Erik Erikson's Psychosocial Development Theory: Exploring Its Assumptions - Essay Sample

1. What are the central tenants or assumptions about how people develop in a healthy and unhealthy ways (normative and non- normative) with the theory you chose? Please list and explain them.

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The psychosocial development theory by Erick Erikson is one of the most influential theories of human development. The writings of this theory are complicated and extensive, covering different conceptual backgrounds. The aspects of his argument are influenced by the psychoanalytic theory developed by Freud (). However, crucial differences were distinguishing the two theories. Freud's development theory was centered around childhood, while Erickson's theory extended through the lifespan of an individual with personalities developing from birth to old age. Freud's theory was mostly psychosexual, emphasizing how genitalia and sexual drives impact children's development. Erickson's theory is deemed psychosocial because it emphasizes the importance of social and cultural factors in human life.

The most noticeable characteristic of Erikson's theory was the description of the eight essential psychosocial tensions humans have to balance throughout their lifespan. Erickson made arguments that these eight stages are present in everybody at all stages of life. However, specific tensions were salient at diverse points through time (Syed & McLean, 2017). A tension would thus manifest itself before its main developmental period and continued to be important later on (Syed & McLean, 2017). Tension 5, which is Identity vs. role confusion, is a prime example of the continuity. Erickson determined that the periods between adolescence and young adulthood were critical developmental periods where identity tensions were resolved. There, however, can be Identity-related problems that can come up before puberty. People who did not adequately fulfill these stages were said to develop different unwanted characteristics such as failure to develop trusting relationships with different people (Syed & McLean, 2017). According to the theory, parents were significant in the healthy development of varying personality traits during childhood. During adulthood, people who did not receive adequate support during these tensions would become unsure of different aspects of their lives.

2. What are impactful developmental aspects for Claire's age range (i.e., teenagers)? This is general for the age range and not specific to Claire's situation yet.

The fifth stage is centered around the development of teenagers. It is described as the Identity vs. role Confusion stage (Cherry, 2018). At the beginning of adolescence, people begin to engage themselves in identifying themselves. Identity was a big part of Erickson's thinking, with the stage commencing at puberty and ending around 18 to 20 years. The main task of adolescence is achieving ego identity with avoidance of role confusion. Ego identity refers to someone knowing who they are and how they fit in society (Boeree, 2006). It requires one to gather all information learned about oneself and life and molding it into a self-image meaningful to society. Erickson suggests that teenagers at this stage should be encouraged adequately to get to know about themselves. People tend to be over-focused on achieving success fast without taking time back to reflect and figure out the meaning of success to them (Boeree, 2006). Most adolescents are known as idealists with a tendency to see different life aspects in black and white.

During this stage, lack of Identity is a difficult task with Erickson describing this destructive tendency as repudiation (Boeree, 2006). Adolescents reject their membership into adulthood and reject even more the need to develop an identity (Boeree, 2006). Some teenagers let themselves "fuse" in a group, especially a type that is eager to give someone details of their Identity. This can lead to involvement in destructive tasks like alcohol and drugs, or there can be a withdrawal to own psychotic fantasies. When someone successfully negotiates this stage, one has a virtue described by Erickson as fidelity. Fidelity is a description of an individual's ability to live by societal standards despite the presence of incompleteness, inconsistencies, and imperfections (Boeree, 2006).

3. What developmental challenges do you see in Claire’s life (as they pertain to normative teenage development as well as based upon your theoretical approach)? Explain

The first developmental challenge noticed from Claire's initial problems was lack of adequate nutrition. The importance of eating adequately at this stage of life cannot be underestimated because diet plays a significant role in refreshing different body cells responsible for growth and development. Claire was still seeking to find her Identity, and her boyfriend's remarks were sure to confuse her on what type of body image is acceptable in society. Adolescents at this stage may try to keep up with the high demands of the mainstream culture. Claire is also carrying an unaddressed childhood trauma that resulted from repeated sexual, emotional, and physical abuse from her father. This trauma may have led her to drug abuse and the need for rehabilitation at such a tender age.

The lack of encouragement from family members is also a challenge in Claire's life. She has a strained relationship with her close relatives, including her sister and mother, which might hinder a healthy development to adulthood. Her mother is also rigid with how she raises Claire because she forces her into activities that she may not be willing to partake. It is vital at this stage to give teenagers room to chart their futures and personalities. She fears to tell her mother her opinions on different issues because of the fear that her mother will overreact and misunderstand her. It is crucial to have an adult culture deserving respect of an adolescent with suitable adult role models who offer open lines of communication (Knight, 2017). Claire is not receiving this kind of support at home.

4. Please conceptualize Claire's problems based upon your theoretical lens. Be thorough! Help me understand how your theory explains what you see from Claire. How does your theory help us understand the impact or reasoning behind Claire’s developmental challenges?

Claire confides to her counselor that she has experienced sexual abuse from her father. Sexual abuse in childhood creates different psychological adjustment complications, including the formation of identities in adolescence and young adulthood (Dukett, 2015). Identity develops across an individual’s lifespan, but the most significant time of growth commences during childhood with increments during adolescence and young adulthood. Sexual violence in these initial years can hinder the proper development of Identity (Dukett, 2015). Adolescence is characterized by the increased ability to understand what abuse means with the reprocessing of traumatic events. The reprocessing stage is unique in adolescent kids because individual cognitive processes permit them to comprehend and apply meaning to the abuse received (Dukett, 2015). Some children can also not manifest symptoms of sexual abuse such as depression and post-traumatic stress syndrome until one has become a teenager. Claire had manifested all these symptoms in adolescence and also had a history of drug addiction that could be attributed to the effects of the trauma received from the father.

Claire was experiencing the diverse effects attributed to her poor feeding habits when she fainted in school. She reported that she started feeding poorly after being criticized by her boyfriend on her weight. Despite leaving the said boyfriend, she still experienced poor feeding habits with a desire to weigh below 100lbs. In his theory, Erickson determined that adolescents search for their purpose in life while establishing their values and beliefs that will be approved by society. Identity formation is future-oriented and influences people's perceptions of their environments (Dukett, 2015). In the theory, an adolescent child has to initially go through a time of exploration whereby values and understanding of self are examined, questioned, discovered, and tested. Afterward, they can make commitments to their beliefs. Despite that guidance is vital in this stage, there should be freedom to explore different interests freely. Claire was not receiving adequate advice since her mother was rigid in what she allowed her daughter to do.

5. What are other things that you would want to ask or additional information that would be helpful for you to know to best understand Claire from your theoretical lens? Please and explain each of these.

Different additional data would be useful to obtain from her. It would be helpful to discover what personal hobbies and preferences she enjoyed doing alone. Various challenges are accompanying the pursuit of individual Identity that needs sustained effort from the person to identify his/her uniqueness from the diverse possible beliefs, behavioral traits, and goals (Dukett, 2015). If there is a reluctance to work effortlessly to identify personal Identity, there can be role diffusion characterized by the inability to define oneself.

Another aspect that would be worthy of exploring is whether Claire manifested any forms of attachment anxiety. There have been predictions that elevated levels of attachment anxiety plus attachment avoidance influence low self-esteem as Claire was experiencing (Widom et al., 2018). According to Erickson's theory on psychosocial development, reliable attachments in childhood are predictive factors in higher self-esteem later on (Dukett, 2015). The first stages of the theory are thus critical because it is during this time that attachment begins to form. Different experiences at any of these stages can influence psychological growth, meaning that traumas during these stages can negatively impact self-esteem.

References

Boeree, G. C. D. (2006). Personality theories.

Cherry, K. (2018). Erik erikson's stages of psychosocial development. Retrieved July 5, 2018.

Dukett, J. D. (2015). Childhood Sexual Abuse And Identity Development: The Role Of Attachment And Self-Esteem.

Knight, Z. G. (2017). A proposed model of psychodynamic psychotherapy linked to Erik Erikson's eight stages of psychosocial development. Clinical psychology & psychotherapy, 24(5), 1047-1058.

Syed, M., & McLean, K. C. (2017). Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development.

Widom, C. S., Czaja, S. J., Kozakowski, S. S., & Chauhan, P. (2018). Does adult attachment style mediate the relationship between childhood maltreatment and mental and physical health outcomes?. Child abuse & neglect, 76, 533-545