...Trinity Lloyd Brady, K ENG 2D0 Thursday, December 17, 2015 Identity Crisis Your identity is what makes you the way you are. When you lose sight of your identity your beliefs and expressions are clouded, and insanity follows suit. In William Golding’s award winning novel Lord of the Flies this is revealed to the audience through multiple examples. The loss of your own identity can lead to insanity due to losing your physical identity, integrity, and accepting your true form, which Golding tells us, is insanity and savagery. To adapt to your surroundings, people usually alter or strip away their physical identity. For instance, clothes held the boys on the island to their physical identity, at first they kept them on to avoid getting sunburnt, but when they adapted to their surroundings, they strip away their clothes becoming slightly less civilized, the book states, “He [Ralph] undid the snake-clasp of his belt, lugged off his shorts and pants, and stood their naked, looking at the dazzling beach and the water” (Golding5). In society, rules were against stripping down, but since there was no authority on the island, Ralph sees no need to keep on the clothes he wore in civilization. In addition, Piggy’s glasses symbolize knowledge and reason. Physically the glasses are meant for vision, vision means sight, and sight is a metaphor for knowledge. When the glasses are broken, they are misused, no longer a symbol for knowledge and reason. “The chief led them, trotting steadily...
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...Teenage is the most exciting growth stages for scholars and researchers in the field of Psychology for its special nature in terms of containing many physical, psychological and emotional changes. No doubt that the teenager who fails in achieving the demands and challenges feels disappointed and discouraged, which will eventually motivate him to continue to find his identity. Identity crisis is the main problem in adolescence in which the teenager asks who am I?, What is my role in society? How can I prove my existence? How can I success? And finds himself in front of multiple demands and conflicting ideas, making him/her live multiple conflicts. However, a teenager who will not success in finding his identity he’ll eventually get lost in...
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...who they are? Identity crisis, a term created by renowned psychologist Eric Erikson, is a cycle of time used for the analysis of ourselves and searching for our true values and path for our identity. Psychologist James Marcia expanded on Erikson’s self-identity work and “believed that certain situations and events (called "crises") serve as catalysts prompting movement along this continuum and through the various identity statuses” (Oswalt, 2010). But while a fair percentage of individuals go through this process of crisis and self-realization, not every person goes through a crisis or has a set idea of the role they wish to play in their lives. There are four statuses of identity...
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...criteria” before they are able to form a mature identity. He believed that in order to form a mature identity one has to face crises and make commitments. According to Marcia, crisis is a period when adolescents are engaging with different meaningful alternatives and then commitment is that personal commitment they make with what they choose. All in all, in order to form a mature identity one has to face many crisis and make many commitments and this all happens through four statuses which are identity diffused, foreclosure, moratorium, and lastly identity achieved. Identity diffused status is when one hasn’t faced or experienced a crisis nor made any commitments yet. Adolescents in this status haven’t made any commitment to things such as “occupation, a religion, a political philosophy, sex roles, or personal standards of behavior” (pg 158). If you ask someone in this stage “where do you want to live or better yet what do you want to be when you grow up?” they will probably say something like oh I haven’t really thought about it. With time some of these adolescents will start to face some of these crisis and start to confront such issues. But there are also some who continue to express no interest in commitment and this can link to low self-confidence and self-esteem and even avoid such topics by divulging themselves into alcohol and drugs. The next status is known as foreclosure. This is when the adolescent has not faced a crisis but have made some commitments. An example...
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...Erik Erikson Author’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Institutional Affiliation: Course Details: Date of Submission: Erik Erikson Introduction Erik Erikson was a rare psychologist who created an eight-step model outlining the different steps in development psychology in the growth of an ordinary human being from birth to old age. His specific insights concerning human mental processes would affect the way people reacted to children and foment a deep interest in studies in human psychology. Though other psychologists have improved on Erikson’s initial findings, original findings retain a lot of significance. There is need to research and study Erikson’s work with particular interest in his explanation of the ‘adolescent stage’ Erikson’s Contribution Freud’s views about the nature and construction of the human personality significantly influenced Erik Erikson’s understanding of humanity. There was a considerable difference between the two men: whereas Erikson was an ego psychologist, Freud was an ID psychologist. Erikson stressed on the functions of society and culture and the divergences that can occur within the ego itself while Freud highlighted the conflict between the superego and ID. At all psychosexual phases, Erikson observed that the person grows in three levels concurrently: social, biological, and psychological, which represent the person, his or her connection to society, and individualism. His work was a lifetime representation of human development...
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...Only when both extremes in life stage challenge are understood and accepted as required and useful 12- 18 years old comes in stage 5 according to Erikson which is : identity vs. role confusion Teenager seeks to answer questions such as: who am I? Where do I fit in? Where am I going in life? If parents allow their children to explore, they will find their own identity. If parents force their child to conform to their view the child will have an identity crisis Erikson’s view of this stage was to define a sense of self identity Identity incorporating parent’s culture and roles, also embracing teenager’s uniqueness and society’s current offering. The transition from childhood to adulthood is most important. Children are becoming more independent and begin to look at the future in terms of career, relationship, families and housing. The individual want to belong to a society and fit in This is a major stage of development where the child has to learn the roles he will occupy as an adult It’s during this stage the individuals try to find out exactly who he or she is. Erikson suggested that two identities are involves: the sexual and the occupational During this period, they explore possibilities and begin to form their own identity based upon the outcome of their explorations. Failure to establish a sense of identity within society can lead to role confusion. Role confusion involves the individuals not being sure about themselves or their place...
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...most important force driving human behavior and the development of personality was social interaction. Erikson left his native Germany in the 1930's and immigrated to America where he studied Native American traditions of human development and continued his work as a psychoanalyst. His developmental theory of the "Eight Stages of Man" was unique in that it covered the entire lifespan rather than childhood and adolescent development. Erikson's view is that the social environment combined with biological maturation provides each individual with a set of "crises" that must be resolved. The individual is provided with a "sensitive period" in which to successfully resolve each crisis before a new crisis is presented. The results of the resolution, whether successful or not, are carried forward to the next crisis and provide the foundation for its resolution. |Erikson's Theory of Socioemotional Development | |Stage |Age |Expected Resolution | |Trust |Infancy |Child develops a belief that the environment can be| |vs. | |counted on to meet his or her basic physiological | |Mistrust | |and social needs | |Autonomy...
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...Eriksonian Psychosocial Crisis Name Institution Eriksonian Psychosocial Crisis A memorable experience in which I faced the Erikson’s psychosocial crisis was during my adolescence when the struggle was between developing a clear self-identity and stagnating in role confusion (Narvacan, 2013). When I joined high school at 13, I remember writing in the admissions testimonials that I wanted to be a doctor. It was truly my childhood dream because my dad was a doctor and I wanted to be like him. Somewhere along the way, I suddenly developed a wide range of career interest and I wanted to be almost everything. Confusion set in because my personal expectations did not meet my real experiences in school. The desire to be a physician was lived on but was threatened by my lack of interest in Chemistry. At the time, I was doing very well in French and English and I was already considering pursuing linguistics though the thought of it did not appeal to me as of being a doctor. When I was about 16 years old and almost done with high school, I suddenly developed keen interest in music too. I loved music so I wanted to sing and play the piano. I thought music was what I am supposed to do for the rest of my life. However, I realized I was poor at coordinating with other artists and I always caused disharmony from time to time. Therefore I was never incorporated into the band except during practices. This caused me so much frustration that I could not even concentrate in my final high school...
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...Who are you, How do you perceive yourself, and how does others perceive you, are questions people often ask themselves, and games people often play to discover their qualities and leadership skills. Identity is very important. It is a person’s self-definition. It is a person’s own morals, ethics, values, standards, commitment, and way of living. It is the bridge of life- past, present, and future. Identity is a concept researched by many. According to Erik H. Erikson every individual goes through eight stages before accomplishing a healthy resolution of identity. Each stages has various challenges referred to as crisis. The success of each depends on the success of the other. The challenge commence with trust. Trust is an important quality...
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...The Struggle With Identity The element of identity is exposed in the novel Rebecca by: Daphne Du Maurier. Identity is something that can make or break someone. As a highschooler, I can see people trying to have an identity that actually does not belong to them. This term can be referenced to as an identity crisis. This all boils down to being insecure about yourself. Identity and Insecurity can go hand and hand with each other, if someone is not careful. The narrator in this novel experienced an identity crisis, within herself. She felt threatened by Rebecca her husband's late wife ,who is remembered as being beautiful. Even though Rebecca, was no longer alive she thinks she has to live up to who Rebecca was. The narrator felt as if she was inferior to Rebecca, as his first wife and as a person. By the narrator not even having a name, we see the struggle with an identity. This hurts...
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...Erikson’s Stages of Personal and Social Development. As people grow, they face a string of psychosocial crises that shape personality, according to Erik Erikson. Each crisis focuses on a particular aspect of personality and involves the person’s relationship with other people. STAGE I: TRUST VERSUS MISTRUST ( BIRTH TO 18 MONTHS) The goal of in-fancy is to develop a basic trust in the world. Erikson ( 1968, p. 96) defined basic trust as “ an essential trustfulness of others as well as a fundamental sense of one’s own trust-worthiness.” The mother, or maternal figure, is usually the first important person in the child’s world. She is the one who must satisfy the infant’s need for food and affection. If the mother is inconsistent or rejecting, she becomes a source of frustration for the infant rather than a source of pleasure ( Cummings, Braungart- Rieker, & Du Rocher- Schudlich, 2003; Thompson, Easterbrooks, & Padilla- Walker, 2003). The mother’s behavior creates in the infant a sense of mistrust for his or her world that may persist throughout child-hood and into adulthood. STAGE II: AUTONOMY VERSUS DOUBT ( 18 MONTHS TO 3 YEARS) By the age of 2, most babies can walk and have learned enough about language to communicate with other people. Children in the “ terrible twos” no longer want to depend totally on others. Instead, they strive toward autonomy, the ability to do things for themselves. The child’s desires for power and independence often clash with the wishes of...
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...Hamad Yousef Professor: Joanne Martin English 113B 20 Apr 2015 Identity Crisis and Resolution in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian It is natural for every person that he finds himself in a conflicting situation where he thinks that he has no identity. In such a situation of crisis, he asserts himself through different means though it may be a bitter truth or he himself gets insult in response. Arnold in The Absolute True Diary of a Part Time Indian faces the same situation, but he does not leave the truth. Whatever he has encountered in reservation or at Reardan, he has plainly told it in a very simple language that it seems touching obscenity and crossing the limits of decency. However, the struggle Arnold waged in order to...
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...the Lunas to be quiet, for only a quiet man can learn the secrets of the earth that are necessary for planting. They are quiet like the moon. And it is the blood of the Márez to be wild, like the ocean from which they take their name, and the spaces of the llano that have become their home." (Anaya, p.41) To this day, Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, is a book I hold dearly to my heart. Personally, I have always struggled to understand the Mexican-American aspect of my identity. With the physical presence of the United States- Mexican border, my identity is affected when I can consider myself simultaneously both an original and foreign from these locations. As Gentzler states, “ I hope to show how the Americas comprise multiple languages; its peoples speak with multiple voices, and its citizens have multiple identities, which are, consciously or subconsciously, always involved in the process of translation.” (Gentzler, p.146) Reading Bless...
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...Frank Death of a Salesman 1. Biff is in identity diffusion at the earliest point of his life, during the play. Biff has not yet experienced any identity crisis yet. To this point he has always been the popular jock who gets all of the girls. He has had everything handed to him on a silver platter, and has never had to work at anything besides football. Biff has not explored any alternatives to his identity because he hasn’t had to, who wouldn’t want to be in his shoes when they are his age? He has obviously not thought about occupational interests because he does not care about his grades in high school, which lead to getting into a good college, which leads to getting a good job. Right now Biff is only concerned about football and girls. 2. Biff’s identity as an adolescent was the typical jock, popular guy as explained in the earlier question. Biff very obviously went through identity diffusion as he was in his adolescence. Biff had dreams of potential scholarships to play football, which is what he was concerned about. He thought because of was good at football and having a good chance of getting a scholarship to good schools he thought that he would be given passing grades in high school. Biff failed math during the last semester of his senior year, thus resulting in not having enough credits to graduate. Then found that Willy had been unfaithful, which caused him to lose all faith in Willy. Biff then fell into identity foreclosure. Biff had committed to becoming...
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...Intra-and Interpersonal Competencies Written Assignment The main character in the case study, Sammy, showed inability in inter- and intrapersonal communication. He is facing various daily life problems including defining his self-value and identity, getting along with parents and managing personal emotions. The first problem is that Sammy failed to develop self concept (i.e. Who he is, what he wants to do) but blindly follows his parents’ opinion to persuade further study in college. Based on Identity Statuses Theory, Sammy is experiencing identity diffusion (Marcia,1966) in which he failed to attain commitment (occupational belief) and crisis (actively exploring and making conscious decision to understand his own identity). Besides, he has low self-esteem (i.e. the value he placed on himself) as he consider his classmates are more competent in both sports and academic performance than he does. He feels inferior at school. In order to overcome Sammy’s identity crisis, he should try to explore his own identity by constantly questioning himself about his own value, beliefs and academic pursuit to clarify his occupational and social roles. He can join various extra-curricular activities such as sports and music to discover his inborn talent. He might not be good at sports but he might be good at music or arts and crafts. To boost self-esteem, he needs to gain approval from peers to develop sense of belongingness. He could join more class activities and be generous (e.g. share...
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