Responses to Freudian Theory

The theory of psychosocial development of Erik Erikson (1902-1994) occupies
a position between orthodox psychoanalysis and neoanalytic schools of
thought. His theory builds upon the basic concepts and tenets of Freudian
psychology by illustrating the influential role of social and cultural forces in
personality development. Erikson’s observations of infants and investigations
of the parent-child relationship in various societies contributed to his
development of the model of the eight stages of human development. He
proposes that personality unfolds over the entire life cycle according to a
predetermined plan. As an individual moves through this series of stages, he
or she encounters periods of vulnerability that require him or her to resolve
crises of a social nature and develop new abilities and patterns of behavior.
Erikson’s eight psychosocial stages not only parallel Freud’s psychosexual
ones but, more important, have contributed immensely to recent thought
in developmental psychology.
Several other schools of thought arose in opposition to Freudian orthodoxy.
Among the proponents of these new psychoanalytic models were Carl
Jung (1875-1961), Alfred Adler (1870-1937), Karen Horney (1885-1952),
and Harry Stack Sullivan (1892-1949). These theorists advocated revised
versions of Freud’s psychoanalytic model and became known as the neoanalysts.