title: Erik Erikson and his problematic identity.
abstract: In his psychohistorical biographies of Luther and Gandhi, Erik Erikson proposed that great issues of a particular time and place, as experienced by sensitive and creative individuals who are working to resolve their inner conflicts within these contexts, could find solutions that transcend themselves and yield conceptualizations that transform the world. Although Erikson was able to create a conceptualization of the adolescent task of establishing a coherent identity, one that gave voice to the aspirations and frustrations of the rebellious student movements of the 1960s, he was never able, over his lifetime, to resolve his own identity issues. Was he Dane or German, American or Scandinavian, Jew or Christian or both? His lifelong back-and-forths on this struggle are chronicled.
authors.forename: Robert S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Wallerstein
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011572:Psychoanalysis / Q000266:history*; D011574:Psychoanalytic Theory; D012649:Self Concept; D012933:Social Identification