Erik+Erikson



=Erik Erikson=

Biography
Erik Erikson was born in //Frankfurt, Germany// and studied psychology under Anna Freud (Sigmund Freud's daughter) at the //Vienna Psychoanalytic Institute.// He moved to the United States and became a U.S. citizen in 1939 where he taught at several major universities including //Harvard, Yale,// and the //University of California at Berkley.// He developed a stage theory much like //Sigmund Freud's Stages of Psychosexual development//, but rather than sexual impulses, Erikson was concerned more with the social aspects of development. He developed his theory of //Psychosocial Development// where he divides the human lifespan into eight stages. Through his theories, the term //'identity crisis'// was derived, as he saw each stage as having both a negative or a positive outcome, constituting a crisis at each stage of development.

Time Line
• Maria Piers, Barbara Bowman, and Lorraine Wallach establish the Chicago Institute for Early Childhood Education to provide training for preprimary teachers. Chicago businessman Irving B. Harris provides financial support to start the school; 16 students are admitted to the first class.

• The school is renamed for Erik Erikson to reflect its strong emphasis on the importance of family and culture, and receives its first federal funding.

• Erikson receives a federal grant to train Head Start regional officers in California, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and several other states.

• The Institute sponsors a lecture series on growth and development featuring luminaries such as Jean Piaget, René Spitz, Konrad Lorenz, and Erik Erikson.

• ABC News program Now produces “The Precious Years.” The program shows how the Institute’s teachings are put into practice at preschool centers.

• The U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare designates Erikson as a center to prepare Native Americans to staff Head Start programs on reservations.

• Erikson helps develop the national Child Development Associate credentialing program for early childhood workers.

• Piers produces a nationally syndicated radio show on child care.

• Noted Swiss cognitive psychologist Jean Piaget delivers Erikson’s first Edith G. Neisser Memorial Lecture, a series honoring a Chicago-area child psychologist who served on Erikson’s board; her family members continue to do so to this day.

• Erikson organizes a neighborhood network in Rogers Park to encourage community-based support for parents.

• An extensive early literacy initiative of innovative research and program development begins. Eight years of this work results in the influential    volume Early Literacy (The Developing Child), by professors Gillian McNamee and Joan McLane (Harvard University Press, 1990).

• Bowman is elected president of the National Association for Early Childhood Education.

• Erikson moves from the Hyde Park Bank building to new quarters in the Loop.

• Erikson advises Wyler Children’s Hospital at the University of Chicago on the reorganization of its child life department.

• The Infant Studies Program is founded, one of the first in the nation.

• The federal government taps Erikson alumna Carol Brunson Phillips (now Day) as director of the Child Development Associate national credential program. She continues to head the program for the next 20 years.

• Erikson launches its doctoral program in applied child development in conjunction with Loyola University Chicago.

• Professor Frances Stott becomes president of the Illinois Association for Infant Mental Health, while colleague Linda Gilkerson joins the board of Zero to Three.

• Erikson launches a study of how families cope with violence in Chicago housing projects; the project grows to include an international conference, an informational video, and training for teachers.

• The Infant Studies Program is renamed in honor of Irving Harris.

• The Bridge to Professional Leadership mentoring program is established to prepare and encourage minority child care professionals to seek graduate level training in early education.

• The faculty collaborates to publish What Children Can Tell Us: Eliciting, Interpreting, and Evaluating Information from Children. The book is still in wide use in many professional settings.

• Erikson begins a training program for child welfare and legal professionals handling increasingly complex cases involving in child abuse, custody disputes, and medical questions. Stott consults and trains nationally on interviewing children.

• The Illinois State Board of Higher Education authorizes Erikson to operate as an independent institution of higher learning.

• The Harris Family Foundation endows the Neison and Bette Harris Scholarships.

• The Edward Neisser Library and Learning Center is dedicated in memory of a longtime trustee. The center is a multimedia resource hub for the Erikson community.

• The Harris Family Foundation funds the creation of the Bette and Neison Harris Computer Laboratory at the Institute.

• The McCormick Tribune Foundation grants nearly $500,000 to support the Faculty Development Project on the Brain, to introduce developmental neurobiology to college curricula.

• Erikson begins granting master’s degrees independently of Loyola.

• A gift from Jeffrey Herr establishes the Herr Research Center at Erikson.

• The Director’s Leadership Certificate Program is established to improve programming and administration in child care centers.

• Erikson earns accreditation by the North Central Association for its master’s and certificate programs.

• The Institute exceeds the $10 million goal of its first capital campaign, spearheaded by trustee Leah Zell Wanger, board chair Kathy Richland Pick, and president Barbara T. Bowman.

• Samuel J. Meisels becomes president of Zero to Three and holds that position through 2003.

• Erikson partners with Loyola University to create a program offering dual master’s degrees in child development and social work—the first of its kind in the country.

• New certificate programs in infant mental health and bilingual/English-as-a-second-language education are established. The Fussy Baby Network, Erikson’s first clinical program, is launched.

• The Irving B. Harris Infant Studies Online Certificate Program is launched.

• Bowman is named chief early childhood education officer for the Chicago Public Schools (CPS).

• The Boeing Company and CPS sponsor a cohort of CPS teachers in the Master’s in Early Childhood Education program, with the aim of improving the quality of teaching in early childhood classrooms.

• The Herr Research Center for Children and Social Policy is established with new support from Jeffrey Herr and funding from the McCormick Tribune, Joyce, and Spencer foundations and the Children's Initiative, a project of the Pritzker Family Foundation.

http://erikson.edu/40years/index.asp



//Erik Erikson's 8 Stages of Human Psychosocial Development//

//And the New Environments Associated with Each Stage//

=Developmental Theory=

Erikson recognized the basic notions of Freudian theory, but believed that Freud misjudged some important dimensions of human development. Erikson said that humans develop throughout their life span, while Freud said that our personality is shaped by the age of five. Erikson developed eight psychosocial stages that humans encounter throughout their life.

Integrity vs. Despair
=The first stage=

Trust vs. Mistrust
- Occurs from approximately birth to one year. Erikson defined trust as an essential trustfulness of others. He thought that an infant who gets fed when he is hungry and comforted when he needs comforting will develop trust. He also said that some mistrust is necessary to learn to discriminate between honest and dishonest persons. If mistrust wins over trust in this stage, the child will be frustrated, withdrawn, suspicious, and will lack self-confidence.

The second stage
- Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt, occurs between ages two and three. During this period it is important that the parents create a supportive atmosphere in which the child can develop a sense of self-control without a loss of self-esteem. Shame and doubt about the child's self-control and independence occur if basic trust was developed or was lost. In this stage, Erikson said the child encounters rules, such as which areas of the house he is allowed to explore.

The third stage
- Initiative vs. Guilt, occurs between ages four and five. This is the stage in which the child must find out what kind of person he/she is going to be. The child develops a sense of responsibility which increases initiative during this period. If the child is irresponsible and is made to feel too anxious then they will have uncomfortable guilt feelings. Erikson believed that most guilt is quickly compensated for by a sense of accomplishment.

The fourth stage
- Industry vs. Inferiority, occurs between six years and puberty. This is the period in which the child wants to enter the larger world of knowledge and work. One of the great events of this time is the child's entry into school. This is where he is exposed to the technology of his society: books, multiplication tables, arts and crafts, maps, microscopes, films, and tape recorders. However, the learning process does not only occur in the classroom according to Erikson, but also at home, friend's houses, and on the street.

//Components of Erikson's prior four stages contribute to the fifth stage, Identity vs. Identity Confusion. This occurs during adolescence. During this period the identity concern reaches climax. According to Erikson this is the time when adolescents seek their true selves.//

The sixth stage
- Intimacy vs. Isolation, occurs during young adulthood. Intimacy with other people is possible only if a reasonably well integrated identity emerges from stage five.

The seventh stage
- Generativity vs. Stagnation, is to assist the younger generation in developing and leading useful lives. When the individual feels that he has done nothing to help the next generation then they experience stagnation.

The final stage
- Integrity vs. Despair, occurs during late adulthood. This is the time in which the individual looks back and evaluates their life. If the previous stages have developed properly then they will experience integrity. If the previous stages have not developed in a positive way then they will feel despair.

//Erikson believed that development is primarily qualitative because changes are stage like, but also quantitative as one's identity becomes stronger and one's convictions solidify. He believed that nature determines the sequence of the stages and sets the limits within which nurture operates. However, all must pass through one stage before entering the next in the stated order.//

Erikson is most well known for his writings on child psychology.

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