Paige Leuthold Growth and Development February 21, 2011 Erik Erikson

Born on June 15, 1902 in Frankfurt, Germany, Erik Homberger Erikson, was born to Danish parents. During his younger school years Erikson studied languages and art instead of the normal biology and chemistry. He did not enjoy schooling and the atmosphere connected with it. That let him to the decision of not attending college. Instead of college, he traveled across Europe and kept a journal with his experiences and findings. He did that for a year. After that year he went back home and enrolled into an art school. Many years later he started to teach to American children, whose parents had come for Freudian training. After that we went into the Vienna Psychoanalytic Institute. He moved to the United States in 1933 and became a child analyst in Boston and worked at Harvard Medical School. He also worked at Yale, Berkeley, and the Menniger Foundation. He worked as a clinician and psychiatric consultant in California as well. During his work and studies, Erikson developed his 8 stages of development. The first stage occurs in the first year of life and it is the Trust vs. Mistrust stage. The desired outcome from this stage is faith in the

environment and future happenings. Sometimes the desired outcome isnt what we get. The unfavorable outcome is, suspicion or fear of the future. The second stage is in the second year of life, and that is Autonomy vs. Doubt The desired outcome is a sense of self control and the undesired outcome is feeling self doubt and shame. The third stage is Initiative vs. Guilt. This occurs 3-5 years of age. The outcome that is desired is the ability to be a selfstarter and the unfavorable outcome is the sense of guilt to be on ones own. The fourth stage is Industry vs. Inferiority. This occurs age 6 to puberty. The desired outcome is the ability to learn how things work and to understand and organize things. The unfavorable outcome is the sense of inferiority at understanding and organizing things. The fifth stage is Identity vs. Confusion. This occurs during adolescence. The favorable outcome is identifying oneself as unique. The bad side is that it often times confusion on who and what one is. The sixth stage is Intimacy vs. Isolation. This occurs during early adulthood. The favorable outcome is the ability to love and make commitments. The undesired outcome is the inability to form a relationship. The seventh stage is Generativity vs. Self-adsorption This occurs during middle age. The desired outcome is the concern for family and society and the undesired outcome is selfishness. The eighth, and final stage is Integrity vs. Despair. This occurs during the later, aging years. The favorable outcome is the sense of fulfillment and the acceptance of death. The unfavorable outcome

is the dissatisfaction with life and the fear of death. The First stage of Eriksons study is the Trust vs. Mistrust. This occurs about birth to age one. In my opinion this is crucial time that a child starts to trust the parents and the people that care for them. They have to be able to trust that their parents will provide the child whatever necessary in order to live. Of course, at this age the child doesnt understand much of what is going on, but as time progresses the child will recognize who is taking care of them. Many children in this stage are most likely to cry when a parent is leaving them with complete strangers, or even people that have been around, such as a grandparent. A child has to get acquainted with caretakers so that they feel comfortable in that persons care. It is the most often the stage where the child is most clingy. I had to ask my family some questions because I was uncertain of the answers due to my age. I asked if I was a planned baby. I was. My parents wanted a second child and thats where I come in! My sister is about two years older than me. I then asked if my family was ready to have a new member. My parents said yes because they prepared well in advance. They prepared my sister for a new addition, and they loved me unconditionally from day one. Next I asked who resided in my home. In my home were my mother, my father, and my sister. Oh and I cant forget my cat Pumpkin. We lived in the exact same house that we do now. I have never moved. The next

question was how was my mothers pregnancy. She told me that she had a simple pregnancy. The only thing she did differently between my sister and me was when she was pregnant with her my mother ate a chocolate bar and had a coke every day and with me she didnt. She says thats why my sister has a sweet tooth and I dont. I then asked my mom how her labor and delivery was and how were our first hours and days together. My mom said it was an easy delivery. She only had a couple hours of labor and I came out pretty easily. She also told me that I wasnt a big crier. I never used a binky. I just didnt cry. Only a couple months after I was born we flew to Washington D.C. and I didnt cry one time. Everyone complimented on how I was so well behaved. I slept well very well and was overall a great baby! The next question I asked my parents was who was there when I arrived. My mother obviously was there, and so was my father. Later that day my grandparents came with my sister because they were watching her while my parents were at the hospital. My hospital stay was very routine. Not too long. I was of normal weight and length. I had no internal complications so I was born and I left. My primary care givers right away were my parents. My grandparents also played a heavy hand in my raising. Also I went to a full-time baby sitter for multiple years so she raised me as well. But I attribute my growing up to my parents because they are the ones that taught me my morals and values. I was not breast-fed. My mother had to go back to work shortly after I was born

therefore could not breast-feed. It was totally inconvenient so I was raised on formula and I turned out just fine. My mother told me I wasnt a fussy baby. I rarely cried or puked on my parents. That was my sisters job! My mom told me that she did not suffer from post partum depression after either one of her pregnancies. I didnt have much going on in my life during the first year. No major events happened in that time frame. As I look back now on my life I realize that my life could have been way different and/or way worse if I had different people taking care of me. The Trust vs. Mistrust stage has greatly affected me and how I live my life to this very day. I realize that is things had been different from that of which they were, I wouldnt have as many trust issues as I do now with multiple people. I did have my family together, but my dad was often gone for extend periods of time for military duties so I attached to my mother more than him. Also I went to a full time baby sitter so I became familiar with her. My mother was my support system and when people invaded that I was not a happy camper. To this day I still have issues trusting new people. My parents (Wayne and Tracey) always taught me to be aware of my surroundings, the people around, and if I was uncomfortable, to ask questions or remove myself from the situation. That has hindered my trust in people because it makes me feel like there are hardly any good people left in the world. I went to daycare

every day when I was younger and that was my safe place. Sure, I didnt like my mom and dad leaving me, but eventually I was able to trust my baby sitter and her house was a safe haven for me. My attachment with my mom was very apparent when she was having sinus surgery and went to drop me off at school that morning and I would not get out of the car. I cried and cried. I was determined to not let go of her. Finally she had to talk me down but it took awhile. She was my everything and I didnt want to leave her. Other factors in this stage are: the way my mother fed me, if I was a planned child or not, and/or if my family was ready to welcome a new member. My family took such amazing care of me. I have know idea what my life would be like if they didnt care about me as much as they do. They reassure me every day about how much they love me and to never change. My life would be so much different f I didnt have the trustworthy members of my family that I do now. The next part of the Erikson Stage is focused on how I was during my toddler years and when I was in preschool. It also focuses on how well I got along with my peers, and what kind of relationships did I have with people. To find this information I had to ask my mother because I dont remember how I was like that young. What she told me is evidence of how I was at this age.

My mom told me that I was a cute little girl at that time in my life. (Not that I am not now as well.) At that time in my life, my mom baby-sat 8 or 9 children in our home so I always had other children my age to play with. Some of those children are still some of my very best friends now. I never was lonely and I developed some very good social skills. My mother also told me that I was a big helper when I was little. I always wanted to help her feed the little kids, or clean the table, or even help her pick up the toys. I loved being up and moving. I hated, absolutely hated, naptime. I never slept; I just got really bored while the rest of the kids slept. My favorite days were when we would walk to the park and play on the playground! It was a chance for me to run and be free. I hated going to preschool though. I wanted to stay with my mom. Eventually fun at distracted me preschool, but I could not wait to go home every day. Throughout my whole childhood my parents stressed the fact that they love me and I am special. My mother is my best friend. We have been through everything together and I know if I need anything, I just have to look to her and things will be okay. She is my rock and that was established early on in life. The next stage in Eriksons study deals with communication and involvement in the early childhood stage of life. Personally I can remember the numerous ways I was involved in and out of school. I loved being helpful and being a part of something. It made me feel special. I have been involved in

clubs, sports, and any group I could possibly be a part of. It has provided me with so many relationships that I still have to this day. A lot of this can be attributed to my parents because they were the ones who originally put me in different activities, but never forced me. If I didnt like it, I didnt have to be in it. In most cases, however, I loved being part of the group and doing great things! Although I was in groups, I was the shy one in the group. I am not very open around new people, but if you get to know me I can open up a lot. When I am new in a situation I like to listen first just to get an idea of the situation. Only if I am comfortable will I make a comment or start to open up a little bit. It wasnt until almost high school that I spread my wings and became open. Now that I am in college I am very friendly and I love to be outgoing. I am confident in whom I am and what I have to bring to the table. Soccer is my life. It is why I am at SMWC. Its why I try so hard in school. Its my everything. Before soccer I was in gymnastics, which I absolutely loved. Unfortunately soccer conflicted and I had to choose which one was more important to me. And that was soccer. I have also had to stop playing softball, volleyball, basketball, and running track for soccer. But soccer is where my heart is. It has helped me make so many friends. And these friends are most likely not from my school so that broadens my horizons. In fact that was mostly what my friend group was because when all my school friends

were having sleepovers and fun, I had soccer. So my soccer girls became my best friends because we did share that common interest. That is still how it is today because I dont have time for much else. School and soccer. That is my life. When I was younger I was also involved in Girl Scouts. That was one thing that did keep me connected to girls at school. I loved being in scouts. We did so many good things, it made me feel good inside. I was in scouts until high school. It looked good on a college application so I kept doing it. Plus it kept me in touch with some of the people that I didnt hang out with on a daily basis. They are some of the best people and scouts helped me find them. One of the things that my parents taught me, and being in groups taught me was that I had to be nice to everyone. I dont have to like them or be their best friend, but I had to be respectful and nice to them. Karma is a beautiful thing and when other people see me being the bigger person, it can affect how they view me or how they view themselves. I learned that communication with everyone is one of the most important life lessons that my parents taught me when I was younger. It has helped me throughout my entire life. Stage 5 of Eriksons theory is all about Identity vs. Role confusion. The age range of this stage is around 12-18 years of age. The most important factor in this stage is the relationships with peers and the ability to fit in.

Many young adults feel the need to be similar to their friends unless they are less than adequate. It puts a ton of pressure on a person to conform to the image their peers have of them and to be good enough to please people. In middle school I had the same people with me in almost every class. We were all in the same challenge classes so our schedules were almost identical. So naturally that is whom I hung out with. I guess you could say we were the popular crowd and it was very hard to break into our circle. It was possible, but not likely. We all tried to be better than each other though. If one person got something, we all needed it or needed something better than that. It was who could out do everyone else. It really made me lose my individuality. I conformed to the group ideal and lost who I was. I stayed in that crowd because if I wasnt it would be worse. Basically our motto was The only thing harder than getting in our circle, was staying in it. I hated that. In high school I slowly found who I was. I stopped hanging out with my middle school crowd because I got so busy with soccer and I made new friends in soccer that honestly I didnt have time for them anymore. Which was good. It was the first time I could really be myself and if people didnt like it, thats their problem not mine. I wasnt afraid to state my opinion and suffer consequences if necessary. I had a lot of friends in high school, but I rarely hung out with friends. I was so busy with soccer and I had a job that took up

most of my life. And most of these friends werent such good people. I believed in the fact that Id rather have no friends than having bad friends. In high school, its easy to get in the wrong group of people and its easy to lose who you are and what you believe in. As a young adult, your sense of what is good and what is bad is kind of blurred. Do you conform or do you stand out. Luckily for me, my parents taught me to be myself and live by Dr. Seuss motto Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. The sixth stage in Eriksons study of psychosocial development is intimacy vs. isolation. This stage occurs from the age of 25 to about 40 years of age. This stage deals with the question of am I loved?, and will I be myself for the rest of my life? Many adults during this time start to wonder if they should find a potential and future spouse, or if the person is better off alone. Many times people are working on trying to figure out who they are as a person by trying to meet other people with the same interests and likes/dislikes. Since I have yet to reach this stage in life, I will have to predict what I think I will be like at that time. If I had to decide what it would be like, it would base it off multiple factors. I would have to base it off the previous relationships that I have been in and the future relationships that I want. I would have to decide what I wanted to look for in a potential spouse and try

to find that person with similar moral and values. A major factor is respect. I want to be respected for who I am and I do not want to be taken advantage of in anyway. I need someone that will love and care for me as much as I will love and care for them. I need there to be a huge level of respect because that was major factors in my previous failed relationships. I also want to be comfortable being myself around that person at all times, and to not be judged by who I am and how I act. By this stage in life, I want to know exactly who I am and be proud and comfortable with that. When I meet new people I want to be able to make new connections with new people in a healthy way. I believe that it will be very important to always be friendly and to be aware of other peoples feelings. I would imagine at this stage in my life I will want to go out and spend time with my friends, attempt to start a healthy relationship with someone I could potentially marriage, and enjoy my life before things like marriage and kids come along. The seventh stage in Eriksons development study is generativity vs. stagnation. This stage occurs around the age of 45 to about 65 years of age. During this time period in a persons life, the person is starting to ponder about what kid of meaning his/her life has. It is a question of, have I done things in my life that have good value? Also during this stage a person ponders if what they have done will better someones life in the future or if

they have made an impact on someone. It is very important to be a role model to our younger generations, because they are our future. I feel that at this time in my life my main concern and goal will be if I have really done anything positive to show my children, not only my biological children, but also my students, how to act accordingly, how they can better themselves, and has my life been full of enough meaning to where I had been able to make a difference in at least one persons life. I hope by this time in my life, I have been a successful teacher for numerous years, and that I was making an impact in students lives. I never want to give in on any of my beliefs and I will make a promise to myself that I will never give up on myself or anyone else. In the time period of ages 45-65 I will have had hundreds of student working their way in and out of my classroom. I want to be able to teach them the difference between right and wrong, and good and bad, ergo they can do the same in time to come. It is extremely important that I am always a positive influence on everyone I come in contact with. I want to be caring towards all walks of life. I hope that I am one that anyone and everyone can talk to and confide in, and trust that I will always be there to listen. As I continue to grow older I will always teach by example and be an influence for others who will then in turn be influences on other people.

The eighth and final stage of the Erikson study is called Ego Integrity Despair. The age range for this stage is 65 years up until death. In this stage people are wondering if they lived their life to the fullest possible ability. They wonder if their life had happiness, success, and most importantly worth. Many people during this time period reflect on the event that happened in their life that makes them who they were. A realization of the fact that their life is over half way over can be a sad one but it gives a person a chance to also see how much they have done in their life. When I am at age 65 or older my main hope is that I am happy with where I am in life and what Ive accomplished so far. Money, and possessions will never define if I have had a good life. Being a teacher, people are of more importance. If I have impacted just one person and made a difference in their life, then my life was a success and completely worthy. I want to be able to look back and be happy with what kind of person I was and the things I did to make the world better. I really hope that when I look back on my life about 50 years from now that I will be happy with the kind of life I had experienced. I live my life now with no regrets and I want to continue to do so. I want to have a positive attitude towards everything I have done or will continue to do. Life has obstacles and its all about how you deal with them. But these obstacles make you who you are, and make you special. I want to live life to the fullest and

never look back and wish I would have done something differently, or just done it in general. The one main goal of my life is to make a difference. If I did that even just in the slightest then I will have a pretty good life.