Erikson also states that the development of personality continued through the entire life cycle, rather than just during childhood as Freud has postulated. Finally, Erikson believed that each stage of development had both positive and negative elements. Erikson's departure from the Freudian school was not readily accepted, even by those who were close to him and admired his work. In each of Erikson's developmental stages there is conflict with bipolar outcomes, as previously described. In Erikson's belief, each individual must experience both sides of the conflict in order to incorporate them into life and to synthesize these into a higher level of functioning. This differs from Freud's theory in that each stage has a name, rather than relation to pleasure from a body zone (oral, anal, etc.). According to Erikson, when the conflict is worked through in a constructive manner, this positive experience then becomes the more dominant part of the ego which then allows the individual to move toward further healthy and positive development in later stages. If the individual cannot move past the conflict or the conflict is not resolved in a positive manner, than the negative element of the stage will prevent or retard the individual's development. This negative element may be manifested as problems with self-esteem, adjustment, and in the most severe cases, may result in significant psychopathology.

Erikson has taken the basics of Freudian theory and expanded beyond the basics of psychosocial development...

His teachings moved away from man as a creature whose personal development was based upon his existence as a sexual being to that of the individual as a whole. Erikson was able to identify that personality differs from culture to culture, although it was his hypothesis that developmental tasks are similar to all cultures. Erikson took the initial psychological basis of Freud's work and was able to expand upon it, establishing a connection between childhood and adulthood (Leffert, 2007).
Erikson's hypothesis showed that individuals were not necessarily prisoners of their pre-cognitive development, but rather adaptable individuals who could use the restructuring of negative or missed opportunities to develop positive outcomes, no matter what the stage of life.

Reference:

Chapman AJ, Foot HC, Smith JR. (1995) Friendship and Social Relations in Children. Transaction Publishers, New York.

Wallerstein, R.S. (1998). Erikson's Concept of Ego Identity Reconsidered. J. Amer. Psychoanal. Assn., 46:229-247

Leffert M. (2007) Postmodernism and its impact on psychoanalysis. Bull Menninger Clin. 71; 1:22-41.

Marzi a, Hautmann G, Maestro S. (2006) Critical reflections on intersubjectivity in psychoanalysis. Int J. Psychoanal 87; 1297-1314.

Douvan E. (1997) Erik Erikson: critical times, critical theory. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 29; 1:15-21.