hildren, Erikson tells us, won’t fear life if their elders have integrity enough not to fear death.
This analysis will use Erikson’s Life Cycle theory to discuss the developmental stages of a 14-year-old male and a 65-year-old female as they cope with the issues and challenges of their respective stages of psychological development.
Adolescence is often referred to as the crucible of change because of the varied and complex changes that occur psychologically and physiologically within the adolescent. While Erikson and others argue that identity formation begins to occur before Stage Five and extends beyond it, the main psychosocial crisis facing the 14-year-old male developmentally “pits identity versus confusion as potential outcomes” (Weiten, 1989, 411). There are a variety of changes that occur during this phase of development which make the individual focus more intensely on the self and self-image. Rapid physical changes, changes in cognitive abilities (formal operations to Piaget), and vocational questions are just some of the reasons that make a sense of identity a main focus at this stage of development.
During this stage of development, the 14-year-old male is faced with completing four main responsibilities or tasks in order to emerge from Stage Five with a health sense of identity versus diffusion or role confusion. These stages are: a) individuation; b) separation; c) autonomy and d) cooperation (Larat, 1999, 5). Many changes are occurring at this stage of development. The 14-year-old male is beginning to individuate himself, i.e., recognizing he is more than just his father’s son or his mother’s son. He is learning he is different, separate, and unique. Further, the individual is learning to deal with an increasing amount of autonomy, in other words, he is free to self-govern to a higher level than before. As a result, the individual begins to form the values that will comprise his identity. ...