C H APT E R . ERIK ERIKSON'S THEORY OF IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT Erik H. Erikson's (1902-1994) theory reflects in part bis psychoanalytic training, but , it embracessociety's influence and the social aspectsof development to a much larger ex- refit than did Freud's. With little more than a German high school education, Erikson at- tended art schoolsand traveled in ltaly, apparently in searchof 4is own identity. Erikson's later writing popularized the concept of "identity," and he applied it especiallyto the pe- riod of adolescence.After Erikson returned to Germany,where he studied art and prepared to teachart, he was offered a teaching position in a private school in Vienna that servedthe children of patients of Sigmund and Anna Freud. Peter Blos, a friend of Erikson from the rime they attended the Gymnasium together, also worked asa teacherin the same school and it was Blos's idea to offer Erikson the position. During bis tenure asa teacher,Erikson was invited to undergo psychoanalysiswith Anna Freud, and during this processbis inter- est expanded from art and teaching to also include the study of psychoanalysis.While in Vienna, he also studied Montessori education, which later influenced bis psychoanalytic studies, such as the organization of abjects in space. Erikson graduated from the Vienna Psychoanalyticlnstitute in 1933 as a lay analyst since he held no medical or academicde- grees. Later that year,he immigrated to the United Statesand becameassociated with the Harvard PsychologicalClinic. Erikson bas published extensively,bis best known and most widely read book being Chitdhoodand Society,published in 1950 and revised in 1963. Of particular significanceto an understanding of adolescenceis bis ldentity: Youthand Crisis (1968). Erikson's more re- cent book, The LifeCycle Compteted (1982), encompassesan integration of much of bis ear- lier work, but with the explicit purpose of exploring development by beginning with old age and to make senseof the "completed life cycle." He also explained that the new orga- nization reflectsbis view that, becauseaIl stagesgrow out of previous stages,tracing the an- tecedentsbackward would highlight theserelationships. The idea of identity formation bas remained the focus of much of bis work and appearsin other book titles, such as ldentity 42 ERIK ERIKSON'S THEORY-.!! OF IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT and the Life Cycle(1959). ln addition, he has examined the identity issue of historical fig- ures, such as Martin Luther (1962), Mahatma Gandhi (1969), and Thomas Jefferson. ln these psycho-historicalstudies he is concernedwith the identity crisis of eachof these men as weIl as with the respectivenational identity issuesat the cime of their most notable con- tributions. Revealing his basic philosophy, he maintains chatone cannotseparate "the iden- city crisis in individuallife and contemporarycrisis in historical developmentbecause the two help to define eachother and are truly relative to eachother" (Erikson, 1968: 23). The ward crisis,as Erikson usesit, is not just an emotional turmoil or emergency;it also has (as it does in Chinese),the meaning of "opportunity," an idea chat is essential to an under- standing of the ward crisisas Erikson seesit. Erikson has also written about his own iden- tiry crisis asweIl as the philosophical and psychoanalyticfoundation of the concept in "Au- tobiog;raphic Notes on the Identity Crisis" (1970). ln his famouschapter, "Eight Stagesof Man," Erikson (1950) modifies and expandsthe Freudian stagesof psychosexualdevelopment by placing much greater emphasison the so- cial context of development. Erikson also is the first persanwho proposesa life-span theory of development chat encompassesthe entire life cycle. His modifications were inspired by anthropological findings and a concern with the social origins of these stages,which con- tribute to a shift from the sexualnature of man to a theory of psychosocialdevelopment. The cote concept in this theory is the acquisition of an ego-identity, and the exploration of identity issuesbecomes the outstanding characteristicof adolescence.Although the specific quality of a person'sidentity differs from culture to culture, the accomplishmentof this de- velopmental task has common elements in ail cultures. The establishmentof a crue senseof a personal identity is the psychological connection berweenchildhood and adulthood. ln order to acquire a strong and healthy ego-identity, the child musc receive consistent and meaningful recognition for his or her achievementsand accomplishments. Humans develop according to the ePigeneticprincip/e of deve/opment,borrowed from em- bryology, which states "chat anything chat grows has a ground plan, and chat out of this ground plan the parts arise, eachpart having its cime of special ascendancy,until ail parts have risen to form a functional whole" (Erikson, 1968: 92). Epigenesis,for Erikson (1982: 28) involves much more chana sequenceof stages:"It also determines certain laws in the fundamental relations of the growing parts to eachother. ..." Every element musc arise at the appropriate cime; the failure to do so will jeopardize the developmentof "a succession of potentials for significant interaction" with significant others and the "mores that govern them." Unless normal development cakesplace, the individual cannot grow inca a psycho- logically healthy persan. Obviously, the significant others and the individual interact, so the ongoing processis mutual and reciprocal. ln other words, the epigenic plan which arises from within the human organism is supported (or interfered with) by social demands.It ba- sically identifies the developmental interaction betweenmaturational advancesand the so- cial expectations made upon the child. For example, at about age 2-3 the social demand placed upon children to control elimination (an issue in the autonomy stage)dovetails with the child's maturational ability to exercisethe necessarysphincter contrai. Furthermore, every stage is related developmentally to every other stage, "whether in the form of an ear- lier condition or of a lacerconsequence" (Erikson, 1982: 61). ln the epigenic model (Figure 3.1), the basic ground plan of increasing psychosocial differentiation is depicted. The diagonal axis, beginning with "Trust Ys. Mistrust," shows 44 Erik Erikson'JTheory ofldentity Development / Erik Erikson (1902-1994) the developmental sequenceof the well-known eight stagesof man. Movement upward along the diagonal axis representsnormal developmentand shows the successivedifferen- tiation of the original undifferentiated structure, and thus representsincreasingly more ma- ture levels of functioning. This diagram demonstratesthat: 1. Each item of the vital personality is systematically related to aIl others; theyall depend on the proper development in the proper sequenceof eachitem. - ~ ~ ~ -;uS .. c'" ~ ," .", ,~.. 0.. v ...~'~ '~= ~ ~ ]~ ~~ ~~~ ~13~13~ ~ ~ ~ f-4 1::: "'" ,9- < < ;]?;o8 r-- !:.--;. ~ z ," 'C'~ u ~r5;z; ~~,"v ]&..'" 0~ ~~13""~o,a .c'~[ C ~E ;s8 b Z c .cd ! 9 ,g C \J:) J: c f-4 ~ ,g :2 0 ;:S "i 'c l a ~ t f-4 a ~~ ~~ ;.,0 ~=--",p,=-~U7.;i]j"O.;'~o .cZ.> .VI ;;> 8"" .~ ~ 'c.e- C u Z e::: 0 "tJ~ 0 <.: '~c 'c C c: >- >- -'P ~ ,g :B.. ~ 0 '\1 ~ f-4 f-4", C ~.. '~~ -'P Of' ~ 1::: 1:::~ ~ ~ ,& ~ :S 8 ~ 8 §'~ ,~,§ '§ - ~ ~z .Ij ~ '~~ .E.;3 ~ o.!. ..0 '~.s ~@ 8~88 ~~~ ~~~~ ~â~~ :i~~~~ 'f::.~ '- ~ c: 'C;., '~f-4Q, >- ~c.--0 1 >- ~ E~ ,~ '" ~ 0 ~ ,g ~ ~ '~ '" ~ ~-: Q,~ .Ij'"'" ~ ~ F:';ac ;., Q, ,g$ .9. '7 ...~ <~P'P, ~~~ ,~~ 0C ~8,- ,~.. cd 5 ~ cqj c C '" ~o e C f-4 .-t 'c ,g ~!:j 2"~ -R'..~ -=.." t-'-.'" . ~~~~~ ~~§ ~3 ~~ ~o '" >- -c ~ ~ ,fi ,2 ?;o a ~"f-4 N ~,~ C ,g 0 ~ ~ :J E '; U ~ ..:~\J ... :=t.:=a 5. 8 ~d~~13 <~'" ] ,~..f-4=- C0 ~'" i ,~ t;; ~ ~~ e~ ~ '" ~~~~13 ~~~ = -~ > ~ = = - > >... ~ 45 46 Erik Erikton's Theory of ldentity Deve/opment 2. "Each item exists in some form before 'its' decisive and critical time normatif arrives" (Erikson, 1968: 93, 95). Thus, the horizontal and the vertical axes entries in Figure 3.1 identify how earlier development contributes to identity in adolescence. Eachof the eight developmental stagesis characterizedby a conflict, and eachconflict contains the possibility of bipolar outcomes. Erikson suggeststhat the individual must ac- tually experienceboth sidesof the conflict and must learn to subsumethem into higher syn- thesis. This bipolar nature of the socialcrisis gives eachstage its name,rather than the body zone that gives pleasureas in Freudian theory. If the conflict is worked out in a construc- tive, satisfactorymanner, the syntonic or positive quality becomesthe more dominant part of the ego and enhancesfurther healthy development through the subsequentstages. For Erikson, the growth of a positive self-conceptis directif linked to the psychosocialstage resolution that constitutes the core of bis theory. However, if the conflict persists past its rime, or is resolvedunsatisfactorily, the dystonic or negative quality is incorporated into the personality structure. ln that case,the dystonic or negative attribute will interfere with fur- ther development and may manifest itself in impaired self-concept,adjustment problems, and possibly,psychopathology. Erikson (1982) substitutes the terms syntonicand dystonicfor initially used terms posi- tiveand negative,but they will be used interchangeably.The readershould bear in mind chat Erikson emphasizesthe necessityand healthinessof an individual actually having both syn- tonic and dystonic reactionsdepending on the situation. For example,a personwalking the streets in