In Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory, he states that the infant stage is where trust is first developed. During the infant stage if a child is cared for and develop a positive bond with the caregiver, then they may be more trusting of people as they get older, and have a sense of security (p 245). On the other hands some infants do not make a positive bond because they receive inconsistent care and feel rejected. Some of those infants grow up being suspicious and fearful of people in the world.

            Margaret Mahler theory of separation-individuation states that the infant become autonomous the older that they get (p 270).  Mahler view is that as the child gets older they may venture away from the caregiver, but they will always return, or check back and make sure that the caregiver is still there. This may be due to the infant knowing that they can trust the caregiver.

            In comparing these two theories, they can be applied when observing the infant during the assessment phase. If the infant is not attach to the caregiver, and is not affected when they leave then they may have learned that the caregiver is not reliable, therefore they will not be attach to the individual. If the infant wanders away and never look back to see if the caregiver is still there then they have learned to be independent and depend on themselves at this early stage of life. When contrasting these two theories, Erikson theory states that a child will learn trust if cared for on a consistent basis, where Mahler theory says that yes a child may have trust but they eventually learn to be individual and have their own identity outside of the caregiver that have cared for them. In the end the infant grow up to trust themselves more than the individual that may or may not have cared for them.

Reference: Ashford Jose B., Lecroy Craig Winston

Human Behavior in the Social Environment: A Multidimensional Perspective, Fifth Edition