Foundational Theories of Human Development

Foundational Theories of Human Development
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Foundational Theories of Human Development
Introduction
The foundational theories of human development strive to explain the transformation of human beings, from the time they are born through childhood and adulthood into their elderly years, based on the psychological mechanism of the environment in which people are raised. While many theories strive to conceptualize human development, the most commonly used include Freud's Theory of Psychosexual Development, Erickson's Theory of Psychosocial Development, Adlerian Therapy, and Mahler's Separation-Individuation. The current paper aims to establish the differences and similarities between these theories and the importance of the knowledge of theories in nursing psychotherapy.
Introduction to Theories
According to psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, children go through a series of psychosexual stages that shape the outcomes of adulthood personality. At each of these five stages, the libido's pleasure-seeking energy focus on different parts of the body. The stages include oral, anal, phallic, latent, and genital (Silverman, 2017). Thus, in the genital stage, for instance, the libidinal energy focuses on the genitals, while the libidinal energy is focused on the mouth in the oral stage. When an individual completes each stage, the outcome is a mentally holistic human being. If, however, there is an unresolved conflict in any of the stages, the individual remains fixated at that particular developmental point. Thus, when people show an over-reliance on oral behaviors, such as smoking, eating, and biting fingernails, then there is a chance they are fixated on the oral stage of development. This theory is referred to as the Psychosexual Development.
The second theory is called Psychosocial Development and was established by German-American psychologist Erik Erikson. In his theory, Erickson holds that personality develops in a predetermined order through eight psychosocial development steps, from infancy to adulthood. These stages are Trust v. Mistrust, Autonomy v. Shame, Initiative v. Guilt, Industry v. Inferiority, Identity v. Role Confusion, Intimacy v. Isolation, Generativity v. Stagnation, and Ego Integrity v. Despair (Maree, 2021). In this theory, failure to complete a stage reduces an individual's ability to develop a healthy personality and sense of self. Each stage provides the necessary tools for resolving conflicts and crises in the next stage. This is the most appealing theory because it extends into adulthood and captures the importance of environmental factors and influences.
Both Freud and Erickson were ego psychologists, and so were Alfred Adler and Margaret Mahler. In his theory, Individual Psychology, Adler contended that the main motives of human behavior, emotions, and thought are people's strive for superiority and power, partially as means of compensating for their feeling of inferiority (Watts, 2015). Since everyone has a sense of inferiority, Adler argued that people work toward overcoming the inferiority from childhood. On the other hand, Mahler's separation-individuation is the process through which internal maps of the self and others are established (Blom, 2018). The establishment is based on the experience of the relationship with the caregiver starting from birth to three years. In this theory, the ability to integrate pleasurable and frustrating aspects of the experience leads to a stable sense of self that can sustain across fluctuating emotional states.
Differences Between Freud and Erickson
While Erickson was influenced by Freud's work, there are several important differences in their developmental theories. For instance, while both theorists acknowledge the importance of early experience, Freud focused largely on feeding, while Erickson was inclined to the responsiveness of caretakers to the child's needs. According to Freud, the period from birth to 1 year is the oral stage where the main source of pleasure is through the mouth via tasting, eating, and sucking. On the other hand, Erickson calls this age range Trust v. Mistrust because it is a stage where children learn to trust or mistrust their caregivers. In essence, the care provided by adults determines whether the child will develop a sense of trust in the world around them. Further, another point of agreement between the two theories is the appreciation that children develop a sense of independence and mastery. However, their two psychologists diverge based on their explanation of this mechanism.
On the one hand, Erickson contends that at the ages of 1 to 3 years, in the Autonomy versus Shame and Doubt stage, children develop self-sufficiency through increased mobility and control of activities like eating, talking, and toilet training. Children who receive adequate support will grow confidence, while those who are shamed, overly controlled, or criticized remain in doubt of their confidence....