Life Span Development

Erik Erikson- Eight stages of man

Aims:

The aim of this article is to come to a better understanding of important stages in the life of a child and those who care for them. Using Erik Erikson’s eight stages of man we will look at what are important experiences to help the child to grow and develop effectively.

Introduction:

When we look at people and the life they live we have to admit that we seem to be in a constant state of change. Nothing ever stays the same and we seem to be always adapting to those changes. It is important to see these changes and adaptations as a ‘normal’ part of life but also that each individual will experience these in their own individual way. We have a tendency to create ‘rules’ of development where people are expected to grow and develop at the same rate but this does not always occur.

We will be using Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Model to become more aware of the individuality of the growing experience and how we can play a part in helping the people we care for grow and develop effectively. The Psychosocial model helps us to look at the development that takes place within us and the impact of experiences, events and relationships on that development. Erikson does identify milestones but we will look at the stages of development and how these relate to the patterns of development we see in our experience.

Developmental stages

People grow and develop right in front of our eyes. The older we get the quicker life spins past us. We look at the lives of the young people around us and they seem to grow at such a rate it is sometimes hard to keep up. However, we have to admit that people develop and progress throughout life and change the way they operate in this world. They take on new roles and responsibilities in keeping with the level of understanding of the world they have.

Erik Erikson (1902-1994) identifies 8 stages through which he saw people develop. We will be focusing on the childhood stages.

(Helen Bee & Denise Boyd, 2002, p29)

We shall go through these to see how we are influenced by our experience and development and also how we influence the experience and development of those we care for.

The first stages of life are the most crucial of all. Here we create the core requirements for people to live and grow and have relationships. The human baby is very vulnerable during the early years and is entirely dependent on the care of others to survive. The human child is not equipped to stand and go to a place of safety or forage for food. It is reliant on the carer to feed, clean and protect it from harmful situation. It is in the meeting of these needs that we begin to see the infant demonstrate behaviours that will cause the carer to stay close by.

These behaviours serve a number of functions, one of them is to be made comfortable or safe but another is to develop the trusting relationship. During the infant stage the infant and carer will participate in a relationship that will build up confidence between the two. The infant will have needs to be met and the carer will respond to those needs. The meeting of the needs satisfies not only the need, say hunger, with a response of being fed, but also develops within the infant the awareness that they can trust the carer to look after them. The more the carer shows they can be trusted the more secure the relationship is. However, as with most things in life, this is a fine balancing act. Doing too much; or being anxious around the infant may result in over dependence.

Getting the balance right can be a tricky thing to do. Many of the choices we make in relation to caring for children will be based on our experiences and how we felt these helped us. Sometimes we will accept what happened with us as the ‘right way’ or we may wish to ensure the child in our care does not experience the difficulties we faced. We need to try to encourage the infant to have enough trust in those around them whilst at the same time encouraging them to see that they are okay in themselves.

Sadly though, this is not always the experience of infants. There may be a range of situations that influence the ability of the carer to provide the consistency; trust; nurturing and love. Life throws things in your path that means the choices you take, the priorities you make, impact on the relationship and the experience of the young people in your life. It is important not focus on ‘blaming’ but understanding to allow the individuals involved the opportunity to improve their situation.

So when a child comes into our care and we wonder what we can do to help build up this balance between Trust v Mistrust? Sometimes it is the simple things in life that help. The art of play is often sorely misunderstood as something that keeps the ‘kids’ occupied as we, adults, get on with the important work to be done in life. Yet, it is through play we can unlock some of the secrets to how we operate in the world and with those experiencing that world with us.

In this stage the child develops physically and begins to experience the world on new levels. The issue of mobility, whilst celebrated as a great milestone, may be a time of discovery and risk as the child learns to explore the environment around them. The muscular development required at this stage enables the child, or toddler as they are sometimes referred to, to get on their feet and reach things they had previously no access to. This stage of ‘autonomy’ or independence can be riddled with anxiety for the carer looking after that effective walker. The care becomes an ‘environmental manager’ as they are constantly trying to be aware of the whereabouts of the child to remove any potential hazards. This stage is also associated with toilet training as the child is encouraged to use the toilet for bowel and bladder clearing. Going through this stage the child learns about internal muscular control. The skill to allow bowel movements is something that has to be learned as you train the muscles to push and let go at the right time. The same can be said of the bladder.

The issue of control is an important aspect of the developing child. How you control yourself and your environment, including experiences and people, can relate to the child’s capacity to control and let go of things.

This can be a very challenging time for the carer as the control exercised by the child may at times challenge the authority of the carer. It may be that the carer has to ‘pick their battles’ to avoid the constant negativity that can arise but again the balance has to be right so the child understands the needs to co-exist and not ‘rule the roost’. Again the balance has to be right for the child to learn that they can control aspects of their lives but this comes with an understanding that every action impacts on those experiencing that environment. To go and just meet your needs without considering the impact on others demonstrates a lack of shame and doubt. Human beings are social beings and exist within a society that needs its people to co-exist effectively. If we encourage people to be independent only and controlling or insecure and dependent we will be left with a society in which people are oppressive or oppressed. We need to teach our children that they can control things but they are to also understand the impact this has on other and consider them too.

This can be quite a challenging time as to ‘get it right’ means the child learns how a sense of responsibility and ownership of the interactions with those around them whilst to ‘get it wrong’ could mean the child feels the burden of responsibility that is beyond their years. We have to realise that a child does not have the benefit of the insight into life you and I may have. Understanding the consequences of actions may not be grasped by the young person if they have not had the opportunity to develop the sense of shame or doubt in their actions. They may however, have had a lot of responsibility laid on them by the events they have experienced in life and they may feel they have caused a lot of situation to take place that were out of their control. Janet Miller (2005) suggests that the purpose of developing “Autonomy versus Shame and Doubt” is “ To develop a sense of personal agency and control over behaviour and actions, or to mistrust one’s personal abilities and anticipate failures” (Miller, J., 2005, Pg 141)

It is very important to recognise what we are not saying here. We do not want children to have an overwhelming doubt in themselves nor are we saying that children should expect to fail. However; there is a need for the child to develop the skill to reflect on their capabilities and to be aware that there are some things they may not be able to do. This development can serve three purposes:

1. It can keep the child save. Children who have no questioning of their ability to achieve can sometimes ‘dive headlong’ into situations they have no real control over. If they are unable to anticipate failure they may develop risk taking behaviour. Whilst we want a child to take chances, we do not want them to disregard the clues that something could be dangerous either.

2. It teaches the child to be interdependent. The child needs to recognise that they are part of something bigger. They are part of a family, a community and society. They play their important part but there may be times when they need others to play their part. This develops the sense of a shared responsibility and need.

3. The child needs to learn to prepare for not achieving. Some children are not given the opportunity to learn how to cope with failure. Neil Thompson (2005) talks of child having to make choices in life and some of these choices may result in things not working out whilst others may turn out fine. Thompson calls this “authenticity” where the child is able to make real choices that have real outcomes. This does not mean that we set the child up to fail nor does it mean that we allow them to make decisions that are beyond their ability but they should be encouraged to make decision that have consequences.

“To develop an increasing sense of personal responsibility and initiative, or to develop an increased feeling of guilt and doubt ” (Miller, 2005, p141)

Janet Miller identifies within her description of this next stage the increasing awareness of the child in relation to their sense of purpose. The child recognises the influence they have on their surroundings, people and environment, and they begin to initiate plans and organise game play. Along with this sense of purpose the child will begin to exercise varying roles need to ‘get the job done’. They may see themselves as needing to tell people what to do and begin to organise those taking part in the game or event. It is interesting to point out here that children often begin to act in ways they may have seen other people acting whilst in supervisory roles. So, if they have seen people ‘boss’ others about they may try that method of assertiveness and that may be seen as aggressiveness.

As you think about how the child was acting, did you find that there were links between their behaviour and the people they had around them? It is surprising to see the influence we have on children and we often are unaware that they are taking in this kind of information. Children will often play out events they have had experience of and they learn through re-enacting scenarios they have seen that the ‘players’ in the scenario cause things to happen. In turn they begin to realise that they can cause things to happen and that there can be consequence to action. Here we see the internalisation of ‘guilt’ as the child begins to see that they have a level of responsibility for their actions and what these actions caused for those around them. Children will demonstrate the internalisation of such ‘guilt’ in varying ways. They may see themselves as someone who deserves to be punished for they have done

It is important to recognise that children may display different behaviours as a response to the guilt feeling they may be experiencing. Some of the behaviours may prove quite challenging and although it important to manage the situation it is also important to bear in mind why they may behaving in this way.

“ To learn to overcome challenges through systematic effort or, to accept failure and avoid challenges, leading to an increased sense of inferiority ” (Miller, 2005, p141)

During this stage the child has experiences that can build them up and establish good ways of dealing with life. They can learn new skills and begin to gain confidence and feel competent. The child has entered into the education world which holds great opportunity and challenge. They are surrounded by others in the same situation and they will be expected to fit into a structure of learning and play where they will want to ‘fit in’. Learning new skills can be difficult and when faced with this some children would rather not ‘fail’ so they may not try. They interpret ‘failure’ as being ‘inferior’ to others as they begin to compare themselves to the other children around them. Such a feeling can result in the child demonstrating challenging behaviours that may be disruptive or aggressive within the learning environment or at home where they may feel it is safer to ‘kick off’.

Different children respond in different ways. It may depend on their character; the situation; and the model of behaviour they have been exposed to. If they have seen people dealing with problems in an aggressive way they may adopt that approach themselves. If they have found that the people around them shout to get their own way they may feel that this is the way to deal with this issue also. Some may avoid the issue because they have seen others around them bury their heads in the sand in response to difficulties. However the child responds we need to make sure they learn to manage their issue well and in a way that does not negatively affect others.

It can be difficult to help a child who feels they are ‘stupid’ or ‘useless’ and when they compare themselves to other they just don’t compare. Creating an atmosphere of support for the child where you offer them a space to explore these thoughts whilst encouraging them to see themselves in a positive light is important. It can be quite destructive if the child begins to see themselves in this way as the sense of competency decreases. Some children may try to find something they are good at that may not be so positive and engage in behaviours that give them status with their peers in some other way.

“ To develop a consistent sense of personal identity faced with challenges in social role and expectations of adolescence, or simply to become overwhelmed by choices and expectations and to fail to develop a sense of consistent inner self ” (Miller, 2005, Pg 141)

The child here, or young person as they are commonly referred to, faces quite a conflict. They have been going through many different phases in their lives where they have been learning who they are in relation to those around them. They have developed a sense of being part of a family or a system consisting of varying people and worked at a sense of belonging and having a part in the family or system. Given the level of understanding the child has gone through they would have come to a conclusion as to who they are and the role they play in accordance with the age and stage of development. However; the young person emerges into a stage of life that thrust on the child new developments that challenge the child role they have so far adopted.

The young person who has been working on fitting in sees things happening in their life and body that question the child role they have been used to. Their affinity with childhood is being severed and their biological clock starts to dictate a new alignment with the adults in their world. Some may think that this new alignment would help the young person to understand the complexities of the adult world and they would look to creating a closer relationship with the adults in their life. Whilst this can happen the experience of many adults is that the young person begins to distance themselves from the parental figure. Erikson suggests that one of the main aspects of this stage is that the young person starts to develop a new concept of who they are as a separate individual with a desire to understand the role they are to adopt.

“ Ego identity means knowing who you are and how you fit in to the rest of society. It requires that you take all you've learned about life and yourself and mold it into a unified self-image, one that your community finds meaningful .” (http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/genpsyerikson.html)

This stage can be challenging as it not only present an identity challenge for the young person but also the adults who are caring for them. The young person will start to see themselves as young adults where the adults caring for them could still regard them as children. This can cause a lot of conflict where the young person may feel they are not being taken seriously. Dr C.G. Boeree suggests that according to Erikson the adolescent takes all that they have learned about themselves and mould this into a whole picture of who they see themselves to be.

It is important to understand that at this complicated time when the young person is creating a self image we contribute to how they see themselves. If we think about what we say to the adolescent, what we call them, or how we label their behaviour or them we begin to understand a bit about the image they might be setting up. Even though they are trying hard to develop a very separate identity from the family they will often use what we give them to formulate a basic concept of self. What we need to be careful of is that we do not present models of behaviour that causes them to be confused about the role they are to adopt in life. If the environment of the young person feeds into their self image mixed or negative messages about their role we may find the young person rebelling or adopting roles they may not be ready or capable of.

The young person will demonstrate behaviours that will align themselves with their peers as their peers become significant in the construction of their self image. The young person sees where they fit into their clique and then sees how this then fits into the larger crowd to which the young person identifies with. This is all part of the process of the young person finding a place for themselves within society as they take on certain roles within this system.

This all begins at the earliest stages and builds up to this. Each stage has its conflict and the more effectively the child resolves each stage the more effectively they progress to the next. There may be times when the experience of the child results in an imbalance of the stage and the child needs help to revisit the main aspects of that stage. We often find that children who have had some crisis in relationships need to build up their level of trust. You, as carers, could offer opportunities for them to learn to trust significant people in their lives or you may have to help them to trust you.

Erikson understood that there was a fine balance between the individual and the environment in which they find themselves. Their experiences greatly affect the outcome at each stage and events have been found to have played a significant role in some of the difficulties children and young people are facing. Erikson came up with the concept of the Psychosocial model and this can be used as a useful tool to piece together the development of the child and the influential experiences of their lives. It may be a change of care; the loss of someone important or some significant change in circumstance that impacts on the child at any given stage. This could be the cause of later issues as an unresolved situation lurk in the background inhibiting effective progression.

Erikson’s Psychosocial model

References

Helen Bee & Denise Boyd. 2002. Life Span Development. 3^rd Ed. London: Allyn and Bacon

Miller, Janet (Ed), 2005, Care in Practice for Higher Still, London: Hodder Arnold

Neil Thompson, 2005, Understanding Social Work - Preparing for Practice, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan

Dr C George Boeree, General Psychology, Available Online at: http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/genpsyerikson.html Last accessed: 30/04/2010