Week 4 - Child Development Theorists

             For this week’s discussion, I have chosen Erik Erickson. I enjoyed the fact that his theory spans the entire lifespan. As a 25-year-old, I do not believe that I have fully developed psychologically. Although I feel Montessori and Freud have valid theories, Erikson’s theory has legitimate and easy to understand stages with concrete results to move to the next stage of development all the way to end of life. His approach is gender neutral and focuses on normal development. Both Freud and Montessori focused on developmentally delayed or troubled individuals, mostly males. I feel like Erikson's theory is readily tangible for both parents and teachers to interpret and utilize as a guide aiding in the developing infant, child, adolescent, or young adult. 

The first insight that stuck out to me for the eight-stage theory of development is the 4th Stage- “School age” which focuses on the internal conflict “industry vs. inferiority”. The stage focuses on ages 5 to 13* developing one’s self-esteem and ambition to be utilized for the rest of the individual’s life. During the stage peers, parents, and teachers play critical roles in the development of one’s self-esteem and drive to compete as an individual. Unconditional positive regard from parents and teachers will aid the child’s self-esteem and drive to perfect/achieve goals. Erickson leaves everything ambiguous; ideally, the positive regard and the child’s goal/achievement should be realistic/achievable and have counseling/parental support. What I mean by this is children shouldn’t get a trophy for participating, nor be left to psychologically devour their own aspirations through neglect instead of encouragement. The balance would depend on the individual's needs. This balance would hopefully orient the developing child of their ambition/drive that they will utilize for the remainder of the child’s life. Providing the life lesson to the child that life isn’t always fair, but also give the life lesson that if one fails, they still have support to try again or find something different.

The second insight that struck me was the 6th Stage- “Young adult” which focuses on the internal conflict “intimacy vs. isolation”. This stage focuses on ages 21 to 39* obtaining true intimacy focused on trust, unselfishness, and self-awareness. Overall this stage seems to be problematic to many people my age. One could interpret that the reason causing this is the individual’s unsuccessful completion of prior stages such as a sense of purpose, a sense of competence, social conformity, or trust. Erickson's eight-stage development theory gives someone the ability to ask themselves (introspection) why they may have difficulty retaining a happy/healthy relationship and friendships. Ericsson also leaves the stage ambiguous, leaving it open to interpretation for the individual. All of the stages can connect to insecurities we all overcome or battle with ourselves through life’s journey to achieve companionship, and contentment with one’s experience. For this stage, however, parents, peers, and teachers can provide little aid in helping complete this stage, yet parents and peers aid/influence in previous steps will likely contribute to the length someone might be in this stage. 

*The age intervals are not concrete, just a generalized range for when the stage will likely occur.