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This book by Erik Erikson, published in 1950, is a classic because it was one of the first to show how Sigmund [[Freud]]'s [[theory ]] of [[infantile ]] [[sexuality ]] could be broadened in the light of fieldwork in [[cultural ]] [[anthropology ]] and sociological studies.

Erikson studied two American Indian tribes and compared their different ways of socializing [[children]]. Based on this [[work ]] he elaborated his conception of the [[development ]] of the ego, in which he discerned eight distinct phases that he believed were an aspect of [[psychology ]] at least as important as the [[libidinal ]] [[stages ]] outlined by Freud. Attempting to [[identify ]] positive, organizing aspects of the [[psyche]], Erikson sought to show how these achievements of the ego continue to [[change ]] and exert an influence long after the conflicts of early [[childhood ]] that had so interested Freud.

Erikson was particularly interested in problems relating to youth, above all the ways in which psychosocial [[identity ]] could be a key organizing [[concept ]] for [[understanding ]] adolescence. He approached this issue from a cultural-comparatist perspective, with a special focus on the characteristic polarities of American [[society]]. He then studied the legendary characteristics of Adolf [[Hitler]]'s childhood to see how the rise of [[Nazism ]] could be [[interpreted ]] within the framework of typically [[German ]] [[social ]] [[structures]]. Lastly, Erikson interpreted what is known [[about ]] Maxim Gorky's youth, to complement his description with [[materials ]] taken from Russian [[history]].

Revised and expanded in 1963, Childhood and Society is the work of a pioneer who sought to raise [[psychoanalytic ]] [[thought ]] to the level of the modern social [[sciences]]. Although he did not [[renounce ]] his early Freudianism, Erikson endeavored to provide a new way of [[looking ]] at things. When asked what the aims of a normal [[individual ]] should be, Freud customarily replied with two [[words ]] that Erikson liked to [[recall]]: "[[Love ]] and work." Erikson wanted such a maxim to become a psychoanalytic norm.

[[Paul|PAUL ]] ROAZEN

See also: Anthropology and [[psychoanalysis]]; Erikson, Erik (Homburger); Ego ([[ego psychology]]).

[[Bibliography]]