Erik Homburger Erikson

Question 1

Eriksons relation to Freud

Answer 1

1. He was Neo-Freudian and worked with Anna Freud together, who paved the path for Erikson on psychoanalysis
2. Erikson accepted Freud’s theory, but focused more on the role of ego, particularly the person’s progression as self
3. While Freud’s theory of psychosexual development essentially ends at early adulthood, Erikson’s theory described development through the entire lifespan from birth until death

Question 2

Eriksons life

Answer 2

1. Attended art school in Munich but soon dropped out and traveled around Europe
2. Tutored art in Vienna for children whose parents were undergoing psychoanalysis by Anna Freud
3. He was invited by Anna Freud to teach at a small private school in Vienna where he entered psychoanalysis and underwent training to become a psychoanalyst himself
4. Studied the Montessori method of education and obtained his Montessori diploma
5. After working at different institutions and Universities, he became professor of psychology at the University of California
6. Opened a private practice in child psychoanalysis

Question 3

Eriksons work

Answer 3

Conceived eight stages of development, each confronting the individual with its own psychosocial demands, that continued into old age

–> personality development takes place through a series of crises that must be overcome and internalised by the individual in preparation for the next developmental stage