Adolescence is a defining time in life between childhood and adulthood. It is a time for exploring new roles and attempting to determine ones’ place in life. This transitional time, due to the uncommitted exploration, can create an internal discomfort (Markstrom, 1998). While attempting to find their place in the world, adolescents seem to go through an identity crisis; resolution of this crisis enables the individual to transition into adulthood (Domino, 1990). This developmental stage is one that character Johnny Cade from The Outsiders is currently in. I will use behavioral theorist, Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory to explain the actions, behaviors, and personality development that Johnny Cade undergoes in The Outsiders.
Erickson’s Psychosocial Theory is comprised of eight developmental stages ranging throughout the lifespan from infancy to adulthood (Boyd, 2015). However, Erikson puts significant emphasis on the adolescent stage, feeling it is a crucial period for developing an individual’s identity (McLeod, 2013). Erikson maintains that the task of adolescence is to resolve this identity crisis (Rageliene, 2016). Erikson’s theory is hierarchical, meaning that later stages are based on the outcomes of earlier stages, therefor it is rather complex (Markstrom, 1998). During each of these stages, an
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He is put in the hospital with not much optimism that we will come out. His initial thoughts are of his regrets of jumping in that burning building to save those kids (Coppola, 1983). He is scared to die, and he now seems to hold value to his life, whereas before all he wanted was die. It doesn’t take long for Johnny to process these feelings and to see that if he had to make that decision again, he would choose to save those children all over again. He says how those children will now go on to live their lives because of him, and he sees that their lives are worth more, “they have a lot more to live for” (Coppola,
S.E. Hinton, the author of The Outsiders has written many unique conflicts in her book. One of many conflicts in the story is the Socs (the rich playboys) versus the Greasers (the lowlife hoodlums), with the problem being that one is rich and the other being poor. The second accessible one to spot in the book would be Darry (older brother of Ponyboy) and Ponyboy (the main character), just can’t understand each other, they're so different. The third battle is a little difficult to understand which is Ponyboy versus himself, in which he can’t admit the truth. Considering that one is rich and the other is poor, the war between these two classes, the Socs and the Greasers, will never end.
The main point is that in chapter 5, Johnny goes inside the church in order to save the kids inside it. Johnny manages to survive the fire at first, however he has gotten the worst injuries out of the fire and is forced to stay in the hospital, this starts in chapter 7 and when they visit Johnny, they tell them that he is in critical condition and that he was suffering from third degree burns, however Dally is fine, but injured. They keep on visiting Johnny in the hospital and they see that he is getting worse and worse. And finally, in chapter 10, Johnny dies after being in critical condition for a long
”Because most people identify as separate from other people, they have what we call some "concept" of themselves. Self-concept refers to how people “think about, evaluate, or perceive” themselves.” Self-concept can be split into categories that make people who they are. Throughout “The Outsiders”, Ponyboy the protagonist, describes his brother and his friends in relation to him, giving insight on what makes each of them who they are. After reading an article on this topic “Self-Concept “by Saul McLeod (1), and reading chapters 1-3 of the novel “The Outsiders” (2). One can see the major reasons that make people who they are: self-image and self-esteem/self-worth.
I feel as though the novel The outsiders has many themes, but the most important one is belonging. The greasers are a group of poor, low class youth that don’t have much and live on the wrong side of town. They are always held accountable for their actions. On the other hand, the Socs are a bunch of high class youth that are very privileged and aren’t held accountable for their immature actions.
Throughout life individuals face many challenges testing their values and personality one situation at a time. In the evocative novel The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton themes of growing up and innocence are shown. Ponyboy is not your average 14 year old he is part of a gang known to many as the Greasers. He encounters many situations testing his values and beliefs. Having lost both his parents recently he and his brothers stick together like a true family but this relationship is tested when Darry hits Ponyboy. He also experiences the loss several close friends in a very short period of time. Throughout this novel, Ponyboy encounters many life changing experiences that prove he is a dynamic character.
Biological influences combined with societal and social expectations contribute to how well people learn to adapt to their environments (2013). According to Erikson, there are eight stages of development. Within these states, there are different psychological, emotional and cognitive tasks. In order to adjust, individuals must learn to develop these tasks. During adolescence, Erikson states that each person needs to navigate through the development task of ‘‘Identity vs. Identity confusion ’’ (2013). He defined this task by stating that adolescent children must learn to develop a sense of self and establish independence. Prior to this stage of development, a person’s parents largely influence their identity. In this stage the adolescent children begin to explore and develop their identity outside of their parents’ influence (Hill, Bromell, Tyson, & Flint, 2007). Adolescents are generally more egocentric at this stage and have an increased sense of self-consciousness. They also have a strong desire to conform to peer influence and develop concerns regarding their appearance. They develop concern about their level of competence in relation to their peer group as well. As peer influence increases, during this stage, parental influence decreases (Ashford & LeCroy, 2013; Hill et. al, 2007). Conflict generally increases between parent and child at this stage of development (2007).
The Outsiders is a novel by S.E Hinton, that follows a young boy named Ponyboy who grows up in a gang. Johnny, Sodapop and Darry help him find how he fits into the world and without them he would have a hard time finding his own identity. Without having a close group of friends he would have a tough way of life, especially with the Socs. Being in a group that you associate with, that have different values to yourself can lead you to disregard your own ethics and do things you wouldn’t normally do, but at the same time this can assist and reinforce your own values…
Erik Erikson formulated a model to understand the developmental tasks involved in the social and emotional development of children and teenagers which continues into adulthood. Each stage is regarded by Erikson as a “psychosocial crisis,” which arises and demands resolution before the next stage can be satisfactorily negotiated. Failure to successfully complete a stage can result in a
Adolescence refers to the transition period experienced by children that occur between childhood and adulthood (Shefer, 2011). Identity is first confronted in adolescence between the ages 12 – 19 years old, because of physical and hormonal changes in the body. It is also due to the introduction of formal operations in cognitive development and societal expectation that this contributes to an individual’s identity to be explored and established (McAdams, 2009). The forces within and outside (family, community) the individual that promote identity development usually create a sense of tension. The basic task is, in Erikson’s terms, “fidelity or truthfulness and consistency to one’s core self or faith in one’s ideology” (Fleming, 2004: 9), in a nutshell: "Who am I and where am I
Erik Erikson developed eight stages of psychosocial development (Gordon & Browne, 2014). Each stage was characterized by an emotional challenge and the stages built upon previous experiences (Gordon & Browne, 2014). His stages of development gave us the term identity crisis which describes
Heffner, C. L. (2017). Chapter 3: Section 3: Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development. Retrieved September 22, 2017, from
In this paper I will be focusing on Erikson’s Theory mainly about identity versus role confusion. Finding one’s identity is not always an easy task. Everyone at some point in his or her life has had, as Erikson puts it, an identity crisis. Everyone experiences different struggles that can have either a positive or negative impact on their identity. On my path to identity, I have reached identity achievement, which means I have explored and made commitments. I will also be focusing on two articles highlighting a fifth possible outcome regarding identity and looking at identity statuses as developmental trajectories.
The fifth stage, according to Erik Erikson psychoanalytic theory of development is the Identity Vs Identity confusion. The stage occurs during adolescence in the ages between 12 to 18 years. At this stage, the adolescents try to find a sense of personal and self-identity by intensely exploring their personal goals, beliefs, and values (McLeod, 2017). Notably, the adolescence is between childhood and adulthood. Thus, their mind is between the morality learned during childhood and the ethics they are trying to develop into adulthood. The transitioning from childhood to adulthood is the most important development for a person because the individual is becoming independent and is focusing on the future regarding career, relationships, families
Transition and change are some of the most difficult obstacles for people to overcome. It is no surprise that adolescence, defined as the transition from childhood to adulthood, is full of obstacles (Feldman, 2012). During this time period, adolescents are neither adults nor children; they do not appear to belong in any stable group. However uncomfortable this may seem, it is also a fitting definition. For during the adolescent stage, adolescents face puberty, sexual curiosity, self-esteem issues, and doubts about their future (Feldman, 2012). Psychoanalyst Erik Erikson aptly argued that adolescents pass through the identity-versus-identity-confusion stage in which teenagers search for defining and unique characteristics about themselves (Feldman, 2012). When a teenager struggles with this stage, a crisis emerges in which they are unable to find an appropriate role in life, often acting out or pursuing dangerous behaviors (Feldman, 2012).
In Erikson’s Identity vs. Role Confusion stage, I thought, “Who am I?” countless times like many other adolescents. I occupied much of my time trying to construct a firm identity of myself, which I now realized did more harm than good. Letting myself explore different interests would have helped me find my identity than me trying to fake some firm identity.