Erik H. Erikson's remarkable insights into the relationship of life history and history began with observations on a central stage of life: identity development in adolescence. This book collects three early papers that—along with Childhood and Society—many consider the best introduction to Erikson's theories. "Ego Development and Historical Change" is a selection of extensive notes in which Erikson first undertook to relate to each other observations on groups studied on field trips and on children studied longitudinally and clinically. These notes are representative of the source material used for Childhood and Society. "Growth and Crises of the Health Personality" takes Erikson beyond adolescence, into the critical stages of the whole life cycle. In the third and last essay, Erikson deals with "The Problem of Ego Identity" successively from biographical, clinical, and social points of view—all dimensions later pursued separately in his work.

"This book will last and last, because it contains the wisdom of two wonderfully knowing observers of our human destiny."—Robert Coles For decades Erik H. Erikson's concept of the stages of human development has deeply influenced the field of contemporary psychology. Here, with new material by Joan M. Erikson, is an expanded edition of his final work. The Life Cycle Completed eloquently closes the circle of Erikson's theories, outlining the unique rewards and challenges—for both individuals and society—of very old age.

The two lectures presented in this important volume were delivered by Erik H. Erikson at the second annual Jefferson Lectures in the Humanities, sponsored by The National Endowment for the Humanitites. In the first lecture, entitled "The Founders: Jeffersonion Action and Faith," Erikson uses selected themes from Jefferson's life to illustrate some principles of psychohistory. In the second lecture, "The Inheritors: Modern Insight and Foresight," Erikson applied his main concepts to the problems of ongoing history. The title of the lectures contains one such concept. "New identity" is the result of radical historical change and is here meant to characterize the emerging American identity as first embodied in such men as Jefferson. Erikson first explores certain themes in his examination of the emerging American identity during Jefferson's time. He then attempts to relate the Jeffersonian themes to contemporary problems of repression and suppression, of moralistic vindication, and true liberation by insight. Finally, Erikson maintains that now that children will be born by the privileged choice of parental persons, an adult environment fitting the living and the to-be-living becomes an ethical necessity. There is no question that this work ranks among Erikson's most challenging and seminal books.

Three of Erikson's early papers, now seen as bases for his later theories, include observations on groups and children, an elaboration of the critical stages in the life cycle, and a multilateral study of ego identity.

Erik H. Erikson's remarkable insights into relationship of life history and history began with observations on a central stage of life: identity development in adolescence. This book collects three early papers that-along with Childhood and Society-many consider the best introduction to Erikson's theories.

The landmark work on the social significance of childhood. The original and vastly influential ideas of Erik H. Erikson underlie much of our understanding of human development. His insights into the interdependence of the individuals' growth and historical change, his now-famous concepts of identity, growth, and the life cycle, have changed the way we perceive ourselves and society. Widely read and cited, his works have won numerous awards including the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. Combining the insights of clinical psychoanalysis with a new approach to cultural anthropology, Childhood and Society deals with the relationships between childhood training and cultural accomplishment, analyzing the infantile and the mature, the modern and the archaic elements in human motivation. It was hailed upon its first publication as "a rare and living combination of European and American thought in the human sciences" (Margaret Mead, The American Scholar). Translated into numerous foreign languages, it has gone on to become a classic in the study of the social significance of childhood.

Since these disciplines explicitly address both concepts of, identity and development with well-differentiated points of view, the reader is able to see how the perspective offered by one discipline can inform another. The book is organized into three parts (psychoanalysis, psychology, and history and literature), and each section is introduced by a description of the role of each chapter in that section and the role that the section plays in the volume as a whole. The book also includes introductory and concluding chapters that provide the context as well as the summation of a multidisciplinary approach to identity and development.