erik h. erikson

Evaluating Erikson 's Identity Crisis , Life Cycle and Psychosocial Development

A Report on The Power and Limits of Power by Paul Roazen

The Power and Limits of a Vision

The Power and Limits of a Vision by Paul Roazen challenges the contentions of Erikson on three key concepts : identity crisis , life cycle and psychosocial development- the bulwark of Erik Erikson 's work and his legacy to psychology and social sciences . In this book , Roazen argues that similar to Freud , Erikson 's popular concepts and theories may not necessarily hold true , Roazen

challenged his concepts primarily by questioning the source and the methods by which these concepts were derived from which are mostly from the personal experiences of Erikson This reviews the book of Koazen on The Power and Limits of a Vision by Erik Erikson as a response to the need to clarify the importance and the absoluteness of the theories of Erikson including the primary concepts in his works

The views and perspectives in Paul Roazen 's The Power and Limits of a Vision brings into question the theory and concepts of the most influential psychosocial theorist in the person of Erik Erikson . Roazen a political scientist and psychoanalysis historian provided an extensive review and re-assessment of Freud 's work indicating that psychoanalysis is not the ideal form of treatment . Mainly , a political scientist , it should be noted that Roazen 's critic of Erikson stems from his evaluation of psychoanalysis , social and political thought embedded in Erikson 's theories

Unlike previous psychology scholars , Roazen started his book by tracing the similarities between Erikson and Freud by specifically picking up the popular concepts that are attributed to them . For Erikson , these would include the concepts of identity crisis , life cycle and psychosocial development- concepts that have withstood criticisms and improvements from followers and critics of Erikson . From these three concepts , The Power and Limits of a Vision centered its discussion on the exploration and assessment of Roazen on these themes

The first major question in the book was that of the credibility of Erikson in tackling the issue of identity when in fact , he had disclosed his own confusion of his own identity . Hence , to connect and theorize and reduce human behavior to the quest of finding one 's identity according to the book would be artificial . The Power and Limits of a Vision then traces the psychosocial development in adolescents which is identity versus role diffusion in to articulate identity crisis According to the theory of Erikson , adolescents ' experiences identity crisis during this time as a result of their increasing independence from their family and the increasing influence of their social environment particularly their peers . The question posed by Roazen stems from his critic that Erikson himself were unable to disclose the religion of his stepfather and of his own religion (Jewish Consequently , the book tactfully questions Erikson 's inability to acknowledge that he was an illegitimate child . Roazen 's book questions the concealing of Erikson 's...