Comparing Erikson's Crucial Stages Of Development

Erikson’s trust versus mistrust stage is similar to Freud’s Oral stage in the stages of psychosexual stages of development (Freud, Haute, & Westerink, 2016). The oral stage describes ones tendency to feed, suck their thumb, and cry, the baby has a connection to their mother and too much of this can result in a fixation later in life. Freud’s second stage is the anal stage, which relates to Erikson’s (1963) autonomy versus shame stage. The anal stage emphasizes a toddler’s ability to use the bathroom. If their parents derive this as shameful or good, it can affect the toddler’s behaviours later in life (Freud, Haute, & Westerink, 2016). Third is Freud’s phallic stage, which is similar to Erikson’s (1963) initiative versus guilt stage. To Freud,
Freud’s fourth stage is the latency stage, which is comparable to Erikson’s (1963) industry versus inferiority stage. In the latency stage, children begin to forget about their preoccupation with their parents and their behaviours during the phallic stage reflects in the latency stage (Freud, Haute, & Westerink, 2016). The child begins to develop behaviours in school and act accordingly. Finally, Freud’s fifth stage is the genital stage which occurs in adolescence, similar to Erikson’s (1963) stage identity versus role confusion, Freud described this stage as the teenager beginning to become engaged in sexual behaviours according their their sexual desires (Freud, Haute, & Westerink,
In Erikson’s fourth stage: inferiority versus industry, children are in school and become less dependent on their parents for socialization and now become close to their peers and teachers. Thus, schools can have a goal to become a positive institution to help students to establish good feelings about themselves and to successfully go through their stages. Moreover, Erik Erikson’s theory gives schools a useful guideline to help an individual to successfully go through the stages of development. Moreover, upon adulthood, when the individual is out of the school system, they are prepared to encounter their new stages of development and embark on a positive adulthood.
Too, Erikson was influential in the field of psychology; this is because his theory was the first to outline developmental stages that expanded past adolescence (Benjafield, 2010). Therefore, Erikson encouraged other developmental psychologists to not only focus on ones tendency to develop in childhood but instead, across the life span (Benjafield, 2010). This idea emerged because Erikson believed that changes can always occur and not just throughout ones childhood (Benjafield,