Explain and discuss Erikson and James Marcia's view of adolescent identity development - Research Paper Example

The adolescent stage is named as “identity vs. role diffusion / fidelity”. Identity and identity crisis are phrases that embrace the notion of conflict in the comatose mind of an individual. This is a stage where children decide their identity and role. The child wants to discover his ego and self-assurance. It is worrying when he fails to settle in a particular environment. One’s friends and peers who fundamentally belong to diverse social groups now become more significant and powerful to him than his parents.

In the words of Eriksson, the concept of identity develops may be expressed as follows – “Maybe the fact that I am immigrant to this country made me feel that the problem of identity holds a central position in the disturbances we encounter today. In other words, fully developed genitality is not a goal to be pursued in isolation.” (Evans, 1965, p. 29) Erikson observes that examination dwells at the center of the development of this stage. Identity crisis is the chief difficulty the individual deals with and therefore a rebuilding of one’s character is essential at this stage.

According to Erikson, the detection of identity during one’s adolescence is also complemented by variations in one’s ego level and ability to cope with situations. The other symptoms include “subjective discomfort, confusion, mood swings, ego defenses, impulsivity, acting-out, and heightened physical and somatic complaints” (Kidwell, Dunham, Bacho, Patorino and Portes, 1995). Therefore the individual undergoing transition process is vulnerable at this stage owing to the challenges he faces.

Under this circumstance, an individual undergoes “split of one’s image, loss of center and a dispersion” (Kidwell, Dunham, Bacho, Patorino and Portes, 1995). This crisis of identity is one of the most complex conflict one faces during his teenage when an individual thrives for identity development against confusion of his