SOCIAL WORK AND THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT2
Social Work and Erickson’s Theory of Development
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Social Work and Erickson’s Theory of Development
Skilled social workers are able to build a strong foundation upon which to build skills by understanding theories from a variety of disciplines. The disciplines of psychology, education, and sociology offer a number of development theories that can easily be applied to the practice of social work.According to Joseph Walsh, “a theory is just a way to make sense out of the complexity of the human condition. [It] explains the intricacies of human existence and human behavior and how people are affected”(Pasos, 2015). In social work, personality theories can provide a reason behind the interventions used. There are many different theories at use in social work, including psychodynamic theory, behaviorism, humanism, and psychosocial development theories such as Erik Erickson’s Stages of Development.
Erikson, a student of Freud and professor at such institutions as Yale and Harvard, based his theory on years of all-encompassing studies of many children from diverse backgrounds and ages. His theory examines psychosocial development, organizing it into eight stages, each of which is characterized by an age range and a struggle or crisis that the child must overcome in order to progress to the next stage of development. The phrase “identity crisis” came to be associated with his work and widely recognized(Pasos, 2015).
Erikson identified the first stage, occurring during infancy, as trust versus mistrust. The second stage, occurring in the toddler years, is autonomy versus shame and doubt. The third stage, initiative versus guilt, takes place during the pre-school years. The fourth stage, industry versus inferiority, takes place during the grade school years. The fifth stage, occurring during the teenage years, deals with identity versus role confusion. As people progress into adulthood, the sixth, seventh, and eighth stages occur in young adulthood, middle age, and older adulthood, respectively. Each age range must deal with, in respective order, intimacy versus isolation, generativity versus stagnation, and integrity versus despair(Pasos, 2015).
Social workers help people solve and deal with problems in their everyday lives. They can utilize the information presented in Erikson’s theory as a basis for understanding individuals’ behavior and emotions, and making recommendations and decisions from that point. For example, if a social worker were working with a single mother with a particularly rebellious teenager and a challenging early middle school student, s/he would have some foundational knowledge to begin with based on Erikson’s theory. S/he would know, for example, that the teenager is more than likely questioning his role in the family, and still forming a sense of his identity. The middle school student is beginning to pull away from the parent, but still needs a strong sense of connection with her all the same. She is likely to be struggling with feelings of ineptitude and inferiority. The mother may be feeling somewhat stagnant and unfulfilled. In order to progress to the next stage of their development, the social worker would have to assist them work through whatever issues are preventing them from managing their current stage successfully. The social worker would need to take this foundational information into consideration when developing a plan of action for this family.
Applying a multi-dimensional approach and considering theories from many disciplines strengthens the social worker’s abilities considerably. Instead of being able to consider a problem from a single angle, the social worker is able to look at it from a variety of different backgrounds and arrive at solutions that fit a corresponding range of challenges. In this way, the social worker builds a strong and diverse repertoire of skills.
References
Pasos, F. (2015). Personality theories used in social work. Retrieved from
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