Developmental Theories. Demonstrate How the Two Theories

¶ … developmental theories. Demonstrate how the two theories impact child raising practices and ultimately impact personality development.

There are many developmental theories that essentially deal with the psychology of human cognitive development. One of the better-known theories on Cognitive Development is, however, that which was developed by Piaget, known as the 'Piaget's Cognitive Development Theory'. This theory states that children, at various stages of their lives, are faced with certain challenging situations with which they must deal with or face, and they must have the mental abilities and the capacity to deal with such situations. This, in fact, according to Piaget, occurs at several different stages in their developmental process, and when they are able to successfully deal with the situation at that particular stage of their lives, then they would be able to successfully move on to the next stage of cognitive development. As and when every new stage has been reached, there will be a plateau, in which the child or the person would be able to think in advanced and intelligent ways. This theory is, in essence, what a developmental theory is about. (Psychology Glossary) There are many more such theories, and these have been developed by prominent psychologists and psychoanalysts.

The developmental theory developed by Erik Erikson is called the 'Erickson's Eight Stages of Human Development." Erikson states that all human babies are born with a few basic temperaments and also a basic capability to handle things. On the way to adulthood, throughout the age when these babies are growing up, they inadvertently have to pass through certain dramatic changes in their lives, and Erikson states that every individual has to pass through eight such stages in his life. These stages may also be referred to as 'psychosocial changes', and each such stage would be characterized by a different psychological 'crisis', which they must experience and pass through before they can move on to the next psychological crisis. In general, if the individual feels unable to cope, or is maladjusted to any particular stage that he has to pass through in his life, then this would inevitably mean that this individual would be unable to cope with similar situations later on in his life. (Erickson's Eight Stages of human development)

Erikson also states that the very sequence of these several stages of life are in fact set by Nature, and when Nature sets a course, there is nothing that can be done to change or alter it, and everything must move within those set limits. Therefore, the First Stage in Development, according to Erikson, would be that of Infancy, that is, from the age 0 to one. In this first year of an infant's life, it would, out of necessity, have to depend on other people for its food and warmth and for affection, and it would depend on its primary caregivers for these. The infant, therefore, must be able to blindly trust and believe that the parents or caregivers would take care of him, and that they would provide him with all his basic needs and wants.

In this stage, according to Erikson, the crisis situation would be formed by 'Trust vs. Mistrust', and when the infant feels that he can trust the parents completely and fully, then the infant would learn to trust his parents and other caregivers, and also develop a faith in his surroundings and in his environment. This is a positive sign of the trust that he has placed in his parents. However, if the result is negative, and the child fails to receive the love and the care that he expects at this stage in his life, then the result would be negative. Then the infant would learn to mistrust his parents and his environment, and also in things in general, and he even learns to mistrust himself, as well. Therefore, in this first stage of life, when the infant is less than a year old, the trust that the infant places in his parents must not be broken, otherwise, he would be unable to trust anyone else later in his life. (Erickson's Eight Stages of human development)

The Second Stage, according to Erikson, is when the infant is one-year-old, up until when he is two. This is the stage when an infant starts to learn to take acre of some things himself, like for example, he can walk, he can talk, he can use the toilet, and he can do many other small things for himself. This is also the stage when an infant would be able to develop self-confidence. The crisis that may occur at this stage is 'autonomy vs. doubt', or, 'independence vs. shame'. At this stage, the parents must be able to take part in their child's development, and encourage and share in his initiative. They must also be able to reassure their child when he makes the inadvertent mistake or two. When this is done, the child would be able to develop the confidence that is needed to face certain tough situations later on in life, and be an independent and self-confident person. However, when there is negativity at this point, that is, when the parents are over protective, or when they discourage and disapprove of the child's various acts of independence, then the child would either become completely self-doubting, or lose confidence in his ability to do things. (Erickson's Eight Stages of human development)

The Third Stage is when the baby is three years old, till when he is six. This is the time when the child has developed motor skills, and he can interact with his surroundings and the people around him. He can also enjoy the power that his newfound skills can give him. He must, at this stage, learn to control his childish impulses, and behave in a responsible manner, instead of indulging in irresponsible behavior, which may land him in dangerous situations. The crisis that may occur at this stage is initiative, or guilt. When the parents are encouraging, and at the same time, are steady in their disciplining methods, then the child would be able to accept the fact that certain things are definitely not allowed, and there must be no guilt in this acceptance. At the same time, he must believe that he can indeed use his imagination to indulge in make-believe role-play. If this does not happen, then the child would feel guilty, and learn that he must not be independent.

The Fourth Stage, when the child is from ages six to twelve, is the stage of his life when school becomes a very important part of his life, and this is when the child learns to create things, acquire various skills, and use certain tools. All this is achieved when the child is making a transformation from his own home to the world of his peer group. The crisis that may arise during this period is that of 'competence vs. inferiority'. When the parents can encourage their child into learning things for himself, and acquiring pleasure in intellectual stimulation, or from creating things, being productive, using tools, and so on, then they would be able to develop a keen sense of competence and a belief in themselves and their abilities. If this does not happen, the result would be a sense of inferiority. (Erickson's Eight Stages of human development)

The Fifth Stage, that is, when the child is now an adolescent, that is, from twelve to eighteen years old, he is constantly in search of some form of identity that would lead him into adulthood. This is also the stage when most adolescents are frequently troubled by the question, "Who am I?" The conflict at this stage is between the child's 'identities', vs. his 'role confusion'. If the child had been successful in overcoming most of the crisis situations that he had passed when he was growing up, then he would be a better adjusted and a more self-confident and a very well adjusted individual, if not, then he would lack in self-confidence, and would be mistrusting and wary of his surroundings and the people around him. The adolescent would be, if things had gone well in his early years, able to make certain important choices regarding his basic identity, and if he finds that he cannot make these important choices, especially about his vocation, about his life in general, about his sexual orientation, and various other issues, and then role confusion is a real threat. It is at this important stage that the adolescent, full of self-confidence, would be able to make good choices in his life, and be able to establish an identity that would be separate from that of his parents. (Erik Erikson's 8 Stages of Psychosocial Development.)

The Sixth Stage, as described by Erik Erikson, is when the child has now grown form adolescence into young adulthood. This is the stage of life when the crisis that may arise is between his desires for either 'isolation' vs. his desire for 'intimacy'. The social group with whom this young adult interacts would be the partners that he has chosen, either as friends, or for any other reason. Sexual relationships may also become very important for this young adult, and it is at this stage of life that he may decide on a life partner, and make sure that he gets involved in an extended sexual relationship, and make a career choice and work towards it, or work towards any other goal that he has chosen, by himself. If his parents had been wise enough to let him make his own free independent choices, then at this stage, it would be a matter of infinite ease for the young adult to be able to choose whatever he feels if right and suitable for him, thereby displaying self-confidence, poise, self-reliance, and a cool confidence in himself and in his abilities. (Erikson's Eight Stages of Development)

The Seventh Stage of Development, according to Erikson, is when an adult passes through the stage in his life when he has officially become an adult, and has made his various choices in life, and is acting according to those choices. The crisis at this stage is between 'learning generativity' vs. 'self-absorption, or care'. The demand placed on the individual at this point is on generativity, both in his marriage, and in his parenthood stage. This is the stage when he must work both productively, as well as creatively. (Stages in Socio-Emotional Development in Children and Teenagers) The Eighth and the final Stage as described by Erikson, is when the adult is faced with the crisis of 'integrity' vs. 'Despair'. (Martin, Psychology 116)

This last stage in a human being's life, referred to as either 'late adulthood' or as 'maturity', or, at times, insensitively, as 'old age', starts when the children have all gone away, left the home, looking after their own interests, in their families, and in their own careers. At this stage, an individual would be aged, generally, about sixty years or more. There are many older people who state that age is 'relative', and one only feels old when they think that they are, indeed, old. However, according to Erikson, this is all a part of the youth worshipping cult of today, and he states that reaching this particular stage is very good, and if one does not reach it on time, and then it means that he had suffered from some sort of problems in his earlier childhood days. (Personality Theories, Erik Erikson (1902-1994)

The basic task for persons of this age is to develop'ego integrity', with a basic minimum of 'despair'. For a younger person, this stage of life may appear to be a very difficult proposition, because it involves, in varying degrees, the development and the acquisition of a feeling of detachment from society, followed by detachment from the sense of usefulness, and this is especially difficult because the society in which we live today judges a person by his career. Then, after this, there will be a stage of biological uselessness, when the physical body will not be able to perform all the daily activities, as it was used to doing before, and there will be the onset of a number of different illnesses.

In addition, friends and relatives and peers may start to die, and this gives these aged persons a sense of despair and hopelessness. However, some persons, when they maladjust to this despair, become preoccupied either with their failures or with their past successes, and this tendency is called 'presumption', and occurs when an aged person 'presumes' a certain ego integrity even before he actually faces the difficulties of old age, and this would lead to 'disdain', by which they tend to develop a contempt for their own life, as well as for others'. A person who is able to face the approach of death and other factors of old age, bravely, is one who has adjusted well in the seven other stages of life that he had passed through earlier, and this may well be the very best gift that he can give his own children, because no healthy child will fear life, if his parent does not fear death, and faces adversity with courage. (Personality Theories, Erik Erikson (1902-1994)

How does Erikson's Eight Stages of Life Developmental Theory affect basic child raising practices? According to Erikson, one stage would be built on the next, and the next on the next, and so on, and it is very important that the parent as well as the child be able to complete the various tasks attributed to them in each and every stage, so that they may proceed confidently into the next stage. The theorist believed that the most important stage was the first one, and this is where the vital conflict under Trust vs. Mistrust takes place. Therefore, when a parent is in the process of bringing up a child, he must be able to build that basic trust between himself and the infant, so that the baby may, at a later stage in his life, remember that warm feeling of trust and faith that he had with his parents. Thus, during child rearing, a parent must be both consistent, as well as dependable on, at all times. For example, a trusting infant needs to build a relationship with his parent so that he may have his needs taken care of, and when he is hungry, he has to be fed, when he is wet, he has to be changed, and so on. When a parent never lets his child down at this stage, the infant can build a bond of solid trust in his parents, and this will serve him in good stead when the time arrives. (Erikson's Eight Stages of Life)

On the other hand, when the infant learns never to trust that his parent will look after his needs, like for example, when a parent is never available when he needs them, then he will carry a basic mistrust and a lack of faith in his parent, as well as a sense of doubt and suspicion about the people in his environment. A trusting baby will demonstrate this trust in his behavior; he will not demonstrate anxious or angry temper when a parent moves out of his range of sight; he will be calm and cool in the belief that his parent is always there for him, and will never ever desert him. If in case the parent or the caretaker is undependable or untrustworthy, then the baby will panic and wail when that person moves out of range. Erikson therefore believed that the building up of a bond of trust was crucial if the infant were to develop a balance of trust over mistrust. (Erikson's Eight Stages of Life)

Therefore, when raising a child, the basic bond between a child and his parent must be that of trust. When this has been accomplished, then not only would the child develops a sense of hope but would also believe that the world in general, and all the people of the world, is all good. Since hope is the expectation that things will be good or great in the future, it is indeed necessary for every human being to nurse hope of some kind in their lives, and this will in turn help them to take up new challenges in the hope that they will do well in the future. The ways and means in which an infant of below one year of age is able to resolve the conflict between trust and mistrust will enable him to meet all his future challenges in his various other stages of life, in an energetic and vigorous and vital manner. However, this does not mean that the infant should only develop trust; rather, he must find a perfect balance, for otherwise, he would become too gullible in later life, if he were to trust everything and everybody blindly. Therefore, a baby must have some sense of mistrust after the first year of his life.

A school counselor is faced with many challenges during the course of his career, and at times, he will have to swallow back a sense of disgust at some of the actions and behaviors of some children. At these times, it would help them immensely if they were to be appraised of the Eight Stages of Life Theory of Erikson, because of the fact that this theory would help them understand the psychology of child behavior better, and this in turn will help them advise these children in a better manner. For example, when a child has not had his basic needs met with in the first year of his life, then he will demonstrate a lack of trust and an inability to cope with other children, in the school, and when the counselor is able to understand this fact, then he can be more positive towards them. However, this does not mean that they must not be held responsible for their actions; on the other hand, they must be told that they are solely responsible for their actions, and they are generally deceitful, or aggressive, or at times, disrespectful, and even manipulative. These children can change with patience and the right handling, but it cannot be denied that it is indeed a difficult proposition to attempt to change the behavior of a child who has suffered the first year of his life, and lacks complete trust in his parents. (Erikson's Eight Stages of Life)

Erikson's developmental Theory shows that when an infant passes through the eight stages of his life, and when he is not able to meet the challenges that are waiting for him at every stage, then he will demonstrate its effect in his basic behavior and in his thinking patterns, which will ultimately have an impact on his personality. Therefore, it is often stated that Erikson has made several major contributions to developmental psychology. One reason is that Erikson's theory is one that spans across the entire lifetime of an individual, and covers the entire lifespan of an adult from when he is born, to the time when he has reached old age. Furthermore, since the theory of Erikson is not a psychosexual one, but rather, is a psychosocial one, it lays primary emphasis not on bodily interactions, but on social interactions, and as Erikson said, children do indeed become toilet trained at the age of there, but quite a few other developments take place at this time as well. In other words, these children learn to talk, and to walk, and to climb, and to eat on their own, and to draw, and so on at this time of their lives. (Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial development)

Therefore, it can be said that all these accomplishments will most definitely have an impact on their development as a person in later life, and on their basic personality. At all times, during the eight stages of life as explained by Erikson, an individual is faced with the resolution of certain conflicts at each stage, at varying ages, and this resolution, or the lack of it, would go a long way towards building and forming the personality of the child as he grows up. Resolution, in this case, does not mean that the individual completely rejects the other option when he chooses on or the other; on the other hand, what he does is find the balance that exists between the two alternatives. For example, a child does actually need to hear an emphatic "No" some times, but not at all times, and not at all ever. Therefore, several No's can shape his personality, while the lack of No's or a surfeit of No's will damage the child's personality irretrievably. In the book entitled 'Childhood and Society' by Erikson, the author states that there is a limit to how much a child is willing to believe that everything that he wants is either dirty or harmful, or bad; he may finally come to the conclusion that it is the parent that is bad, because of the fact that he is keeping the child from getting what he wants. Therefore, when there is a perfect balance between what to allow a child, and what not to allow him, then he will be a well-balanced and well-adjusted person all his life. (Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial development)

Like Freud and many other psychoanalysts, Erikson maintained that one's personality would always develop in a particular, predetermined order, and instead of, like all the others of his time, focusing on sexual development and all the problems that this can bring, he concentrated instead on social development, and generated keen interest in his followers about the methods in which children basically socialize and how this type of socialization would affect their sense of self. Since, in addition, he saw the personality of an individual as something that would develop constantly and continuously all throughout his life, he was able to point out that it was the various identity crises that an individual would encounter in the numerous, or specifically, Eight definite stages of his life, that would eventually shape his personality throughout his life, till the end, and these were the focal points of the different stages of development. (Personality Synopsis: allpsych.com/personalitysynopsis/erikson)

Even at the last stage, or the eights stage of life, that is, when a person is above the age of sixty, he is still developing his personality. This is because, as described poignantly by Erikson, the individual has reached the age when he comes to be accepted as a 'senior citizen', and therefore, he has to slow down. He has to put a stop to certain activities that he enjoyed as a younger person, and accept that he can no longer do the same things that he used to do as a younger man, today. This is the stage when he must develop integrity, when he sees that his life has slowed down, and his productivity and usefulness have also slowed down. If, in case the elderly person feels that he has not achieved anything in his life, or that he was not at all a success in his earlier life, then he will inevitably and definitely become dissatisfied and disgusted, not only with his own life, but also with others', and this would in turn lead to despair and hopelessness.

This reveals Erikson's Theory fully; that is, it is only when one, as he passes through each stage in his life, is able to meet with the conflicts in his life that arise at that stage, and solve them amicably, would he be able to progress satisfactorily into the next stage, and this means that his personality and development would also be impacted by these stages, and when he feels that his needs are met, and he can develop satisfactorily, then he would be a well developed and well trained personality, who would be able to adjust well to any type of social setting in his life, and meet life head on, with courage and resolution. (Personality Synopsis)

Most theorists and researchers do agree on a common point, which is that the most notable development in a human being occurs at the time of adolescence, and in a number of areas. There are, however, several differing viewpoints about particular aspects of adolescence, like for example, whether this development is continuous or stops, and whether there is a continuity in development between one stage of life and the next, and so on. Another viewpoint is whether this adolescent period, which is popularly known, all over the world, as a period of great stress, and therefore, an important part in the development of a child, is actually so, or is it all just theoretical information and not actual facts? Is adolescence therefore a period of turbulence, or is it relatively uneventful in the greater scheme of things? Also, is it important that an adolescent be able to establish certain specific developmental tasks at this time, or it all right if he doesn't actually do so? In addition, do internal or environmental factors have more impact on the development of a child during it adolescence? Such psychoanalytic theories on human development began in the early years of the 1900's, with one of the more important and renowned psychoanalysts of the time, Sigmund Freud's, and his theories and his work on human development. In fact, many of today's modern psychoanalytical theories have a base on Freud's theories. (Theories and Approaches, Developmental Theories)

Sigmund Freud was born in the year 1856, in a small town called Moravia, into a lively family, with seven or eight siblings. When he was young, the family moved to Vienna, where he lived most of his life. Freud was always a brilliant and an above the average child, and when he was very young, he became engrossed in the theories of a physiology Professor, Ernst Brucke, who believed in this theory that no other forces, other than the common physical and chemical ones, are generally alive within a living organism, and Freud explored this theory further, attempting to 'reduce' human personality to neurology. After completing his degree in medicine, Sigmund Freud set up his own practice in neuropsychiatry in Vienna, with the help of Joseph Breuer, his contemporary. (Personality Theories: Sigmund Freud, 1856 to 1939) However, the moment that Freud started to develop his theories on psychoanalysis, he was surrounded by several dissenters, as well as collaborators, and it is a sad fact that many of his collaborators, later on started to object to the various psychoanalytical theories that Freud had managed to establish. (Sigmund Freud, Life and Work, the Secret Committee) However, Sigmund Freud's Developmental Theories are well accepted and well acknowledged, even today, and many modern theories on development are based on this individual's theories.

According to Sigmund Freud, what a person does, and why exactly he does it, 'who' he is, and exactly how he became that way, are all related, in some way or the other, to his basic sexual drive. In addition, the basic differences in personalities, from one person to another, are all related to the various sexual experiences that the person had had as a young child. In the 'Psychoanalytical Model' on development, created by Freud, child development is outlined in terms of 'psychosexual stages', and in his 'Three Essays on Sexuality', Freud outlines five stages in the manifestation of the sexual drive in a child, as he grows, and these are, according to Freud, Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, and Genital, and, at each stage, each part of the body becomes the focus of the child's sexual drive. (Freud's Psychosexual Theories of Development)

In addition, the different ways and means in which the child would have satisfied his sexual urges at the various stages of his life would affect and bring about the innate differences that are evident in adult personalities. One must always remember the fact that there will definitely be a conflict in the child's mind at every stage, because of the various rules of the society in which he lives, and if this conflict is properly resolved, then he would be able to progress successfully on to the next stage, but if it is not aptly resolved, then he would end up becoming fixated on that particular stage where he is unable to resolve his conflict, and this becomes the root cause for the many personality disorders that become evident later in his life. Therefore, Freud outlines the stages of development as these: the First Stage would be when the baby is from age 0 to when he is about one and a half years old. To an infant aged 0 to 1.5, the mother's breast is the main source of nourishment, and it therefore comes to represent the mother's love for her baby.

The child's personality, according to Freud, is predominantly controlled by its 'id', and this means that the child would need immediate gratification of his various needs, at this stage. Therefore, a responsive nurturing or feeding is the key, at this stage, and when this does not take place properly, and when there is either force feeding, or insufficient feeding, then it may well have the result of the infant becoming fixated on this stage. This is also the stage of life when the infant can achieve sexual gratification form the various erogenous zones of his body, which are, according to Freud, his mouth. It is through his mouth that he infant is able to nurse, feed, drink, eat, and also move his mouth in various ways, like in sucking, chewing, gumming, and so on. Freud states that when the conflicts are not resolved at this particular stage, then a fixation would most likely occur, and this becomes evident in later life, when the child is an adult, in various activities, like for example, smoking, chewing constantly on gum, on a pencil, or on an eraser, and so on. (Freud's Psychosexual Theories of Development)

Nail biting, over eating, drinking, and frequent indulgence in sarcastic or biting remarks are all indicators of the same. The Second Stage, according to Freud, is when the infant is one and a half to up to three years of age. One of the major events at this time of life for a child of this age is bowel training, when the child has to undergo a certain amount of toilet training so that he may control his bladder and bowel movements, so that he may not embarrass himself and his parents in public, since society expects a child to be well behaved, in all ways, when he goes out. It is at this stage of life that the child starts to notice the pleasure or displeasure that is to be gained from a bowel movement, and therefore, as a result, the anal region becomes an erogenous zone for the child.

Through the toilet training that his parents are giving him, the child is able to gain some sort of control over his own such movements, and this affords him a keen sense of power. He starts to feel that he can actually exert some control or power over his parents, and begins to realize the fact that by either controlling the expulsion of his feces, or by retention of his bowel movement, he is able to, either grant his parents' wishes, or go against them, according to his own will. When the conflicts that may arise at this stage are unresolved, it may result in two types of personalities, as underlined by Freud. These may be either 'anal-expulsive' personalities, or they may turn out to be 'anal-retentive' personalities. In the former case, this disorder happens when the parents of the child are much too lenient about their training. When this happens, and the society's rules for toilet training are not instilled into the child, the child will start to receive pleasure and success form expulsion, and also become completely fixated on this method of gratification. (Freud's Psychosexual Theories of Development)

The result would be that, at a later stage in life, this child would become an extremely sloppy, slovenly, and disorganized, defiant, and rebellious individual. In the latter case, when a parent is excessively rigid and strict about toilet training his child, and repeatedly punishes the child for 'accidents', then as an adult, the child will take some sort of perverse pleasure in being able to withhold his bowel movements, and be quite inordinately anxious about the entire procedure. Such an individual would be an excessively orderly and clean and neat person, and they are also quite intolerant of those people who are not as neat as they are. These people may also be extremely stingy, and also stubborn, obstinate, meticulous, and at times passive-aggressive, and conforming.

The next and Third Stage, called 'Phallic Stage, is when the child is four, till when he is five. According to Freud, this is the stage that is the most important in the psychosexual development of a person, because it is at this time that the child starts to develop an attraction towards his parent of the opposite sex. In addition, the child also develops envy and fear of the same sex parent, and this can be extremely disturbing to the small child. When the child is a boy, this is referred to as the 'Oedipus Complex', named according to the Greek myth wherein the boy kills his father and marries his own mother, while being completely unaware of her true identity. When it is a girl, this is referred to as the 'Electra Complex'. (Freud's Psychosexual Theories of Development)

In a girl, this complex may manifest itself in an unnatural 'penis envy', wherein the girl, during this stage in her development, would switch on to the father as the main object of her affection, from her mother, who had been her main source of love and affection until then. At the same time, the girl would also have to sift from the clitoris as being the main source of sexual gratification to the vagina, which would become the main genital zone in the child's mind. In addition, it would be generally at this time that a girl would discover the fact that she lacked a penis, an object that a boy had. As a direct consequence, the girl would blame her own mother for this lack, and feel hurt that her mother would do such a thing to her. As a result, her self-esteem would suffer a blow, and the girl would end up blaming herself for this entire episode. Maybe, the girl would then give up her clitoral sexuality, and turn to her father as an object of sexual gratification. This theory has in fact been criticized by a lot of people, especially feminists, but this theory is an important one in Freud's Developmental Theory, and has to be taken as a part of the developmental process of a child when it is aged about four. (Penis Envy)

The boy, on the other hand, begins to develop a very real fear that his father would punish him for the feelings of antagonism and envy that he seems to have developed for his father, and the attraction that he has developed for his mother, and fears that his father would castrate him for these feelings that he does not seem able to control. Eventually, the boy decides to identity with his father, because it is most definitely safer than fearing punishment, or even fighting with him. This is the turning point because when this happens, the boy starts to develop the predominantly male characteristics that are generally associated with the male sex, and he starts to see himself as a 'male'. This means that he would have to start repressing his sexual feelings towards his mother that he had feeling earlier. In case the boy develops a 'fixation' at this stage, the ultimate result would be the development of certain types of sexual deviances, like perhaps an over indulgence, or even an avoidance. At times, the boy develops a weak or a confused sexual identity later on in life, if the conflicts that arise at this important stage in his life are not resolved satisfactorily. (Psychology 101)

The next important stage in a child's development, according to Freud, is when the child is six, until when the child reaches puberty. This is the Fourth Stage, and is known as the 'Latency Stage'. This is a period of relative calm, and the child's sexual and aggressive drives are much more under control, and he is more calm and cool. There is not much in the way of psychosexual conflict in his life at this stage, and he remains unaffected by anything other than his school and his studies and his friends. (Freud's Psychosexual Stages of Development: Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, Genital) It is also said that it is the resolution of the conflicts that would have arisen during the Phallic Stage that would lead a child successfully into the Latency Stage. This stage is not an actual psychosexual stage in a child's development, but is instead, a period in his life when the sexual urge and drive remain at a predominantly dormant level.

Freud also saw this period in an individual's life as a stage when there is an unparalleled repression of both sexual desires as well as erogenous impulses. This is the reason why most children are able to pour out all their energy into pursuits that are related to their school and their studies and their same-sex friendships, and all these pursuits are basically completely asexual. However, this does not last long, because puberty strikes, and once again, the genitals achieve great importance and become the primary focus of attention for these children. (Stevenson, Freud's Psychosexual Stages of Development) The Oedipus complex and the Electra complex would have been resolved at this Latent Stage, and all the various conflicting feelings that would have been aroused during that period would have now subsided. (Freud's Theory of Psychosexual Development)

The next and the final stage in the Development of a child is when the child has entered puberty and this phase lasts from when the child is eleven years old until the time when he is eighteen years old. Also known as the 'Genital Stage', this is the Fifth Stage in Freud's Developmental Theory. The genital phase is the longest phase of all the five phases of development, according to Freud, and in reality, this phase is very much similar to the anal stage that the child passes through when he is an infant. At this stage, the child finds that he has a renewed interest in excretory activities, and, added to this, the child starts to find pleasure in masturbatory activities, and this activity seems to be indulged in with more frequency than in the anal stage. In the beginning of this stage, the child is definitely more interested in forming friendships and other such likely associations with members of his own sex, just like it was in the latency stage. However, the associations that are formed are much stronger than before, and Freud is able to detect homosexual connotations in these associations and friendships. (Child development: Freud's Genital Phase)