Eriksons Phychosocial Development

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Erickson’s Eight Stages of Psychosocial Development Throughout life, humans change drastically. Erik Erikson developed an eight stage theory that covers the life span of someone and his or her personality crisis. During each stage, Erikson’s theory covers what is expected to happen during that period in human life, and if they overcome that theory, they will obtain a virtue that will stick with them for the rest of his or her life. From birth to one and a half, infants go through a psychosocial crisis of trust vs. mistrust. During this stage, it is known that young infants need the attention and care that their parents are supposed to provide to them. The baby will understand whether the world is safe or not. If the child is neglected due to the parent or care giver, then the child will grow up not trusting the world or his or her future relationships. “Success in this stage will lead to a virtue of hope” (McLeod, 2008). Since this is the first stage in Erikson’s psychosocial development, it is crucial that parents give their children care in order for the future stages of development to be fulfilled. During the stage of trust vs. mistrust, I believe that it was resolved by the caring attention that my parents and family members provided me. With the careful attention they gave me, the virtue of “hope” was developed. Erikson describes hope as the first virtue to be obtained. Hope, as a sense, has been established throughout my life because I know that if I am in need of something, then I know that someone is there to help me. I am able to establish that someone is there to help me because my family is always there for me just like when I was a baby. In Erickson’s stage, “Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt,” we establish that between the ages of eighteen months to three years old, a child learns that it is necessary to become more independent. A parent should

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