The Life Cycle Completed

by Erikson, Erik H.; Erikson, Joan M.

• ISBN13: 9780393039344
• ISBN10: 039303934X
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1997-04-01
• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc

Summary

For decades Erik Erikson's concept of the stages of human development deeply influenced the field of contemporary psychology. Here, through the scholarship of his closest collaborator, Joan Erikson, is an expanded edition of his final work, covering the full span of the life cycle. What Erik Erikson fell short of covering during his life of remarkable achievements was a ninth stage, of very old age. As human longevity increases, that stage has become of increasing significance to many individuals concerned about the quality and nature of their daily lives while they age into their eighth and ninth decades of life. Now Joan Erikson, in her nineties, masterfully guides us through the specific challenges and pleasures of older age, extending Erik Erikson's vision of human development in its major phases. In her introductory remarks about the ninth stage, Joan Erikson writes of the particular challenges faced by elders whose years of autonomy over their bodies and life choices are affected by the inevitable wages of time. She outlines the critical role that hope and faith must play in the lives of eighty- and ninety-year-olds, and she perceptively revises the concept of wisdom.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Extended Version	1	(9)
Preface to the First Edition	10	(5)
1. Introduction: A Historical Note on the "Outerworld"	15	(10)
2. Psychosexuality and the Cycle of Generations	25	(30)
EPIGENESIS AND PREGENITALITY	25	(9)
ORGAN MODES AND POSTURAL AND SOCIAL MODALITIES	34	(21)
3. Major Stages in Psychosocial Development	55	(28)
ABOUT THE TERMS USED--AND THE CHARTS	55	(6)
THE LAST STAGE	61	(5)
THE GENERATIONAL LINK: ADULTHOOD	66	(6)
ADOLESCENCE AND SCHOOL AGE	72	(5)
THE PRESCHOOL YEARS	77	(6)
4. Ego and Ethos: Concluding Notes	83	(22)
EGO DEFENSE AND SOCIAL ADAPTATION	83	(2)
I AND WE	85	(3)
THREEFOLD REALITY	88	(4)
ETHOS AND ETHICS	92	(2)
HISTORICAL RELATIVITY IN THE PSYCHOANALYTIC METHOD	94	(11)
5. The Ninth Stage	105	(10)
6. Old Age and Community	115	(8)
7. Gerotranscendence	123	(9)
References	132