Provided by David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D.
Surgeon General of the United States of America
Chapter 2
Overview of Development, Temperament, and Risk Factors
Erik Erikson: Psychoanalytic Developmental Theory
The psychoanalytic theory of development is best exemplified
in the work of Erik Erikson, a psychoanalyst who expanded upon Freud’s original
theories of psychosexual development. One of Erikson’s pioneering contributions
was that development unfolded throughout the life span, a view that has become
widely embraced.
Freud postulated that development proceeded through a series of stages in which
children seek pleasure or gratification from a particular body part (i.e., the
oral, anal, and phallic stage). In contrast, Erikson’s theories of child
development focus on the interrelationship between a developing child’s internal
psychosexual development and his or her more external emotional development,
emphasizing the interpersonal relationships that arise between the child and
parents (Erikson, 1950).
Erikson conceived of the life course, from birth to old age, as a series of
eight epigenetic stages that, as other developmental theories, proceed in a
stepwise fashion, the next dependent upon how well the previous has been
mastered: trust versus mistrust; autonomy versus shame and doubt; initiative
versus guilt; industry versus inferiority; identity versus role diffusion;
intimacy versus isolation; generativity versus stagnation; ego integrity versus
despair.
Erikson portrayed each stage as a crisis or conflict that needed resolution,
either at the time or at a subsequent stage. Each successive stage presents its
own challenges but, at the same time, offers the opportunity for correction of
unresolved challenges of previous stages. At each stage the tension was between
the psychosocial and psychosexual—the outward-looking versus inward-looking
perspectives. Psychopathology, in the form of a mental disorder, would arise if
a stage was ultimately not mastered successfully.
Over the years, Erikson’s theory has had great heuristic value to guide
theorists and practitioners in organizing their approach to mental health and
mental illness. However, his theory does not readily lend itself to empirical
scrutiny. His theory also has been criticized as reflecting the concerns of male
European culture (where Erikson was born and trained before moving to the United
States) rather than those of women and other cultures. The need for cultural
sensitivity and competence is discussed later in this chapter.
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