WEEK 2 NOTES - HUMAN DEVELOPMENT- Chapter 2

 

I. Basic concepts of the psychosocial theory

 

DEF: Represents human development as a product of the interaction between an individual’s needs, abilities, social (societal) expectations and demands

 

***The transmission of values and knowledge across generations requires the maturation of individuals who are capable of internalizing knowledge, symbolizing it, adapting it, and transferring it to others.

 

Otherwise...development becomes chaotic!  EXAMPLES?

 

The six organizing concepts of the psychosocial theory are:

1. The stages of development

2. Developmental tasks

3. Psychosocial crisis

4. Central Process for resolving crisis of each stage

5. A radiating network for significant relationships

6. Coping- the new behavior that people generate to meet the new crisis

 

A. The 1^st organizing concept of development

The Stages of development

 

A developmental stage is a period of life that is characterized by a specific underlying structure of

each stage.

 

At each stage the accomplishments from the previous stages provide resources for mastering new challenges.

 

Erickson’s Eight Stages of Development

	Stage	Psychosocial Conflict
1.	Oral	Trust vs. Mistrust
2.	Muscular Anal	Autonomy vs. Shame
3.	Locomotor/genital	Initiative vs. Guilt
4.	Latency	Industry vs. Inferiority
5.	Puberty vs. Adolescence	Identity vs. Role Confusion
6.	Young Adulthood	Intimacy vs. Isolation
7.	Adulthood	Generativity vs. Stagnation
8.	Maturity	Ego Integrity vs. Despair

 

The idea of life stages should be used to highlight life changes and changing orientation of ones self and others that dominate the period of life span.

 

If you notice, Erikson’s stages leave out some very important stages in terms of the life span concept.

 

 

The 11 Stages of the Psychosocial Development

 

	Stage	Age
1.	Prenatal	From conception to birth
2.	Infancy	from birth to 2 years
3.	Toddlerhood	2-3 years
4.	Early School Age	4-6 years
5.	Middle Childhood	6-12 years
6.	Early Adolescents	12-18 years
7.	Later Adolescents	18-22 years
8.	Early Adulthood	22-34 years
9.	Middle Adulthood	34-60 years
10.	Later Adulthood	60-75 years
11.	Very Old Age	75 years until death

 

This adds 3 stages to Erikson’s model

 

Erikson believed that the stages of development followed the

 

Eugenic Principle: The biological plan for growth allows each function to emerge systematically until a fully functioning organism develops.

 

The stages are viewed as sequences in which there is no going back to earlier stages or experiences.  His theory makes retreat impossible.

 

Joan Erickson believed that if each stage was not adequately developed according to a given sequence that the supports of the environment may bring it into an appropriate balance at a later period.

 

However, we can’t become rigid in our thinking - Just because certain ego strengths are developed at on time, does not mean that the structure cannot be shaken or challenged.

 

Take for example Initiative vs guilt stage - If an individual in theis stage continually encounters a judgmental expression from a significant person in their life, the psychosocial conflict can cause one’s initiative to become inhibited or to mask it with a facade or indifference.

 

B.  2^nd Organizing concept Of the Psycho-Soc Theory is:

 

Developmental Tasks - consist of a set of skills and competencies that contribute to increased mastery over ones environment.

 

These developmental tasks reflect areas of accomplishment in physical, social-emotional and cognitive development of sel-concept

 

The tasks define what is healthy, normal development at each age

 

 

The tasks form a sequence in which Success in learning these tasks of one stage leads to  development and a greater chance of learning the tasks at a later stage.

Failure leads to greater difficulty with later tasks or may make later tasks impossible to master

 

Robert Harghurst developed the concept of tasks

 

He believed that human development is a process in which people attempt to learn the tasks required of them by the society to which they are adapting

 

The tasks change with age because society has age-graded expectations for behavior

 

The person who learns all the tasks receives satisfaction and reward

 

The person who does not, suffers unhappiness and social disapproval.

 

See Table 2.1 on Page 41 Developmental Tasks

 

One is changing on several different levels during each period of life

 

Tasks involving all three strands contribute to social growth as well as growth of ones-self concept, all of which contribute one’s resources for coping with the challenges of life.

 

Mastery of the developmental tasks is influenced by the resolution of the psychosocial crisis of the previous stage, and it is this resolution that leads to the development of new social capabilities

 

Authors acknowledge that the tasks they have developed are central to successful adaptation in a highly technical , information-age society such as that of the US and may not be appropriate for a developing country or traditional tribal culture.

 

The authors assume that Successful cultures must stimulate behavior that helps its members learn what they need to know both for their own survival and that of the group.

 

C. The 3^rd organizing concept of the psychosocial Theory

 

The Psychosocial Crisis - This arises when one must make psychological efforts to adjust to the demands of one’s social environment at each stage of development

 

Crisis in this context is not negative, but refers to the normal set of stresses and strains rather than to extra ordinary events.

 

There may be greater demands

for self control

further developmental skills

stronger commitment to goals

 

Trying to achieve a resolution of the conflict or adjust to society’s demands and translate them interpersonal terms produces a state of tension that a person must reduce in order to proceed to the next stage.

 

It is this tension that produces the Psychosocial Crisis!

 

The most familiar of all these crisis is the Identity vs the Identity confusion stage

 

DEF: Identity Crisis is a sudden degeneration or determination of the framework of values and goals that a person relies on to give meaning and purpose to daily life.

For many teens this involves strong feelings of anxiety and depression.

 

See Table 2.2 Psychosocial Crisis and Life-Stages

 

Notice that the ones that have been added, except for the prenatal stage

 

Early Adolescence - group identity vs alienation

Later Adolescence - Individual Identity vs Identity Confusion

Very Old Age - Immortality vs extinction         

 

The experience of both positive and negative poles contributes to the total range of adaptive capacities

 

The term crisis implies that normal development does not proceed smoothly

 

The term psychosocial highlights the fact that the crisis are in part, the result of the cultural pressures and expectations

 

In addition to the predictable crisis, we have the unpredictable stressors such as a parents divorce, death of a sibling, victim of violence, loss of a job, widowhood.

 

Although these may foster new growth and new competencies they may also result in new defensiveness, regression or dread.

 

The impact of the unpredictable crisis will depend in part on whether the person was already in a psychosocial crisis at the time.

 

 

 

D. The 4^th Organizing concept of the Psychosocial Theory:

 

The Central Process for Resolving Psychosocial Conflict

links the individuals needs with the requirements of the culture at each life stage

 

Imitation is the central process for Toddlerhood with its purpose being to expand the range of skills by imitating adults

 

The move towards autonomy in toddlerhood is facilitated by a child’s readiness to imitate and by a variety of models available for observation.

 

Society also encourages imitation with “Now watch Daddy...”

 

See Table 2.3 Central process for each psychosocial Crisis

 

E. 5^th organizing principle of the psychosocial crisis

 

Radius of significant relationships

Society is organized in such a way that age related demands on individuals are communicated thru their significant social relationships

 

Social system is made up by the demands exerted on a on a person by all elements of the social world

 

F. 6^th organizing concept

 

Coping behaviors - Consist of efforts to resolve stress and create new solutions to the challenges of each new stage

 

3 components -

1. The ability to gain and process new information

2. The ability to maintain control over ones emotional state

3. The ability to move freely within the environment

 

Prime adaptive ego qualities: Develop from the positive resolution of the psychosocial crisis of a given stage- provide resources for coping with the next

 

See table 2.4 for a listing of these qualities

 

Erikson believed that hose who maintain a sense of hope about their own future as well as that of their children were more intellectually vigorous and psychologically resilient than those not characterized by this orientation

 

What happens if people do not respond positive to the stressors of growth?

 

Core Pathologies - a destructive force that may develop as a result of ineffective, negatively balanced crisis resolution at each stage.

 

Result:

1. These pathologies move people away from others

2. Tend to prevent explorations of interpersonal relations

3. Obstruct the resolution of the subsequent psychosocial crisis.

4. The energy is directed instead at avoiding and resisting change as opposed to mastering the developmental tasks of that stage.