In considering a Psycho-historical approach to the
adolescence of President Bill Clinton three developmental
theories will be used as guides. The first is Erik Erikson's
(1968) psychosocial approach which while it is psychoanalytic in
its basic orientation, transcended Freud's approach by taking
into consideration the role of human interactions and social
setting in the development of personality. The second is James
Fowler's (1984) outline of the development of faith which draws
extensively on Erikson's concepts but concentrates on matters
related to various aspects of Spiritual individuation and growth. The third is that of Jean Piaget (11967; 1973) who developed a theory of cognitive development in childhood but also addressed cognitive changes that continued into adolescence and adulthood. These theoretical approaches are applied to three themes as well: peer relations, parent-child relations, and academics. Each of these themes is developed on the basis of early biographies of Clinton (Allen & Portis, 1992; Moore, 1992; Wills, 1992) compiled prior to his election as president. While the views of friends, relatives, teachers, and others in Such biographical works are, of course, informed by hindsight there is nonetheless a tendency,to be more open in their recollections than there may have been after Clinton's two terms as president. There is also less speculation about character and its flaws since very little of the scandalous element of Clinton's private life had colored the accounts.
Erikson, Fowler, and Piaget were all stage theorists and
each man proposed a certain stage of development as
characteristic of adolescence. None of them viewed this in terms
of strict age limits, however, and the transition from
adolescence to adulthood could, for example, take place at any
time between the ages of 17 and 24. Erikson (1968) held that at
every stage of development there is a crisis...