Relating Erikson’s Theory to My Life

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Recommended: chaPTER 10-12 HUMAN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

There are many different theorists with several different ideas. I have chosen to focus on Erikson’s theory of Trust vs . Mistrust. I have to strongly agree with his ideas because I believe that experiences that a person might go through as an infant can have a huge impact on their life. I must say that I chose to take in serious consideration his beliefs as I am raising my daughter.

Before I started nursing school I was an Early Head Start Home Visitor to families prenatal to three years of age. With this experience I have been in many homes with various different parenting types. I strongly agree with Erikson’s Trust vs. Mistrust theory . Seeing this first hand with parents who would not hold their baby because they were afraid of “spoiling” or just propping the bottle so the baby would not be so “dependent” absolutely blew my mind. I could not imagine having a baby that you did not hold. I always wanted to voice my opinion but I could not be judgmental so I actually would print out curriculum to take the following week on Erikson’s theory. Many parents would shrug it off as others would actually read it and be very interested. There was a difference in the way the children acted as they became older. It was very apparent to me on which parents offered the loving and nurturing environment that Erikson believed every baby needed.

I feel that if more parents were educated on the topic there would be a lot more loving and nurturing parents for infants in the world. Some people just do not know where to find or research the information. Many people believe that anything that an infant goes through in life does not matter because the child is so young and will not remember. Little do they know that the first year of the child...

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...(2005). Retrieved September 3, 2011, from http://web.cortland.edu/andersmd/ERIK/stage1.HTML

Erikson Stages. (2006). Retrieved September 4, 2011, from http://www.haverford.edu/psych/ddavis/p109g/erikson.stages.html

Erik Erikson. (2007). Retrieved September 3, 2011, from http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/erikson.htm

Blessed To Be A Blessing. (2008). Retrieved September 3, 2011, from Erikson's Pyshosocial Stages: http://www.vtaide.com/blessing/ERIK1.htm

Crying Babies. (2008). Retrieved September 4, 2011, from http://www.childcarequarterly.com/pdf/fall10_babies.pdf

Developmental Stages. (2009). Retrieved September 4, 2011, from http://www.learningplaceonline.com/stages/organize/Erikson.htm

Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development. (2011). Retrieved September 4, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erikson's_stages_of_psychosocial_development

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