Analysis Of Erikson's Theory

Erik Erikson, Young Man Luther: A Study in Psychoanalysis and History

The man who first coined the phrase ‘identity crisis’ was the German born American psychologist and psychoanalyst Erik Erikson. In this paper, I argue that Erikson’s work was pioneering in the field of psychohistory analysis. Moreover, although his work was well received by most scholars there were some, such as Fredrick Crews and Peter Gay, they did not agree with the Freudian theories of childhood trauma that Erikson employed.

Erikson was one of the first psychologists to embrace Psychological Analysis as a discipline in history, thus, the terms psychohistory and psychobiography were brought into the public domain through his work. Young Man Luther (1958) was the first

In addition, Erikson makes his observations and conclusions using Freudian theories of childhood trauma. The question Erikson asks in his chapter three title is ‘Obedience-to Whom?’ I argue to ‘what?’. Martin did not reject his father nor God but the ideological authority of the two. Erikson argues that Martin Luther’s father was a difficult man, prone to temper outburst and violence. In addition, Hans Luder was from a peasant background and he was determined to better himself from his own humble beginnings. Also, he had great plans for his eldest son Martin. Martin was expected to step the ladder further for the family and become a prominent lawyer. Therefore, Erikson argues Martin’s childhood was fraught with disapproval and high expectations from his father and implies the Oedipal theory of the male child being in conflict with the father/authority figure. Witnessing a lightning strike as a young man Martin chooses a Life with God. Thus, he disobeys his father’s wishes, that is crisis number one for Martin. However, while doing well in the monastery Martin then has crisis number two

He argued that a child’s self-awareness, identity and adjustment in adulthood were made in the environment in which they were brought up. These ‘virtues’ as Erikson’s research suggests are specific to different life stages, the understanding of ‘trust and mis-trust’ must be understood to be able to emerge as ‘hope’, and the last stage solution ‘integrity and despair’ must be understood to emerge as ‘wisdom’. Also, taking into account the times of Martin’s childhood we can assume that he was exposed to close living with other family members, sleeping together with both sexes and experiencing first-hand the life cycle of sex, birth, and death. As a result of Martin’s imaginative sensitivity and the fear of authority that his father had beat into him as a child it manifested into anxiety and melancholy. Consequentially, these manifestations justify the rebel nature of Martin as an adult. Moreover, Erikson fits Martin into the characterology of obsessive neurosis through his preoccupation with dirt and other traits. For example, in his student days Martin made a statement that ‘the more you cleanse yourself, the dirtier you get’, in his writings and table talk he often referred to dirt and faeces to make a point in a discussion. However, some scholars felt Erikson sought these responses to fit into Freud’s theory of childhood