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Concepts of Adolescence

trust and basic mistrust, with successful resolution represented by a basic stance of trust toward the world.

For Erikson, adolescence was the stage during which the primary conflict or issue is between establishing an identity vs. role confusion. The successful resolution of that conflict means that the adolescent has established a sense of self. It seems as though Erikson considered adolescence as primarily arising because of physical or bodily changes, which he indicated was similar to that of early childhood. The body changes, including genital maturity, led to almost a redoing of the earlier developmental processes and conflicts.

According to him, the task of this time is involved with image and appearance, as well as deciding upon occupation. It involves a profound form of integration, which he attached primarily to career. As he put it:

It is the accrued experience of the ego's ability to integrate all identifications with the vicissitudes of the libido, with the aptitudes developed out of endowment, and with the opportunities offered in social roles. The sense of ego identity, then, is the accrued confidence that the inner sameness and continuity prepared in the past are matched by the sameness and continuity of one's meaning for others, as evidenced in the tangible promise of a career. (Erikson, 1950, p. 261)

What can interfere with this is what Erikson termed "role confusion." The individual may be unable to resolve such issues and establish a clear identity.

There are some obvious problems with this developmental stage for young girls. For the most part, until the last 20 years, young girls have not been encouraged to establish their identity in this way. They have instead been discouraged from allowing for the continuity that Erikson talked about. While they may have had numerous skills and interests in childhood, these have been expected to be put aside during adolescence, rather than developed in...

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Concepts of Adolescence. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 06:38, March 19, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1691758.html