Adler, Erikson, and Du Bois

This report will examine the formation of Du Bois' identity, drawing upon the theories of Alfred Adler and Erik Erikson. It will first, describe the basic theories advanced by Erikson and Adler and then apply these theories to Du Bois' formation of a unique identity combining a strong attachment to African culture along with an immersion in the American intellectual milieu and his emergence as a proponent of civil rights and equality. It will be argued that Erikson's concept of psychosocial identity formation is particularly appropriate for Du Bois.

Adlerian theory, according to Osborn (2001), presents a view of the individual as a whole entity, a composite being, and not a collection of parts thrown together and reduced to such names as ego, superego, libido, and id. Each human being, therefore, is to be viewed in his or her entirety as a uniquely configured person who thinks, feels, and behaves as a unified whole. Osborn (2001) maintains that Adler's holistic view emphasi

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a minority group that was not highly valued in many segments of American society. Townsend (1996), for example, notes that while at Harvard University pursuing a second Bachelor's degree, Du Bois was recognized for his talent by many faculty members. At the same time, he also appears to have been aware that many of these same professors had numerous racial prejudices. Du Bois was a pupil of Albert Bushnell Hart, a man whose views of African-Americans was inherently negative. It is quite possible that as Du Bois searched for his own identity he constructed what Erikson would characterize as both an ethnic and an ideological identity, pushed in part to such a task by the bias he encountered in society (Markstrom & Hunter, 1999). Several events in Du Bois' life can be understood as formative. The loss of his mother which occurred when he was completing high school, made it impossible for him to immediately begin a college career and to attend Harvard University. When he did finally receive a scholarship to Harvard after completing an undergraduate degree at Fisk University, he encountered racism and discrimination (Townsend, 1996). Indeed, during his years at Harvard Du Bois was rejected for membership in the Glee Club and e
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Approximate Word count = 2517
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)