In order to understand
how Erik Erikson has worked
to elaborate and
extend the structure of psychoanalysis
and how he has
reformulated its principles
for understanding the
modern world, one has to first
understand the concept
of psychoanalysis as given by
Sigmund Freud. It is
because Erikson himself,
persistently
maintained that his contributions to the
understanding of human
development are nothing more
than a systematic
extension of Freud’s conception of
psychosexual
development.
Erikson actually has
attempted to bridge the gap
between Freudian
theory of psycho sexual development
and present day knowledge
about the role of social
factors in personality
development.
Though he is committed
to the biological and sexual
foundations of
personality like Freud, yet he expanded
or socialized Freud’s
schedule of development by
introducing eight
stages of development. He emphasizes
the importance of
interaction between biological and
social factors in the
development of personality. The
stages are shown in
Fig.-1.
Let us now learn about
Erikson’s theoretical
formulations by considering
the various stages in
human life.
1) Infancy: Basic Trust Versus Mistrust-Hope
The first psychosocial
stage in the Eriksonian scheme
corresponds to Freud’s
Oral stage and it extends
through approximately
the first year of life. The earliest
basic trust is
established during this stage and it is
demonstrated by the
infant in the capacity to sleep
peacefully, to take
nourishment comfortably and to
excrete relaxfully.
Each day as his wakeful hours
increase, the infant
becomes more familiar with
sensual experiences.
Situations of comfort and people
responsible for these
comforts become familiar and
identifiable to him.
Through the
continuity, consistency and sameness of
these experiences with
others, the infant learns to
rely on them and to
trust them. Simultaneously, if
the parents display a
divergent pattern of these
experiences, may be in
the ways of caring for the
infant or in their
role as the parents or demonstrate
a conflicting value
system, it creates an atmosphere
of ambiguity for the
infant, resulting in feelings of
mistrust.
Hope is the first psychosocial strength or virtue, which
is gained by the
infant from successful resolution of
Theories of
Personality 161
the
Trust-verses-Mistrust conflict, during this stage.
2) Early Childhood: Autonomy Versus Shame and
Doubt
This period coincides
with Freud’s Anal stage and
roughly spans the
second and third years of life.
During this stage, the
child learns what is expected
of her, what the
child’s obligations and privileges are
and what limitations
are placed upon her. The child’s
striving for new and
activity-oriented experiences places
a demand for
self-control as well as a demand for the
acceptance of control
from others. A sense of selfcontrol
provides the child
with a lasting feeling of
autonomy, good will
and pride ; however, a sense of
loss of self control
can cause a lasting feeling of
shame and doubt in
him.
The virtue of will emerges during this
stage. Will is
the ever-increasing
psychosocial strength to make freechoices,
to decide and to
exercise self-restraint. The
child learns from
itself and from others what is
expected and what is
not. Will is responsible for the
child’s gradual
acceptance of lawfulness and necessity.
3) Play Age: Initiative Versus Guilt
This period
corresponds to Freud’s Phallic stage
extending roughly from
age four to entry into formal
school. This is when
the child’s social world challenges
her to be active, to
master new skills, and to win
approval by being
productive. This is the age when
child’s facility for
language and motor skills make
possible associations
with the peers and older children
and thus allow
participation in a variety of social
games. During this
stage a child begins to feel that
he or she is counted
as a person and that life has a
purpose for him. It is
an age of initiative, an age of
combines with
initiative to give the child a quality of
pursuing, planning and
determination of achieving
tasks and goals.
However, a feeling of guilt may haunt
him if
his goals and tasks are not accomplished
Purpose is the virtue or the main psychosocial strength
that emerges during
this stage. The child’s major
activity during this
stage is playing. The virtue of
purpose results from
play, explorations, attempts,
failures, and
experimentation with toys. The child
learns what the
purpose of things and begins to
the
connection between the inner and
outer world. Thus an
imaginative and uninhibited play
is vital for the
child’s development.
4) School Age: Industry Versus Inferiority
This period
corresponds to the Latency Period in
Freudian theory and
extends from about 6 to 11 years
of age. Here for the
first time the child is expected
to learn the
rudimentary skills of culture like reading,
writing, cooperating
with others etc. via formal
education. This period
is associated with the child’s
increased power of
reasoning and self discipline, as
well as the ability to
relate to peers according to
prescribed rules.
During this period, the child develops
a sense of industry
when it begins to understand the
technology of his
culture through attending school.
That is to say that
his work includes many and varied
forms such as
attending school, doing chores at home,
assuming
responsibility, studying music, learning
manual skills as well
as participating in skillful games
and sports. The hazard
of this stage is that the child
may develop a sense of
inferiority or incompetence if
she is unable to
master the tasks that are undertaken
or that are set for it
by her teachers and parents.
The virtue of competence emerges during this
stage as
one applies oneself to
work and to completing tasks.
5) Adolescence: Identity Versus Role Confusion
This period is
regarded as highly significant in the
individual’s
psychosocial development. Now he is not
a child and not yet an
adult. This period extends
roughly from 12 or 13
years to about 20 years of age.
During this age, the
adolescent is confronted with
various social demands
and role changes that are
essential for meeting
the challenges of adulthood. It
164 Introduction to Social Work
is the time for making
vocational plans. He becomes
aware of his inherent
characteristics such as his
likes and dislikes,
anticipated goals of future and the
strength and purpose
to control one’s own destiny. It
is during this period
that one defines what one is at
present and what one
wants to be in future. Because
of the transition from
childhood to adulthood, the
adolescent during this
stage of identity formation is
likely to suffer more
deeply than ever before or ever
again from a confusion
of roles or identity confusion.
This state can cause
one to feel isolated, empty,
anxious or indecisive.
The adolescents may feel that
society is pushing
them to make decisions, thus they
may become even more
resistant. The adolescent’s
behaviour is
inconsistent and unpredictable during
this chaotic state.
During this period one may also
develop a negative
identity, a sense of possessing a
set of potentially bad
or unworthy characteristics.
During this stage the
virtue of fidelity develops.
Although now sexually
mature and in many ways
responsible, he or she
is not yet adequately prepared
to become a parent. On
one hand, one is expected to
assimilate oneself
into an adult pattern of life while
on the other hand, one
is denied the sexual freedom
of an adult. The
behaviour shuttles back and forth.
During this difficult
period, the youth seeks inner
knowledge and
understanding of himself or herself
and attempts to
formulate a set of values. The
particular set of
values that emerges is what Erikson
called fidelity.
Fidelity is the foundation upon which
a continuous sense of
identity is formed.
6) Young Adulthood : Intimacy Versus Isolation
This stage marks the
formal beginning of adult life.
This is generally the
period when a person becomes
involved in courtship,
marriage and early family life.
It extends from late
adolescence until adulthood i.e.
from 20 years to
roughly 24 years. Now the person is
ready for social as
well as sexual intimacy with another
person. Now he orients
himself or herself toward,
“settling down” in
life. This is the time when one
requires someone to
love and to have sexual relations
and with whom one can
share a trusting relationship.
The hazard of this
stage is isolation, which is the
avoidance of
relationships because one is unwilling to
commit to intimacy.
The virtue of love comes into
being during this
stage. In addition to the romantic
and erotic qualities,
Erikson regards love as the ability
to commit oneself to
others, showing an attitude of
care, respect and
responsibility.
7) Middle Adulthood: Generativity Versus Stagnation
This period
corresponds to the middle years of life i.e.
from 25 years to 65
years of age. Generativity occurs
when a person begins
to show concern not only for
the welfare of the
upcoming generation but also for
the nature of the
society in which that generation
will live and work.
Main concerns are the generating
of progeny, products,
ideas and so forth. When
generativity is weak
or not given expression, the
personality takes on a
sense of stagnation. The virtue
of care develops during this
stage which is expressed
in one’s concern for
others.
8) Maturity: Integrity Versus Despair
This stage can best be
described as a state which is
reached by one after
having taken care of things and
people, products and
ideas, and having adapted to the
experiences of
successes and failures of life. There is
a definite shift in a
person’s attention from future to
past life. This is a
time often beset with numerous
strength and health,
to retirement and reduced income,
to the death of spouse
and close friends, and the
need to establish new
affiliations with one’s age group.
This stage is marked
by the summation, integration
and evaluation of all
the preceding stages of human
development. The
essential counterpart of integrity is
despair over a series
of unfulfilled opportunities and
missed directions of
individual’s life cycle. He or she
may realize that it is
far too late to start all over
again. He or she has a
hidden fear of death, a feeling
of irrevocable failure
and an incessant preoccupation
with what might have
been.
Wisdom is the virtue that develops out of the encounter
of integrity and
despair. Erikson believes that only
during old age does
true maturity and a practical
sense of “the wisdom
of the ages” comes into being.
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