Erickson's Stages Of Psychosocial Development

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Erickson's Stages of Psychosocial Development In the movie Ordinary People, the character Conrad shows signs of having missed a stage in Erickson’s stages of psychosocial development. The relationship that Conrad and his mother have is very unusually and could explain a lot of why Conrad puts so much of the guilt of his brother’s death on himself. It’s possible that when Conrad was a little boy his mother spent more time with his older brother and didn’t really pay much attention to him or certain tasks that he accomplished. This stage would be Initiative vs. Guilt. This would explain why Conrad doesn’t have a connection with his mother because he never received praising for his accomplishments. The character Calvin in the movie is Conrad’s father and he experiences Ego Integrity vs. Despair in Erickson’s theory. Throughout the movie Calvin becomes more and more aware of what kind of relationship his wife and son, Conrad have and after the death of his oldest son he realizes what kind of person his wife is. Calvin experiences despair towards the end of the movie when he is in reflection of this marriage and then understands that he doesn’t know what kind of person she is anymore. Calvin at this point shows signs of being depressed and like he has failed. Erickson’s stages of psychosocial development are eight stages that start at the age of infancy and go all the way to late adulthood. The stages are what a person should experience to become a healthy and well rounded human being, but if one person is not able to experience one stage or misses out then later in life the stage missed may become a problem. The first stage of Erickson’s stages of psychosocial development is Basic Trust vs. Basic Mistrust. This stage starts with infants and their needs that they need from their parents. An infant needs to be feed, have nourishment and comfort. A child that

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