erikson believed that infancy stage was a period of hope (Stages of Social-Emotional Development In Children and Teenagers). The new child entering the world with a hope and his experiences make or break him more than his heredity. The child seeks lessons from his environments and these lessons may make or break his hope. In other words, a child born to good parents may become bad citizens if nurtured in a negative environment and vice versa. Childhood: 18 Months to 3 Years Rapid motor development and toilet training are the major characteristics during this period. Moreover, self esteem and autonomy will develop this stage and the segregation of rights and wrongs may also start during this period (Harden). The child analyses the environment more closely during this period. He may start walking, running, crawling etc during this period. Autonomy is a much needed requirement during this period. The child may cry for everything during this period. He/she likes freedom very much during this period. Self esteem starts to develop during this period. If the child failed to do certain things which is intended at this stage, his self esteem development may become defective. He may think that he is incapable of doing such things and he will develop less self confidence. This stage is marked with the development of will. The child would like to do things at his will during this period. “For example, one sees may 2 year olds resolutely folding their arms to prevent their mothers from holding their hands as they cross the street” (Stages of Social-Emotional Development In Children and Teenagers). Play age: 3 to 5 years Imitation is the major development during this period (Harden). Children in this age group will try to do every thing that they happened to see from the elders. They don’t have much idea about heir limitations in doing something which the elders do. At the same time they visualize every thing in a playing mood. The thirst for playing is so adamant at this stage. Children will do everything for a purpose during this period (Stages of Social-Emotional Development In Children and Teenagers). For example, we can see children often trying to climb on table or cupboards in order to take something from there. They always do these types of activities for a purpose. School Age: 6 to 12 Years According to Erikson this stage may develop a sense of industry. Learning, creating and accomplishing numerous new skills and knowledge etc are the major developments during this period. The base for future learning starts from here. A child who failed to put strong learning base during this period may find difficulties in his/her future learning activities. For example, language development and the development of skills like arithmetic, logical, scientific etc starts during this period. If a child failed to learn the basics here, he/she may find extreme difficulties in future in learning complex theories of these topics. Competence development is the major characteristics of this stage. The child learns skills like (1) relating with peers according to rules (2) progressing from free play to play that may be elaborately structured by rules and may demand formal teamwork, such as baseball and (3) mastering social studies, reading, arithmetic etc during this period (Stages of Social-Emotional Development In Children and Teenagers). Adolescence: 12 to 18 years An adolescent, learns how to answer satisfactorily and happily the question like "Who am I?" at this stage period (Stages of Social-Emotional Development In Children and Teenagers). The child becomes more aware of his individuality during this period. Erikson argued that up to this stage, development mostly depends upon what is done to us whereas from here onwards, development depends primarily upon what we do. Moreover he argued that adolescence is a stage which is in between childhood and adulthood and the life is getting more complex from here onwards (Harden). Erikson believed that the development of independent personality starts from here. This period is a stage in which the parents liberalize their control over their children because of their confidence in the self sufficient nature of their children. Young adulthood: 18 to 35 The feeling love attains its peak during this period (Stages of Social-Emotional Development In Children and Teenagers). This period is a stage in which the sexual hormone activities at its peak. The thirst and love towards a life partner will be immense during this period because of the activities of the sex related hormones. The family building process starts from here through intimate relationships either through marriage or through other means. Middle adult hood: 35 to 55 or 65 years Erikson observed that middle-age is a stage during which we engage in creative and meaningful work (Harden). This stage is a period in which a person concentrates more heavily on contributing something to the society. Because of physiological and psychological requirements, the person was unable to deliver his talents to the society earlier. But during this period, no other bodily or mental requirements may dominate the creativity. Care is the most abundant feeling during this period. Late adulthood: from 65 till death Wisdom is at its best during this last stage of development. Erikson believed that the late adulthood is a period for assessment. Erikson defined integrity in terms of feeling or a deep sense that life has meaning and we've made a contribution to life (Harden). Erikson concludes that the development stages of a human being will be ended with the completion of death. Cherry (2010) has mentioned that the major element of Erikson’s psychosocial stage theory is the development of ego identity (Cherry). While most of the other developmental theories argued that the ego development is associated strongly with the heredity, Erikson argued that ego identity is developed through social interactions mainly. He argued that the experiences can change the ego identity over a period of time because of the diversified experiences. Conclusions Erikson’s development theory gives more importance to the environment in the development of a person rather than heredity. He succeeded in dividing the developmental stages of a human in 8 different groups and attributed some parameters to each developmental stage. Works Cited 1. Chapman, Alan. 2010. “Erikson's Psychosocial Development Theory”.26 March 2010. 2. Cherry, Kendra. 2010. “Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development: Psychosocial Development in Infancy and Early Childhood”. 26 march 2010. 3. Harder, Arlene F. MA.MFT. 2009. “The Developmental Stages of Erik Erikson”. 26 March 2010. 4. “Stages of Social-Emotional Development In Children and Teenagers”. 2010. 26 March 2010. Appendix Erikson's psychosocial crisis stages (syntonic v dystonic) Freudian psycho- sexual stages life stage / relationships / issues basic virtue and second named strength (potential positive outcomes from each crisis) maladaptation / malignancy (potential negative outcome - one or the other - from unhelpful experience during each crisis) 1. Trust v Mistrust Oral infant / mother / feeding and being comforted, teething, sleeping Hope and Drive Sensory Distortion / Withdrawal 2. Autonomy v Shame & Doubt Anal toddler / parents / bodily functions, toilet training, muscular control, walking Willpower and Self-Control Impulsivity / Compulsion 3. Initiative v Guilt Phallic preschool / family / exploration and discovery, adventure and play Purpose and Direction Ruthlessness / Inhibition 4. Industry v Inferiority Latency schoolchild / school, teachers, friends, neighbourhood / achievement and accomplishment Competence and Method Narrow Virtuosity / Inertia 5. Identity v Role Confusion Puberty and Genitality adolescent / peers, groups, influences / resolving identity and direction, becoming a grown-up Fidelity and Devotion Fanaticism / Repudiation 6. Intimacy v Isolation (Genitality) young adult / lovers, friends, work connections / intimate relationships, work and social life Love and Affiliation Promiscuity / Exclusivity 7. Generativity v Stagnation n/a mid-adult / children, community / 'giving back', helping, contributing Care and Production Overextension / Rejectivity 8. Integrity v Despair n/a late adult / society, the world, life / meaning and purpose, life achievements  Wisdom and Renunciation Presumption / Disdain (Chapman) Read More