family psychotherapy: double bind
The double bind is "a situation in which no matter what a person does, he can't 'win'" (Bateson, Jackson, Haley, & Weakland, 1956, p. 251). The concept is part of "a general communicational approach to the study of a wide range of human (and some animal) behavior, including schizophrenia as one major case" (Bateson, Jackson, Haley, & Weakland, 1962, p. 155).
In their original 1956 paper, Bateson et al. defined the necessary ingredients for a double-bind situation:
- Two or more persons....
- Repeated experience....
- A primary negative injunction....
- A secondary injunction conflicting with the first at a more abstract level, and like the first enforced by punishments or signals which threaten survival....
- A tertiary negative injunction prohibiting the victim from escaping from the field....
- Finally, the complete set of ingredients is no longer necessary when the victim has learned to perceive his universe in double bind patterns. (pp. 253-254)*
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- Bateson, G., Jackson, D. D., Haley, J., & Weakland, J. H. Toward a theory of schizophrenia. Behavioral Science 1: 251-264, 1956.
- Bateson, G., Jackson, D. D., Haley, J., & Weakland, J. H. A note on the double bind. Family Process 2: 154-161. 1962.
*Extracted with permission from Simon, Fritz et al Language of Family Therapy - A Systemic Vocabulary and Source Book (Family Process Press Series) Paperback 1985 Family Process, Inc.