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Erik Erikson

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Eriksons’ Developmental Theory as Applied to Me Psychological development is crucial in the early stages of life. Children are shaped by the things they witness throughout their early years. Experiences life and developing relationships is “Erikson’s initial psychosocial stage of development” (Ginsburg). This stage occurs from when an infant is born until about one and a half years of age. Erikson developed eight stages of psychosocial development. Starting from the stage of trust vs. mistrust the next stage that occurs in an infant’s life is autonomy vs. shame; this creates a sense of will and is experienced from the early age of one and a half to age three. After experiencing this stage at age three the infant begins to develop in the stage of initiative vs. guilt developing a sense of purpos euntil the age of five. From the ages of five to twelve, young children experience the stage of industry vs. inferiority, developing competency in their skills. Upon developing into an adolescent at age twelve and up until age eighteen, young adults experience ego identity vs. role confusion, attempting to find where they belong. Leading into the next stage of intimacy vs. isolation, during which young adults experience love from the ages eighteen to forty. Once this sense of love is developed, the sense of care is experienced during the stage of generativity vs. stagnation from the ages of forty to sixty-five. To conclude Erikson’s theory, the final stage one experiences in life is ego integrity vs. despair; this is the sense of wisdom and wanting more for others (Mcleod). Although all these stages effect the person you are today, I believe the most important is trust vs. mistrust. This year is crucial to the infant’s development of hope. Hope based off of the stability and the occurrence of the infants parents or parental figures surrounding the child with healthy and

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