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Erick Erickson A Psychoanalytical Perspective on human development

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Erick Erickson A Psychoanalytical Perspective on human development
Erickson’s Psychoanalytical Perspective on Human Development
Final Project Paper
Excelsior Community College
Tatiane Boyd
4/19/15

This paper was prepared for PSY 235, Lifespan Development.

Abstract
The growth and development happening throughout a human’s life have been divided into five broad categories including infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and aging. However, in accordance with Erick Erickson, human development happens in eight different psychosocial stages. And that with every single stage, new conflicts arise. Yet, these crises happening in one’s life should be fully resolved before moving on to the next level. Based on Erickson’s theory of psychosocial development, each one of these stages are crucial in one’s life, building blocks of emotional and social development of human beings. In this term paper, an introduction to the Psychoanalytical Perspective will be explored, focusing on Erick Erickson’s theory on human development involving personality, emotional and social changes happening in one’s life.

Introduction Psychoanalytical Perspective
Perspectives on Developmental Psychology explores the growing areas of mutual influence between Psychoanalytic Theory and the study of human development. (Masling, J.1996). In accordance with Berk, somewhere in between 1930’s and 1940’s, people were searching for answers, trying to understand how and why they were who they were. Therefore, a high increase of people started searching for professional help to deal with their emotional problems. For these reasons, the Psychoanalytical approach to study and comprehend personality development was developed; however, emphasizing in the unique history of each individual. (Parrish, M. 2009).
The Psychoanalytical Perspective gives importance to the unconscious mind, instead of only focusing in the conscious mind. According to this perspective, people move through life by a series of stages, and in each stage, conflicts may arise,



References: 1. Berk, L. (2014). Emotional and Social Development in Middle Adulthood. In Development through the Lifespan (Sixth Ed.) Boston: Pearson. 2. Bornstein, M., & Lerner, R. (n.d.). Excelsior College. Retrieved April 19, 2015. From http://academic.eb.com.vlib.excelsior.edu/EBchecked/topic/27533 3. Cherry, K. (n.d.). Initiative versus Guilt - Stage Three of Psychosocial Development. Retrieved April 19, 2015, from http://psychology.about.com/od/psychosocialtheories/a/initiative-versus-guilt.htm 4. Davis D. & Haverford A. C. (1995). Psychosocial Theory: Erikson. Retrieved April 19, 2015 from http://www.haverford.edu/psych/ddavis/p109g/erikson.stages.html 5. Human behaviour: Psychoanalytic Theories. (n.d.). Retrieved April 18, 2015, from http://academic.eb.com.vlib.excelsior.edu/EBchecked/topic/275332/human-behaviour/24910/Psychoanalytic-theories?anchor=ref390893 6. Masling, J. (1996). Psychoanalytic perspectives on developmental psychology. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. 7. McLeod, S. A. (2008). Erik Erikson. Retrieved April 19, 2015 from http://www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html 8. Parrish, M. (2009). Social Work Perspectives on Human Behaviour. Maidenhead: Open International Publishing Limited. 9. Stage 3: Locomotor. (n.d.). Retrieved April 19, 2015, from http://web.cortland.edu/andersmd/ERIK/stage3.HTML 10. Vaughan, M. D., & Rodriguez, E. M. (2013). The Influence of Erik Erikson 0n Positive Psychology Theory and Research. Positive Psychology: Advances in Understanding Adult Motivation, 231.

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