Part IV, Youth and the Evolution of Identity, Chapter 8, Reflections on American Identity Summary and Analysis

Prior to the beginning of Chapter 8, Erikson introduces part four of the book. He notes that the book may seem to have gone beyond childhood. But, Erikson counters, understanding childhood involves understanding how it ends and how it leads to social integration. In the process, Erikson extols Freud's work in continuing the process of bringing the individual to a self-conscious state, which produces an increasingly advanced society. The introduction concludes with more discussion of the origin and significance of Freudian psychology. Erikson plans to focus the fourth and last part of the book on the problems of identity in America, Germany and Russia to illustrate Freudian theory.

Chapter 8 claims that the United States is a dynamic country...