Eric Ericson

Erik Erikson is most widely recognized for coining the phrase identity crisis. He is also known for his theory on the psychosocial development of the human brain. He created eight stages in which every human must go through to become truly developed. He was born in Frankfurt, Germany to Waldemar Isidor and Karla Abrahamsen on June 5, 1902. The mother had not seen the father for several months at the time that Erikson was born. His mother eventually moved to Karlsruhe in 1905 to become a nurse and married a Jewish pediatrician, Theodor Homburger. Growing up, identity was always a problem for Erikson because he was called Erik Homburger and his parents kept the details about his birth a secret. The way he looked was also a problem for him as he was tall, blond, and blue eyed, but he was also Jewish. So at school he was teased for being Jewish but at the temple he was called Nordic. As he got older, he became a student and teacher of arts. While teaching at a private school in Vienna, he met Anna Freud, the daughter of Sigmund Freud. Erikson underwent psychoanalysis, and this made him want to become an analyst himself. Erikson recognized some of the basic notions of Freud’s theory, but believed that he had missed important parts of human development. Erikson said that humans develop throughout their lifespan, while Freud believed that our personality is shaped by the age of five. He created eight stages that everyone goes through throughout their lives. Those stages are trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame and doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. role confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs stagnation, and integrity vs. despair. The first stage of Erikson’s theory is trust vs. mistrust. This stage covers the period of infancy. The mother carries out and reflects their inner perceptions of trustworthiness, a sense of personal meaning, and so on, on the child. If successful in this, the baby develops a sense of trust,