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Trust vs mistrust
Dominic was born just a week ago. His mother is struggling with PPD. She has a hard time getting up to his cries.
In Erikson's first stage, Trust vs. Mistrust. The crisis is if the baby is not taken care of and shown affection towards (trust), it will be hard to trust others to be there later on in life (mistrust). -
Initiative vs. Guilt
Dominic (age 4) wants to cook his mom some eggs for breakfast. He knows that he should not use the stove without a grown-up, but his parents have been showing him how to do this for a few weeks. He starts to get the eggs out and crack them into a pan. Then his mom comes into the kitchen.
In Erikson's third stage, Initiative vs. Guilt. The crisis is if the mom discourages or reprimands him to harshly, he will be discouraged to explore what else he can do (guilt). -
Identity vs. Identity confusion
Dominic (age 13) wants to start playing football, because all the cool kids play football. But he has never been good at sports.
In Erikson's fifth stage, Identity vs. Identity Confusion. The crisis is if he is unable to find his standing within society and what he is able to do (identity), he will struggle with not knowing what he can do or where he stands.