Erik Erikson & Lifespan Development

one of the most valuable concepts emerging from psychological research is that of lifespan development the idea that many aspects of human nature continue to develop throughout the entire lifecycle as we come to the end of our life for example there's what we call biological senescent growing older physically but also the possibility of psychological adolescent and developing psychologically to our full potential Erik Erikson help redirect developmental psychology toward the entire lifecycle his insights into the crises of identity came out of his own experiences as a newcomer to the United States because as an immigrant I faced one of those very important the definitions that a man has to make who lost his language all the references on the basis of which is essentially in sensual impressions were based when I came to Boston in 1933 a psychoanalyst that was that was quite a new field Freud presented a very very important model of psychosexual development pointing out that we have to understand a good deal of Vannes later life in view of the way he was able to resolve conflict since very early life and it certainly seems that Freud did not pay an awful lot of attention beyond these first five years of life because certainly it means that you try to sexualize these later periods as well these earlier periods in somewhat more detail but you have added what seems to be some character dimensions that you think evolve eventually the miserly level you talk about basic trust versus basic mistress being related to the soil sensory level the member here that this is not just a matter of a single shift of focus that one is built on the other now you and I remember that what Freud first was very much concerned with was to find the experiences in life in which he could find quantities of something so to him the origins and the transformations of sexual energy was not a matter of preoccupation with but it seemed to him the most likely area in which you could find quantities which arise out of the body chemistry and are translated into drives and the the main point is that we later on we're concerned not just with the question of what does a valid e contribute to sexuality but we were interested in is what morality may contribute to the child psychosocial development in other words the morality takes place in relationship to the mother who feeds and who reassures and who coupled and keeps warm what you learn first in life is to take in but as you take in and take in with your mouths which is which is senses so what seemed important was what contribution is that to psychosocial education and there I felt that the first basic psychosocial attitude to be learned is that you can trust your mother that you will come back and feed you but mistrust is just as important mistrust is where the ratio has been mistrust is our basic social attitude we do this constantly if we work if we enter somewhere we have to differentiate it now can we trust a mistrust when we miss past meaning the recognition of danger the anticipation of discomfort and so on so these two things that these are two things is very basic to the whole scheme building on a foundation of Freud you've introduced important dimension of social development as you call it psychosocial development it's filling in a little bit of a gap in Freud's work in the sense that he did not really develop this Erickson identified eight stages of psychosocial development from birth to late adulthood in which the individual is challenged by specific crises or conflicts each stage is find by developmental tests the individual must come to terms with two opposite demands balancing or integrating them for the young adults the conflict is between isolation and intimacy the ability to make a full commitment to another person this requires accepting responsibilities and giving up some privacy and independence failure to resolve this developmental crisis can lead to isolation to a lack of meaningful psychological connections with other people research indicates that anything which isolates us from sources of social support can leave us at risk for a number of physical and mental problems the next crisis early signs of an opportunity for growth comes during the 30s and 40s during midlife people usually move beyond the focus on self to wider commitments to family work and society but for those who haven't resolved the earlier crises of identity and intimacy they may loom ahead what's known as the midlife crisis people in a midlife crisis are self-indulgent they want to give up their commitments for one last flame opting for freedom at the expense of security and responsibility to others Erikson's eighth and final crisis comes at the end of the life course if an individual has resolved the crises of earlier stages he or she can look back to enjoy a sense of wholeness but when there are too many crises unresolved too many aspirations unfulfilled the end is shadowed by futility despair and anger

Channel: Dr. J. Scott Branson

Views: 17,792

Rating: 4.9444447 out of 5

Keywords: Erikson, Lifespan, Development, Human growth, human development, Theory, Stages, Mental Health, Counseling, Counselor Education

Id: pxgp69xtV0I

Length: 6min 1sec (361 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 20 2017