PSY 104 Child and Adolescent Development WK5-A

PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 1

Psychosocial Development

Chanda Crews

PSY 104 Child and Adolescent Development

Instructor: Julian Achim

December 13, 2019

Psychosocial Development

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Age-appropriate refers to the particular age in which a child goes through as a mode of

the development period. Different psychologists have given out different views on the various

stages in which a child develops in consideration of specific events, which take place (Cherry,

2018). The first stage outlined by Erikson in his development theory is none other than the hope,

which takes place in every child under the age of two years. In this stage, a child has room to

evaluate the environment as a way of developing either trust or mistrust. As illustrated by

Erikson, the parents are a hope for the child according to how the parents support the child.

Some parents do not care for their children through the failure to raise basic needs for that child.

As a result, the environment becomes rough for the child a situation that leads to mistrust to that

child.

Then again, if a parent supports a child, then the environment becomes comfortable for

the child, a situation that develops trust to that child. Thus, Erikson states it clear that hope is a

crucial stage for a child. Hence, all the caregivers should be in a position to help the child

develop trust. Will is the other concept, which supports child development as illustrated by the

Erikson’s psychosocial theory on child development. However, in this particular stage, a child

starts exploring the surrounding a situation which helps the child in understanding the

environment. Therefore, a parent or caregiver should be in a position to provide security for the

child as the concept occurs between 2-4 years (Knight, 2017). The motive behind this logic is

that in this age, a child cannot differentiate on the things, which can bring harm. Therefore,

parents are advised to take control of their children as a way of supporting child development

during this critical stage. Then again, in this particular stage, a child starts to express interests in

different activities. Like for instance, a child will develop feeding modes without the support of

the parent. On the other hand, a child will start playing with different objects as a way of

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PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 3

satisfying their needs. Thus, a parent should support the child without distracting them from

understanding the environment.

Conversely, the purpose is the different concept as illustrated by Erikson in his

psychosocial theory. In this case, a child starts doing things with an intention after developing the

will concept. Like for instance, a child understands that round objects roll and that objects can

fall. Therefore, a child will start dropping objects, and if they fail to achieve the child’s intention,

the child develops emotions. The child will end up crying to get the assist of the parent to help in

meeting the child’s purpose of dropping an object (Cherry, 2018). On the other hand, a child will

develop speaking habits from socializing with the environment and learning that people talk.

Thus, all the parents have a big responsibility of supporting their children during this particular

stage. As for instance, a parent is advised to play with the child to help the child achieve their

purpose in a situation, which allows the child in development. On the other hand, a parent is

advised to help the child in speaking through different activities. One of the events is none-other

than buying toys, which produce sound to help the child in speaking mode.

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References

Cherry, K. (2018). Erik Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development. Retrieved Juny.

Knight, Z. G. (2017). A proposed model of psychodynamic psychotherapy linked to Erik

Erikson's eight stages of psychosocial development. Clinical psychology &

psychotherapy.

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