Essay On Erikson Stage

A black, 10-year-old girl was sleeping while her mother lay next to her in the bed. I am not privy to any patient information (such as reason for admittance, diagnosis, or even the last name) being a volunteer sitter at Children’s. Her mother needs to run errands and tells me to make sure and let her know that her mother loves her. Within minutes of her mother leaving, she woke up and greeted me with a smile. She was of normal weight and height so her physical development appeared to be appropriate for a 10-year-old. She did not appear to have begun puberty which normally begins between 8 and 14 years of age. We talked for approximately 40 minutes. In that time, she portrayed normal cognitive and language skills. She was able to use adult language skills such as putting together and understanding complex sentences. In addition, she was able to use logic and reason while we discussed “heaven” (a topic she chose to ask me about). This showed me her ability to look beyond her own personal experience and to ponder the gray areas of life. …show more content…
I took this as an opportunity to assess her math skills by having her count her coins both in coin number and coin amount. Erik Erikson theorized that a child her age would be in the Industry vs. Inferiority stage. In this stage, children that are encouraged to finish a job or chore and praised for working hard are more likely to result in industry. Forming a positive self-concept is key in this stage. Building confidence and self-esteem is brought by giving children moments to generate, create, and produce. However, if a child does not develop the sense of industry, or competence, a sense of inferiority will prevail and view him or herself as inadequate and incapable. This, in turn, deters motivation to create and produce and creates a negative self-view. Overcoming a sense of inferiority proves to be difficult later on in