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Erik H. Erikson: The Growth of His Work
Among those who are concerned with the relationship between the individual and social change, no psychoanalytic thinker has exercised more influence in recent years than Erik H. Erikson. This biographical assessment of his work by a younger colleague, Robert Coles, may be one of the most influential books ever written by one student of the mind about another.
462 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1970
About the author
Robert Coles
251 books78 followersChild psychiatrist, author, Harvard professor.
Robert Coles is a professor of psychiatry and medical humanities at the Harvard Medical School, a research psychiatrist for the Harvard University Health Services, and the James Agee Professor of Social Ethics at Harvard College.
Robert Coles is a professor of psychiatry and medical humanities at the Harvard Medical School, a research psychiatrist for the Harvard University Health Services, and the James Agee Professor of Social Ethics at Harvard College.
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September 11, 2024
A VERY HELFUL BIOGRAPHY, COMBINED WITH AN ANALYSIS OF HIS WRITINGS
Robert Coles also wrote books such as 'Children of Crisis,' 'The Moral Intelligence of Children: How to Raise a Moral Child,' 'The Spiritual Life of Children,' etc.
He wrote in the Preface to this 1970 book, "This book is not primarily a biography of Erik Erikson; nor is it an attempt to fit his ideas into the larger framework of psychoanalytic theory; nor does it come near assessing and conveying the influence his work has had on disciplines other than his own... nor, finally, does it aim to 'analyze' the man, give the 'reasons' he has become what he has, said and done what he has... I have tried to look at the psychoanalytic and historical research and the ethical reflections of a clinician and professor I know and admire..." (Pg. xvii)
Of Erikson's stages of development, "he noted that though his 'method of developing the chart was ADDITIVE, as if at each stage something entirely new was emerging, the whole chart should now be reconsidered as one that represents a successive differentiation of parts all of which exist in some form from beginning to end, and always within an organic whole, the maturing organism." (Pg. 76)
He notes, "Childhood and Society is not a book about child development' or 'the psychopathology of childhood.' The significance of a child's activity cannot be understood by calling upon a graph that tells when things are done and how; nor can an activity only be seen as the resolution or expression of 'conflict,' or as adaptation to 'reality.' Something as universally learned ... as walking means any number of different things to children, depending not only on who the child is and who his parents are, but where and when they live... most of all we should take in interest in how children begin to feel that what they do makes sense and feels good and fits in with what others do." (Pg. 130-131)
During the "anti-Communist" fervor of the 1950s, "Erikson was one of about ninety members of the Academic Senate at the university who refused to sign the contract, and he stuck to his decision even when, one by one, two-thirds of the initially reluctant yielded to the Regents' demand. He and others in the Academic Senate were given a warning. He and others were reappointed because they had declared themselves non-Communist. but a number of colleagues refused to declare themselves anything and were dismissed---whereupon Erikson resigned and wrote out a statement ... which eventually was read to the members of a American Psychoanalytic Association at a midwinter meeting, and published in 'Psychiatry.'" (Pg. 156)
He states, "The critical concept is IDENTITY; by using it over and over again and working for years to give it a particular kind of meaning, Erikson in fact gave real body and strength to the descriptive outline he had made earlier of the stages in the life cycle. It can be said that through his writings on the subject of 'identity' he accomplished the single most important shift in direction that psychoanalysis required if it was to become at all useful for other disciplines." (Pg. 165)
Robert Coles also wrote books such as 'Children of Crisis,' 'The Moral Intelligence of Children: How to Raise a Moral Child,' 'The Spiritual Life of Children,' etc.
He wrote in the Preface to this 1970 book, "This book is not primarily a biography of Erik Erikson; nor is it an attempt to fit his ideas into the larger framework of psychoanalytic theory; nor does it come near assessing and conveying the influence his work has had on disciplines other than his own... nor, finally, does it aim to 'analyze' the man, give the 'reasons' he has become what he has, said and done what he has... I have tried to look at the psychoanalytic and historical research and the ethical reflections of a clinician and professor I know and admire..." (Pg. xvii)
Of Erikson's stages of development, "he noted that though his 'method of developing the chart was ADDITIVE, as if at each stage something entirely new was emerging, the whole chart should now be reconsidered as one that represents a successive differentiation of parts all of which exist in some form from beginning to end, and always within an organic whole, the maturing organism." (Pg. 76)
He notes, "Childhood and Society is not a book about child development' or 'the psychopathology of childhood.' The significance of a child's activity cannot be understood by calling upon a graph that tells when things are done and how; nor can an activity only be seen as the resolution or expression of 'conflict,' or as adaptation to 'reality.' Something as universally learned ... as walking means any number of different things to children, depending not only on who the child is and who his parents are, but where and when they live... most of all we should take in interest in how children begin to feel that what they do makes sense and feels good and fits in with what others do." (Pg. 130-131)
During the "anti-Communist" fervor of the 1950s, "Erikson was one of about ninety members of the Academic Senate at the university who refused to sign the contract, and he stuck to his decision even when, one by one, two-thirds of the initially reluctant yielded to the Regents' demand. He and others in the Academic Senate were given a warning. He and others were reappointed because they had declared themselves non-Communist. but a number of colleagues refused to declare themselves anything and were dismissed---whereupon Erikson resigned and wrote out a statement ... which eventually was read to the members of a American Psychoanalytic Association at a midwinter meeting, and published in 'Psychiatry.'" (Pg. 156)
He states, "The critical concept is IDENTITY; by using it over and over again and working for years to give it a particular kind of meaning, Erikson in fact gave real body and strength to the descriptive outline he had made earlier of the stages in the life cycle. It can be said that through his writings on the subject of 'identity' he accomplished the single most important shift in direction that psychoanalysis required if it was to become at all useful for other disciplines." (Pg. 165)
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