The Psychosocial Theory of Erik Erikson - Essay Example

The Psychosocial Theory of Erik Erikson During the early times of one’s life, when all that a person has to do is sleep, eat, and sleep again, one ismost likely not aware of what is changing within his/her whole being. Knowing that something had been constantly changing, becoming aware that one has grown up, developed particular abilities, and shown mastery of skills he/she was not able to master before, happens during early adulthood or earlier, depending on the thinking capacity of the person. Awareness of one’s whole being occurs when one tries to assess and recall what he/she had become and then capable of deciding what he/she wanted to continue to become. This is what Erik Erikson had been fascinated about--studying the changes happening throughout the generation of man. Erik Erikson and his Psychosocial Theory Erikson was viewed to be ‘the most important’ person to have contributed in knowing some of the developments in the early years of a man’s life. Such significant developments coincide, not just with the physical state of man being perceived as a toddler or an adult, but also with the ability of the toddler or the adult to think and act based on what a toddler, or an adult thinks. He believed that in every action man makes corresponds to an inert thinking, which was influenced by some events that had happened in the past and the culture where one belongs (Berk, 2006, p. 18; Douvan, 1997, p. 15). A prominent psychoanalyst just like Erikson, Sigmund Freud was the one who first initiated the whole idea into a study and made a point that such developments were basically driven by one’s hidden and innate pleasures that are then guided with the rationality of thinking when one becomes mature, and also by the so-called “conscience” being the man’s highest thinking capability (Berk, 2006, p. 17). Consequently, Erikson’s psychosocial theory emerged when he intently thought that although Freud was correct with his notion about motivating the occurrence of man’s significant developments, those motivating factors Freud had pointed out, for Erikson, are not enough. Erikson, in his theory, had stressed the presence of a “positive” motivation, coining that it is not just the man’s sense of right or wrong, or his/her innate pleasures as a way for changes to occur, but an individual is driven to change because everyone must contribute something to the society (Berk, 2006, p. 18). The Strengths and Limitation of Psychosocial Theory Being psychoanalytic in nature, psychosocial theory suggests that to know two contrasting ideas present in every period of man’s development and identify which of the ideas are suited to the person, based on some past events, can actually determine possible reasons why a person is acting that way or is thinking such, a strength powerful enough for a society to understand the people that it comprises (Berk, 2006, p. 19; Capps, 2012, p. 270). If Freud had identified a gradual change from birth to adolescence, it was Erikson who had pointed out such observation of Freud until the old age, making Erikson the first one to pinpoint the “lifespan” of man (Berk, 2006, p. 18). To know what one has felt when he/she was still a baby and predict the feeling when he/she gets old are part of the process of viewing one’s lifespan, another strength noteworthy to be inculcated in the hearts of people since knowing how one had lived life can lead to improving oneself. With the theory’s strengths come also its limitations. According to many authors (e.g. Cairns, 1998; Thomas, 2000; Westen & Gabbard, 1999) who have proven the point of Berk (2006), Erikson’s theory is limited to only identifying the value, i.e., choosing whether a person had demonstrated “initiative” in carrying out a task when he/she was a toddler or had been guilty towards the task, and is “vague” for individuals who are interested in psychoanalysis to assess the stated values through experiments (p. 19). It is also not reliable in terms of getting numerical data (Prelinger & Zimet, 1964 as cited in Rosenthal, Gurney, & Moore, 1981, p. 526). Educational Implication of Erikson’s Theory Being firm on what he entirely believed while also agreeing to the points of some psychoanalysts like himself, Erikson and his search to analyze how a person and the society, when put together, have a certain common point, both have been helping people understand their personality and their way of thinking (Douvan, 1997, p. 15). The struggles identified within every stage, according to Erikson, have shaped the so-called “identity” of a person (Douvan, 1997, p. 17). Every person, therefore, has went through the stages while creating a persona of themselves, impacting the people around them--their family, friends, extended family, neighbors, teachers, classmates, as well as co-workers and employers (Douvan, 1997, p. 17). Since these people belong to a society, it is likely that the impact of Erikson’s theory has reached as far as education, being a part of society’s endeavors. The implication of the theory in education is mainly focused in early childhood, preschool, early adolescent, adolescence and young adult--the stages of being in school. With almost five out of eight stages, there is a greater tendency that the majority of the impacts of psychosocial theory in the society are found in school. Moreover, some parts of the theory are essential in forming the “resourcefulness” of oneself, and almost all school-based tasks, i.e., looking for one’s real identity, can be associated to the five “psychological crises” mentioned by Erikson (Capps, 2012, p. 270; Rosenthal, Gurney, & Moore, 1981, p. 526). Impact of Psychosocial Theory on Early Childhood Development Erikson’s psychosocial theory clearly indicates that having to solve the main “conflicts” made in the “earlier developmental stages” creates a major influence in also trying to resolve the crisis in the following stages, or simply the adult stages (Rosenthal, Gurney, & Moore, 1981, p. 534). What was done on the first stage creates an impact to the next, and so on. When an old man looks into what his life had become, seeing who he is in the present is the outcome of what he has done or chosen to survive each crisis. An aging woman, with so much despair, may have created a sequence of unfavorable feelings since birth. She may have mistrusted people while being “handled harshly,” and proceeds with having troubles in school by not taking any initiative and for being unproductive (Berk, 2006, p. 18). An aged but happy man may have done the equal opposite of what the despairing woman has done in her childhood. Erikson was right for being “critical” through sharing his thoughts about carefully handling the choices and events to take place as early as childhood (Douvan, 1997, p. 18). Perspective about Erikson’s Theory To exclaim my ideas about how brilliant Erik Erikson was in discovering the eight stages of a person’s life only denotes my enthusiasm in agreeing to his thoughts about psychosocial theory. Erikson started sharing these thoughts in fifties, continuously persuading people about his theory, and completed his work on the eight stages in 1981 (Capps, 2012, p. 270), yet the authenticity of such thoughts can still be applied to all people of today. Given the chance to assess myself, knowing perfectly what the theory is all about and to base my life to the eight stages, looking at what I had become, I can associate myself among young adults whose “identity crisis” is “intimacy vs. isolation” (Berk, 2006, p. 18; Capps, 2012, p. 270; Douvan, 1997, p. 16). Before reaching such stage in life, I know I should also have recalled the people, things and ideas in the past that have greatly influenced on what I am now. References Berk, L. E. (2006). Child development (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Capps, D. (2012). Erikson’s schedule of human strengths and the childhood origins of the resourceful self. Pastoral Psychology, 61 (3), 269-283. Douvan, E. (1997). Erik Erikson: Critical times, critical theory. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 28 (1), 15-21. Rosenthal, D., Gurney, R., & Moore, S. (1981). From trust on intimacy: A new inventory for examining Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 10 (6), 525-537. Read More