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how does erik erikson theory influence current practice
how does erik erikson theory influence current practice
review of erikson's theory
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As human beings age, according to Erik Erikson, they go through developmental stages that help to create and transform their personalities. If needs are met and the ego is gratified, then the individual is able to move on to the next challenge. Onward they march in life and in stage until they find the end level: integrity versus despair. This has been categorized as adults 65 years and older by Erikson. Here, people are to reminisce and judge their lives in terms of merit or disappointment. Erikson himself had a lot to comb through in his later years.
Erik Erikson was born in Frankfurt, Germany just after the turn of the twentieth century. It is known that he was a product of an affair out of wedlock. He did not find this out until later in life, and it might have been his original inspiration for developing his psychosocial and personality theories. In the thirties, Erikson went to a psychoanalytic school with Anna Freud, the daughter of famous psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. There he learned how poke into a person’s mind and access their deep rooted fears and feelings. He then moved to the United States following graduation to evade the Nazis (Erik Erikson, 2011).
Without the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree, Erikson accomplished some amazing feats. He was the first psychoanalyst of children in Boston, worked at Massachusetts General Hospital, and was a professor at both Harvard and Yale (2011). During this time he observed and created his most famous theory, his stages of psychosocial development.
There are eight stages in his theory in all (Johnston, 2009). The idea is that as one ages, they are faced with a specific conflict for each stage. If they meet these conflicts head on and have positive outcomes, t...
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...n old age is contingent upon the decisions and achievements of today.
Works Cited
Berk, L. (2010). Development Through the Lifespan (5th ed.). (J. Mosher, Ed.) Boston, Massachusetts: Allyn & Bacon.
Erik Erikson. (2011, September 4). Retrieved September 4, 2011, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Erikson
Erikson's stages of psychosocial development. (2011, September 1). Retrieved September 4, 2011, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erikson's_stages_of_psychosocial_development
Harder, A. F. (2002 (revised 2009)). The Developmental Stages of Erik Erikson. Retrieved September 4, 2011, from Learing Place Online.com: http://www.learningplaceonline.com/stages/organize/Erikson.htm
Johnston, J. E. (2009). The Complete Idiots Guide to Psychology (4th ed.). Indianapolis, Indiana: Alpha Books.
Erik Erikson developed the psychosocial theory, and “he describes our social experiences during our whole life span using eight different stages” (Cherry 2015). The first four stages are “trust vs. mistrust; which describes how the child needs to be able to trust their adult figures, autonomy vs. shame and doubt; which is about person control, initiative vs. guilt; which is about children learning to lead others, industry vs. inferiority; which is about gaining a sense of pride in things” (Cherry 2015). The final four stages are “identity vs. confusion; which begins the sense of self, intimacy vs. isolation; which explores personal relationships, generativity vs. stagnation; which focuses on career and family, and the final stage being integrity vs. despair; which describes reflecting back on life” (Cherry
Discuss Erikson 's stages of psychosocial development. Explain the aspects of this theory that are the most convincing. Erikson felt that one of the most important states is the intimacy versus isolation where we learn to build intimate relationships. Which stage do you believe is the most significant and Why?
In each stage Ericson believed that people experience a conflict that serves as a turning point in development. In eriksons view, these conflicts are centred on either developing s psychological quality of failing to develop that quality . during these times, the potential for personal growth is high but so is the potential for failure.
Erik Erikson developed eight psychosocial stages that occur through life. These stages help parents of younger children understand what the child is thinking and why they are acting the way that they do. For a person to become a well-rounded adult they need to succeed in each level. This essay will discuss the first six stages into young adulthood.
Looking at my life through Erik Erikson’s Identity Theory perspective, I hope that I can grow old and enter the final stage of psychosocial development with a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction, believing I have coped with life’s victories and failures.
The last stage of Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development, which I have no personal experience with, is the crisis between integrity and despair. Swartwood (2014, p. 86) states that at this stage individuals “struggle [with] the acceptance of impending death and the fact that our lives are primarily historical, rather than in the future.” When the elderly look back on their lives and realize that they lived their life with purpose, they are filled with a sense of integrity. On the other hand, individuals who fail to view their life in this positive light tend to fall into despair.
Eric Erikson was one of the most famous theorists of the twentieth century; he created many theories. One of the most talked about theories is his theory of psychosocial development. This is a theory that describes stages in which an individual should pass as they are going through life. His theory includes nine stages all together. The original theory only included eight stages but Erikson‘s wife found a ninth stage and published it after his death. The nine stages include: trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame and doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. identity confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, integrity vs. despair, and hope and faith vs. despair (Crandell and Crandell, p.35-36)).
Integrity vs. despair is Erikson's eighth and final stage in development, which occurs in Old Age. Older adults look back on their lives and evaluate the outcomes. Those who view their life as productive and satisfying feel a sense of integrity. Those who do not see their life as productive will feel disappointed causing despair.
Feldman, Robert S.. Development across the life span . 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2010. Print.
Erik Erikson was a psychologist specializing in post Freudian studies. Many ideas and foundations of his theories came from the Freud way of thinking. Erickson could be considered a neo Freudian, someone who is influenced by and still practices elements of Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis. Erik Erikson’s development theory expanded on Freud’s original five stages of development, consisting of a new eight psychosocial stages of development known as The Life Cycle. The ego and sexual development are a large focus for Erik Erikson’s stages. In each of his stages there are two main terms for the child to learn and they are always opposites of each other. In addition to psychologists today still using Erikson’s stages of development for assessments on patients, research is still being conducted to prove the validity of Erikson’s design. His work is important to various areas of psychology including development and personality.
Heffner, C. L. (2017). Chapter 3: Section 3: Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development. Retrieved September 22, 2017, from
The main tenant of the psychosocial development theory throughout the life cycle is that an individual’s personality is held to unfold over the course of their life, with healthy development based on the ability of the individual to master tasks and skills at each level or stage of life (Coady & Lehman, 2008; Hutchison, 2008). Erikson’s original model sectioned the life span into eight levels with each containing its own unique psychosocial challenge or conflict which, depending on the outcome, would help the individual experience positive growth (Coady & Lehman, 2008; (Hooyman & Kiyak, 2005/2011; Hutchison, 2008). The eighth stage encompasses late adulthood, where the conflict experienced is that of integrity versus despair. If an individual has experienced successful o...
Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development were complex, but simple. It is something everyone will go through and experiences will always be different. The lack of reinforcement to the positive aspects of his stages can lead to quite a disaster. Surprisingly, previous stages are highly influential to the proceeding stage. The lack of reinforcement to the positive aspects of his psychosocial stages can have a very devastating effect on a person. This is because the effects built up rather than taking the place of one another. The effects are quite horrifying, but with the right environment, experiences and beliefs, everything can go well.
His belief was that each human developed their own personality through a series of stages and these stages developed due to the social experiences that one experienced through life. According to Erikson, there are eight stages and each stage centers around a conflict that has to be resolved. Under Erikson’s theory, if conflict or crisis is not resolved, then the outcome will be more crisis and struggles with that issue later on in life (Domino & Affonso, 2011).
In Erik Erikson’s theory he explains that in every stage, a positive or a negative attitude is developed within an individual. During our developing stages we are either successful or we fail. Each stage will come to us whether or not we’re ready for them or not. You can think of the stages as learning stages where crisis occur .Only if we have learned from the previous crisis we are successful. You cannot avoid 1 stage and move to a next stage because of the developing process. The outcome of our lives depends on the way we chose to progress throughout each stage in life. Erikson had his own way in describing each stage in life that we all must go through.