Stages of Development Paper

Stages of Development Student’s Name Institution Course Date Introduction Every individual can be defined based on his or her own unique personal characteristics. These unique characteristics are usually as a result of a set of specific traits that one has grown with, or acquired throughout his development. These traits vary based on an individual as well as the environment in which the individual lives in. In a nutshell, there are various things within the environment as well as within an individual, which combine to help define that person’s character and personality. There have been various theories of development that have hence been brought forth to help in this understanding. Among them is the Erik Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development. STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT Erikson's stages of psychosocial development are a psychoanalytic theory by Erik Erikson and Joan Erikson that is used to identify a series of eight stages that an individual who is healthy should exceed through from childhood to adulthood. This theory normally distinguishes individuals developing through the eight stages as a utility of negotiating their social-cultural and biological factors. Every stage is usually distinguished by a psychological crisis of two factors that are conflicting. If people successfully reconcile with these forces, then they emerge from the stage with a corresponding issue. In case some of the challenges of each stage are not completed, then they are expected to bring problems to people future. However, the result of a single stage is usually permanent and it cannot be modified later through occurrences. The eight stages of Erikson theory are the following; The first stage of these theory hubs around the fundamental needs infants are provided by the parent and how such interactions results to trust and mistrust (Crain, William 2011). According to Erikson trust is important sense of a person’s trustworthiness. For example, children depend on their parents for nourishment and reassurance. The comparative understanding of the world and society of children will be as s result of their interaction with their parents (Sacco, 2013). During this stage infants tend to be uncertain about the world of the society the lie in and in order to resolve these feelings, the usually looks at their primary giver for stability and consistent care. If they receive reliable and predictable care they build up a sagacity of trust which they will carry with them to other relationships and they will feel sheltered. The success of this stage is hope. When a sense of trust is developed infants hope that when new crisis come up they will get support from other people. The second stage is autonomy versus doubt. As infants gain control over eliminative and motor abilities, they start exploring the surrounding. The patience and encouragements of the parents foster the autonomy of the children. A lot of caution should be observed at this age because children might be exploring things that are hazardous for their safety and wellbeing. Children start developing their first interests. However, when parents tend to be more restrictive they instill a sense of uncertainty to the children and disinclination to try new confrontations. In this stage, parents should no...