Psychosocial theory, based on the ideas of Erik Erikson and Robert Havighurst, is proposed as a useful framework for conceptualizing the potential for growth within the family. Erikson's (1950) eight stage theory of psychosocial development and Havighurst's (1959) concept of developmental tasks are used to take account of the stages of development of both parents and children in looking at the reciprocal influence of parents and children on one another. At each stage of development, the emerging competencies and the normative crisis of the period are seen to influence the skills and the preoccupations that family members bring to their interactions. Erikson's concept of psychosocial crisis is used to examine phases of development when there is the potential for support and encouragement, or for heightened tension among family members. The theory postulates that at each stage of development society makes certain psychic demands upon the individual. The process of adjustment to these demands produces a state of tension or crisis within the individual that forces the person to utilize developmental skills that have only recently been mastered. Processes and skills of crisis resolution that are unique to each of the stages of the life cycle are outlined. The concept of coping, which is similar to White's (1960) concept of active mastery, is related to the process of crisis resolution. Coping involves a new approach that will bring the person beyond the problem and into a new relationship with the environment. (Author/SS)