The distinct 8 stages of a person’s psychosocial
development
I realised I wanted to do an article last month on parents
but ended up rushing the article on writing. Oh well, thought I could keep the
streak of p words. This is about psychosocial theory by Erikson. These articles
are helping me remember my school APA citation stuff.
When a baby is just born, they are in the Trust Versus
Mistrust stage, so when an adult picks up the baby when they cry, they slowly
develop trust with that person. Likewise, if the adult refuses to comfort the
child, the child realises that the adult cannot be trusted. The next stage is
Autonomy Versus Shame/Doubt, whereby a child discovers what he or she is capable
of and they continue to gain confidence unless an adult intervenes and brings
them shame and doubt. For instance, if a child draws on the wall, an adult can
be encouraging and guide the child’s behaviour appropriately, like teaching the
child to draw on paper instead, then the child learns he or she can be a
talented artist. However, if that same child is scolded repeatedly, they may feel
fear and anxiety, shame and doubt in drawing pictures. Chances are, they are
not so willing to draw.
According to Erikson, the Initiative Versus Guilt stage is
when the child has already understood they are capable by themselves, as they
use their skills to navigate the world, and the main motivator for the initiative
is conscience, so children build upon the previous stages to produce actions
that can bring either rewards or guilt
As a preschool educator, my main focus is on the 2nd
and 3rd stages. It is interesting to see how adults’ actions play a
crucial role in the lives of the little ones. We have to be careful in how we
discipline them. Too much can stifle their development while too little can
cause them to have no boundaries. We need to be both firm and encouraging, to
allow children to develop on their own terms and we as adults are just guides
for their journeys.
References
Fenske, C. (2020, September). Stages
of Psychosocial Development. Retrieved from Orchard Valley Counselling
Services:
https://www.orchardvalleycounselling.ca/stages-of-psychosocial-development/
Santrock, J. W. (2019). Life-span Development (17th Edition). New York: McGraw-Hill Education.
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