Key Theories Regarding A Child's Sexual And Gender Development

The purpose of this essay is to discuss the key theories regarding a child’s sexual and gender development. The theories that are going to be discussed are Sigmund Freud's psychosexual theory and Erik Erikson's Psychosocial theory . An explanation of both of the theories will be made alongside information about how this relates to a child’s sexual development as they grow up and find their place within society. Also to be included is some of the critiques that can be made about each theory and about the similarities and differences between the two. Lastly within this essay is going to come the discussion about how holistic approaches has an impact on a child and young persons development, especially in relation to Bronfenbrenner's ecological

The theory can be seen as being similar to Freud's, as it shows personality development within stages, however with Eriksons the stages continue on throughout an individual's adulthood, not just through the childhood as Freud's does as he believed that personality development continues to develop throughout a person's lifespan rather then stopping at a certain age. There are plenty of similarities between the theories, Erikson stated that as each person pases through one of the stages they develop a personality trait that can be a strength or a weakness depending on their level of development during that specific stage. The stages or the eight ages of men include, trust vs mistrust, autonomy vs shame and doubt, initiative vs guilt, industry vs inferiority, identity vs role confusion, intimacy vs isolation, generativity vs stagnation, ego integrity vs despair (Erikson, E 1995). Whilst the two theories are similar because of the stages, the difference that many find the most notable is that whilst Freud focuses more on the unconscious mind and the childhood of a person, Erikson moved on to thinking about how the environment such as society and culture can have an effect on our development as well as the relationships we develop throughout our lifespan. In terms of sexual and gender development Erikson believes that they usually develop more notably within the identity vs role confusion stage when a person is between the ages 12-18, where a child is transition from childhood to adulthood. In his book, Childhood and Society, Erikson describe this process as a mind of the ‘moratorium’, which means that the child is between the morality that they learnt throughout their childhood and the ethics they should learn in order to enter the adult world. To