Erik Erikson

Erik Erikson is a theorist who said that each stage of life has a crisis that needs a resolution, so he created the psychosocial development stages. Each stage has its own issue and task in order to solve it. The first stage is infancy, which is about until you're one year old. It is the Trust vs. Mistrust stage where if babies can feel safe in the world, they will develop a sense of basic trust. The next stage is from 1 to 3 years old called the Toddlerhood stage. It is Autonomy vs. shame and doubt which is where toddlers learn how to do things for themselves, or they doubt their abilities. The next stage is the Preschool stage from 3 to 6 years old which is Initiative vs. guilt. This is when preschoolers learn to do things for themselves, or they feel guilty about being independent. After that comes the Elementary stage from 6 years old to puberty. It is the Industry vs. inferiority issue where kids learn the pleasure of doing tasks themselves, or feel inferior. From teen years to the early 20s is the Adolescence stage where the issue is Identity vs. role confusion. It is when teenagers try to find a sense of self by testing out different roles, or they become confused about who they are. The next stage is the Young Adulthood stage from your 20s to early 40s. The issue is Intimacy vs. isolation which young adults struggle to make close relationships and have intimate love, or they feel socially isolated. Next, is the Middle Adulthood stage from 40 to 60 year olds called the Generativity vs. stagnation issue. This is when the middle aged gives back to the world, or feel a lack of purpose. The last stage is the Late adulthood from the late 60s and up. The issue is Integrity vs. despair where they reflect back on their life and either feels satisfaction, or failure. Will Hunting's first primary stage is intimacy vs. isolation because based on his age he's trying to find someone close to him and make a relationship where he feels loved. Skyla was that person, he went on many dates like the dog track with her showing that she was his girlfriend and that they were getting close. His secondary stage was identity vs. role confusion. Will was also in this stage because he was still trying to find out who he was. He puts up many different facades when he's with different people. Will doesn't really know himself because he blames his childhood as a factor for making him go from home to home without forming real relationships with the people