4.28.2010

erik erikson

Erik Erikson was born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1902. The woman who saw Erikson’s potential in child development was Anna Freud, Sigmund Freud’s daughter. She had psychoanalytic sessions with Erikson and he ended up getting a certificate from Vienna Psychoanalytic Society. While doing this, he received his degree in Montessori Method from the University of Vienna. When the arrival of the Nazis appeared in Germany, this caused Erikson, his wife; Joan Serson, and their two kids to move from Germany to the U.S. (NNDB, 2009)

Erikson was a psychoanalyst and a Freudian ego-psychologist. Erikson is known as the man who expanded and re defined Freud’s theories of stage development. Life is like a rose bud; each petal opens at a certain time when ready, in order in the way nature wanted, and through the determination of genetics. If we pull out a ‘petal’ prematurely then we ruin our ‘flower’ or the stage of life. (Boeree, 2003)

Erikson is important and well known for his studies on child development and the eight stages in which describe the development of life from being a baby to late adult hood. Erikson thinks that our personality develops over time and is will never be fully developed. Erikson’s philosophy is based on two themes: “(1) the world gets bigger as we go along and (2) failure is cumulative.” (Harder, 2009)

Erikson died at the age of 91, in 1994. Erikson specialized in children psychology. While Erikson worked at Harvard, he expanded the psychoanalytic theory for it to take in different accounts of environmental factors. His most famous and influential work was the book, Childhood and Society (1950) and it shows the dividends of the human life cycle in 8 different cycles. (Columbia Encyclopedia, 2008)

Bibliography

General Psychology: Erik Erikson, (Dr. C. George Boeree) Last updated (2003)
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/genpsyerikson.html

Erik Erikson, (NNDB) Last updated (2009)
http://www.learningplaceonline.com/stages/organize/Erikson.htm

The Devlopmental Stages of Erik Erikson, (Arlene F. Harder) Last updated (2009)
www.nndb.com/people/151/000097857/

Erik Erikson, (The Columbia Encyclopedia) Last updated (2008)
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Erik_Erikson.aspx

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