Childhood and Society explained

Childhood and Society
Author:	Erik Erikson
Country:	United States
Language:	English
Subject:	Childhood
Publisher:	W. W. Norton & Co
Pub Date:	1950
Media Type:	Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages:	445
Isbn:	039331068X

Childhood and Society is a 1950 book about the social significance of childhood by the psychoanalyst Erik H. Erikson.^[1]

Summary

Erikson discusses the social significance of childhood, introducing ideas such as the eight stages of psychosocial development and the concept of an "identity crisis".^[2]

Reception

Childhood and Society was the first of Erikson's books to become popular. The critic Frederick Crews calls the work "a readable and important book extending Freud's developmental theory."^[3] The Oxford Handbook of Identity names Erikson as the seminal figure in "the developmental approach of understanding identity".

Notes and References

1. Paul Roazen, 'Childhood and Society', International Dictionary of Psychoanalysis. Reprinted online at answers.com.
2. Web site: Childhood and Society. W. W. Norton and Company, Inc.. 2012-03-24.
3. Book: Crews, Frederick . Psychoanalysis and Literary Process . registration . Winthrop Publishers, Inc. . Cambridge, Massachusetts . 1970 . 286 . 0-9515922-5-4 .