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Analyzing Erikson's Eight Stages Of Child Development

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Childhood is made up of several different stages for various levels of development, each equally as important as the next. While many think of intellectual and physical development when breaching the concept of child development, few recognize the importance of developing the child’s personality and identity. Developmental psychologist Erik Erikson is one key figure in learning about and enhancing the child’s development of identity. Erikson theorized that there are eight stages of psychosocial development, spanning from birth to adulthood, with each equally dependent upon the previous stage for proper development (Child Development Theorists: Freud to Erikson to Spock and Beyond, 2009.) If one stage does not develop appropriately the child …show more content…

If I cry, will I be held or given attention? If the caregiver appropriately meets these physical and emotional needs, the child will develop trust. However, failing to do so will lead to the development of mistrust (Child Development Theorists: Freud to Erikson to Spock and Beyond, 2009.) The second crisis is autonomy versus doubt (Child Development Theorists: Freud to Erikson to Spock and Beyond, 2009) and is developed by allowing the child the opportunity to make their own, limited and well guided, decisions. Failure to do so leads to the development of doubt and shame. Each stage (initiative versus guilt, industry versus inferiority, identity versus role confusion, and each stage of adulthood) is reliant upon the previous stage. Erikson believed that failure to properly develop each stage lead to a youth that was not confident in their identity, and that a “youth who is not sure of his identity shies away from interpersonal intimacy” (Erikson, 1968, p. 135.) Therefore, a failure to develop one’s identity in their youth leads to a lack of identity in their adulthood that negatively impacts their ability to form close, intimate relationships with

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Each of these stages is supposed to begin and end sometime between infancy and full maturity. Although in depth discussion of each stage isn’t necessary for the purpose of this paper, it should be noted that an individual is always mentally capable of coming back and completing any given stage (McLeod). Erikson fully acknowledges that his theory is a descriptive overview of human social and emotional development. Although it doesn’t adequately explain how or why this development occurs, the theory does tie together important psychosocial development across the entire human lifespan (McLeod). When a person experiences the inability to follow this somewhat predetermined means of surviving society, he or she begins to feel inadequate.

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