Erik Erikson: The History, Development, and Significance of His Work

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Erik Erikson: The History, Development, and Significance of His Work Erik Erikson has had a tremendous life and has left an amazing legacy. He was an influential and pioneering psychologist, psychoanalyst, and author whose development of his psychosocial stages are immeasurable to the study of personalities. Erikson came from a somewhat troubled past, not so much economically, but psychologically. Erikson was born on June 15, 1902 in Frankfurt, Germany to his mother Karla Abrahamsen (Friedman, 1999). According to Lawrence Friedman (1999) and his discussions with Erikson showed that he did in fact have a troubled path growing up. His mother, Karla, had been married to Valdemar Isidor Salomonsen in 1898. According to Friedman (1999), “Their marriage had not even lasted a night before Valdemar had fled to either the United States or Mexico” (p. 30). With Erik being born in 1902 it was obvious to the Abrahamsen family that Valdemar could not be the father of Erik. This caused a great controversy within the family as they tried to identify the father. Karla remarried on June 15, 1905 to Theodor Homburger. Theodor and Karla agreed that Theodor would adopt Erik and they would tell him that Theodor was his biological father in an attempt to bury the controversial past (Friedman, 1999, p. 28). This seemed to work for awhile until Erik’s sisters were born. He had three sisters Elna, Ruth, and Ellen. Elna died in 1909 at the age of two. However, it was Theodor’s relationship with his two surviving daughters that raised questions for Erik. This caused Erik to feel as if he did not belong. It was also just the little things that made Erik feel this way, for example, Theodor took his daughters on a walk every Sunday but Erik had to stay ... ... middle of paper ... ...nd his contacts within the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society (Friedman, 1999, p. 91). After living in the United States for a short time he was admitted to the American Psychoanalytic Association amongst criticism for not having a degree from a higher educational institution (Welchman, 2000, p. 26). Erik never did obtain a college degree and this would be at the center of much criticism of his work. The family moved to Northern California and began a small practice and his career began to take off. Works Cited McComas, J. (2000). Erik h. erikson. Retrieved from http://www.psychology.sbc.edu/mccomas.htm A different beginning. (2011, November 29). Retrieved from http://allpsych.com/personalitysynopsis/erikson.html Cherry, K. (2011). Erikson's theory of psychosocial development. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/psychosocialtheories/a/psychosocial.htm

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