Bruno Bettelheim and Psychosocial Development

Bruno Bettelheim and Psychosocial Development

The psychological aspect of the human mind is one of the most mysterious and unpredictable entities known to man. Bruno Bettelheim is an Austrian-born American child psychologist and writer that gained international recognition for his blatant views on the psychological development of children. Bettelheim firmly believed that fairy tales contributed to the molding of a child's unconscious and conscious mind, and the child's entire psych as a whole. Furthermore, Bettelheim also believed that fairy tales helped a child in his search for an identity and for a meaning in life. As a child psychologist that dealt with troubled children everyday, Bettelheim cared greatly about children and sought to educate others on fairy tales that enable a child to cope with his inner problems due to the fact that he was dissatisfied with much of the literature exposed to children (Zipes). On the other hand, Erik Erikson, a psychoanalyst with a Ph.D in child psychology, gained international recognition for his theory on human development. Erikson's theory suggests that at each stage in life, from early childhood to puberty, there is a psychological struggle that a child must overcome to successfully develop a stable personality and mature in a positive manner (“Erik Erikson”). Through Erik Erikson's of psychosocial development, Bruno Bettelheim's care towards children and core belief in The Uses of Enchantment that fairy tales enables children to overcome psychological problems by understanding their conscious and unconscious selves can be credited by observing the three most important stages in Erikson's theory.

Bettelheim believed that the mental condition of Autism is brought onto children due to th...

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...conscious selves can be credited by observing the three most important stages in Erikson's theory. Although the psychological aspect of the human mind is seen as intriguingly mysterious, the mind of a child is even more mysterious in the sense that it can seemingly develop endlessly.

Works Cited

Andersen, David C. "Erik Homburger Erikson: Biographical Essay." Biography Resource Center. Gale. Web. 5 Mar. 2010.

"Erik Erikson." Biography Resource Center. Gale, 1988. Web. 11 Mar. 2010.

Heisig, James W. "Bruno Bettelheim and the Fairy Tales." Literature Resource Center. Gale, 1994. Web. 11 Feb. 2010.

Tatar, Maria. The Classic Fairy Tales. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1999. Print.

Zipes, Jack. "On the Use and Abuse of Folk and Fairy Tales with Children: Bruno Bettelheim's Moralistic Magic Wand." Literature Resource Center. Gale, 1979. Web. 11 Mar. 2010.