Erickson

Erik Erikson was a German psychoanalyst heavily influenced by Sigmund Freud. Erikson’s psychosocial theory of development takes into consideration many outside factors to the development of the child’s personality such as, parents and society. These factors on personality development occur from childhood to adulthood. During each of these eight stages the child will develop certain virtues that will build upon each other throughout the child’s life. Erikson’s personality development theory uses the belief that every person must go through a series of eight stages of development over the entire life span from birth until death.

The first stage of Erikson’s theory of development occurs between the ages of birth to one year. During this stage the child’s conflict is that of trust versus mis-trust. If the child is provided with consistent care and all their needs are met the child will develop a since of trust, knowing that their basic needs will be met. However, if the child has had care that has been harsh, unpredictable and, or unreliable then the child will develop a sense of mistrust and will not have confidence in the world around them or in their abilities. Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of hope.

The stage of autonomy versus shame and doubt occurs in children between the ages of one and three years. During this stage the child is learning to walk and later makes their own decisions of what to eat and or wear according to their personal preferences. Also during this time frame the child becomes toilet trained. It is important at this stage that the child receives support from parents so that repeated failures are not the only things encountered by the child.  The parents need to encourage the child to become more independent, while at the same time protect the child so that they are not constantly failing.  During this stage it is critical for parents to balance their parenting technique. Parents must try not to do everything for the...