Download Developmental Stage 2-10 Old Word C-Ackley

Developmental Stage Essay
Cristine Ackley
University of Central Florida
Allgood/SOW5712
February 10, 2008
Addiction to drugs and/or alcohol is also known as being substance dependent (Van
Wormer & Davis, 2008). When someone is dependent on a substance, this means that they
display maladaptive behaviors and the patterns of their substance use cause distress or
impairment in their daily life (Van Wormer & Davis, 2008). The person must also experience
three criteria in the same period which last twelve months according to the DSM-IV. Some of
these symptoms are tolerance, using the substance for a longer period of time than planned,
inability to control or reduce their consumption, withdrawal from social, recreational or
occupational activities to name a few (Van Wormer & Davis, 2008). As stated already, addiction
can cause a halt in a person’s life when they withdraw from important events in their life (Van
Wormer & Davis, 2008), which could lead a person to not be able to move through and
accomplish Erickson’s stages.
Eric Erickson built off of Freud’s stages for development and created eight stages of
psychosocial development (Berk, 2000). The eight stages developed by Erickson are not only
based on psychosocial theory but also on the concept of ego strengths (Markstrom et al., 1997).
One particular stage in Erickson’s model that will be focused on is identity vs. identity
confusion/diffusion. This stage generally occurs during adolescence (Longres, 2000). In this
stage, Erickson reports that adolescents tend to define who they are through events in their life
that include or exclude them (Capps, 2004). He also reports that adolescents in this stage tend to
be cliquish with their peers and they become intolerant as a defense in contrast to their identity
confusion (Capps, 2004). Erickson notes that this stage in development is an in-between stage
between adulthood and childhood where the individual is dealing with the morality that has been
learned through childhood and the ethics that are to be developed as an adult (Capps, 2004).
Therefore, this stage is also known for experimentation and the adolescents struggle to form a
meaningful identity (Van Wormer & Davis, 2008). Identity is formed more specifically as an
adolescent internalizes other’s responses to them and are able to see themselves how others see
them (Van Wormer & Davis, 2008).
The purpose of the stage identity vs. identity confusion/diffusion is for an individual to
move from adolescence to adulthood (Markstrom et a., 1997). The basic strength in this stage is
fidelity, and the antithesis of this is role repudiation (Longres, 2000). Fidelity is a person’s ability
to maintain the devotion to what they have pledged themselves to regardless of the pressures and
contradictions of societies value systems (Markstrom et a., 1997). Role repudiation is the
opposite of fidelity, which is generally seen when an individual defies their pledges. Defiance
refers to an individual’s predilection towards a negative identity, which is usually an identity that
is undesirable according to the standards of society (Markstrom et a., 1997).
It has been found that drug use now begins earlier in life (Chinet et al., 2007). During the
period of adolescence, alcohol and cannabis use begins (Patton et al., 2007). A good majority of
young people in developed countries experiment with cannabis and in some communities, daily
users is one in ten adolescents (Patton et al., 2007). There is a risk that those who abuse
substances in adolescents will also use in early adulthood (Patton et al., 2007). In a Swiss study,
it found that approximately twenty-five percent of adolescents from ages sixteen to seventeen
have used cannabis; this percentage has increased 400 percent between the years 1986 and 1998
(Chinet et al., 2007). It has also been found that three percent of adolescents from ages fifteen to
twenty-five years old have used cocaine or opiate drugs at least once (Chinet et al., 2007).
The adolescents who are able to overcome the demands and pressures of this age will
gain a sense of who they are and which adult roles they will value (Van Wormer & Davis, 2008).
Basically, these adolescents will form a positive identity. Due to this statement, it appears as
though addiction can impact the positive development of identity.
Since adolescence is a vulnerable time for adolescents (Van Wormer & Davis, 2008) it
makes sense to presume that addiction can impact the successful completion of moving through a
developmental task such as identity vs. role confusion/diffusion. When adolescents become
abusing substances habitually they move from the mainstream peer culture to the drug-using
subculture (Chapman & Rokutani, 2005). Due to this, the adolescent does not move through the
normal stages of development and instead acquires a childish self-centeredness which is
reinforced by the drug-using subculture which is typified by immediate gratification, hedonistic
behaviors and impulsivity (Chapman & Rokutani, 2005). When the adolescent’s primary
relationships are formed from others who are in this negative subculture, they become identified
as part of the subculture and are then stigmatized by the mainstream culture (Chapman &
Rokutani, 2005). When the adolescent is alienated it affects their self-esteem and identity in a
negative way (Chapman & Rokutani, 2005).
The main problem when adolescents become attached to the drug-using subculture, their
identity becomes attached to the drug-using identity and they are unable to detach themselves
from it (Chapman & Rokutani, 2005). Because of this phenomenon, the adolescent’s selfcontrol, self-esteem, moral development, and other behaviors that adolescents need to learn in so
they can form a positive identity are impaired due to the drug using and the direct effects from
the drug-using subculture (Chapman & Rokutani, 2005). Since adolescents use this time to
experiment to learn and form their identity (Van Wormer& Davis, 2008), if they are immersed in
the drug-using subculture it will prevent them from exploring new behaviors, new ideas and new
activities which is crucial in forming identity (Chapman & Rokutani, 2005).
Addiction is also know to impact the developmental stage of identity vs. role
confusion/diffusion by causing a barrier to learning because the drug usage impacts their ability
to remember, to concentrate, and even their motivation to learn new things (Chapman &
Rokutani, 2005). It also impacts an adolescent’s cognitive abilities and goal formulation for the
future (Chapman & Rokutani, 2005). Addiction is a powerful thing, and it can cause an
adolescent to not emerge from the drug community and base their ideals and identity on this
community solely (Chapman & Rokutani, 2005). This can be dangerous thing as it can affect
them socially, educationally and emotionally causing great impairment in their identity formation
(Chapman & Rokutani, 2005).
References
Berk, L.E. (2000). Child development (5th ed.). Needham Heights: Pearson Education Company.
Capps, D. (2004). The decades of life: relocating erickson’s stages. Pastoral Psychology, 53(1),
3-32.
Chapman, C., & Rokutani, L. (2005). Adolescents and substance abuse: what works and why?
Vistas, 9, 51-54.
Chinet, L., Plancherel, B., Bolognini, M., Holzer, L., & Halfon, O. (2007). Adolescent
substance-use assessment: methodological issues in the use of the adolescent drug abuse
diagnosis (ADAD). Substance Use & Misuse, 42(10), 1505–1525
Longres, J.F. (2000). Human behavior in the social environment (3rd ed.). Belmont:
Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.
Markstrom, C.A., Sabino, V.M., Turner, B.J., & Berman, R.C. (1997). The psychosocial
inventory of ego strengths: development and validation of a new ericksonian measure.
Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 26(6), 705-732.
Patton, G.C., Coffey, C., Lynskey, M.T., Reid, S., Hemphill, S., Carlin, J.B., et al.
(2007). Trajectories of adolescent alcohol and cannabis use into young adulthood.
Addiction, 102, 607-615.
Van Wormer, K., & Davis, D.R. (2008). Addiction treatment: a strengths perspective (2nd ed.).
Belmont: Thompson Higher Education