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This stage begins at birth and lasts for the first 18 months of the child's life.  This is the most important stage, as it shapes the child's view on the world and their personality.  The better the child builds trust in infancy, the better and easier the child will build trust when they are older.  The best way for a caregiver to help the child to build trust is by taking care of their needs and letting the child know they are there and can depend on the caregiver, or just responding to the baby when it is trying to communicate with you.  Some ways this can happen would be to providing comfort by holding them close and soothing them, give them attention and affection, and feeding them when they are hungry.

I ended this stage with mistrust. According to Erikson on page 172 in our textbook, "A healthy outcome during infancy, Erikson believed, depends on the quality of caregiving: relieving discomfort promptly and sensitively, holding the infant gently, waiting patiently until the baby has had enough milk, and weaning when the infant shows less interest in breast or bottle." My father did not provide a healthy outcome during infancy by doing these things. He was neglectful and impatient. My siblings ended up taking care of me while my mother was gone at work. This caused a great deal of mistrust that affected many stages to follow.

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This stage lasts from approximately 18 months old to 3 years old in the child's life.  This is the stage that a child begins to develop a sense of self control.  This is when the child is wanting to do things on their own and not be reliant on others.  Some things that they may want to do on their own would be eating, dressing themselves, and even learning to go potty on the toilet.  Parents can encourage growth during this stage by giving the child opportunities to be independent.  This could be as simple as letting them feed themselves, even though it may be messy, or letting them pick out their own clothes, or even as much as letting them decide when to go potty.  It is important to be supportive and not discourage when accidents happen.

For this stage, I came to the conclusion that I ended in shame and doubt. Erikson stated on page 173 in the textbook that "The conflict of autonomy versus shame and doubt is resolved favorably when parents provide young children with suit-able guidance and reasonable choices." This was not how my childhood played out, since my dad did not provide guidance or reasonable choices, but left the siblings to show me what or how to do something. I felt invisible at this stage and was developing a feeling that I was not wanted and was just a burden. I started closing in on myself. I think Erikson explained this statement better than I ever could by stating "when parents are over-or undercontrolling, the out-come is a child who feels forced and shamed and who doubts his ability to control impulses and act competently on his own."

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This stage occurs between the ages of 3 and 5 in a child's life, or during the preschool age.  This is the stage where the child is wanting to take part in the world by helping with chores, copying actions of adults, interacting with peers, and figuring out their role.  In this stage, children will act out commonly known roles like doctor or teacher.  A caregiver could assist the child in this stage by helping them make plans, accomplish goals, and face fears but allowing them to still make their own choices.  Setting safe boundaries while modeling good behavior and using reinforcements are great actions a caregiver can provide.  It is imperative that a caregiver encourage exploration and making good choices.  When this is not present or if the caregiver discourages behavior, the child can become ashamed and dependent on others.

It was at this age that dad was no longer in the picture, so I was able to start correctly developing through these stages.  It felt as though I had a whole new life having an appropriate babysitter and was cared for by my mother more often.  Erikson states that during this stage, "young children have a new sense of purposefulness. They are eager to tackle new tasks, join in activities with peers, and discover what they can do with the help of adults. They also make strides in conscience development."  I loved helping whoever I could with their tasks and to solve problems the best I could.  I was lacking in the social development, did not play with other children unless forced to and still did not participate as much as I should have.  I did play and act out rolls, but only did this by myself typically.  I decided I left this stage with initiative because I did accomplish acting out rolls, found purposefulness, and was eager to tackle new tasks, even though social interaction was not achieved to satisfactory levels.

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This stage last from the age of 6 to 11 years old.  During this stage, school and social interaction are a big part of a child's life.  Since the child is now in school with many other children, this is when their social skills begin to flourish.  They will develop close relationships with certain kids while beginning to find pride in their accomplishments and achievements.  This stage is all about the child mastering new and more complex skills.  Support and encouragement is the best thing caregivers and educators can offer during this stage.

It is stated on page 321 that during this stage, when developing industry, "children discover their own and others’ unique capacities, learn the value of division of labor, and develop a sense of moral commitment and responsibility." I think this relates well to my life during this stage. I was trying new things to find what I was good at, finding my unique capabilities while also learning groupwork and how the division of labor is fair. Although I struggled deeply with social interactions, making groupwork hard, it was understandable. I strived at schoolwork, and becoming the best person I could be morally.

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This stage occurs during the time of adolescents, or from age 12 to 18.  This is when the individual is on the path of self discovery and independence.  It is typical during this stage to feel confused and insecure as they are entering adulthood and wondering if they fit into society.  Teens will experiment with different roles to find what fits best for them.  Erikson defines identity as a “fundamental organizing principal which develops constantly throughout the lifespan.”  Identity involves many aspects that an individual has accumulated throughout their life, including experiences, beliefs, values, relationships, and memories.  If a teen is not allowed to test out different roles, this can lead to identity confusion or role confusion.  Identity confusion results in being unsure of who they are and how they fit in, drifting between jobs and relationships frequently, and feeling disappointed or confused with their life.  Role confusion results in difficulty with commitment, low self-esteem and mental health, weak sense of self, and a lack of confidence.  Some benefits of this stage being handled correctly are that it builds commitment, self confidence, sense of independence, and fidelity.  Caregivers or educators could help a teenager through this stage by encouraging individualism, allowing them to change paths whenever they see fit, and helping them find their core values.  Teens can use these core values to help navigate them to the best roles they can take on in their life.

During this stage is when I was developing more trust with others and in society, making up for lost skills. I was starting to interact with others more often, but still felt behind. I was just now beginning to discover some interests I had and really understanding choices. Erikson stated on page 398 in the textbook that "Constructing an identity involves defining who you are, what you value, and the directions you choose to pursue in life." During this stage from ages 12-18, I was working on trying to figure out what it was that I valued or even any interests I had that I would have wanted to follow into adulthood. I left this stage still having no clue as to my identity and was mostly still following other's in what they did, so I determined that I left this stage with role confusion. It is also stated in the textbook that " f young people’s earlier conflicts were resolved negatively or if society limits their choices to ones that do not match their abilities and desires, they may appear shallow, directionless, and unprepared for the challenges of adulthood." This explains this stage for me very well, I had been behind in previous stages and had not made my own choices when I was younger, leading me to feel directionless and unprepared when it came to having to create my own path.

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This stage lasts from the age of 19 to 40 years old.  During this stage, the individual is forming intimate and loving relationships with other individuals, or if not carried out correctly can lead to loneliness and isolation.  Erikson believe it was imperative to develop very close and intimate relationships in order to build emotional well-being.  Intimacy   is defined by Erikson as relationships characterized by closeness, honesty, and love.  The benefits of overcoming this stage of intimacy vs. isolation are close and successful romantic relationships, deep connections, meaningful connections, as well as positive and strong family and friend relationships.  Being able to be open, truthful, and willing to listen to the other individual are crucial skills for this stage.  When the individual is unsuccessful in these skills, that can lead to lack of intimate relationships, in turn leading to isolation.  Some other factors that increase the chances of isolation are childhood trauma, loss of a previous partner (death or divorce), and fear of commitment or intimacy.  Isolation can affect more than a person's social life, it can cause depression, suicidal tendencies, substance use disorders, and health problems including cardiovascular disease.

As discussed on page 10, the individual may end up leaving the stage with isolation "Because of earlier disappointments, some individuals cannot form close bonds and remain isolated." I left this stage with intimacy because I was able to form close bonds with my current husband and daughter. I am also working on repairing relationships with certain family members.

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This stage occurs during an adults life lasting from 40-65 years of age.  This stage is less age specific than the other stages, due to the ability to experience it at any time during middle adulthood.  During this stage, the adult is striving to create and nurture things that will stay on behind after they pass away.  This includes creating a family, or even contributing to the planet.  Contributing to society and accomplishing things that will benefit the future generations are critical during this stage.  Generativity refers to the act of "making your mark" on the world.  This includes developing stronger relationships with family, making commitments, becoming a mentor, and all around contributing to the future.  The most common action during this stage is having children and raising them to be the best they can be.  Some benefits from this are better health, increased relationships, better productivity, sensing satisfaction in their life, and increased involvement.  Stagnation refers to the lack of finding a way to produce a way to contribute to the future.  This will cause the individual to feel isolated or disconnected from society.  Some characteristics of stagnation are neuroticism, lack of involvement with others, lack of interests, no interest in improving oneself, and placing the individual's concerns over everything else.

I believe that I will leave this stage with generativity.  I am declaring this because as stated on page 10, it involves "child rearing and caring for others". I plan on giving to the future generations by raising my own children, as well as fostering other's children, giving them a safe place and caring for them until they are ready to go on their own. I expect this to be the hardest stage to get through as well though.

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This is the last stage of Erikson's stage theory of psychosocial development.  This stage starts at approximately 65 years of age and continues on for the remainder of the individual's life.  This is the stage where the individual is looking back on their life and questioning whether they lived a good and full life or not.  Integrity refers to the individual's ability to feel good about their life when they look back on it, feeling accomplished and fulfilled.  Despair is when the individual is looking back on their life with dread, resentment, shame, or disappointment.  This stage starts with the individual tackling the fact of their mortality.  This can be triggered by retirement, loss of spouse or friends, development of an terminal illness, or other life altering actions.  When the individual looks at their life with integrity, they typically will accept their fate of mortality a lot easier and are happier with leaving.

I expect to leave this stage with despair.  I have declared this because I feel that no matter how I spend my stage 7, I will still look back at my young life and regret the way it played out, and wish I could go back and change multiple things.  I do not think I will ever lose my regrets.  It states on page 10 that "Older people who are dissatisfied with their lives fear death", I do not feel as though I will fear death, but more be saddened that everything happened the way that it did.