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Charles Teaches Sofia to Mistrust
Esther (age 23) and Charles (age 23) had a child, Sofia. Esther was unaware that Charles wanted to be a part of Sofia's life until she was 13 months old. In Erikson's 1st stage, trust vs. mistrust, Sofia meets Charles. Until now she had only known love & care from Esther, but upon the addition of Charles in her life she now learned to mistrust others. Charles was cold and distant & stated, "how can I love her when I don't know her?" Charles would make promises to Sofia w/out following through. -
Charles Teaches Sofia Doubt & Shame
Esther tries to give Sofia the power of choice, Sofia chooses her clothes, food, toys, etc..., but when Sofia is with Charles he berates and punishes her and makes the choices for her. Charles makes statements like, "what you want doesn't matter, I'm the father & what I want is what matters." Even though Sofia is given the power to choose when she is with Esther, by not being allowed to choose when she is w/Charles Sofia experiences shame & doubt (the 2nd stage of Erikson's Psychosocial Theory). -
Sofia Learns to Feel Guilt Over Her Initiative
Esther gives Sofia the choice to plan out activities he/she wants to do and is very encouraging of Sofia's initiative. She gives Sofia the choice for her birthday party, karate classes, etc... Meanwhile, Charles discounts Sofia's initiative, refusing all of her ideas, yelling at her for being bothersome & acting as if she is a nuisance. Sofia begins displaying guilty behaviors (the 3rd stage of Erikson's Psychosocial Theory) as she is discouraged from expressing initiative w/Charles.
