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Autonomy Versus Shame and Doubt

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Autonomy versus Shame and Doubt is the second stage in Erik Erikson’s psychodynamic theory of psychosocial development.

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Erikson postulates a theory of psychosocial development that spans the lifespan and emphasizes an interaction between biological needs and the environment. According to Erikson, there are stages in development in which a child’s unfolding biological needs and abilities engage the child with significant adults, resulting in interactions that help or hinder the child in meeting healthy psychosocial milestones. The patterns that emerge can be described as involving (1) key areas of the physical body, (2) the types of activity that the child is engaged in mastering at that level of development, and (3) the types of social interactions that result as the growing child relates to others with their new abilities [1]. Additionally, the resulting experiences from each stage lay the foundation for transition through the subsequent developmental stages.

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References

  1. Achenbach, T. A. (1982). Developmental psychopathology (2nd ed.). New York: Wiley.

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  2. Bornstein, M. H., & Lamb, M. E. (2005). Developmental science: An advanced textbook (5th ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

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  3. Erikson, E. H. (1963). Childhood and society (2nd ed.). New York: W.W. Norton.

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  4. Hetherington, E. M., Parke, R. D., & Locke, V. O. (1999). Child psychology: A contemporary viewpoint (5th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.

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Correspondence to Jennifer L. Stapel-Wax .

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© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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Stapel-Wax, J.L. (2011). Autonomy Versus Shame and Doubt. In: Goldstein, S., Naglieri, J.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Child Behavior and Development. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-79061-9_258

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-79061-9_258

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-387-77579-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-387-79061-9

  • eBook Packages: Behavioral Science

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