Trust Vs. Mistrust Theory Essay

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Social factors and hazards play a significant role in infant’s ability to trust or mistrust. These factors include poverty, abuse and neglect, and insufficient or inadequate parenting. Not all of these factors are the direct result of the parent’s or caregivers’ choice, but they can still have a significant impact on the infant’s psychosocial development. These impacts can be wide reaching, but they can also be mitigated and reversed in some instances. Erikson states that, “Infants whose needs are met consistently in a warm and nurturing manner learn that the world is a safe place and that people are dependable,” (Ashford & LeCroy, 2018, 2013, p.121). Unfortunately, this is not always the case for all infants. This trust vs. mistrust theory is theorized by Erikson to have an impact on attachment between the caregiver and the infant (Ashford & LeCroy, 2018, 2013). This impact can have negative consequences on the child for long periods of time, especially if the situation is not resolved. These impacts can include an inability to trust the caregiver’s ability …show more content…

This can happen in abuse and neglect situations, as well as when the caregivers have insufficient or inadequate parenting skills. Not all of the lack of parenting skills results in purposeful abuse, but it can be a contributing factor. The abuse or neglect of an infant is clearly abuse, and can result in an infant’s severe mistrust of individuals to provide any of their basic needs. This can result in the infant’s disability to form personal relationships and the ability to attach to someone in their later, personal lives. This could possibly be mitigated by therapy once the infant is older, but at that point the mistrust is severe and they may be unwilling to seek any help from others or believe that they can rely on anyone else to help or support

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