Identity: Youth and Crisis

Erikson defines ego identity as the sense of self that humans develop through the processes of social interaction. In his words, there is a “mutual contract between the individual and society” (164). This mutual contract proceeds according to the epigenetic principle, in which the developing child’s innate plan for growth helps them to create the series of potential social interactions needed for personality development. At every stage of development, the community supports the growing individual by presenting a hierarchy of roles appropriate to a particular stage.

The interplay between the individual and society reaches its acute “identity crisis” in Erikson’s fifth stage of personality development, Adolescence. The crisis or turning point in this stage is the search for constancy, loyalty, and trust. The psychosocial moratorium may be required to allow the young person to reconcile their physical, sexual, and emotional/intellectual growth with the roles offered by society. The growth itself, however, provides new energy for coping with new experiences.

Society is always changing and will continue to do so. These changes can be damaging to the developing individual, as for the “reeducated” Sioux children who could no longer measure their physical growth against their cultural expectations.