What Is Erikson's Stages Of Development

Analyzing Adolescent Behavior Problems
Foundations of Professional Psychology
PS501

Analyzing Adolescent Behavior Problems

Erik Erikson came up with 8 stages of development. He believed that each of these stages were a part of a sequence and in each stage there was a crisis attached to it. The following are Erikson’s stages of development:
1. Trust vs. Mistrust – This occurs from birth to two years old.
2. Autonomy vs. Doubt Crisis – This occurs from the ages of 2 -3. During this stage of development children are trying to gain some independence but they also experience doubt.
3. Initiative vs. Guilt – This occurs from the ages of 4 -5. Erikson believed that the child at this age really admires their parents and
Identity vs. Identity diffusion – This occurs during adolescents. During this stage adolescence are constantly asking themselves who they are and they are seeking their place in the world. They are trying to find out where they belong.
6. Intimacy and Solidarity vs. Isolation Crisis – This occurs during young adulthood. Young adults are trying to form relationships with members of both the same and opposite sex. If they are not successful building relationships they tend be lonely and isolate themselves (Garrett, 1999).
7. Generativity vs. Stagnation Crisis – This occurs in middle adulthood. Erikson believed that when people are in middle adulthood they want to guide, “future generations and if there a failure to provide generativity this leads to boredom and lack of psychological development (Garrett, 1999, p. 209).
8. Integrity vs. Despair – This occurs in late adulthood. In this stage the adult realizes that there are certain limitations in life but the despair is a result that he or she will not accomplish his/her goals before they
Being an adolescent is an emotional time, full of ups and downs. They are struggling to belong, looking for acceptance, trying to live up to expectations and find themselves all at the same time. Feeling accepted is a huge key to their success. It ties into self-esteem and self-worth. If children don’t find the acceptance they need they tend to go elsewhere to find it.
Working in Hawaii I worked with a lot of adolescence with behavior and drug addiction problems. I saw many of them struggling with their relationships in their life or a traumatic event happened to them. They used drugs to escape their hurt feelings, and they used anger to push people away. Many of them didn’t want to get close because they were afraid of being rejected and they didn’t know how to establish healthy relationships.
My advice to parents would be to be patient and treat the problem as a family problem. If you have a child with drug and or anger problems there is most likely things the whole family can do to help each other heal. Drugs, anger, behavior affect everyone. I would tell them to seek help and be pro-active. I would also tell them to be open minded and let their child know their love for them is unconditional. Unconditional love comes in many forms. Some children need “tough love!” This is the hardest thing for many parents and I would suggest or help them find a support group with other parents dealing with the