Reflection of Childhood and Adolescent Stages of Lifecycle

Running Head: REFLECTION ON THE CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENT
Reflection of Childhood and Adolescent Stages of Lifecycle
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CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENT STAGES OF LIFE 2
Introduction
Human being growth and development undergoes through various stages in the life cycle
that starts from the conception to the time of death. The other stages include childhood,
adolescence, adulthood, and then death (Berk, 2014). The infancy stage is the critical stage as it
determines the rest of the human life .During these stages, children undergo different body,
behavioral changes that determine the nature of their adulthood. For the purpose of this paper,
childhood and adolescent stages will form the basis of discussion.
Childhood period is divided into different stages that are the early childhood, age
between 3-6, middle childhood age between 6-8 and late childhood age between 9-11 (Golenia,
2018). During all these stages of youth, the rapid increase in body size averagely 2-3 inches in
height and 5 pounds in body weight are observable in the first two years (Findlay, 2006).
Physical changes such as sitting, walking, and hand-eye coordination are mastered. As month’s
passes, children tend to grow thinner as girls retain body fat while boys become more muscular.
At the age of between 3 -6, skeletal growth is evidential as the bones tend to harden as the
growth rate slows down and development of inner subjective self, and besides developing a
spoken vocabulary of about 300 to 1000 words (Dawes et al., 2015). The stage allows the images
from the outer world into the unconscious mind thereby determining the later life of artist,
scientist, and writers. At the following stage of childhood, the child develops some technical and
social skills that allow them to solve practical problems and attain everyday responsibilities
(Sigelman, & Rider, 2008). The adolescent stage ranges from the ages of 12-20 and is mainly
characterized by the biological developments such as sexual desires, emotional, spiritual, and
cultural passions (Jensen & Chen, 2013). The adolescent stage allows the child to move towards

CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENT STAGES OF LIFE 3
a more mature sense of self and purpose regarding intimacy and healthy relationship,
understanding of ideas with moral viewpoints and many others.
Several studies have developed theories to explain human development. Among the
theories are the Erikson's psychological development, Sigmund Freud psychosexual theory,
Attachment theory, and many others (Platz & Arellano, 2015).
Erickson theory was developed by Erik Erikson that centered on the psychological
development of an individual from the time of birth to the time of death (Dunkel & Harbke,
2017). The theory is made up of 8 series of personality development stages that are; trust vs.
mistrust, autonomy vs. shame and doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs.
confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, and integrity vs. despair. Each of
the stages helps in building the preceding stage, and the experience gained on those stages offer
the turning points of the human development (Westen, Burton, & Kowalski, 2006). The
experience can either develop or fail to establish the psychological quality of an individual, and
either way affects the rest of the life of the individual.
According to Dr. Feud, he believed that the ways parents were dealing with their
children's primary sexual and aggressive desires shape the future personalities of the children
developed Sigmund Freud theory (Cavanaugh & Blanchard-Fields, 2005). According to Freud,
children development to adulthood is through sexual development stages known as the Oral,
Anal, Phallic, Latency, and Genital.

CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENT STAGES OF LIFE 4
Stages Theories Phase Analysis
Childhood
stage
Erikson’s theory
and Sigmund
Theory
Trust vs. Mistrust
And oral stage
According to Erikson’s theory, the
first stage of psychological
development occurs between birth and
the age of one year. At this stage, the
infant depends on the adults for food,
love warmth, safety and nurturing,
therefore, trust id developed on the
quality of the care given. Consistent
providence of those requirements
makes the infant gain trust and feel
comfortable in the world, and
unavailability of those features, the
child loses trust and tens to reject the
caregivers.
The oral stage of the Sigmund theory
starts from birth, whereby the oral
cavity is the primary focus of libidal
energy. The infant finds pleasure in
suckling and therefore, like the
Erikson, trust is gained on the
caregiver that offers adequate oral