Educational Media Reviews Online

Erik Erikson was a pioneer in twentieth-century child development theory, social psychology, and the interactions of psychology with history, politics and culture (psycho-history). Although this film does include richly illustrated biographical segments, the emphasis is on Erikson's work, in particular, his bio-psycho-social model (all human behavior must be viewed in its social context), his introduction of ethical perspectives into psychology, and his Eight-Stage Life Cycle.

Margaret Brenman-Gibson, who teaches psychology at Harvard Medical School and who studied with Erikson, narrates the biographical part of the film; Ruthie Mickles, a San Francisco psychologist, details Erikson's Eight-Stage Life Cycle. Clearly it is intended as an introduction to child development for high school and college level (a two-page "teaching guide" which outlines the content of the film is included; unfortunately it has some annoyingly sloppy typographical errors), but many other uses come to mind: parenting classes, cultural diversity awareness (Erikson developed his bio-psycho-social model while studying parenting practices among the Sioux Indians in South Dakota), as an introduction to cultural anthropology, social psychology, or educational psychology. Technically it may leave a little something to be desired (the video lacks polish, and from time to time, the narration is, well, graceless and pedantic), but the information is clear and well-organized, and the overall effect is exciting and challenging. Highly recommended.