Traveling Pants Theories

One of the main ideas in the movie centers around Erik Erikson’s first stage of psychosocial development

Erikson’s Theory is divided into periods of development in which an individual goes through a crisis. Depending on the outcome of said crisis, one would gain a positive or negative trait. In the theory, there is a set of crisis’ that nurture the most development. These are mainly the middle years, from about 3-40 years old. Dallas Winston can be more easily analyzed through these years considering that the most information about his past self is revealed in that time period. During the first period within this set, from 3-5 years

Erikson’s theory of personality is based on his eight stages of development. In each of these eight stages of

Adolescence is Erikson’s fifth stage of development wherein the person must master the conflict of identity versus role confusion. The question, who I am? Is a question that arises during this time? The child is concerned with

Women presently play a huge part in daily activities whether it is at school, sports, or work. Over the past three decades, women have gained many rights and privileges that men have had for half a century or longer. Gaining these rights and privileges has allowed women to play important roles in today's society. One of the most debated issues between men and women is Title IX. This issue has created controversial problems that have caused a separation between men and women. Although, Title IX is constantly brought up, it was the beginning of a new era for women. An era that would allow women to be accepted as equals to men in everyday activities.

In life there are a number of challenges that everyone will go through. This is a part of discovering who they are and what they want to do with themselves. To help explain these differences, Erikson introduced his development theory. This helps to address some of the challenges and needs that person will go through at particular stages in their lives. To fully understand these phases there will be a focus on two characters from the film The Breakfast Club and contrasting them with Erikson's theory. Together, these different elements will provide specific insights that will highlight the transformations and challenges that everyone will go through during the course of their lives.

It outlines the struggle an individual faces in finding stability between developing a sense of forming a unique identity while still being accepted and “fitting in” with society. Erikson believed that when teenagers adequately navigated their way through this crisis, they would transpire into having a clear understanding of their individual identity and easily share this new ‘self’ with others. However, if an individual is unable to navigate their way through this crisis period, they may be uncertain of who they are which can result in a lack of understanding, leading to disconnection from society and the people around them. If youth become stuck at this stage they will be unable to become emotionally mature adults, according to Erikson’s theory. This period of an individual’s life allows them to investigate possibilities which will lead them to discovering their own identity based upon the result of their explorations.

The girls had an inclination to maintain “family togetherness” and saw themselves as a both a human pact and each other’s greatest confidants (216). The girls need to be close to one another foreshadowed the night of the four murders, when neither sister would leave without any other given sister. Closeness overpowers the predisposition to protect loved ones. Obsession is also present in the repetition of hypotheticals regarding what could have been between the boys and the Lisbon sisters. They frequently watch the Lisbon home just wondering

By naming the girls as their damsels, the boys rob the girls of the agency to save themselves. The girls had already made up their mind of how to save themselves, but the boys go too far with their lack of knowledge about their own fantasy, they impose their fantasy on to the girl. The night of their deaths, the boys race over, assuming the girls acknowledge and accept their saviors, are devastated and scarred when they find out the girls’ plan on saving themselves in the way they want. Not only that, but when the girls die it gives the boys much more freedom in conserving the girls’ memory, its gives them a reason the conserve their memory. They mention that they need to let go of the “notions of the girls as damaged or deranged” (Eugenides 123). This does not stop them from continuing to see the girls as damaged and broken. At the end of the novel, the boys unveil their collection of artifacts that belonged to the girls and interview people years after the girls’ death about their short lives. They would not feel the need to go through all this trouble if they were not still trying to piece the girl’s reasons for embracing death. As the boys get closer to the girls, they become “happier with dreams than wives” (Eugenides 169). At this point they have committed their

Erikson’s stage of Identity vs. Role Confusion (13-19 years old), was a crucial time for my brother and I, as my parents decided to put us back in public school. I was thirteen-years old at the time, just entering the eighth grade as a “new kid” in a very small rural community. This was beyond some of my toughest

This reenforces the idea that the boys' sight is the main determining factor for much of the information they recount, as at they are unable to differentiate the Lisbons until the party, after having known the girls for much of their lives, and also lusting after them for almost as long as they have, they are isolated from the girls to such a degree that they are unable to see any difference in them until they are in the same room. Most of the community also associates all the girls with one another and rarely sees any distinguishable differences amongst them. In the section when Trip Fontaine and the other neighborhood boys take the Lisbon girls tot he homecoming dance, they boys realize they can't tell the girls apart. "Trip Fontaine, of course, had dibs on Lux, but the other three girls were up for grabs. Fortunately, their dresses and hairdos homogenized them. Once again, the boys weren't even sure which girl was which. Instead of asking, they did the only thing they could think of doing: they presented the corsages" (117). The boys' superficiality is highlighted; the only time in the novel in which the girls are allowed out of the house, they boys are still unable to determine one girl from another. Furthermore, the only way they determine who their dates are by simply lining up in front of them with flowers ready. When the remaining Lisbon girls commit suicide at the end of the novel, Mary is the only daughter to survive, and

The second theory examined is Erik Erikson’s eight stages of psychosocial development. Each stage in Erikson’s theory involves a conflict/crisis that a person must work through to evolve their personality. Rosenthal (1981) explains that, “Each stage arises because a new dimension of social interaction

Another stage of Erikson’s theory that is similar to stages of Kohlberg’s theory is identity versus identity confusion where the adolescent learns the essence of what makes them who they are from bringing together everything they have learnt and what kind of person they will be. Kohlberg’s stages that are similar is the conventional stage of good boy/ nice girl morality where the school-aged child follows rules to be accepted by those around them, and the postconventional stage of social contract orientation where the adolescent will follow society customs for the benefit of others. These three stages are closely associated as someone’s identity is usually shaped by the customs of society. People will do what is expected of them to be accepted which in turn contributes to their identity. The last similarity between the two theories is Erikson’s stage of generativity versus stagnation where the middle-aged adult broadens their concern from themselves to the community and world, and Kohlberg’s postconventional stage of universal ethical principles where the adult’s actions are determined by their own ethical principles and standards of behaviour. These two stages complement each other as a person cannot have concerns for the community and world if they do not have a sense of their own beliefs and values as a foundation. A person needs to know what they value to then go on and have concerns that

Being brought into the world as a savior sister and having to undergo countless surgeries so that her older sister can fight leukemia, has an impact on Anna’s psychosocial development. Psychosocial development focuses on the development of the personality. It refers to how a persons mind, emotions and maturity level develop throughout the course of their lifespan (McLeod, 2010, p 4 ). Well known psychologist Erik Erikson gave an insightful theory of how personality develops based on his experience when working in psychotherapy, with children and adolescents from low, upper and middleclass background (Personality development, 2009, p 6). According to Erikson, the socialization process of an individual refers to eight stages, each stage is accompanied by a “psychosocial crisis” that needs to be solved in the

It is clear to see every one of Erikson’s stages play out within my mother’s life. As a 46-year-old woman, she has achieved most all of the beginning stages, such as autonomy and industry, but it was not until after she was married, at age 22, that she gained a more clear and confident identity while she simultaneously worked toward achieving intimacy. Though Erikson believed that one must have a secure self identity before moving onto the next stage, which includes marriage, it is evident in the case of my mother that the relationships she formed after marriage are what makes up the majority of her current identity. In stage seven she developed a mature love and fully found her identity through experiences as a mother and wife. She even went as far as to say that she would have “most likely turned