Critically Evaluate Eriksons Psychosocial Theory

Erik Erickson is possibly the best known of Sigmunds Freuds many followers. He grew up in Europe and spent his young adult life under the direction of Freud. In 1933 when Hitler rose to power in Germany, Erikson emigrated to the United States and began teaching at Harvard University. His clinical work and studies were based on children, college students, victims of combat fatigue during World War two, civil rights workers, and American Indians. It was these studies which led Erikson to believe that Freud misjudged some important dimensions of human development. Throughout this essay, Eriksons psychosocial model will be explored, discussed and evaluated interms of its concepts, theories and assumptions. The theoretical underpinning will†¦show more content†¦Presumably Erikson believes that an individual experiences a rapid period of change and reorganisation before being elevated to a new and more advanced stage of development. Continuity theorists however, would argue that h uman development is a process that occurs in small steps, without sudden change. Physical growth and language development, for example, show smooth, gradual and continuous growth. But Erikson does not totally rule out this argument. He suggests that experiences in the early stages have a bearing on the experiences in the later stages, this indicates that earlier and later development are connected in such away as to suggest continuity. Erikson also stresses the importance of environmental influences which would place the emphasises on continuous development, however, he also highlights the influential role of maturation in the growth sequence (as highlighted earlier). This suggests that Erikson did not ally himself with either extreme point of view. He recognised that some aspects of development are continuous, whereas others show stage-like characteristics. What Erikson has produced is a sequence of critical periods in the human life cycle. However, he did not imply that the crisis was by any means catastrophic, but that they represent crucial developments in which a decisive turn, one way or another is unavoidable (Stevens 1983). Eriksons psychosocial model is very generalised and he himselfShow MoreRelatedAdo lescent And Their Concept Of Self1584 Words   |  7 Pagesdiscuss the developmental milestones that occur along the way. This life transitional period is discussed with reference to two major theories of development. These theories give nurses better understanding of the adolescent patient and how to streamline care towards their needs. The term self-concept is generally used to refer to how someone thinks about, evaluates or perceives themselves. It is a collection of one’s beliefs about themselves (Baumeister, 1999). Carl Rogers (1959) believes that theRead MoreCharacteristics of children in middle childhood Essay1162 Words   |  5 Pagesin primary school. In this stage, they have more opportunities to expose themselves to people and environment they had never known. In general, children in middle childhood are characterized by 3 major domains which are physical, cognitive and psychosocial (refer to Figure 1 in Appendix 1). The first domain that describes children in middle childhood is physical characteristic. The physical characteristic of middle childhood includes their height and weight, and motor development (Papalia, OldsRead MoreErickson s Theory Of Moral Development1537 Words   |  7 PagesMultiple Choice Directions: Read each question thoroughly and circle the correct answer that best answers the question. 1. Which stage of Erickson’s Theory of Psychosocial development describes when adolescents are figuring out who they are? During this stage adolescents struggle with questions such as what is and what isn’t are important to, what are their values, and who will they become when they grow up? a. Initiative vs Guilt b. Trust vs Misrust c. Integrity vs Despair This is a knowledgeRead MoreCritical Assessment Of An Self Reflection910 Words   |  4 Pagesprocesses and get on their level to interact with them better. I want to remember what different kinds of logics young people use so that I can relate and sympathize with them when they encounter a problem or situation which forces them to think critically. I believe I learned a lot about that in this class and I am excited to use it when I work with kids again. Since many of the children I work with come from Social Services, I am happy to have learned about children of divorced parents and singleRead MoreAnalysis Of Robert Kegans Model Of Intellectual Development1409 Words   |  6 PagesThe first model that one can apply to NH’s development is Robert Kegan’s six-stage Constructivist Developmental Theory. This model holds that our way of engaging and understanding the world we live in is â€Å"based on how we construct reality as we pass through the lifespan, and progress ively grows more complex. (Neukrug, 2016). In the case of NH, I believe she is at the interindividual stage, which is characterized by one finding value in relationships, as well as having a substantial capacity forRead MoreThe Role Of Nurse Management Asthma And School Health Program1522 Words   |  7 PagesAmerica (Aloola al et., 2014), moreover, the findings of Grover al et. (2013) indicate probably that asthma is a common and burden of developed countries, including Australia and America. This essay will evaluate these artefacts and journals that indicate accurately and precisely about psychosocial effects of living with asthma as regards less self- management, challenging in educational environment, including classmate attitude. These reasons are highly serious risk of psychiatric illness, so thisRead MoreAdventures in Cheating1870 Words   |  8 Pagessingle-spaced pages and ostensibly on evolutionary theory, it somehow made reference to Lamarck, Sol Invictus, and the blanket of a superficial American Dream. Meanwhil e, it garbled its basic explanation of population genetics. Grade: I would not give this a grade so much as suggest tutoring, a change in majors, some sort of counseling †¦ OPPapers.com: This site fared much better. A paper titled Critically Evaluate Eriksons Psychosocial Theory spelled Eriksons name wrong in the first sentence, yet stillRead MoreAn Evalution of the Attachment Theory Essay13038 Words   |  53 PagesTHE ATTACHMENT THEORY AN EVALUTION OF THE ATTACHMENT THEORY WHEN WORKING WITH CHILDREN IN CARE Gail Walters Dissertation Social Work BA (HONS) Manchester Metropolitan University Tutor: Pauline Black CONTENTS Pages Abstract