The famous psychoanalyst Erik Erikson built on Freud's concept of childhood development, but enriched it with a description of social influences and elaborated on the developmental stages of adulthood and old age. According to his theory, man has a certain task at each age, the fulfillment of which he acquires a certain value. What is remarkable about Childhood and Society is the combination of psychology and cultural anthropology. On this basis the author tries to show that the culture in which an individual grows up has a profound effect on his personality. He illustrates this by observing members of two Indian tribes that create a different type of individual (the spontaneous Sioux and the much more withdrawn Yurok). He also shows the influence of social conditions by analyzing the German Hitler and the Russian Gorky. In addition to describing the various stages of life, the author discusses the development of identity, including descriptions of the dangers of losing it and the importance of adolescence for its development.
Written in 1950 and thoroughly revised 13 years later, the book is Erikson's most famous and seminal work, and her theories are still an integral part of developmental psychology today.
Czech edition