Welfare, 1979, pp. 25-27). An example of this would be his submissive, eyes-down stance when called to present to his mother. He was also behind developmentally, exhibiting poor social skills and stuttering, and was physically small for his age. Though the criteria for determining abuse changes continuously and this is an old citation, I feel it is still valid.Erik Erikson's psychosocial development theory consists of eight stages of development (Erikson, 1950). Each stage is characterized by a different conflict that must be resolved by the individual. When the environment makes new demands on an individual, a conflict arises. "The person is faced with a choice between two ways of coping with each crisis, an adaptive, or maladaptive way. Only when each crisis is resolved, which involves a change in the personality, does the person have sufficient strength to deal with the next stages of development" (Schultz & Schultz, 1987). In other words, if a person is unable to resolve a conflict at a particular stage, they will confront and struggle with it later in life. According to our text, a persons ability to resolve crises in later life hinges on the degree of success he or she has dealing with crises earlier in life (Zastrow, 1997, p. 276).The first of Eriksons eight stages of development is Basic Trust versus Basic Mistrust (birth to 18 months). Development of trust, the conflict of this stage, requires the comprehension that some people and things can be depended upon. Consistent, loving care sets the stage for coping with this crisis. From Daves perspective, his early years provided an appropriate environment for the achievement of this stage. His happy memories, early on, of loving parents and the feelings of trust and safety that he recalls fit appropriately with what Eriksons theory implies. I believe the impact of abuse later in his life caused Dave to return to this first stage, creating a new struggle for him regarding trust. A M...
