Analyzing Erikson's Eight Stages Of Development

Alonte’ is a nonstop toddler that can’t seem to stay focus on one participle tasks. He likes to jump around and do varies things in one setting. He has a short attention span. He is a very active little boy. He was quickly changing area to area to play.

Erikson’s (1968, 1980, 1982) psychosocial stages of development provide a framework for the different stages of development throughout the human lifespan. These stages of development begin at birth and continue until death, and separate the lifespan into eight stages based on chronological age. Within these eight different aging stages are corresponding psychosocial stages. Each of these psychosocial stages represent a conflict between two characteristics of development for that particular time period in a person’s life.

The topic of focus is Down syndrome (DS) teenagers between the ages of 12 - 18 years old. According to Erikson growth and development theory there are five stages, namely: Infancy, Toddlers, Preschoolers, School-ages and Adolescence (Teenagers) (Leifer 2011, p.365). The stage of development that we will be elaborating on is stage five, Adolescence. Erikson defines adolescence as “the period of life beginning with the appearance of secondary sex characteristics and ending with cessation of growth and emotional maturity” (Leifer 2011, p.451). Erikson continues in discussing that the major growth and development theory during the adolescence years in that he/she is trying to identify whom one is and because of their delayed physical and mental

In the early 20th-century, interest in the field of child development emerged. Researchers and theorists studied the ways in which children grew, learned, and, in some instances, were shaped by societal influences (Weiland, 1993). The study of child development enables us to appreciate and understand the social, emotional, physical, educational, and cognitive growth that children go through from birth to early adulthood. Grand theories attempt to organize and arrange concepts and aspects of development using a step approach. Such as that of Erik Erikson’s theory, the Psychosocial Identity Development theory, in which he addresses the development of personal, emotional, and social progression in an individual through stages (Pretorius et al., 2015). Erikson’s model for the approach of development involves the focus of overcoming conflicts that individuals encounter over the span of their childhood that influence their ego identity, or the conscious sense of self that develops and constantly changes due to new experiences and information that is acquired through daily interactions with others and events. In Erikson’s theory, he believed that each person experienced a conflict that served as a defining moment in their development that essentially shaped who they would become later on in life; he believed that unresolved problems of adult life echoed unresolved conflicts of one’s childhood (Berger, 2011).

with family members. We moved each year and never stayed in a home for more than two years.

2. Gain the client’ trust, avoid an overly warm approach; a neutral approach is less threatening, stay with client when he is frightened, and reassure client that the environment is safe.

Erik H. Erikson had eight stages of development that he used to identify personality and identity. These stages of development are Infancy—the challenge of trust{versus mistrust), Stage 2: Toddlerhood—the challenge of autonomy (versus doubt and shame), Stage 3: Preschool—the challenge of initiative (versus guilt), Stage 4: Preadolescence—the challenge of industriousness (versus inferiority), Stage 5: Adolescence—the challenge of gaining identity (versus confusion), Stage 6: Young adulthood—the challenge of intimacy (versus isolation), Stage 7: Middle adulthood—the challenge of making a difference (versus self-absorption), and Stage 8: Old age—the challenge of integrity (versus despair). Now that I've given you the stages of development I'm

Erikson's stages of psychosocial development, as articulated by Erik Erikson, in collaboration with Joan Erikson,[1] is a comprehensive psychoanalytic theory that identifies a series of eight stages, in which a healthy developing individual should pass through from infancy to late adulthood. All stages are present at birth but only begin to unfold according to both a natural scheme and one's ecological and cultural upbringing. In each stage, the person confronts, and hopefully masters, new challenges. Each stage builds upon the successful completion of earlier stages. The challenges of stages not successfully completed may be expected to reappear as problems in the future.

The first stage of Erikson’s eight stages of development is called Trust vs Mistrust, and these two coexists on how the infant will later be affected in the world. Trust revolves around how often the parent attends to their children. Mistrust of course is the complete opposite from Trust. According to Erikson, my mother informed me that I developed a sense of Mistrust/Trust. She explained to me that at first she used to attend to my needs, and pick me up every time I cried, therefore, I developed trust. That all went downhill when my great grandmother told my mother to not pick me up because, crying will help my lungs. Ending with mistrust, is part of the reason why I don’t try to get close to others as much. Nowadays, I tend to keep my distance from other people.

According to Erikson's criteria for mastering Industry versus Inferiority a child between the age of 5 to 12 acquires new friends at school, able to complete higher level of school task, play games with peers. Through these task the child develops a sense of self pride in addition, the child receives praise from parent and teacher for their accomplishments.

During this stage one is still exploring into young adulthood and beginning to be more intimate with others. Individuals begin to have relationships with longer commitment with others besides family members. When this stage is successful a person feels a sense of safety and ability to commit in a relationship. If this stage is not accomplished they tend to fear commitment which can lead to loneliness, isolation or depression.

I think the best age to be is middle adulthood (40s-60s). According to Erikson's stages of development the issue at this stage is feeling like you have a purpose in life or not. I feel that for me this would be an easy issue to overcome. There are so many different things to try in the world, I don't believe it would be hard to find a purpose. The greeting cards I saw for this age category were mostly birthday cards and most celebrating reaching a certain age like 40 or 50. The jokes and pictures were more mature than the children cards which mostly contained bright colors and pictures of cartoon characters. I think I reacted better to the adult cards because I found the jokes funny, and I didn't enjoy the children's cards beacuse I never really

As human beings age, according to Erik Erikson, they go through developmental stages that help to create and transform their personalities. If needs are met and the ego is gratified, then the individual is able to move on to the next challenge. Onward they march in life and in stage until they find the end level: integrity versus despair. This has been categorized as adults 65 years and older by Erikson. Here, people are to reminisce and judge their lives in terms of merit or disappointment. Erikson himself had a lot to comb through in his later years.

In Erik Erikson’s theory he explains that in every stage, a positive or a negative attitude is developed within an individual. During our developing stages we are either successful or we fail. Each stage will come to us whether or not we’re ready for them or not. You can think of the stages as learning stages where crisis occur .Only if we have learned from the previous crisis we are successful. You cannot avoid 1 stage and move to a next stage because of the developing process. The outcome of our lives depends on the way we chose to progress throughout each stage in life. Erikson had his own way in describing each stage in life that we all must go through.

Erik Erikson believe that childhood is very important in personality development. He created a theory of psychosocial development that covers an entire life. I believe that Erik Erikson did a great job on creating these stages.