The psychosocial developmental theory is an important component to consider when it comes to teaching. I will unpack this further to explain how a crisis in a child’s life can set them up for failure at school. Furthermore, I will explain the eight stages of development in relation to the South...
EDSA700
Assignment 2
Life Orientation : SP and FET
Name : Peter Deneke
Student Number: 21205281
Date: 1 Sep 2021
Introduction
The psychosocial developmental theory is an important component to consider when it
comes to teaching. I will unpack this further to explain how a crisis in a child’s life can set
them up for failure at school. Furthermore, I will explain the eight stages of development in
relation to the South African context. Many Children don’t succeed in passing all these
stages successfully due to negative social and cultural influences. Finally I will critically
discuss the life of Hitler through the lens of Eric Erkisons theory. And analysis what crises did
he endure to make him turn into the psychotic Jew hater.
Erikson theory is based on The epigentic principle, which says we develop our personality
through predetermined stages. And that our surroundings and culture influence how we
progress through these stages.” Erikson was convinced of the need to have social and
cultural influences into the original psychoanalytic theory of development.” Thus it is an
integrated developmental theory and with people been active participants of their own
development. (Peedicayil, 2012) The epigentic principle unfolds or happens when an infant
is born and is totally dependent on their caregiver for food , drink and nurture. Trust or
mistrust unfolds in an infants life , depending on the caring, consistent and predictable
relationship with the primary caregiver. Mistrust is caused by changing , non-accepting ,
unpredictable experiences. All infants for have some negative and some positive
experiences during this infant stage. Some infants will however experience more negative
caregiving. Such as less attention as in the case of an orphaned infant. When an infant is not
touched or held during times of distress the infant will shut down and develop brain
damage, according to research findings of infants in an overcrowded Romanian Orphanage.
(Boyce & Boyce, 2015). Also when the mother is absent and the child is not fed or cared for.
The infant will develop a sense of mistrust for women or the mother figure. The trust versus
the mistrust is the first psychosocial development stage that infant will experience. (Anon., )
A crisis can occur during each of the eight stages of psychosocial development. These stages
entail a person’s emerging emotional needs in interaction with expanding social
relationships. (Donald, 2014) For example when a child’s emotional and physical needs are
not met ,a crisis will unfold and the infant will develop a sense of mistrust. This is also a
critical point in a child’s development. Then the child moves into the next stage autonomy
1
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vs shame / doubt with capacities that will shape how the new developmental challenge will
be resolved. Challenges experienced in the early stages will carry on to the next stage unless
the child confront the issues through counselling, if not the child will have psychosocial
challenges throughout life. Eriskon believes that “there is little that cannot be remedied
later, there is much that can be prevented from happening at all “ (Anon., )This captures his
belief in the adaptability of humans. Successful resolution of one crises puts the child in a
particularly good position to address the next crisis. Erikson’s theory is important because of
its emphasis on social and cultural influences and on development beyond adolescence. He
is widely known for his concept of identity crisis which has generated considerable research.
The chief task of adolescence, said Erikson(1968) , is to confront the crises of identity versus
identity confusion. The concept of the identity crises was based on his own experience. He
grew up in Germany and was born out of wedlock and never knew his biological father. He
was later adopted and felt confused about who he was. He also said that if a person does
not have an occupational identity, they may engage in negative behaviour such as criminal
activity. (Diane e Papalia, 2011)
The eight stages of psych-social development in relation to the South African context.
Development takes place in a social environment and because of this the African child will
have a unique set of circumstances that with have an effect on the child development. A
study was done on the Bolobedu community in the Limpopo province to explore the
relationship between Erikson’s stages of development and those of African. The findings
showed that the children also went through various stages of development, like many other
cultural groups., however these stages are accompanied by various problems and
expectations. These people also use different methods to address problems. There are some
differences such as readiness and the ability to perform certain tasks rather than age of the
child. African children do experience psychological problems, but they are dealt with in a
different way.
And interesting distinction when it comes to the various stages is that they are mostly based
on cultural values. Africans also put emphasis on cooperation, inter-dependence and
altruism. Lastly, among Africans each stage of development involves rituals and ceremonies.
Erikson has ignored the importance of ritual in the various stages of development.
When studying the developmental stages of an African child, one must consider that most
rural people are living in abject poverty. The first writers who studied development of
African Children were Brown(1926), Seligman(1930), Whiting and Kuper (1965).
A Survey from writers such as Stayt (1931) suggests developmental stages of an African child
can be broken down into: birth, infancy, early childhood, pre-puberty, and puberty. The
author considers these stages as corresponding to the Erikson six stages of development.
1.1 In the African village the birth of a baby is celebrated. African consider the infancy stage
as a period between birth and weaning. Weaning is used as the measurement to
determine a child readiness for the next stage, whereas Erikson uses age as a measure of
readiness for the next stage. The African Child is separated from the mother, but still
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