Comportement des enfants et des adolescents

Abstrait

Living with Purpose versus Dying for Meaning: Application to Erik Erikson’s Adolescent Stage of Development

Kalman J Kaplan

This article contrasts developmental and clinical axes to the problem of the adolescent stage as developed by Erik Erikson. We contrast biblical and Graeco- Roman narratives along a two-axis approach of human development to the problem of preventing suicide and promoting life across the lifespan, (i.e., individuation- Deindividuation and attachment-detachment). The present paper applies this approach to adolescence our two-axis view, in contrast, to Erikson, suggests that each stage is entered at the dystonic position (e.g. mistrust) and must be worked though vertically to achieve syntonicity (e.g. trust) necessary to move ahead successfully to the next advanced life stage.