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Child Development Theories: An Introduction
Both Freud and Erikson had their own distinct theories on personality development, However, Erikson 's theory can be considered as a consequence of Freud 's. Both the theories are divided into stages of a person 's life in line with age and how well a person would adjust and develop as an adult if a specific quality or trait is attained in each stage. Both of these theories are quite related, as they both have many of the same distinctive age groups for development.
Nevertheless, there are many disparities that remain between the names of the stages and the developmental concerns that are experienced within them. Each psychologist has his own personal viewpoint of the rationale for the human being 's activities, which is clearly depicted in their individual theories.
“Freud was one of the first theorists who thought that the causes of human behavior could be discovered by scientific methods, and he used the methods that were available in his time to investigate the underlying developmental causes of adult mental health issues” (Bergen, 2008, p. 37). Adulthood is a core aspect of each statement, as Freud is well-known for his stages of psychosexual development that start with the “oral” stage and end with the “genital” stage. There is some paradox that Freud theory was almost exclusively concerned with adulthood, however the bulk of his theory was related to the childhood.
“Erikson’s theory draws on many of Freud’s concepts; however, his emphasis is on explaining how healthy personalities develop rather than focusing on unhealthy developmental processes” (Bergen, 2008, p. 43)
Similar to Freudian theory, Erikson theory is increasingly concerned with constant changes in the society. For instance, “it is certainly the case that adolescents do ‘try on’ many identities, but because of changing social conditions, they may not do that for a longer period of time without



References: Bergen, D. (2008). Human development: Traditional and contemporary theories. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Boyd, Denise A., Bee, Helen L., & Johnson, P. (2009). Lifespan Development. Pearson. Erikson, E.H. (1915). Childhood and Society. New York: Norton.

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