Introduction
In order to explain psychological and social development Erik Erikson developed the Erikson theory which includes eight stages of psychosocial development. Each of these stages involves a crisis for whoever is developing (Swartz, de la Rey, Duncan & Townsend, 2011). This essay, however, will only focus on the fifth stage of psychosocial development. The fifth stage it is called “Identity vs Confusion” and is the stage which adolescents go through (Swartz et al., 2011). Through the use of examples of the struggles faced by South African adolescents as well as the discussion of skills and the values necessary to solve an Identity crisis, this essay will demonstrate how stage five can be related to challenges faced in one’s life. …show more content…
It is this way because of the years of struggle against racism has given black adolescent a stronger sense of identity which led to a higher level of identity. For example, a black adolescent today has a culture to be proud as today black people are no longer look down upon which enables black adolescents to accept their cultural identities with pride. The fact that black people prevailed over an oppressive system has resulted in black adolescents having more role models to look up to and as mentioned before, role models play a role in aspects such as identifying an occupational identity (Thom & Cotzee …show more content…
This is because it is harder for the foreigner to attain their cultural identity when they are not in an environment where their culture occurs naturally. Erikson (1970) says that identity is a psychosocial issue, the “psycho” aspect deals with the conscious and subconscious identity development. Erikson (1970) goes on to explain that the social aspect of identity development deals with finding your identity in your communality in other words; “no ego is an island to itself.” (p732). This would mean that a migrant who undergoes adolescence could have a lower level of identity that their South Africa counterpart as the social aspect of their identity development is jeopardized due to migration.
This can be rectified though the use of Erickson’s concept of mutuality (Thom & Coetzee, 2004). Most often a migrant adolescent is in an institution of higher education where they are most likely to meet other adolescents who are away from an environment where they can naturally and easily absorb a cultural identity, in other words they can meet other foreigners. This means that these migrant adolescents are all experiencing a loss of culture and this creates a common group identity which allows the migrant adolescent to be at the same level of identity as the South African
In order to explain psychological and social development Erik Erikson developed the Erikson theory which includes eight stages of psychosocial development. Each of these stages involves a crisis for whoever is developing (Swartz, de la Rey, Duncan & Townsend, 2011). This essay, however, will only focus on the fifth stage of psychosocial development. The fifth stage it is called “Identity vs Confusion” and is the stage which adolescents go through (Swartz et al., 2011). Through the use of examples of the struggles faced by South African adolescents as well as the discussion of skills and the values necessary to solve an Identity crisis, this essay will demonstrate how stage five can be related to challenges faced in one’s life. …show more content…
It is this way because of the years of struggle against racism has given black adolescent a stronger sense of identity which led to a higher level of identity. For example, a black adolescent today has a culture to be proud as today black people are no longer look down upon which enables black adolescents to accept their cultural identities with pride. The fact that black people prevailed over an oppressive system has resulted in black adolescents having more role models to look up to and as mentioned before, role models play a role in aspects such as identifying an occupational identity (Thom & Cotzee …show more content…
This is because it is harder for the foreigner to attain their cultural identity when they are not in an environment where their culture occurs naturally. Erikson (1970) says that identity is a psychosocial issue, the “psycho” aspect deals with the conscious and subconscious identity development. Erikson (1970) goes on to explain that the social aspect of identity development deals with finding your identity in your communality in other words; “no ego is an island to itself.” (p732). This would mean that a migrant who undergoes adolescence could have a lower level of identity that their South Africa counterpart as the social aspect of their identity development is jeopardized due to migration.
This can be rectified though the use of Erickson’s concept of mutuality (Thom & Coetzee, 2004). Most often a migrant adolescent is in an institution of higher education where they are most likely to meet other adolescents who are away from an environment where they can naturally and easily absorb a cultural identity, in other words they can meet other foreigners. This means that these migrant adolescents are all experiencing a loss of culture and this creates a common group identity which allows the migrant adolescent to be at the same level of identity as the South African