<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Erikson is the man when it comes to understanding identity.
Review: Admittedly, Erik Erikson is not an easy read (in fact his biographer Lawrence Friedman speculates what Erikson could have become had he been a more disciplined researcher, and writer.) Nevertheless this book provides keen insight into the phenomenon of the adolescent identity crisis. "Crisis" in Eriksonian parlance is not used to connote an "impending catastrophe," but rather a "necessary turning point, a crucial moment, when development must move one way or another, marshaling resources of growth,recover, and further differentiation." Erikson deals effectively with a process that is at the core of the individual and in the core of the individual's communal culture. After reading Lawrence Friedman's biography on Erikson entitled "Identity's Architect," I have come to appreciate the richness of Erikson's observations, such as "I shall present human growth from the point of view of the conflicts, inner and outer, which the vital personality weathers, re-emerging from each crisis with an increased sense of inner unity...," knowing that Erikson himself came to such conclusions only after examining his own storied past. The illegitimate son of a Danish mother, and a father of unknown nationality, "Identity's Architect" weathered many a conflict, both inner and outer, as he journeyed toward a sense of his own identity. Identity: Youth and Crisis is not an easy read, but it is rich with insight into the most mysterious and turbulent of all stages in the life cycle: adolescence. Ideal for those students of child psychology, child development, and those who work with youth.
<< 1 >>
| 
