The Nature of Adolescence, by John C. Coleman and Leo B. Hendry

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There have been many scientists and philosophers that have put forth information about the stages that humans go through in life. One of these representations is put forth by Erikson, in the book The Nature of Adolescence, by John C. Coleman and Leo B. Hendry. This theory has four steps; 1. The problem of intimacy, 2. A diffusion of time perspective, or the problems of focusing on the future, 3. Diffusion of industry or the difficulty of focusing on studies, and finally 4. Negative identity or the "rebellious" stage. These stages are not purely involved in the teenage years of a person’s life, as they can go through and possibly stay at these stages throughout their entire life. Rebecca Fraser-Thill defines it as, "Identity diffusion is one step in the process of finding a sense of self. It refers to a period when an individual does not have an established identity, nor is actively searching for one. In other words, it's a time when a person's identity remains unresolved, yet there is no identity crisis" (Thill). In the novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce, each of these stages can be seen as the novel progresses. An analysis of the stages of development as stated by Erikson, in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and in my own life is needed.
Intimacy problems can be seen in the early stages of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man when Stephen, the protagonist of the novel, has multiple sexual escapades with prostitutes. James Joyce tells of this, saying, "It was too much for him. He closed his eyes, surrendering himself to her, body and mind, conscious of nothing in the world but the dark pressure of her softly parting lips."(Joyce, Chapter 2, Section 5). This shows his reluctance to commit to a...

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...in the world. Many people either do not progress, getting stuck on one level or another, or they regress back to stages that they have already surpassed. There are definitely problems in everybody’s life but the best thing to do is learn from them. These stages are not set in stone and there is no way to fully know what happens in a person's mind.

Works Cited

About. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 May 2014. .
Coleman, John C., and Leo B. Hendry. The Nature of Adolescence. N.p.: Metheun and Co., 1980. Print.
Erikson, Erik H. Identity: Youth and Crisis. N.p.: W.W. Norton and Company, 1968. Print.
Melges, Frederick T. "Identity and Temporal Perspective." Cognitive Models of Psychological Time. Ed. Richard A. Block. N.p.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1990. 255-67. Print.
SimplyPsychology. N.p., n.d.

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