Understanding Ageing Erikson Stages

1.Briefly, outline Erikson's stages of development?

2.At which of Erikson's stages stage was your interviewee? Give reasons why you believe them to be at a particular stage. Similarly, if, in your opinion, they do not fit in with a particular stage explain why not?

 

 

1. Erikson's stages of development.

• Infancy (0 - 1.5 years): In the first eighteen months of life, the fathers' and mothers' nurturing ability is emphasized. The child will develop trust, security, and optimism if well-handled (Erikson, 1993).
• Early childhood (1.5 - 3 years): The child has an opportunity to develop self-esteem as he or she acquires news skills and learns to differentiate right from wrong. A well-cared for child builds pride rather than shame in herself or himself (Erikson, 1993).
• Play age (3-5 years): In this period, the child experiences a desire to copy from adults and initiates play games. Also, the child begins to use the word "WHY" in the quest to explore anything.
• School age (5-12 years): This is the stage of acquiring, developing and accomplishing various skills and knowledge, thus creating a sense of industry. However, if the child experiences feelings of inferiority and inadequacy, he/she can develop problems in terms of self-esteem and competence (Erikson, 1993).
• Adolescence (12-18 years): In this stage, development is dependent on what is done by an individual. There's struggle to discover true identity and to "fit in" (Erikson, 1994)
• Early Adulthood (18-40 years): The young adults tend to seek companionship, love and deep intimacy. People may experience long lasting relationships or social isolation. In this stage, more young people make career commitments (Erikson, 1994).
• Middle Adulthood (40-65 years): In this stage, people care much about their families, work, and careers, and they also try to come up with ideas to transform the society.
• Adulthood (65+ years): Regarding older adults, some can look into the past with a strong feeling of integrity that is, fulfillment and contentment.

2.Erikson's stages stage your interviewee

• The interviewee was in the 6th stage. He was a young man, 28 years of age, working in a city bank as a financial analyst. The young man stated that he enjoyed his career and planned on advancing his studies. He had a good relationship with his family and was lucky to find a charming lover, a 25-year-old teacher.
• He narrated how both of them enjoyed living together, having an intimate relationship and experiencing mutual satisfaction in their friendship (Çelik & Ergün, 2016).

Briefly, outline one theory of retirement.

• Disengagement theory-This states that older persons voluntarily withdraw from personal/social relationships and the society as they age. The adults withdraw from the society by stopping work or retiring, a decision which is naturally accepted by the society. Because aging may cause a change in ones' ego, for example, deterioration of skill and knowledge, this may contribute to retirement. Various psychological processes affect their involvement with social environment (Silverstein et al., 2016).

How might a counselor help a person who is approaching retirement?

• Advise the person to invest their resources well for future engagements (Lusardi & Mitchell, 2011). As people approach retirement, they may realize that they do not have enough resources for future days.
• The adults should be counseled on how to utilize their leisure time.
• There's need to learn some new skills to mold an adult well for a different path that will benefit them. For example, training on dairy cow keeping or poultry keeping.
• A need to have medical insurance because, with age, people become prone to diseases (Milevsky, 2006). Finally, they should be counseled on how to maintain social networks between them and their workmates.

References

Erikson, E. H. (1994). Identity: Youth and crisis (No. 7). WW Norton & Company.

Erikson, E. H. (1993). Childhood and society. WW Norton & Company.

Silverstein, M., Bengtson, V. L., Putnam, M., Putney, N. M., &Gans, D. (Eds.). (2008). Handbook of theories of aging. Springer Publishing Company.

Lusardi, A., & Mitchell, O. S. (2011). Financial literacy and retirement planning in the United States (No. w17108). National Bureau of Economic Research.

Milevsky, M. A. (2006). The calculus of retirement income: Financial models for pension annuities and life insurance. Cambridge University Press.

Çelik, B., & Ergün, E. (2016). An Integrated Approach of Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory and Adlerian Counseling. International Journal of Human and Behavioral Science, 2(1).