Erikson Identity Vs. Role Confusion

Erikson: Identity vs. Role Confusion Erikson developed a theory of psychosocial development that involved eight critical stages. When an individual completes the stage and hopefully masters it then he/she is considered to be developing healthily. Each stage needs to be successfully completed in order to obtain a virtue such as trust, wisdom, hope, purpose, competency etc. After successfully getting through a stage, an individual whom is confronted with a challenge later in life can learn how to fight the problem with one of the virtues, which was gained. Not every one gets through the eight critical stages without a problem. We are only human so some of us can fail to complete any stage which would impair the perception of one’s self. Although
Role confusion is the most important stage that an individual goes through in the adolescence stage. This stage occurs between the ages of 12 to 18 years. During this stage children begin to become more independent and start to look at the future and start to explore their independence and to develop a sense of self. They begin to question themselves “Who am I?” Often during this stage teens are usually rebellious and ignore parents expectations. Friends, social groups, classmates, society trends, and peers can have an affect in the formation of identity. Those who obtain appropriate reinforcement and encouragement throughout one’s personal exploration will successfully come out of this stage with a resilient sense of self and feeling of independence and control which can also be known as Identity achievement. Individuals who are unsure of what they want in life often remain insecure and confused about themselves and their future. Making a commitment to a certain identity at this stage is critical. Making a commitment can mean choosing a career path, what friends to hang out with, and developing a sense of personal style. As an individual grows older they start to realize what one likes and realize things about one self. By the end of this stage one should know who they are, what they like, and what they want to
Soccer was always part of my life but I had extra curricular activities that I look back at, which I am not very proud of. I remember playing cops and robbers and always wanting to be the cop. Funny thing is that during my adolescence age I disliked cops and anything to do with them. The crowd I walked the streets with had the same perspective towards them, cops always stopped us and warned us that they were waiting or us to slip up and do something stupid for them to be able to put us in handcuffs. The crowd I hung around with enjoyed starting fights and I always felt like I had to show them I did too. My soccer friends always told me that they did not picture me hanging out with the crowd I did because they could see my passion and hard work. My parents and sister always encouraged me to stay away from them even though they could only wish I did and knew that the decision was up to me. In the back of my head I always told myself “I like cops, fighting is not good, etc.,” but the little gang I ran around with made me feel that I could not look at the world that way because if I did it would make me feel