Erik Erikson Human Development Theory

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Erikson Eight Stages In Life
The main elements in the concept
Reasons for Choosing Erik Erikson Human Development Theory
References

Introduction

Life is a series of challenges that helps us to develop; each stage in our life presents us with a challenge to face and a lesson to learn. Failing to overcome any challenge in one stage of life dearly affects us in the next stage or later stages of life as we would have missed out on an important lesson. Erickson’s model of development offers a wonderful way of explaining our development stages. The theory outlines eight major development stages that a person undergoes in his/her life. Different terms are used to explain Erikson’s model, for instance, bio-psychological or bio-psychosocial. All these terms refer to the identical eight stages of Erikson’s psychosocial model. This model is one of Erikson’s most distinctive works (Roazen, 1976).

Erikson Eight Stages In Life

Eriksson’s concept is simple and neat, however, it is very sophisticated, and the concept is a base for extensive or complex discussion and examination of personality and behavior. The concept is also important for understanding and also for facilitating personal development – of oneself and others (Crain, 1985).

The main elements in the concept

Stage One; Birth to 12 to 18 Months the Oral Stage; Trust vs. Mistrust

This is the infant stage; the infant is feed and comforted by the mother through teething and sleeping. This stage is characterized by the infant developing trust or mistrust towards people according to how it will be treated specially by the mother (Crain, 1985).

In this stage we find that Long ago, people never used to pay much attention to a child’s development process. Once a baby was born, the changes between adulthood and birth were ignored. Their physical growth and cognitive abilities were not very important. From the 20^th century child’s development matters were dealt with seriousness. During this time, much emphasis was put on abnormal behavior. Generally when a child is born; the parents expect him or her to develop normally into a mature human being. A child is expected to go through infancy, early childhood then middle childhood. Development of a child is naturally continuous and gradual. This includes socially, emotionally, and physically.

Though this is expected, a child’s growth and development may sometimes be slower or faster than normal. Many people know that a child’s development is simply biological. Child development can also be affected by environmental factors. The people around a child will influence the child’s growth and development. Children learn by imitating and they will only imitate the people who are in contact with them early in life.

Stage Two 18 Months to 3 Yrs Old; Muscular Anal Stage; Autonomy vs. Shame/Doubt

The child starts learning and being able to undertake simple activities like controlling bodily parts and walking. At this stage the child is taught toilet manners and walking. The toddle has self doubt and should be guided well. (Crain, 1985) this developmental stage involves the exploration of the child’s physical activities, under we find that the child’s motor is being developed, whereby the child Starts learning and being able to undertake simple activities like controlling bodily parts and walking. At this stage the child gets to know more about play thus some of them start playing with toys, identifying colors textures, and even walking. Here the child is said to have self-doubt and therefore he or she should be guided well by the parents or the caretaker.

Stage Three 3-6yrs Old; Locomotor Stage; Imitative Vs. Guilt

The child has reached a level of discovering and exploring new things, the child plays a lot and takes a lot of adventure. This stage is regarded as a level of discovering and exploring new things, the child plays a lot and takes a lot of adventure. However, this stage is characterized by the child being imitative and feeling guilty, therefore this child has reached a stage where the parent should therefore come with a way of satisfying his or her child, though this job of parenting itself is found to be a challenge through which trusting each other while playing, this forms a good relationship of the child with others. The child is, therefore, expected to broaden her social perspectives and become more involved with those around her (Crain, 1985).

Stage Four 6-12 Years Old Latency stage; Industry vs. Inferiority;

This stage of development sees the child going to school where he/she starts to learn a lot from teachers, friends, and neighbors. The child achieves and accomplishes some activities. Psychological the child will be industrious or become inferior. (Crain, 1985) at this stage, we find that the theory says that the immediate environment that the child lives in shapes his or her development, learning, and behavior. The reaction to surroundings is what fosters the learning of the child. This is where teachers create the teacher-initiated learning activities that children learn from teachers and also other adults around them in the school set up. When the child follows the teacher’s instructions the learning is very successful. In the classroom setup, the students just sit and listen to their teacher attentively. Children can be given workbooks that include coloring and tracing when they are still at home by the parents to help them learn.

Stage Five 12-18 Years Old; Identity Vs Role Confusion; Peer Relationships

Stage five is reached when in the adolescent stage, the adolescent form’s association with peer groups, and he/she is influenced by these peer groups. The person also has a challenge resolving his/her identity and getting direction in his/ her life, the person in this stage is becoming an adult and undergoes role confusion (Crain, 1985).

Stage Six 19-40 Year Old; Intimacy vs. Isolation; Love Relationships

The person is in young adulthood and forms intimate relations and gets into love relations, start a family life by marrying. The person also in this stage is employed or has other professional activities he/she is involved in such as business. Here, an individual has a social life that he/she is involved in (Crain, 1985).

Stage Seven 40-65 Years Old; Generativity vs. Stagnation; Parenting

The stage is reached in mid-adult and the person has children to take care of and the community to contribute to. The individual is a parent and undergoes Generativity against stagnation. The individual is challenged by finding a way of satisfying others (Crain, 1985).

Stage eight 65-80 Years Old; Wisdom and Renunciation

According to Erikson, this stage is reached by adults in their late years, a person reflects on the purpose of life and the achievement he/she has made. The person is concerned about the welfare of the community and the world as a whole. The person is either wise or suffers from renunciation (Crain, 1985).

Reasons for Choosing Erik Erikson Human Development Theory

This Erikson’s theory of human development Human growth and development involves the examination of the behavior of human beings from a bio-psychosocial point of view. Under this theory we find that the psychological development of a person is usually described in terms of age, personality, behavior, or psychological maturity and with specific regard to biological processes that take place in the life cycle of a man. There is also an assumption that human growth and development are strategically entrenched within the context of the social setting in which a person is brought up. Since every stage of human development is influenced primarily by external factors, it is paramount that we understand the social, political, cultural, or societal backgrounds of each and every person.

This theory indicates that human beings grow stage by stage and it spreads throughout their lives (infant stage to old age) i.e. people don’t stop growing until they die. Since not all change that takes place in human lives is considered development, it must be able to have a permanent feature for it to be considered an element of development. Erikson’s theory indicates that each stage of development is therefore influenced by variables within the environment such that every stage of development becomes the base for the series of the next stage. Some developmental changes are also transactional and interpersonal.

From this theory of human development, we can therefore conclude that the human growth and development process is crucial to each and every human being and its commencement occurs immediately after conception. People take various steps to grow and develop physically and psychologically. This theory shows that as a child grows he or she can learn and become knowledgeable and in the process develops future ideals. It is evident that the growth of a child takes one step at a time and one step leads to another. Although it is believed that every child has its way of growing and developing, the scientists claim that the stages for child growth are usually the same.

References

Crain, W. C. (1985): Theories of Development, 2Rev Ed, Prentice-Hall.
Marcia, J. E., (1966): Development and validation of ego identity status, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 3
Roazen, P. (1976): Erik H. Erikson: The Power and Limits of a Vision, N.Y.; The Free Press

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