Erik Erikson and Jean Piaget Socio-Emotional Relationships - Assignment Example

Socio-Emotional Development in Relation to Erick Erickson and Jean Piaget Erick Erickson came up with the psychoanalytic theory of development that identifies eight major stages that every person should go through from childhood to adulthood. One stage leads to the successful completion of an earlier stage and the beginning of the next. If this does not happen the individual will get fixated in this stage and it will reappear in the future (Donald, 15). Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is a comprehensive theory that analyses four stages that every healthy child should go through to attain cognitive development. He believed that one’s childhood years are filled with continuous learning and exploring which are important to the growth of intelligence (Donald, 86). In the following discussion, I will use my understanding the two theories to explain how I can deal with the difficulties in each vignette. 1. A well intentioned but meddling relative comes to visit over the weekend before your child’s birthday in April. She cautions you that you must be spoiling the child, because he hides behind your leg and clings to you when she tries to give him a hug and he did not do this when she visited at New Year’s. How will you explain what is happening to your child. I would explain to her that the child is in the trust v. mistrust stage according to Erick Erickson. Basically, a child’s needs centers around the most basic needs of food, comfort and warmth which are usually met by the caretaker. They are completely dependent on the care takers and if they are exposed to warmth and dependence affection, they will grow a sense of trust. On the other hand if the caretakers fail to provide security and basic needs to the child, the infants will grow mistrust. These feelings of mistrust may lead to frustration, withdrawal, suspicion and a lack of confidence. I would encourage thus him to hug my relative and show him she is a person to be trusted. 2. Your three year old constantly drives you nuts with attention seeking behaviors while you are on the phone. The child is at the autonomy vs. shame and doubt stage according to Erick Erickson. The main task here is building self esteem and a sense of autonomy as they learn new skills and right from wrong. Children who are receiving good care from their care takers are usually sure of themselves, having a sense of pride rather than shame. They will also exhibit defiance, temper tantrums and stubbornness (Donald, 43). They are vulnerable at this stage and will experience shame and low self esteem if they are not able to perform certain tasks. In this case I would be patient and encourage my child to foster autonomy in him because the attention seeking behaviors he is exhibiting shows that I am failing to give him the attention he needs. 3. Your infant daughter puts everything in her mouth including the dog’s food. According to Piaget, this child is at the sensor motor stage where the coordination of sensations and actions is exclusively through reflexive actions. The three primary reflexes are sucking of objects in the mouth, following moving objects with the eyes and closing of the hands when an object comes in contact with the palms. I would observe more hygiene in the things the kid plays with since this is a stage and it will soon pass. Buying him a pacifier would also help as it would lessen his interest on sucking anything he finds on the way. 4. Your eight years old son is failing in maths; all he cares about is baseball. Children at this stage in life become more aware of themselves as individuals. They are eager to learn and accomplish more complex skills such as reading, writing and telling time. They are able to manage most of their personal needs with minimal assistance from the care takers. They may often express their independence by being disobedient, rude, talking back and being rebellious. Children may start discovering their special talents and discovering certain interests as they improve on education. Due to this reason, they may do more activities in their area of interest such as playing sport games or joining the athletic club while consequently abandoning the areas they are not interested in. I would encourage him to pursue the things that interest him while praising his accomplishments. This will make him demonstrate industry because if I ridicule or punish him, he will develop feelings of inferiority complex. If I do not allow him to discover his area of interest on his own at this time, he will develop lack of motivation and low self esteem. 5. Your eight year old son is failing P.E, and growing obese. All he cares about is Nintendo. This child is on the concrete operational stage according to Jean Piaget where the child’s thought processes become more mature and adult like. They can thus solve problems in a more logical fashion since they are able to incorporate inductive reasoning in their thought processes (Donald, 73). I would talk to the kid about the issue and make him know that avoiding P.E lessons is going to cost him, not only now but in future. I would explain to him that being obese will cause him health problems such as cardiac complications, low self esteem and a negative self image. Since at this stage he can be able to view things from another person’s point of view, I would urge him to change his attitude and start attending P.E lessons. 6. Your teenager has decided not to attend college in favor of joining the stage crew for a touring rock band. This child is at the identity vs. role confusion stage according to Erick Erickson. Children at this stage are actually finding their own identity in the face of the hostile world. They are usually in a state of identity confusion but the society usually offers a space where the adolescents can find themselves called identity moratorium (Donald, 29). The kid going through this stage will always have conflicts with the adults since his choices might not be the parents preferred choices for him. As the parent, I would want to have a decisive say in his life choices particularly in this case. However, if I am too insistent that she follows my directions, she will suffer from internal wishes, leading to an identity foreclosure. This would lead to her not attaining full self discovery and experimentation. I would thus encourage her on the choice she has made but at the same time try to reason with her and make her understand why I am choosing she go to college rather than joining the stage crew. 7. Your nine year old son is being victimized by the class bully or your nine year old son is the class bully. This child is in the industry vs. inferiority age and the fact that he is the class bully or he is victimized by the class bully shows that there is an aspect of his life that is not right. I would analyze myself in the ways I socialize with my child because in both cases he is showing signs of inferiority complex. It could be that I’m used to ridicule or punish him for his efforts and he finds that he cannot meet my expectations or those of the teachers. I would thus change the way I handle him and talk it also with the teachers. I would encourage him to change his attitude and always praise his accomplishments. In case he does something that I consider wrong, I would use withdrawal punishment like not letting him go out to play if he has not completed his homework. This would make him develop and demonstrate industry in the activities he does. 8. Your two year old daughter refuses to wear the clothes you pick for her every morning; making getting dressed a twenty minute pitched battle. This child is in the autonomy vs. doubt stage according to Erick Erickson. The reason that she refuses that I pick clothes for her is because she is going through a stage of defiance, temper tantrums and stubbornness. She is also constantly exploring the world and learning new things every day. If I become so restrictive to her, I may instill feelings of doubt in her and this would lead to her being reluctant in exploring new things. I would encourage self sufficient behavior and let her wear her choice of clothes. If I do not let her perform the tasks that she likes like getting dressed, it might lead her to developing shame and doubt. 9. Your thirty six year old friend is showing symptoms of the classic mid life crisis, “buying a trendy new sports car, flirting dangerously and alluding to leaving his wife”. This man is at the intimacy vs. isolation stage which basically centers on forming intimate, loving relationships with other people. Once people have formed their true identities, they can now commit to lifetime partners. They are therefore capable of forming intimate, reciprocal relationships through friendship or marriage. They are also willing to make sacrifices and compromises for the sake of the relationship. This man is not able sacrifice for the sake of his marriage maybe because of his egocentric and selfish feelings. This is because he became fixated in the trust vs. mistrust stage probably because the care givers did not offer care, affection and reliability. As such he did not make to attain trust but rather grew a sense of mistrust to the world in general. I would advocate that he changes his attitude towards his wife and with the help of a psychodynamic counselor; he will be able to revisit the issues that happened in childhood and which are rooted in the subconscious. This way he would be able to confront his fears and work towards improving his marriage life. 10. Your sixty eight year old neighbor is chronically depressed, feeling she has wasted her life. According to Erick Erickson, she is in the ego integrity vs. despair stage which starts from age 65 (late adulthood) to death. It is a stage if introspection where one looks back at the life he/ she has lived so far and if they feel they have accomplished and succeeded in most of the things they wanted; they have a feeling of integrity (Donald, 36). If on the other hand they feel like they lived an unproductive life or did not accomplish their goals, they feel dissatisfied and despair which is usually accompanied by depression or hopelessness. This feeling occurs when individuals nears the end of their lives. At this stage, she is looking back at her life and feels inadequate as she did not lead a fulfilling life. In her case, she is in despair because she feels she has led a life of disappointments and many unachieved goals. I would reason with her and explain that we cannot be all equal and that in fact she is supposed to be celebrating her life so far rather than getting depressed. Work cited Donald, Light. 2008. An Analysis of Erickson and Piaget’s Theories of Human Growth. National Center for Education Research and Development Journal. 2(7): 1-110. Read More