Parenting Theory: A Critical Evaluation Of Erikson's Personal Development

Achieving specific milestones during the growth process for human beings in order to develop into a productive and healthy member of society is highly significant. The achievement of these milestones is influenced by various factors in the individual’s environments. In the following essay, I will be describing two of Erikson’s stage theory that applies to my personal experiences as well as describing the parenting styles and attachment types that applies to my personal experiences and finally giving a critical evaluation of Erikson’s stage theory in the South African context.
At the beginning of grade 9 when I was 14 years old, my friend group that I was part of started smoking and drinking which I did not want to do. They tried to influence me to drink and smoke and at this point I realised that I am not one of those people and I do not want to associate with them. At this point I felt lost as I didn’t know where I would fit in and where I was going with my life. I eventually became friends with a group of people who had a good influence on me as they did not drink or smoke. Later on I found my true identity, who I really am through the help of my peers which led me to find the direction that I would like life to

My parents are very attentive and forgiving and there are punishments and rewards for my actions. They will always show love and affection towards me and I strongly believe that since I have grown up, I am independent, competent, assertive and self-controlled all due to their parenting styles. This applies to my experiences as if I dint receive this type of parenting I believe that I would have made the wrong decisions earlier on in my life and I would have been influenced by the wrong crowd of people and would have probably started smoking in grade