Developmental History Paper

Abigail Neeley

College of Social Work, University of South Carolina

SOWK 341

Uri Reisman

16 November 2022
 The person that I chose to interview on their stages of development throughout their life

will go by the name of “John” to protect anonymity. John is a bisexual, cisgender male who has

two sisters and one living parent. He identifies as mixed races, with half being African American

and the other half being Hispanic, and he enjoys embracing his Hispanic culture through

language, food, and music. John is a practicing Buddhist and considers the most important aspect

of his life to be his friends, family, and spirituality. To best explain John’s development of his

life as of today, Fowler’s Theory of Faith Development and Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial

Development will be used to analyze how the events of John’s life have shaped his personality

and character today.

The first theory that applied to John’s development of his life was Fowler’s Theory of

Faith Development due to John’s dedication to religion and faith throughout his life. Fowler’s

Theory uses seven stages to attempt to explain how someone’s faith or spirituality changes

throughout their lives based on where they are at in developmental stages of life. The first stage

of the theory, primal or undifferentiated faith, ranges from birth to about two years old and

encompassed infant’s trust in the world and in others (Ford, 2006). Stage two, intuitive

projective faith, includes preschool aged children and is seen when experiencing faith or

spirituality through their parents in the religious community.

Mythic-literal faith, stage three, incorporates six- to 12-year-olds who are now beginning

to differentiate between mythical and factual events. Children at the end of this stage are also

now able to understand that other people can have different beliefs than them and begin listening

to friends and others about their beliefs. In stage four of Fowler’s Theory of Faith Development,

adolescents aged 12 to 18 are in the synthetic-conventional faith stage of their lives (Karesh,

2013). During this stage, adolescents are able to think about abstract concepts about religion and
begin to claim their faith as their own rather than simply following along with their parents’

faith. Stage five, individuative reflective faith, includes those in young adulthood who are now

questioning their faith and will sometimes leave the religious community that they had

previously been part of (Ford, 2006).

During stage six, conjunctive faith, those in their thirties are becoming comfortable with

unanswered questions from the previous stage. Those in stage six are open to learning more from

different communities and other faiths to evolve their understanding of their spirituality and

faith. The final stage of Fowler’s Theory is universalizing faith, also known as enlightenment,

and this stage can be reached generally after the late thirties until death (Glass, 2021). Albeit

difficult to reach, people such as Count Leo Tolstoy or Mahatma Gandhi are believed to have

reached Fowler’s final theory.

Fowler’s theory of faith development was selected to be one of the best fits for explaining

John’s development throughout his life because during the interview, he explained how much of

an impact Christianity, Buddhism, and spirituality have had on his life. Because John is 21 years

old and has been recently questioning and discovering his faith, he is in stage five of Fowler’s

Theory: individuative reflective faith. John had not always practiced the Buddhist faith, and he

had grown up in a Christian Baptist household. He stated that his parents were “very religious,”

with both of his parents volunteering in the church and his entire family being extremely

involved with church activities. “Religion has always been a big part of my life,” he said after he

was asked about how religion has impacted his everyday life, “it makes me who I am. My goals,

values, morals, and other parts of my character are almost entirely reflected by spirituality in

some form.”
 When asking John about the timeline of how he felt his faith evolved throughout his life,

he began to explain how quickly he had progressed into a deeper understanding of what

spirituality was. “The second I was born I was basically thrown into church,” he said after asking

him where he felt like his faith began, “I picked up on more complex ideas really quickly.

Probably a lot younger than most people.” He said that for the majority of his younger childhood,

he was going along with what his parents told him to do and believe, but then he began to think

about abstract ideas about spirituality and religion around the age of seven when he thought a lot

about other religions. John’s ability to think abstractly about his spirituality through Christianity

at such a young age was different than Fowler’s projection of where he should have been at this

point in his life, especially when John was faced with different perspectives on religion. He had a

friend in elementary school who was Muslim, and the two discussed different aspects of their

religions and what they believed in. “After talking to this guy, I had a lot of questions,” John

remembered after talking more about his childhood friend, “like what made his religion wrong

and mine right? Why was my friend, a good person, going to hell just for picking the wrong

religion?”

John continued to discuss how his questions about spirituality quickly increased as he

aged, leaving him more confused yet increasingly dedicated to religion. His dedication to

religion in his life despite his many questions confused me, so he elaborated further when he said

that “most of [his] dedication came from fear of going to hell. Later on in life [his] commitment

to spirituality turned into something different, but spirituality has always been a major part of

[his] life. Through fear or a sense of a higher connection, it has always been a part of [himself].

By later adolescence, John was fully committed to the Christian Baptist faith, regardless of the

many questions that had still been left unanswered. By this point in his life, John said that he
begun to ask new questions that he had not previously thought of before. He stated that these

questions were mostly asked to dive into a deeper understanding of the Christian faith rather than

questioning if he believed in Christian morals at all. “I found myself thinking about it almost

constantly. I was doing lots of reading, talking to leaders of the church, everything I could do to

answer my questions. I changed a lot as a person during that time.”

While in stage five of Fowler’s theory, John converted to Buddhism right after high

school when he made some new friends who had practiced the faith. He left the Christian faith

because he felt that there were too many questions that were left unanswered, and the death of

his mother the same year caused him to despise Christianity. “After my mom passed, I was angry

with the church and with God. I did not understand how something like this could happen to

someone like her, I was confused,” John stated when asked what his main reason for abandoning

Christianity was. Remembering back to his adolescent years, John then explained that his

struggle with depression is what caused him to cling so tightly to religion. When his mother

passed, John experienced severe levels of depression and anger that drove him to find hope once

again in spirituality. “It reminded me of being a teenager again and needing hope during my

darkest times, except this time I could not go back to Christianity. That was when I started

exploring Buddhism.” John then stated that he felt that most of his questions had been answered

with regards to his spirituality, and he was at peace with the ones that had not been answered.

Another theory that impacted the development of John’s life was Erik Erikson’s stages of

psychosocial development. Erikson divided development into eight stages based on psychosocial

challenges that one faces throughout their life, and these crises would have either a positive or

negative outcome on someone’s character (Mcleod, 1970). The stages are labeled with positive

and negative virtues, which are viewed as individual needs versus societal needs. Erikson
believed that after going through all eight stages successfully, one would come out with positive

virtues and strong moral character. If one did not complete the stages successfully, they might

not be able to reach other stages or have weak virtues.

Stages one and two of Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development include the ages

from birth to three years old. During these stages, the virtues of trust and will are either learned

and built into one’s character or rejected (Kerpelman, 2001). Stage three, ages three to five, and

stage four, ages five to twelve, focus on purpose and competency through the psychosocial

challenges of initiative versus guilt and industry versus inferiority. Stage five, identity versus

role confusion, is a key factor in development due to the transition from childhood into

adulthood and highlights the virtue of fidelity. From the ages of 18 to 40, stage six is taking place

through intimacy versus isolation where close connections with others can either be formed or

isolation can occur (Kropf, 2017). Until the age of 65, the psychosocial crisis of generativity

versus stagnation takes place where the virtues of care and accomplishment are either learned or

uselessness is felt in the world. The final section of Erikson’s stages is after the age of 65 until

death and consists of ego integrity versus despair. During this stage, older adults are reflecting on

their lives and can either feel fulfilled or unaccomplished with their lives and can achieve the

virtue of wisdom.

Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development was selected to explain John’s

development throughout his life because he feels that some stages of his life caused a negative

impact on his character. John was adopted by his current parents when he was about two years

old, and he had previously lived with his mother who struggled with substance abuse at the time.

“I have almost no memory of my birth mother other than a few short memories here and there. I

know she wasn’t around often, even though I was an infant.” John was taken away from his birth
mother due to neglect, and he stated that he feels there is a part of himself that will always be

hurt by her abandonment. John’s situation as an infant is Erikson’s first stage of psychosocial

development where he experienced mistrust rather than trust due to the neglect of his birth

mother. He then stated that he still struggles with abandonment anxiety today and believes that

the cause for his mistrust of others is due to what he experienced as an infant. John also claims

that his father has helped him work through this struggle by always being there for him and

supporting him through “whatever life throws at [him].”

Through stage three, autonomy versus shame, and stage four, initiative versus guilt, John

stated that he felt there were no major events or issues that caused him negative impacts on his

personality. However, during stage five, John explained how he felt inferior to his peers due to

the impact asthma had on his athletic abilities. “I had asthma really bad as a kid to the point

where I really could not participate in sports. This also meant that I could not run around with the

other boys during recess, and I was made fun of for breathing so hard and coughing when I tried.

It was humiliating.” John then continued to explain how always feeling inferior to his peers in

elementary school had an impact on him several years later through his self-confidence levels. “I

eventually made friends with some of the girls who were always on the swing sets,” he said

when asked if he had any support through these challenges at school, “they always made sure to

make me feel included and never made fun of me for my asthma.”

One aspect of Erikson’s Stages that did not align with John’s development during his life

was stage five, intimacy versus isolation (Kerpelman, 2001). John has been with his fiancé for

six years and was recently engaged about five months ago. He has known his partner since

preschool, and they began dating once the two reached high school. “Her and I have known each

other our entire lives, we have been best friends for years,” John said when asked to describe
their relationship, “we’ve had this commitment to each other for so long. I have never been

worried about being lonely because I have always had her by my side. One thing about me is that

I am a loving person, and it has always been in my character.” John learned the virtue of love

outside of a friend or family relationship much sooner than Erikson had predicted, and John

reached intimacy rather than isolation before he reached his adult life.

Through Fowler’s Theory of Faith Development and Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial

Development, the positive and negative events throughout John’s life help to explain his

character, morals, and values today. Despite his struggles with the loss of both of his mothers,

mental health, and physical health, John had the support of his friends, family, and enduring

hope in spirituality to create the character that he has today.

 Works Cited

Ford, J. W. (2006). Pluralism and oneness in religious experience: Fowler, faith-development

theory, and clinical practice. Religion and the Clinical Practice of Psychology., 165–186.
https://doi.org/10.1037/10199-006

Karesh, R. A. (2013, February 18). Fowler and spiritual development: Stages of faith.
Owlcation. Retrieved November 14, 2022, from https://owlcation.com/humanities/James-
Fowler-and-Spiritual-Development-Stages-of-Faith

Kerpelman, J. L. (2001). Identity control theory, exploration, and choice: A commentary on

Schwartz's "The evolution of eriksonian and Neo-Eriksonian Identity Theory and
research". Identity, 1(1), 81–86. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532706xkerpel

Kropf, N. P., & Greene, R. R. (2017). Erikson’s eight stages of development: Different lenses.
Human Behavior Theory, 75–92. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351327527-5

Glass, A., & Based on the work of James Fowler. (2021, April 12). Handout 1: Stages of faith
development. UUA.org. Retrieved November 13, 2022, from
https://www.uua.org/re/tapestry/youth/wholeness/workshop2/handout1-stages-faith-
development

Mcleod, S. (1970, January 1). Erik Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development. Erik Erikson's
8 Stages of Psychosocial Development. Retrieved November 13, 2022, from
https://www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html#generativity