psychology

Your consulting group has been hired by an advertising firm that is developing a series of commercials family-oriented theme park. The commercials will target family members at various life stages.  Your group has decided that understanding Erikson’s theory of Psychosocial development will help you with this assignment. 

• Your group will start by describing each stage of Erikson’s theory.
• Include in your description an analysis of a character that best represents each stage of life. The character can be from television show, a movie, or a literary character from a book. Explain how each character represents the stage, and how the character resolves conflict.
• Provide a review of three recent studies on Erikson’s theory from the list provided in this assignment.

Your assessment will be used by the advertising firm to help in developing commercials targeting various developmental stages.

Your deliverable to the advertising firm will be a 4 to 5 page report with your research results. Your group will submit one Word document with the following information:

• Description of Erickson’s theory. A description of each stage of development using the description in above list. Remember to include a description of a character that represents each stage of development.

Dr. Erikson published his landmark work regarding psychosocial development in 1950 (1). His work was monumental in developing our understanding how a person passes through different developmental stages on his path from an infant to a human. Erikson identified these life stages, and described them as parts of life that a person needs to navigate, and hopefully master, during his lifetime to become a successful and well adjusted adult.

The first part of Erikson’s theory delves in to the concept of trust vs. mistrust, and is particularly important for infants. Here we see that all of the child’s needs need to be met by the parents. This idea may be exemplified by the character of Olivia’s brother William on the popular cartoon, Olivia. Here we see that William is often at the whim of his sister and older brother, and often needs to be rescued by his parents from his siblings’ wild schemes. Fortunately he usually navigates these threats successfully and in turn learns to trust his parents.

The next part of Erikson’s theory involves autonomy vs. shame and doubt. This may be exemplified by asking the question, “Can I do things myself, or must I always rely on others?” Here the person of Christopher Boone, from the novel, the curious incident of the dog in the night-time, by Mark Haddon comes to mind. Christopher is a 15 year old boy with Asperger’s Syndrome. This condition makes many parts of the outside world seem frightening and unfamiliar to him. He is often apt to be walking his city streets by himself, although he should not be doing so. In addition, he becomes agitated when a police officer touches his arm. Christopher is simply not used to being touched by strangers and is incapable of understanding appropriate interaction. He is the perfect example of someone who may be struggling with concerns about doing things on his own, but needing the help of others.

This part of Erikson’s theory deals with initiative versus guilt. This may be thought of as the question, “Am I good or bad”? In more detail, the child is learning about the world around him, and developing skills to interact with this world. This may be typified using the character of Bart Simpson, on television’s The Simpsons. Bart is a ten year old boy who frequently misbehaves. He often gets in to troublesome situations, and often performs poorly at school tasks. This may be perfect as a personality for a commercial that may appeal to the younger age group. For example, the appeal of Bart is that he is an agitator, but is continually supported by his family. In addition, he regularly learns important lessons by the example of his mother and sister as to the value of following the rules and appreciating the family unit.

The next part of Erikson’s theory is industry versus inferiority. This may be exemplified by asking the question, “Am I successful or worthless?” Here, the person of Alex P. Keaton, from the television sitcom Family Ties, is a perfect example. Alex was the child of a pair of now successful but previous ‘hippies’ from the sixties. In a complete reversal of personality, Alex is driven and focused. He is obsessed with achievement and the obvious consumption that was prevalent of his time. In one episode, he actually took stimulants so that he could function more efficiently and get more done. Of course, he was discovered and taught about the dangers of drugs from his parents. His may be seen as ironic, considering that Alex’s parents used narcotics in their youth, but they are trying to impress upon Alex that he is a success despite his feelings of being second rate.

The next stage tackles the question faced by many adolescents, namely, “Who am I and where am I going?” This is the stage of Erikson’s theory that deals with identity vs. role confusion. This may be seen by the characters on the sitcom, Saved by the Bell. One character in particular, Jessie Spano, is a teenaged girl who is typically very intelligent in class and performs well in all other areas of her life. In one episode, she had just too many requests put upon her for her time, and she of course, wanted to be perfect in all of them. She, like Alex the last stage, too stimulants to help her produce the fantastic results she craved and felt that everyone around her expected. Fortunately, she was discovered by one of her close friends, as learned that each person is unique, but no one needs to be good at everything.

The sixth of Erikson’s eight stages looks at intimacy vs. isolation. This is a very delicate issue that many young people face, and asks, “Shall I share my life with someone or live alone?” Here we can look to the character of Harry Potter in the successful books by J. K. Rowling. One of her novels, “The Order of the Phoenix,” deals quite well with this question. Here we see the main character, Harry, who lost his parents in a tragic manner while he was a baby. Harry is now a successful wizard learning the ways of members of his kind, and is becoming more aware of his role in the world as a young and somewhat virile young man. He is initially very taken with a female in his class, Cho Chang, who confuses Harry on several occasions. While Harry enjoys the attention from this female, he is not sure that he is ready to deal with the pricklier points of love.

The next stage is generativity vs. stagnation, and involves asking the question, “Will I produce something of real value?” In this case, I picture the character Cameron, on television’s Modern Family. He is a somewhat unusual person to use as an example of this part of Erikson’s theory as he is a homosexual but in a committed relationship. He and his partner decide to adopt a child, so that they may be more like Cameron’s brother and sister who have children of their own. Cam certainly loves his daughter, and now feels that he has contributed something of real value to his family.

The last part of Erikson’s theory is ego integrity vs. despair, or, “Have I lived a full life?” This is a much more difficult part of the theory to envision, but may be seen in the character of Walter Bishop on the television drama, Fringe. Dr. Bishop is a somewhat disgraced scientist who has spent a large part of his life in a mental institution for going insane. He is helped out of the institution and in to the normal world by his son, Peter. Although Walter was an accomplished scientist, he feels ashamed by many of the experiment he performed while he was working. He is only now coming to terms with the people and places he knew while he was more functional in society, and is learning to adapt by being helpful to the police by solving current strange cases.

In the several works that have been written regarding Erikson’s theory and evaluating its merits, Reexamining Gender Issues in Erikson’s Stages of Identity and Intimacy, by Horst, looks at all the stages, and considers them and their validity based on several papers that have criticized Erikson’s work for not being inclusive enough of both genders. I feel that Horst’s comments are valid, and I agree with them, as many of my examples have included females as depictions of the various life stages.

In another work, McDonald reviewed the last stage, integrity vs. despair, in Egocentrism in Older Adults: Piaget’s Three Mountains Task Revisited. In this publication, McDonald basically disagrees with Erikson’s theory, and paints a discouraging view of older adults as being easily overwhelmed and confused. I disagree with this viewpoint, and do not feel that it is a flattering look at the 8 stages as presented by Erikson.

Lastly, The Home Environments of Children in the United States Part II: Relations with Behavioral Development through Age Thirteen, is a work by Bradley, et. al., that explores the stages of Erikson’s theory that relate with a child from infancy through age 13. Here, the authors examine the development of young people, and express the feeling that there are stronger relationships between younger children and their surroundings than older children and their environment. While this may be the case as children get older, I feel that the authors may be correct in their assessment, but miss the concept provided by Erikson in his 8 stages model. I do not agree with them in that children lose touch with their parents and society, but feel that adolescents must learn to branch out and work with their environs to become successful and functional adults.

References:

1. Erikson, E. H. (1950). Childhood and society. New York: Norton (1950); Triad/Paladin (1977), p. 242.