Erikson Child Abuse

Introduction:

The problem being examined in this paper is the impact of child abuse. Using Erikson’s fourth developmental crisis, Industry vs. Inferiority, we will examine abuse and the impact it has on the person, as well as their development in the following stage, Identity vs. Identity confusion. We will examine these stages of life by looking into the short and long term effects of the novel character, Harry Potter. We will examine eleven research articles that cover the impact of child abuse on many levels. The articles we covered, examined the 4 types of abuse; we are only covering emotional abuse, neglect and child maltreatment. This paper examines the psychological, biological and sociological consequences of child maltreatment. Some negative consequences include self-esteem problems, anti social personality development, the traumatic impact on memory function, poor health, mental illness such as anxiety, post traumatic stress disorder, and depression. Many of these consequences have long term effects into adulthood.

Life cycle stage:

Erik Erikson’s theories combined psychological and sociological perceptions of human development that covered the lifespan rather than just childhood and adolescence. He indicates in his eight stages of development that a person faces challenges or crisis that are made up of both risks and tasks. Without the resolving of these crises, the individual may experience developmental problems in regards to their social relationships with family and others. Erikson believed that positive parenting has a direct effect on children. If we are positive with our children, he believes there would be fewer behavior problems.

We will be focusing mainly on stage four of Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages o...

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... After comparing the articles researched, with Erikson’s Industry VS Inferiority (6-12) and (Identity vs. Identity confusion (13-19) we see that Harry potter was mentally, physically and emotionally delayed due to abuse he was subjected to as a child. The ramifications of his abuse from the Dursleys and the murder of his parents caused delay in reaching Identity vs. Identity. He had problems with understanding himself and his place in life. He kept being referred to “as the boy that lived” instead of just Harry not allowing him to move past his parents death. His obsession had almost gotten Harry killed many times. Harry was vulnerable to stress, and difficulties with his emotions. After he killed Voldemort, he was some what released from his recurring trauma. He was then finally allowed to cope with the death of his parents and start the path on finding himself.