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Erikson
Erikson
1990's. He was influenced by both Sigmund and Anna Freud and Montessori education
methods in the 1930s in Vienna, through his studies of the Ogallala Sioux in the USA, and by
his teaching and clinical practices at Harvard, Yale and Berkley (Erik Erikson, n.d.).
Erikson first published his eight stage theory of human development in his 1950
book Childhood and Society. The chapter featuring the model was titled 'The Eight Ages of
Man'. He expanded and refined his theory in later books and revisions, notably: Identity and
the Life Cycle (1959); Insight and Responsibility (1964); The Life Cycle Completed: A
Review (1982, revised 1996 by Joan Erikson); and Vital Involvement in Old Age (1989).
Erikson's theory asserts that people experience eight 'psychosocial crisis stages' which
significantly affect development and personality. A 'psychosocial crisis' is an emotional
conflict that a person must deal with in order to grow and develop (Chapman, n.d.).
Successfully passing through each crisis involves reaching a balance between two opposing
dispositions. He identified two words that emphasized the main healthy outcome of each
stage (Chapman, n.d.). In Identity and the Life Cycle (1959), Erikson said: "...What the child
acquires at a given stage is a certain ratio between the positive and negative, which if the
balance is toward the positive, will help him to meet later crises with a better chance for
unimpaired total development..."
Where passage through a crisis is not well-balanced or, worst of all, psychologically
damaging, people acquire harmful emotional or psychological tendencies. These tendencies
are likely to arrest further development, but may be revisited at any time that they again
emerge as issues. Erikson later called these imbalances 'maladaptation' when the person
adopts an overly positive extreme and 'malignancy' where the person adopts the negative
extreme (Chapman, n.d.).
Finally, according to Erikson, these life crises are the result of physical and sexual growth
that prompts the life issues to emerge. People experience these stages of development in a
fixed sequence, but the ages at which they may occur vary according to the individual and
his/her personal circumstances. The crises are therefore not driven by age (Chapman, n.d.).
Patient Teaching Loose-Leaf Library (1989) provides a useful summary of Erikson’s eight
stages of man’s development:
Infant
Trust vs Mistrust
Needs maximum comfort with minimal uncertainty to trust himself/herself, others, and the
environment
Toddler
Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt
Works to master physical environment while maintaining self-esteem
Preschooler
Initiative vs Guilt
Begins to initiate, not imitate, activities; develops conscience and sexual identity
School-Age Child
Industry vs Inferiority
Tries to develop a sense of self-worth by refining skills
Adolescent
Identity vs Role Confusion
Tries integrating many roles (child, sibling, student, athlete, worker) into a self-image under
role model and peer pressure
Young Adult
Intimacy vs Isolation
Learns to make personal commitment to another as spouse, parent or partner
Middle-Age Adult
Generativity vs Stagnation
Seeks satisfaction through productivity in career, family, and civic interests
Older Adult
Integrity vs Despair
Reviews life accomplishments, deals with loss and preparation for death