Developmental Theory

“According to Erikson’s theory every person must pass through a series of eight stages over the entire life cycle” (Erikson’s Stages of Development, n.d, p.1) .These eight stages evolve throughout your life. Each stage has a task; the task of the stage you are in must be achieved for you to successfully move to the next stage thus contributing to a healthier development. If the task is not fully complete it can affect the ability to move to the next task.
“Erikson’s eight stages reflect both positive and negative aspects of the critical life periods”. (Berman, A., Snyder, S. J., Levett-Jones,T., Dwyer, T., Hales, M., Harvey, N., …Stanley, D. 2012, p.401). This theory emphasises on the events that occur in our life which lead to positive or negative outcomes thus making our ego stronger or weaker. For example I was raised and cared for at a good extent and thus positively impacted my life because I experienced trust and I now have no problem trusting others. This theory could be used to understand why someone is the way they are or why they act a certain way by looking at what stage they are in and comparing that to their behaviour. For example I am at the adolescence stage which is the identity versus inferiority task. If I appeared unsocial or kept to myself you could grasp that I might be feeling inferior.

Reference list:
Erikson’s stages of Development. (n.d.) . Retrieved from http://www.learning-theories.com/eriksons-stages-of-development.html
Berman, A., Snyder, S. J., Levett-Jones,T., Dwyer, T., Hales, M., Harvey, N., …Stanley, D. (2012). Kozier & Erb’s Fundamentals of Nursing (2nd Australian ed.). Frenchs Forest, Australia: Pearson