206 Part II Psychodynamic Theories
mistrust is critical to people’s ability to adapt. He told Richard Evans (1967) that
“when we enter a situation, we must be able to differentiate how much we can
trust and how much we must mistrust, and I use mistrust in the sense of a readi-
ness for danger and an anticipation of discomfort” (p. 15).
The inevitable clash between basic trust and basic mistrust results in people’s
first psychosocial crisis. If people successfully solve this crisis, they acquire their
first basic strength—hope.Hope: The Basic Strength of Infancy
Hope emerges from the conflict between basic trust and basic mistrust. Without the
antithetical relationship between trust and mistrust, people cannot develop hope.
Infants must experience hunger, pain, and discomfort as well as the alleviation of
these unpleasant conditions. By having both painful and pleasurable experiences,
infants learn to expect that future distresses will meet with satisfactory outcomes.
If infants do not develop sufficient hope during infancy, they will demon-
strate the antithesis or the opposite of hope—withdrawal, the core pathology of
infancy. With little to hope for, they will retreat from the outside world and begin
the journey toward serious psychological disturbance.Early Childhood
The second psychosocial stage is early childhood, a period paralleling Freud’s
anal stage and encompassing approximately the 2nd and 3rd years of life. Again,
some differences exist between the views of Freud and Erikson. In Chapter 2, we
explained that Freud regarded the anus as the primary erogenous zone during this
period and that during the early sadistic-anal phase, children receive pleasure in
destroying or losing objects, while later they take satisfaction in defecating.
Once again, Erikson took a broader view. To him, young children receive
pleasure not only from mastering the sphincter muscle but also from mastering
other body functions such as urinating, walking, throwing, holding, and so on. In
addition, children develop a sense of control over their interpersonal environment,
as well as a measure of self-control. However, early childhood is also a time of
experiencing doubt and shame as children learn that many of their attempts at
autonomy are unsuccessful.Anal-Urethral-Muscular Mode
During the 2nd year of life, children’s primary psychosexual adjustment is the
anal-urethral-muscular mode. At this time, children learn to control their body,
especially in relation to cleanliness and mobility. Early childhood is more than a
time of toilet training; it is also a time of learning to walk, run, hug parents, and
hold on to toys and other objects. With each of these activities, young children are
likely to display some stubborn tendencies. They may retain their feces or eliminate
them at will, snuggle up to their mother or suddenly push her away, delight in
hoarding objects or ruthlessly discard them.
Early childhood is a time of contradiction, a time of stubborn rebellion and
meek compliance, a time of impulsive self-expression and compulsive deviance, a