Identity: Youth and Crisis

Chapter 3 draws on and expands Erikson’s writing from 1950. Erikson begins by identifying adolescence as the point at which individuals have sufficient physical growth, mental maturation, and social responsibility to pass through the crisis of identity. The crisis embodies numerous inner and outer conflicts, and passing each successfully contributes to a sense of inner unity.

He defines a healthy adult personality as one in which the child’s cognitive and social development grows gradually, in complex stages. Erikson recalls the epigenetic principle, which states that an organism begins with a plan for growth; its parts arise according to the plan and eventually form a functioning whole. The principle holds for both the developing fetus and the baby as it navigates the its society. The developing child follows inner laws that create a series of potential social interactions necessary for personality development.

Erikson next defines the eight stages of development for the child’s personality. Each stage becomes a crisis, or turning point, because as children grow in an area, they also become vulnerable in it. The result is either strength or maladjustment.

In Stage 1, the infant must acquire a sense of basic trust both of others and of the self.