One of the most influential theorists in psychology and human development was Erik Erikson. Having come out of the Freudian tradition, Erikson expanded and refined Freud's stage theory by revealing more of the child's tasks at each stage of ego growth. In addition to clarifying each of Freud's stages, he added three new stages to complete the adult years of life mostly ignored by Freud. While closely following the outline of the original Freudian stages of development, Erikson went beyond the Freudian idea of sexuality as the primary driving force. Instead, he focused more on a series of relationships that certain tasks have at each stage of development. Being more concerned with the cognitive functioning of the child, Erikson focused on the growth of the ego through cognitive tasks, or crises as he called them, instead of the biological sex drives, as did Freud (Zeig, ed., 1982).
This paper will introduce some biographical background on Erikson and his theories in order to establish a reference with other works. It will also summarize the eight stages of life that Erikson developed in order to see how they compare with other existing stage theories in order and content. In addition, this paper will cover some theoretical issues that affect the manner in which Erikson's work is viewed. Also, the strengths and shortcomings of the practical applications of Erikson's work will be discussed in order to establish the best possible ways it can be applied. To conclude this paper, there will be an evaluation of Erikson's stage theory to reiterate the strengths and weaknesses that either limit it or make it excel.
Erikson was born in 1902 in Frankfurt Germany of Danish parents. He was not a particularly good student and disliked the formal school atmosphere. As was common for many of the youths of his day, instead of going to college after high school, he traveled Europe for a year in search of "himself." He later referred to...