Case Study: Initiative Vs. Guilt

Junior was born in May of 2012. He is currently four years old and is the only child of Eva and Charlie. Within the next month, Junior will be the big brother to Eva and Charlie’s second child, a baby boy. Eva and Charlie are economically classified as a middle class caucasian family. Charlie is employed by the Air Force and Eva is a stay at home mom. Charlie is currently deployed and is scheduled to be back the day the baby is born. Both Eva and Charlie are college educated and have been married for five years.

This is not my first time meeting Junior; however, I would like to point out that before getting to know Junior, he was initially shy. It wasn’t until I had seen him four or five times that he made the connection that I was both the

According to Erikson’s developmental theory, I would place Junior at the stage of Initiative vs. Guilt. Typically at four, most children are at stage two–Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt. Here, Junior has already balanced will and self–control, as demonstrated when pointing to the hot pan in the kitchen. He clearly wanted to touch the pan but understood the consequences, in which he exercised self–control. During this stage of Initiative vs. Guilt, Junior is able to initiate his own activities without the help of his mom. When observed, I saw him pick and choose which activities he wanted to participate in and spoke up when he did not want to play with a particular item. He also demonstrates Erikson’s Initiative vs. Guilt stage by wanting to take control of his situations. For example, right before bed, he tried to negotiate with his mom. He wanted to watch one more episode of Curious George. When his attempts failed, he began to cry. This could possibly lead to feelings of guilt; however, Eva was able to handle the situation with patience and love. I would predict that Junior will successfully resolve the psychosocial crisis which arises in this particular