Stages Of Social Development

Maggie Welliver
October 27, 2014
EDU-213 Educational Psychology
Andrew McBroom According to Eric Erikson there are eight stages of social development. They go in the following order, learning basic trust versus mistrust, autonomy versus shame, initiative versus guilt, industry versus inferiority, identity versus identity diffusion, intimacy versus isolation, generativity versus self-absorption, and integrity versus despair. The learning to trust or not to trust is so very important for infants. Brand new babies learn the smell and already know the voice of their mother and often their father. They need to know they can trust that mommy will feed them and hold them when they are upset and need this. My daughter knows this all too well about me. She is seven months old and with a pitiful look and a few cries she knows I will come pick her up and check her diaper, feed her, or her favorite just hold and cuddle her. According to Dr. David Hamburg, who is a psychiatrist and educator, “the US now ranks in the bottom quartile in caring for children.” He emphasized that a failure to become securely attached to an adult in the first two years of life can cause issues with their learning later on and hurt them emotionally. The second stage of learning autonomy versus shame tends to occur between ages eighteen months to four years of age. This stage is easily identified as the child is gaining independence and usually pretty proud of this. They can be very stubborn and may say, “no” to requests or instruction and be very resistant to cooperate. My middle child, a son, is right in this phase. He understands me when I say “no” to something but oh the look he gets on his face to signify he will not be obeying me. It is of course a hilarious expression but I have to stay firm often for his well being. He can frustrate me more than my other two children for sure but I know it is part of his growing and developing and it will pass some day. In the mean time, I also know he is doing what two year olds do. It is important allow children going through this phase to be independent when it is safe for them. According to Deanna Gilkerson of South Dakota University it is helpful to use “no” as little as possible and redirect them to a better activity. The third social stage is learning initiative versus guilt. This would include such skills being learned as imagination while playing, cooperating with others, and to lead as well as follow others. My oldest son is currently in this stage. He has one active imagination and I am often thrilled to hear him talking for his toys or even be included in his play. He leads his younger brother in play and will stop to kiss his sister or give her a toy. He is fairly great with following directions and helping his younger brother to follow directions as well. The main things to watch for in this age group is the child seems fearful or dependence on adults. Upon reaching “school age” most children learn industry versus inferiority. This tends to mean they can follow rules, follow more structured play with others such as a sport, and can master the basics of education (social studies, math, and reading). They may have homework and learn the responsibility of completing this work for grades. The over all goal is for them to feel like they are smart, successful, and they gain confidence in their abilities. Children that are not gaining this trait tend to feel guilty and feel inferior to their peers. With the right encouragement and some help they should be able to catch up and thrive. Early in adolescence the child will learn to gain confidence in who they are instead of feeling self conscious about themselves. Students that are self confident tend to set goals and achieve them and take pride in such things. They are still growing and developing but overall they are becoming more confident in who they are. The last three phases are geared more towards adults with learning intimacy versus isolation, generativity versus self-absorption, and integrity versus despair. From my personal experience these all develop in late high school through college and all through adulthood. Friendships from college often last the rest of your lifetime. Many meet their spouse in college as well. Young adults are in a more critical thinking environment and form more opinions about various issues and how they feel things should be handled, how they can or will assist in certain ways for others. As humans we never stop learning new things.

Works Cited
Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. 2014
Helping Children Develop Socially and Emotionally, Gilkerson, Deanna,July 1992
Positive Verbal Environments: Setting the Stage for Young Children’s Social Development, Meece, Darrell, Soderman, Anne K., Oct. 2010
Time; Losing the Next Generation, Toufexis, A. 1992