Term Paper on "Erikson: Stages of Development"

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Erik Erikson: Stages of Development

Erik Erikson's psychosocial theory of social development views the development of the human personality as transpiring over a series of developmental stages, much in the way of Freud, whose study of human sexual development and the family romance of the Oedipal complex dominated the field of human psychology in Erikson's era. However, rather than concentrating solely on the development of the individual's sexual identity and development, Erikson instead focused on the different stresses different junctures of the lifecycle present for the individual. Erikson was highly influenced by his work in anthropology, particularly his studies of the society of the Sioux Indians. Erikson is often categorized as a neo-Freudian or a functionalist, in the sense that he is interested in the type of function people play in their respective societies ("Erik Homburg Erikson," 2008). Erikson acknowledged that culture and society shape our personality just as much as our families and our inner conflicts are the product of social as well as personal forces (Cramer, et al., "Erik Erikson," 1997).

Contributions to the field of psychology of personality

Erikson's major contribution is his idea that human beings do not wrestle continuously with conflicts with one, singular basis (sexuality) but that internal conflicts change as our role in society changes. He was one of the first major architects of a theory of personality to place personality in a social and cultural light, rather than to study man or woman as merely a personal, isolate product of family turmoil. His views of human personality still resonate and echo in developmental theory today, even if they are no longer taken as absolute.

Erikson's first stage, the Oral-Sensory stage, is when an infant strives to form his or her first loving, trusting relationship with a primary caregiver, usually a mother -- or develops a sense of mistrust with that caregiver. The stage revolves around feeding and security and mother's withdrawal or offering of her breast (or bottle) (Cramer, 1997, "Introduction to Stages"). Erikson thus took Freud's Oral Stage of sucking and polymorphous erotic sensuality and rendered it into a social conflict between mother and child.

The Muscular Anal Stage, echoing Freud's 'toilet training' Anal Phase, is defined by Erikson as a crisis of autonomy vs. shame and doubt, whereby the child's energies are directed toward the development of physical skills. Erikson included walking and grasping as well as toilet training in this phase, noting that the crucial conflict was really that of control and mastery. The goal must be for the child to attain a sense of control without learning shame about his or her natural physical developments and needs. This is followed by a stage not inspired by Freud, the Locomotor Stage which posits a conflict between initiative vs. guilt, and the child's need for independence (i.e. 'the terrible twos,' where every parental request is met with a 'no!'). The child must be allowed to continue to become more assertive and to take more initiative, but not be too forceful in his or her assertions to circumvent social learning and harmony (Cramer, 1997, "Introduction to Stages").

Erikson agreed with Freud that the Latency Sage occurs during the school years, the struggle between the need to be industrious and to feel competent, not inferior. "The child must deal with demands to learn new skills or risk a sense of inferiority, failure and incompetence" (Cramer, 1997, "Introduction to Stages"). During adolescence and the reassertion of the sexual drive, the adolescent struggles with his or her role in life and sexual and non-sexual relationships with peers. This requires the adolescent with the help of his or her fellow adolescents to establish a professional, sexual, and moral identity in terms of future occupation, politics, and religion. Young Adulthood is an extension of these adolescent struggles, requiring the individual to develop intimacy with others, or become isolated without family or friends. Young Adulthood leads to Middle Adulthood and parenting. This period is characterized by a struggle between generating a new life vs. stagnating. Finally, maturity is the cumulation… READ MORE

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