Erik Erikson had proposed psychosocial development theory. This theory shows that during every stages of psychosocial development in life, two conflicting ideas need to be resolved by every individual. This helps individuals to become confident as well as the contributing members of society. Failure of these might result in feelings of inadequacy. The thesis statement therefore dictates that every caregivers in the initial phases of a child’s life need to be supportive and encourage the child in ways by which they can master these skills. These wins would ultimately result in successful psychosocial development. This assignment will show how the theory explains the toilet learning procedure and how caregivers can support children in developing such skills.
Erik Erikson was a famous ego psychologist who had put forward one of the most influential psychosocial development theory of all times. He believed that personality develops over a series of a number of stages. This theory mainly describes the impact of the social experiences across the lifespan. He was interested about the ways relationship and social interaction played important roles in the growth and development of every human beings. Each of the stage in his theory is mainly built on the preceding stages and helps in paving the ways that follows periods of development (Rogoff et al., 2016). The theorist mainly believed that every individuals experience conflicts that serve as the turning point in their development. These conflicts are centered on either the development of the psychological quality or failure of the individual to develop the quality. Of individuals are seen to successfully deal with the conflict, they are seen to emerge from the stage with psychological strengths that help in serving the rest of their lives (Cherry, 2017). If they fail to deal with the conflicts effectively, they will not be able to develop the essential skills needed for strong sense of self.
In the case study, it was seen that the toddler named Julie is two years and two months old. Her mother named Victoria is quite concerned about her toilet training capability of her toddler. She believes that all other toddlers of her daughter’s age had already mastered the skill but her daughter had not developed the skill yet. The child and family nurse has ensured her that her toddler is meeting all the developmental milestones and had advised the mother to visit a mother’s group discussion session for discussing the strategies or toilet training in a relaxed and informal environment.
The stage 2 is called the Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt and it continues for a period when the baby is one 18 months old to that of 3 years. This stage is mainly based on the children developing a greater stage of personal control often referred as autonomy by the researchers. At this point, children are seen to start gaining little independence. They are seen to perform basic action on their own. They tend to make simple decisions about what they prefer. Researchers suggest that by allowing children in this stage to make their own choices and gaining control, caregiver and parents can help their children in develop a sense of autonomy. Erikson had associated toilet training session with this stage of psychosocial development where he stated that toilet training was indeed a vital part of the procedure. Some of the examples as found in stage 2 that children need to master while developing are toilet training, control over food choices, clothing selection and toy preferences. The theorist was seen to believe that learning to control the bodily functions help the children to develop a feeling of control as well as a sense of independence (Kramer, 2017). Between the stages of 18 months and 3 years, children are seen to master skill as well as make decisions. Therefore, studies suggest that the ways caregivers and parents react to the decision can either encourage autonomy or help in fostering an environment of shame and doubt.
A number of factors can impact the psychosocial development of children. Proper nutrition and maintenance of hygiene can impact children. Moreover the quality of the learning environment surrounding the children at home, school or day care also has the ability to impact development. Julie used to remain at day care for two days a week. There is a chance that learning environment was not strong surrounding her both at home and daycare. Lack of socialization can also impact children psychosocial development (Chung, 2018). Socioeconomic environment also can have drastic effects. It cannot be known about the socio-economic condition of the family but Victoria being a single mother and having to work for long hours might show that she was tight on her budget. Parental interaction can also have negative or positive impact on child development. Researchers are of opinion that parents who spend time playing and teaching their kids have positive impact. Victoria did not get enough time to be with Julie and this might have affected her development as well.
It is true that Julie is not as fast as his contemporary toddlers who have already gained the skills of toilet training. However, the nurses have suggested that she is meeting the developmental milestones successfully which suggest that she die snot have any disorientation in her normal cognitive, physical, motor and psychosocial development. Still her mother is very concerned. Therefore, the mother should learn that the ways by which she reacts and behaves with the toddler can affect the psychosocial development. During the second stage, toilet training is seen to serve as the crucial example of the toddler’s progression toward independence. This is mainly it gives the child the critical skills for developing self- control. Therefore, the response of the parent to toilet training as well as accidents should unsurely rely on encouragement and support to the toddler and this will help in determining whether the toddler will develop healthy sense of independence or a sense of shame and doubt (Boag-Munroe, 2015).
Therefore, mother of Julie should know that if she constantly shows negative reactions to such incidents of the Julie, she might not develop the sense of confidence, independence and self-control. She might develop shame and feelings of guilt and she would fail to complete this stage successfully. This can result in development of an unhealthy sense of self in Julie and this might affect the following stages of development as well. Erikson believed successful toilet training helps children develop the will power and thereby teach them the differences between holding on and letting (Benz et al., 2016). His theory has been seen to be emphasizing the significance of the support, patient and encouragement when guiding the toddler through the fundamental milestones that are associated with the stages of childhood development. Therefore, it is the duty of Victoria to be aware of the rationale and accordingly modify her behaviors to encourage and support her child more rather than being concerned, anxious and negative about the actions of Julie.
The next stage of the theory is mainly seen to take place in children from 3 to 5 years and is named as the Initiative versus guilt. During this period of psychosocial development, children are seen to assert their power and thereby control over the world. This is done by them through directing plays and other social interaction. Researchers are of the opinion that children who are successful at this stage feel capable and can lead others (Desai, 2018). Those children who fail in acquiring these skills are left with the sense of self-doubt as well as lack of initiatives. Studies have already established one successful stage increases the chance of success of the next stage. In case of Julie, if the previous stage called the stage 2 is not successfully completed, there remains a high chance that she will also not be able to become successful in the stage 3 as well. Erikson believed that if the child does not receive encouragement in her quest for toilet training; she would never develop trust and confidence in herself (Young, 2018). If Julie is chided or unsupported in her efforts, she will also learn to doubt herself and feel ashamed. In this way, she will never develop confidence and will power and hence she will never gather the courage of taking initiative. She will feel guilty about not being able to meet the standards set by the world for her age and she would gradually become withdrawn. Such feelings of guilt can affect her confidence and can disrupt her future stages of development as well.
The above discussion has thereby shown the importance of mastering the skills of toilet training and effective support from mothers for their toddlers and therefore this essay has been developed to discuss the rationale behind this. From the above discussion, it becomes clear that children go through different stages of conflict which they need to master for developing success in psychosocial development. If they fail to master these skills, they might not be able to overcome the conflicts that come in each stage leading to potential negative outcomes. During the stage 2, children should be encouraged to master certain skills like toilet training and should be supported in every aspect. If they are negatively treated and scolded, they might develop the feelings of shame and doubt about their capabilities. This aspect would in turn affect the next stage that range from 3 to 5 years. Failure in previous stage might lead to lack of confidence and strength and hence children might not take initiatives. Lack of effective skills might make them feel guilty thinking that they cannot master the skills that others have developed. Hence, Victoria should be made to know all these facts to help Julie have proper psychosocial development.
References:
Benz, M., & Scholtes-Spang, K. (2016). From Normal Development to Developmental Crisis and Regulatory Disorder. In Regulatory Disorders in Infants (pp. 1-16). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43556-5_1
Boag-Munroe, G. (2015). Creating a learning environment for babies and toddlers and provision and progress for two year olds. https://doi.org/10.1080/09575146.2015.1111692
Cherry, K. (2017). Erik Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development. Psychology. Psychosocial Theories. Päivitetty, 14, 2017. https://www.cbsd.org/cms/lib010/PA01916442/Centricity/Domain/1851/Erik%20Erikson%20Article%20from%20Aboutcom.docx
Chung, D. (2018). The Eight Stages of Psychosocial Protective Development: Developmental Psychology. Journal of Behavioral and Brain Science, 8(06), 369. DOI: 10.4236/jbbs.2018.86024
Desai, M. (2018). Module 7 Psychosocial Theories of Child Development. In Introduction to Rights-based Direct Practice with Children (pp. 183-214). Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4729-9_7
Kramer, D. (2017). Role of Development. In Primary Well-Being: Case Studies for the Growing Child (pp. 15-23). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56708-2_3
Rogoff, B., Callanan, M., Gutierrez, K. D., & Erickson, F. (2016). The organization of informal learning. Review of Research in Education, 40(1), 356-401. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X16680994
Young, B. M. (2018). Erikson’s Stages of Life: Can We Bridge the Gap?. In Consumer Psychology (pp. 157-197). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90911-0_7
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