ERIK ERIKSON’S PSYCHOSOCIAL THEORY OF DEVELOPMENT

 

Erik Erikson was born on June 15, 1902 in Frankfurt, Germany. His young Jewish mother raised Erik by herself for a time before marrying a physician, Dr. Theodor Hoinberger. The fact that Homberger was not in fact his biological father was concealed from him for many years. When he finally did learn the truth, he was left with a feeling of confusion about who he really was. This early experience helped spark his interest in the formation of identity and continued to influence his work throughout his life. 

His interest in identity was further developed based upon his own experiences in school. At his temple school, the other children teased him for being Nordic because he was tall, blonde, and blue-eyed. At grammar school, he was rejected because of his Jewish background. 

In his psychosocial theory, Erikson proposed that personal development was directly impacted by social experiences. One of the main elements of his stage development theory is the development of the ego identity, or the conscious sense of self that is developed through social interaction. According to Erik Erickson, the ego identity is constantly changing in response to experience and information acquired through daily interactions in society. In addition to ego identity, Erikson hypothesised that competence is in itself a motivation for certain behaviours and actions. As such, each stage in Erikson’s theory is concerned with achieving competency. Successful completion of each stage leaves an individual with a sense of mastery referred to as ego strength or ego quality.

Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory

More than Freud, Erikson saw human beings as rational and able to make sound decisions as they confront and overcome challenges in their everyday lives. He further viewed personality as beginning from birth and ending at death. To explain his views about personality development, he coined his own theory which came to be known as ‘Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory’ which was typically a stage-development theory. Erikson divided the stages of development into 8 categories marked by specific characteristics. The stages are described below:

Trust versus mistrust: this is Erikson’s first psychosocial stage that occurs in the first year of life. The first and foremost task of an infant is to develop the basic sense of trust in him/herself and in environment.

A sense of trust requires a feeling of physical comfort, happiness and guidance from adults. In other words, an infant becomes completely dependent on adults for the attainment of his basic needs. Trust in infancy sets in the sense of faith that the world would be a good, pleasant and lovely place to leave in. Mistrust in children sets in when infants are ignored or negatively treated. This develops in them a deep sense of distrust of people around them and will perceive the world to be unsafe and cruel.

Autonomy versus shame and doubt: this is Erikson’s second stage of development. It occurs during late infancy and toddlerhood stages (1-3 years). In this stage, a child tends to develop sense of autonomy and realises that his/her behaviours are personal. He prefers to do things on his or her own. Children who are not given freedom to explore their environment or are restrained too much or punished harshly may develop a sense of shame and doubt to carry out specific tasks. Such children may become self-conscious and doubtful about their capabilities.

Initiative versus guilt: this is third stage of development occurs from 3 up to pre-school years (6 years). Children grow rapidly in almost all dimensions such as social, physical, intellectual, emotional, etc. They become more active than they were during infant stage. They assume personal responsibility for their bodies, behaviours, toys and dollies. They express their autonomy in behaviour, which is referred to as initiative. They begin to develop a sense of right or wrong. Subsequently, a sense of responsibility increases initiatives while a sense of guilt may arise when a child is irresponsible and made to feel anxious.

Industry versus inferiority: this is fourth stage of development takes place from 6 years and continues up to elementary school years (12 years). Erikson was of the view that a child becomes ready to apply himself/herself given skills and tasks, which go far beyond mere playful expression. He or she develops industry, that is, he or she adjusts to the inorganic laws of the tool world by mastering whatever he or she does. A child at this stage is full of energy and has efforts to produce new things. However, a child may find that he or she is still a child, that he or she does not produce and this may lead to feeling of incompetence, which leads to inferiority complex. Erikson was of the view that teachers and parents should be responsible for children’s development of industry.

Identity versus identity confusion: this is the fifth stage of development. It is experienced during the adolescent years (11-21 years). At this stage, an individual is preoccupied with finding who he/she is, what she or he is and where one is going to in life. This is the stage in which people build castles in the air, trusting their imagination by gaining what they cannot attain in real life.

Subsequently, adolescents get confronted with many new roles such as vocational and romantic adventures. Teachers and parents, therefore, should allow adolescents to explore many different roles. If such roles are explored in a healthy manner by adolescents, then they arrive at a positive path to follow in life and consequently a positive identity will be achieved. If adolescents do not adequately explore different roles and do not carve out a positive future path or if parents and teachers force an identity on the, identity confusion may come about and they can remain confused about their real identity and may settle on a negative identity not socially acceptable like bullying. As a teacher, this stage is more important to give the learners opportunity to express themselves in various ways.

Intimacy versus isolation: this is Erikson’s sixth stage of development. It occurs in early adulthood years (19 – about 25). One is confronted with developmental tasks of forming intimate or close relationships with others in society. If a young adult forms a healthy friendship and an intimate relationship with others, then intimacy will be attained and when this does not happen, there is a feeling of loneliness and isolation from close personal relationships.

Generativity versus stagnation: this is Erikson’s seventh stage of development, which is generally experienced during middle adulthood (about 25 – about 55 years of age). The cardinal point is to assist young people or younger generation to develop and lead useful lives, that is, to be progressive, creative and productive. This is what Erikson means by generativity. The feeling of having done nothing to help the next generation is what was referred to as stagnation. If the outside world does not assist the next generation or if there are impediments to thwart the efforts of the next generation, then stagnation occurs.

Integrity versus despair: this is the eighth of Erikson’s stages of development and it is experience during late adulthood (55 Years and onwards). During this stage, people tend to look back at what they have done and evaluate what they have done in their lives of later years. Studies have revealed that life well spent would give a sense of satisfaction hence integrity will be achieved. If the older adults resolved many of their earlier stages negatively, then most likely, doubt or gloom will be experienced, hence despair.

Despair versus hope and faith this is the ninth stage which was added to Erickson stages of psychosocial development by his wife after his death. This stage is about one coming to terms that he/she is old. During this stage there is a shift in attention by elderly people where they move beyond the material concerns of their body, and that they tend to accept easily who they are and what comes along when one is old.

EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE PSYCHOSOCIAL THEORY

The psychosocial theory of personality development has had a huge impact in as far as shaping educational practice is concerned. We will note from the essay that the theory has created a deeper understanding of the manner children develop and the skills that they possess at a time. This has been a great tool on the part of teachers in understanding learner behaviour and how to prepare lessons so as to vary activities and methods to suit the developmental needs of learners.

Between three to six years, these are pre-school years in the Zambian context. During this time frame, children are faced with a crisis between initiative and guilt as such; they strive for courage and independence. To help learners and cater for their needs, it is imperative for the teacher to grant independence and provide lots of encouragement in the process. Undoubtedly, this will promote initiative in learners.

Research has further indicated that the theory can be used to draw lessons where the children in preschools, in this case, the Zambian preschools can have their initiative encouraged. It should be noted that children in pre-school and early childhood education programs should be given freedom to explore their world apart. They should be allowed to play as play improves their cognitive development. There is also need to reduce on frequent and constant criticism of learners because they are prone to making a lot of mistakes, but instead, encourage them all the way.       

It is also crucially important to note that during this developmental stage, play occupies an important part in a child’s life. For this, a teacher must be alive to the needs of learners and structure adventure activities and provide ample time for both supervised and unsupervised play. It is a well-known fact that through play, children learn and develop various skills. It is important for a teacher to know that during this stage, children engage in a lot of trial and error activities and should be allowed to explore so as to know certain consequences of their actions. During this time, a teacher should be well aware that children are not naughty when they show initiative, and should not be punished but merely encouraged and guided. It should also be seriously considered by teachers that children during this time face a lot of complexities in planning and judgement and so, this may lead to a lot of frustration in the use of initiative.

Between the ages of six and twelve (industry versus inferiority), children would have made remarkable strides in their academic journey. Erikson called this stage as the “entrance to life” and children start to experiment with making things and producing results. They are applying skills and processes productively and feeling valued and capable of contributing. During this stage, teachers should encourage learners and provide opportunities for them to stretch and learn new skills and acquire new knowledge. It is also a worthy undertaking to try out new activities with them to enhance their self-perception. 

To do this, educators should ensure that all learners at some point experience success in the tasks given to them. This calls for recognition of multiple intelligences in learners. Every learner can be good at least in one thing. This can help learners develop their unique abilities and talents. Through positive and negative reinforcements encourage learners to take full responsibility of their actions and allow them to learn from their mistakes. Provide opportunities for the learners to adapt and follow rules and explain how following rules helps everyone live well with others.

Therefore, through the understanding of the above theory, Zambian teachers can also promote industry in elementary school children. It should be indicated that teachers have a special duty to help children’s development of industry. Erikson hoped that teachers could provide an atmosphere in which children become passionate about learning. In this case Zambian teachers are also enabled to help children adventure into finding out that they can learn to accomplish things beyond their imagination as it is true that in elementary school children have great desire to know.

It is also a well-known fact that between the ages twelve and twenty (12-20), the basic strengths of these teenagers are commitment and dependability. As an educator, allow the teenagers to experience the consequences of then actions (both positive and negative), this will help them develop their identity. However, a balance should be reached between control and freedom. An educator must help learners understand themselves and how they can fit into the wider society. -For this reason, it would be worthwhile to expose them to various career and life options because this will help them develop their identity. As social beings, the teacher should help learners deal with their own feelings and how to positively engage with others. Having positive close relationships can help learners a great deal. Sex education can come in to help learners understand themselves better.

On the part of the teacher, they must benefit from some characteristics of the stages like stage seven (generativity versus despair). As such; competent teachers trust, show initiative, are industrious and model a sense of masterly, and are motivated to contribute something meaningful to the next generation. For this and many reasons, teachers will have a determination of positively contributing to the lives of learners so that they can develop into meaningful adults.

THE STRENGTHS OF ERIKSON’S THEORY

The strengths of the psychosocial theory are that it provides a broad framework from which to view development throughout the entire lifespan. It allows us to emphasise the social nature of human beings and the important influence that social relationships have on development. Researchers have found evidence supporting Erikson's ideas about identity and have further identified different sub-stages of identity formation. Some research also suggests that people who form strong personal identities during adolescence are better capable of forming intimate relationships during early adulthood and later in life.

LIMITATIONS OF PSYCHOSOCIAL THEORY

The crucial questions that ought to be answered include but not limited to the following, what kinds of experiences are necessary to successfully complete each stage? And, how does a person move from one stage to the next? Therefore, it can be said that the major weaknesses inherent in the psychosocial theory are that; the exact mechanisms for resolving conflicts and moving from one stage to the next are not well described or developed. The theory fails to detail exactly what type of experiences are necessary at each stage in order to successfully resolve the conflicts and move to the next stage.