Erick Erickson Identity And Confusion Analysis

This essay will be discussing Erick Erickson’s “Identity and confusion” stage of psychological development, based on different definitions and understandings that support the theory. It will also be defining key concepts and providing ethnographical examples in order to understand Erickson’s theory. Adolescence with be discussed including the challenges that adolescents encounter (focusing on a South African context) on the way to successful role identification and the basic values and skills needed to be able to successfully resolve an identity crisis.
Psychosocial development
Psychosocial development refers to the development of a human that allows him/her to be social and feel like part of a society. This involves identity development which …show more content…
Though after twenty years of democracy there are still glitches in the system. By now most people would have expected South Africa to be a stable country where experiences and opportunities are available to all but the truth of the matter is that it is still unstable maybe because according to Erickson it is still in the identity versus confusion stage. We do find that the reason for increased crime, high school drop outs and teen pregnancies is the “abusing” of freedom. Instead of South African teens breaking educational and political boundaries they break the rules set up at home leading them not succeed in life. On a different perspective the democracy of South Africa forces adolescents to become more involved and opinionated about what goes on in their country,(Thom & Coetzee, 2004). Since South Africa has become a democratic state there have been no or little social restrictions, meaning one is able to explore whatever culture they want, they can talk and bond with whoever they please and they can love anyone they want to. Equality in education has been a major step in South Africa, though it is still in the process of being perfected. This equality has given andis given children of all races the chance to receive proper education which will allow them to have great job opportunities. Adolescents are able to voice out their opinions and not settle for accommodating the situation and with this vast exposure …show more content…
There are many options to which life one can choose to live and only one chance, something Kilpatrick describes as dual identity crisis. When adolescents have to achieve cultural identity & individual identity. Kilpatrick say, “the aim is developing an identity without rejecting the cultural heritage completely. Traditional culture is important but it should be characterised by a reasonable degree of stability and consistency to enable the individual to identify with it”,(Kilpatrick.