Erik Erikson & Lifespan Development

one of the most valuable concepts

emerging from psychological research is

that of lifespan development the idea

that many aspects of human nature

continue to develop throughout the

entire lifecycle as we come to the end

of our life

for example there's what we call

biological senescent growing older

physically but also the possibility of

psychological adolescent and developing

psychologically to our full potential

Erik Erikson help redirect developmental

psychology toward the entire lifecycle

his insights into the crises of identity

came out of his own experiences as a

newcomer to the United States because as

an immigrant I faced one of those very

important the definitions that a man has

to make who lost his language all the

references on the basis of which is

essentially in sensual impressions were

based when I came to Boston in 1933 a

psychoanalyst

that was that was quite a new field

Freud presented a very very important

model of psychosexual development

pointing out that we have to understand

a good deal of Vannes later life in view

of the way he was able to resolve

conflict since very early life and it

certainly seems that Freud did not pay

an awful lot of attention beyond these

first five years of life because

certainly it means that you try to

sexualize these later periods as well

these earlier periods in somewhat more

detail but you have added what seems to

be some character dimensions that you

think evolve eventually the miserly

level you talk about basic trust versus

basic mistress being related to the soil

sensory level the member here that this

is not just a matter of a single shift

of focus that one is built on the other

now you and I remember that what Freud

first was very much concerned with was

to find the experiences in life in which

he could find quantities of something so

to him the origins and the

transformations of sexual energy was not

a matter of preoccupation with

but it seemed to him the most likely

area in which you could find quantities

which arise out of the body chemistry

and are translated into drives and the

the main point is that we later on we're

concerned not just with the question of

what does a valid e contribute to

sexuality but we were interested in is

what morality may contribute to the

child psychosocial development in other

words the morality takes place in

relationship to the mother who feeds and

who reassures and who coupled and keeps

warm what you learn first in life is to

take in but as you take in and take in

with your mouths which is which is

senses so what seemed important was what

contribution is that to psychosocial

education and there I felt that the

first basic psychosocial attitude to be

learned is that you can trust your

mother that you will come back and feed

you but mistrust is just as important

mistrust is where the ratio has been

mistrust is our basic social attitude we

do this constantly if we work if we

enter somewhere we have to differentiate

it now can we trust a mistrust when we

miss past meaning the recognition of

danger the anticipation of discomfort

and so on so these two things that these

are two things is very basic to the

whole scheme building on a foundation of

Freud you've introduced important

dimension of social development as you

call it psychosocial development it's

filling in a little bit of a gap in

Freud's work in the sense that he did

not really develop this Erickson

identified eight stages of psychosocial

development from birth to late adulthood

in which the individual is challenged by

specific crises or conflicts each stage

is find by developmental tests

the individual must come to terms with

two opposite demands balancing or

integrating them for the young adults

the conflict is between isolation and

intimacy the ability to make a full

commitment to another person

this requires accepting responsibilities

and giving up some privacy and

independence failure to resolve this

developmental crisis can lead to

isolation to a lack of meaningful

psychological connections with other

people research indicates that anything

which isolates us from sources of social

support can leave us at risk for a

number of physical and mental problems

the next crisis early signs of an

opportunity for growth comes during the

30s and 40s during midlife

people usually move beyond the focus on

self to wider commitments to family work

and society but for those who haven't

resolved the earlier crises of identity

and intimacy they may loom ahead what's

known as the midlife crisis people in a

midlife crisis are self-indulgent they

want to give up their commitments for

one last flame opting for freedom at the

expense of security and responsibility

to others Erikson's eighth and final

crisis comes at the end of the life

course if an individual has resolved the

crises of earlier stages he or she can

look back to enjoy a sense of wholeness

but when there are too many crises

unresolved too many aspirations

unfulfilled the end is shadowed by

futility despair and anger