Personality structure as outlined here can be studied wherever people are participating in transactions with each other—at the dinner table, at school, at social gatherings and at work. However, it is investigated most conveniently in psychotherapy groups, where the information needed for verifying the diagnosis of each aspect of the personality is more readily available than in other situations.
A classic example of the distinction between ego states emerged during the treatment of a male psychiatric patient, who told the following anecdote:
An 8-year-old boy vacationing on a ranch in his cowboy suit helped the hired man to unsaddle his horse. When they were finished, the
Fig. 21. A structural diagram.
132 Personality Structure
hired man said, "Thanks, cowpoke!" To which his assistant answered: "I'm not really a cowpoke; I'm just a little boy."
The man who told this story remarked: "That's just the way I feel. I'm not really a lawyer; I'm just a little boy." Away from the psychiatrist's office, he was an effective and successful courtroom lawyer of high repute. He reared his family decently, did a lot of community work and was popular socially. But in the psychiatrist's office he often did have the attitude of a little boy. Thus it was clear in his case that at certain times he behaved like a grown-up lawyer and at other times like a child. He became so familiar with these two different attitudes that sometimes during his treatment hour he would ask the therapist: "Are you talking to the lawyer or to the little boy?" It was soon possible to speak familiarly of these two attitudes as the Adult and the Child. It then appeared further that in his community work he was neither rational (Adult), as he was in the courtroom, nor lonely and apprehensive (Child) as he often was in the psychiatrist's office; rather he was inclined to feel emotionally involved with the downtrodden: sympathetic, philanthropic and helpful. And he recognized this as a duplication of his father's attitude; hence, it was doubly easy for him to accept the idea of calling this state of mind "parental."
His three states of mind, or ego states, were clearly distinguished in his ways of handling money. At times he would give away large sums, often to the detriment of himself and his family. At other times he would handle his finances with a banker's shrewd foresight. On still other occasions he would get into petty disputes or difficulties over a few pennies. As noted, he recognized the philanthropic attitude as resembling that of his father. In the second condition he was shrewdly appraising the information offered by the environment. In the third condition he recognized relics of the way he had behaved about money when he was a little boy. The clear distinction between the three ego states was brought out by the conflicts that each of these forms of behavior aroused. When he was philanthropic, the lawyer in him would rebel against the unwise use of his funds, and the childlike part of him would resent the fact that he had to give away money that he might use for his own pleasure. In structural language, both his Adult and his Child objected to his Parental way of handling money. When he was being shrewd, his Parent would reproach him with being inconsiderate of other people's needs, while his Child would regard his financial manipulations with a kind of awe. When his Child was being petty, his Parent would express disapproval and his Adult, the lawyer, would caution him that he might get into a great deal of trouble over a triviality, such as cheating a shopkeeper out
of a few pennies. Sometimes these various protests would take the form of ill-defined feelings, but at other times they would take well-verbalised forms so that he would engage in a triologue with himself.
From this brief description it can already be seen that it was possible to analyze in structural terms any of his financial operations, whether it was donating a large sum to the Community Chest, buying securities or stealing chewing gum from a grocery store. In each case it was possible to say which of the three aspects of his personality was executing the transaction. This type of analysis, in which the executive ego state involved in any transaction is diagnosed, is called structural analysis.
For a clear understanding of what an individual is up to in a group, accurate structural analysis is necessary. However, this should not rest merely on the opinion of the observer, and unless the diagnosis is thoroughly verified, it should always be regarded as tentative. The diagnosis is complete when it can be supported from four different viewpoints.
1. The diagnosis made by the observer is behavioral. For example, a behavioral diagnosis can be made if someone unpredictably and somewhat inappropriately bursts into tears, so that the observer is irresistably reminded of the behavior of a child at a certain age; or if the agent exhibits coyness, sulkiness or playfulness which is reminiscent of a special phase of childhood.
2. Those participating in transactions with the agent make the diagnosis on social grounds. If he behaves in such a way as to make them feel fatherly or motherly, he is presumably offering childlike stimuli, and his behavior at that moment can be diagnosed as a manifestation of his Child. Conversely, the respondents' behavior can be diagnosed as Parental. If the agent elicits objective responses related to the outside environment, then the respondents are in the Adult ego state, and the chances are that the agent is also in this ego state. Conversely, if two people are building a boat and one says (Adult): "Pass me the hammer," the respondent's reply will reveal his ego state. If he says: "Always be careful to keep your fingers out of the way when you're hammering," this response may be presumed to come from his Parent. If he says: "Which hammer?" his response may be assumed to come from his Adult. If he says petulantly: "Why do I have to do everything around here?" his complaint may be diagnosed as coming from his Child.
3. The subjective diagnosis comes from self-observation. The individual himself realises that he is acting the way his father did, or that he is objectively interested in what is going on before him, or that he is reacting the way he did as a child.
134 Personality Structure
4. The historical diagnosis is made from factual information about the individual's past. He may remember the exact moments when his father behaved in a similar way; or where he learned how to accomplish this particular task; or exactly where he was when he had a similar reaction in early childhood.
The more of these standards that can be met, the sounder the diagnosis is. The full psychiatric diagnosis of an ego state requires that the observer, the individual's associates, his self-observation and his personal history all point in the same direction.
Since in most situations the social, the subjective and the historical diagnosis cannot be obtained, the behavioral diagnosis is the most important to the general student of groups. For example, a PTA meeting cannot be interrupted to ask whether everyone agrees that a certain member made them feel like children when he spoke; or whether the member felt Parental when he said what he did; or whether his father often spoke in the same tone, and if so, under what circumstances he did it. Therefore, behavioral observations are particularly valuable to collect. A few selected items will illustrate the point.
1. Demeanor. The sternly paternal uprightness, sometimes with extended finger, and the gracious mothering flexion of the neck soon become familiar as Parental attitudes. Thoughtful concentration, often with pursed lips or slightly flared nostrils, are typically Adult. The inclination of the head which signifies coyness, or the accompanying smile which turns it into cuteness, are manifestations of the Child. So is the aversion and fixed brow of sulkiness, which can be transformed into reluctant and chagrined laughter by Parental teasing. Observations of family life will reveal other characteristic attitudes belonging to each type of ego state: parents being Parental, students being Adult, and children being Childlike. An interesting exercise is to go through the text and especially the illustrations of Darwin's book on emotional expression, with structural analysis in mind.
2. Gestures. The Parental origin of forbidding and refusing gestures is often obvious if the observer is acquainted with the agent's family. Certain kinds of pointing with the index finger come from the Adult: a professional man talking to a colleague or client, a foreman instructing a workman, or a teacher assisting a pupil. A warding off gesture of the arm, when it is out of place, is a manifestation of the Child. Some gestures are easily diagnosed by intuition. For example, sometimes it is easy to see that pointing with the index finger is not Adult but is part of an exhortation by the Parent or of a plaintive accusation by the Child.
3. Voice. It is quite common for people to have two voices, each with a different intonation, although in many situations one or the other may be suppressed for very long periods. For example, one who presents herself in a therapy group as "little old me" may not reveal for many months the hidden voice of Parental wrath (perhaps that of an alcoholic mother); or it may require intense group stress before the voice of the "judicious workman" collapses, to be replaced by that of his frightened Child. Meanwhile, intimate friends and relations may be fully aware of both intonations. Nor is it exceedingly rare to meet people who have three different intonations: under favorable circumstances one may literally encounter the voice of the Parent, the voice of the Adult and the voice of the Child all coming from the same individual. When the voice changes, it is usually not difficult to detect other evidences of the change in ego state. One of the most dramatic illustrations is when "little old me" is suddenly replaced by the facsimile of her infuriated mother or grandmother.
4. Vocabulary. Certain words and phrases are characteristic of particular ego states. An important example is the distinction between "childish," which is invariably a Parental word, and "childlike," which is Adult. "Childish" means "not acceptable" while "childlike," properly used, is an objective biologic term.
Typical Parental words are: cute, sonny, naughty, low, vulgar, disgusting, ridiculous, and many of their synonyms. Adult words are: unconstructive, apt, parsimonious, desirable. Oaths, exclamations and name-calling are often manifestations of the Child. Nouns and verbs are in themselves Adult, since they refer without prejudice, distortion or exaggeration to objective reality, but they may be employed for their own purposes by Parent or Child. Diagnosis of the word "good" is an intriguing exercise in intuition. With a recognized or unrecognized capital G it is Parental. When its use is strictly rational and defensible, it is Adult. When it means instinctual gratification, and is really an exclamation, it comes from the Child, being then an educated synonym for something like "Yum yum!" or "Mmmmm!" Very commonly, it expresses Parental prejudices which are faked out as Adult: it is said as if it had a small g, but if it is questioned, the capital G begins to show through. The speaker may become angry, defensive or anxious at the questioning, or at best the evidence he brings up to support his opinion is flimsy and poorly thought out.
These examples merely illustrate some of the possibilities. There is a very large number of behavior patterns available to the human being. Anthropologists have compiled long lists of deportments, and specialists (pasimologists) estimate that some 700,000 distinct ele-
136 Personality Structure
mentary gestures can be produced by different muscular combinations. There are enough variations in timbre, pitch, intensity and range of vocalization to occupy the attention of whole schools of students and teachers. The problems of vocabulary are so complex that they are divided between different disciplines. And these are only four categories out of the almost innumerable types of indicators available to the structural analyst. The only practical course for the serious student is observation: to observe parents acting in their capacity as parents; adults acting in their capacity as thoughtful and responsible citizens; and children acting like children at the breast, in the cradle, in the nursery, the bathroom and the kitchen, and in the schoolroom and the play-yard. By cultivating his powers of observation and intuition, he can add new dimensions of interest to his work.
Mr. Mead's presentation of three ego states to Group S has already been noted. When he gave his preliminary discussion, he was in an Adult ego state, talking objectively about the problems of the spiritualist medium and about what the members were going to become involved in. Ruby exhibited a typical childlike ego state. Dr. Murgatroyd at first presented an authoritative Parental ego state; later, during the experiments, he switched into that of a hurt child.
SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS
The special characteristics of each type of ego state will now be reviewed in more detail. This will help in understanding further the relationships between the individual member and the other people in a group.
A. A Parental ego state is a set of feelings, attitudes and behavior patterns that resemble those of a parental figure. The diagnosis is usually made first by observation of demeanor, gestures, voice, vocabulary and other characteristics. This is the behavioral diagnosis. It is supported if the particular set of patterns is especially apt to be aroused by childlike behavior on the part of someone else in the group. This is the social diagnosis. In psychotherapy groups, the diagnosis may be further investigated through the family history and the individual's reports of his own feelings—the historical and the subjective diagnoses. The Parent usually shows in one of two forms: prejudiced or nurturing. The prejudiced Parent has a dogmatic and disapproving attitude. If the prejudices happen to be the same as those of other people in the group, they may be accepted as rational, or at least justifiable, without adequate examination. The nurturing Parent is often Bhown in "supporting" and sympathizing with another individual.
The Parental ego state must be distinguished from the Parental
influence. The Parental ego state means "Your Parent is talking now; you are talking like your mother." The Parental influence means "Your Child is talking that way to please your Parent; you are talking as mother would have liked you to."
The value of the Parent is that it saves energy and lessens anxiety by making certain decisions "automatic" and not to be questioned.
B. The Adult ego state is an independent set of feelings, attitudes and behavior patterns that are adapted to the current reality and are not affected by Parental prejudices or archaic attitudes left over from childhood. In each individual case, due allowances must be made for past learning opportunities. The Adult of a very young person or of a peasant may make very different judgments from that of a professionally trained worker. The question is not the accuracy of the judgments, nor their acceptability to the other members (which depends on their Parental prejudices) but on the quality of the thinking and the use made of the resources available to that particular person. The Adult is the ego state which makes survival possible.
C. The Child ego state is a set of feelings, attitudes and behavior patterns that are relics of the individual's own childhood. Again, the behavioral diagnosis is usually made first by careful observation. If that particular set of patterns is most likely to be provoked by someone who behaves parentally, that gives the social diagnosis. The historical diagnosis comes from memories of similar feelings and behavior in early childhood. The subjective diagnosis, the actual reliving of the original childhood experience, should only be attempted in the course of psychotherapy under the guidance of a fully qualified therapist.
The Child comes out in one of two forms: adapted or natural. The adapted Child acts under the Parental influence and has modified its natural way of expression by compliance or avoidance. The natural Child is freer, more impulsive and self-indulgent. The Child is in many ways the most valuable aspect of the personality, and if it can find healthy ways of self-expression and enjoyment, it may make the greatest contribution to vitality and happiness.
SUMMARY
The most significant hypotheses offered in this chapter are as follows:
1. The behavior of any individual in a group at any given moment can be classified into one of three categories, colloquially called Parent, Adult and Child.
2. Behavioral, social, historical and phenomenologic data converge to validate such classifications.
138 Personality Structure
3. Parent, Adult and Child, on the basis of clinical evidence, are treated primarily as states of mind, or ego states, and it is proposed that such organizations arise from one of three psychic organs: exteropsyche, neopsyche and archaeopsyche, respectively.
4. Accurate structural analysis is necessary (or at least desirable) for precise understanding of the behavior and the function of each individual in a group.
SPECIAL TERMS INTRODUCED IN THIS CHAPTER
Transaction Parent
Agent Adult
Transactional stimulus Child
Respondent Structural analysis
Transactional response Behavioral diagnosis
Social aggregation Social diagnosis
Dissocial aggregation Subjective diagnosis
Social psychiatry Historical diagnosis
Social dynamics Prejudiced Parent
Transactional analysis Nurturing Parent
Ego state Parental ego state
Exteropsyche Parental influence
Neopsyche Adapted Child
Archaeopsyche Natural Child
TECHNICAL NOTES
The word "dissocial" is preferred to "unsocial" for describing non-transacting aggregations because "unsocial" has an unfair implication of sulkiness.
The case of the philanthropic lawyer has been presented in more detail in several of the writer's publications (e.g., "Ego States in Psychotherapy," American Journal of Psychotherapy i2;293-309, 1957). It should be emphasized that Parent, Adult and Child are not neologisms or synonyms for Superego, Ego and Id. The former are ego states, the latter are concepts. This question is discussed at more length in my book on Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy (New York, Grove Press, 1961). The exposition given in the present chapter is in effect an attempt to summarize pertinently the contents of the first part of that book, which should be read by anyone who desires more information about the physiologic and psychological bases of structural analysis, or who is critical of the formulations as presented here.
E. T. Hall offers an excellent account of the anthropologic study of deportment (The anthropology of manners, Scientific American 192:84-90, April 1955), while the linguist Mario Pei discusses pasimology (The Story of Language, Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott Company, 1949).
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SIMPLE COMPLEMENTARY TRANSACTIONS
The object of transactional analysis is to diagnose which ego states give rise to the transactional stimulus and the transactional response in any transaction that is being investigated. Anyone who proposes to deal with ailing groups should become familiar with this procedure. A simple transaction is represented by drawing two structural diagrams side by side, one for the agent and one for the respondent, as in Figures 22 and 23. An arrow is then drawn from the active ego state of the agent to whichever aspect of the respondent he is addressing. This represents the transactional stimulus. Another arrow is drawn similarly from the respondent to the agent to represent the transactional response. Such a diagram is called a transactional diagram, and the two arrows are called vectors.
In order for the group work in all its aspects to proceed without turbulence, communication between members must progress smoothly.
Stimulus
Response
A. Type I B. Type II
Fig. 22. Complementary transactions.
140 Analysis of Transactions
A. Type I
B. Type
Fig. 23. Crossed transactions.
C. Type III
This will occur as long as transactions are complementary. A complementary transaction is one in which the two vectors are parallel. Most commonly, such transactions are Adult-to-Adult, or between Parent and Child.
The complementary Adult-to-Adult transaction typically occurs in the course of the group activity. In everyday life it is exemplified by the question "What time is it?" and the response "Three-thirty." This Adult-to-Adult stimulus evoking Adult-to-Adult response may be classified as Complementary Transaction Type I and is represented in Figure 22A.
The second type of common complementary transaction—that taking place between Parent and Child—is easily observed in family life
where actual children ask actual parents for help, reassurance or protection. Corresponding transactions occur between grownups when one of them is in difficulties and needs a helpful, reassuring or protective type of response. For example, a feverish husband, who learned how to be sick when he was a little boy, reverts to a Child ego state and goes to bed. His wife, who learned how to take care of sick people from her mother, shifts into a Parental ego state and takes care of him. If she falls sick, their roles will be switched, and so will their ego states. Such mutual loving care in time of need is an example of Complementary Transaction Type II and is represented in Figure 22B. The Adult ego state is particularly vulnerable to certain drugs and bacterial toxins. Usually anyone with a high fever will be unable to maintain his Adult and will revert to a Child ego state, thus activating the nurturing Parent in those concerned with his welfare. They will then go beyond the strictly Adult medical requirements of treatment to comfort and reassure him.
CROSSED TRANSACTIONS
Returning now to the Adult agent who wanted to know the time, suppose the respondent, instead of telling him, answers differently. Suppose he says like a sulky child "Why do I have to keep track of the time?" or alternatively, in the tone of a reprimanding parent, "If you had your own watch, you'd be more punctual!" In either case, the agent becomes disconcerted. The respondent has raised new questions which are no longer concerned directly with the time of day. Communication is broken off on that subject and has to be re-established in a different direction. The agent at this point is likely to be distracted by resentment or self-defense. The first example, in which an Adult-to-Adult stimulus ("What time is it?") finds a sulky Child-to-Parent response, is illustrated in Figure 23A, and is called Crossed Transaction Type I. The second example, in which Adult-to-Adult stimulus gets a reprimanding Parent-to-Child response, is illustrated in Figure 23B and is called Crossed Transaction Type II. The important thing to notice about these two transactional diagrams is that the vectors are not parallel, as in a complementary transaction, but cross each other. This gives rise to one of the most important rules in the therapy of ailing groups, the rule of communication: communication is broken off when a crossed transaction occurs. This can also be put the other way round: if communication is broken off, there has been a crossed transaction.
A study of a simple transactional diagram makes it evident that there are 9 possible types of complementary transactions, including Adult-to-ChHd and Child-to-Adult, Parent-to-Parent and so forth,
142 Analysis of Transactions
but most of these occur only rarely in comparison with Types I and II. There are a larger number of possible crossed transactions, but, again, most of them are rare in comparison with Types I, II and III illustrated in Figure 23. Since the diagrams are not (topologically) perfect, some of the crossed transactions when drawn will not show an actual cross. Therefore, strictly speaking, a crossed transaction is better defined as one in which the vectors are not parallel. But in the commonest cases, the cross will show clearly.
The detection of crossed transactions is of great practical importance. For example, Crossed Transaction Type I (Fig. 23A) gives rise and has always given rise to most of the difficulties in the world —historical, marital, occupational and otherwise. If this type of transaction is found to be frequent in any relationship, it can be predicted that the relationship will go badly and will probably end in a misunderstanding or rupture. Many of the problems of psychiatry and group therapy can be studied from this point of view. Crossed Transaction Type I is the major concern of psychoanalysis and constitutes the typical "transference reaction." For example, if the (Adult) analyst says something like: "Your behavior reminds me of the way you behaved during the incident which occurred when you were 3 years old," in a sense he is entitled to expect a response like: "That's worth thinking about!" This would indicate that the patient's Adult is interested in the declared purpose of the treatment, which is to obtain increased understanding of himself. A transference reaction would go something like: "You're always criticising me!," clearly a Child-to-Parent response. The "counter-transference reaction," to which more and more attention is being devoted, is typified by Crossed Transactions Types I (Fig. 23A) and II (Fig. 23B), in which the patient makes an objective (Adult) statement and the analyst becomes either irritated in a childlike way or pompously Parental.
INDIRECT TRANSACTIONS It can be observed in many groups that something is said by A to B which is intended to influence C indirectly. This timid approach is often thought of as tact or diplomacy. Such transactions commonly occur in so-called "well-run" groups, in which questionable methods of influencing people are considered to be good form. For example, instead of facing the boss directly, a suggestion may be made in his hearing to someone else in the hope that it will influence the boss. Since such devices are evidence of a poor relationship between the agent and the boss and originate from fear or insecurity, the question of whether this is really good practice may be raised. It will be noted that indirect transactions are really three-handed transactions in
which the respondent is used as a kind of go-between in transacting psychological business with a third party.
DILUTED TRANSACTIONS
In the course of any group activity, no matter how businesslike, nearly everybody becomes personally involved to some extent sooner or later. In this country, a common approach to this is for workers to kid each other. Here certain transactions which are half-hostile, half-affectionate, take place through the material of the activity. A may ask B to pass the hammer and say it in a kidding way ("Hey, squarehead, where's the hammer?"), and B may throw the hammer instead of passing it, which is a kind of retaliative kidding or testing of A. Such transactions which are embedded in the material of the group activity may be called diluted transactions.
A direct transaction is one which is neither indirect or diluted. The evidence is that even if "playing it smart" by the use of indirect or diluted transactions may lead to a certain kind of material success, the more admirable members of the human race tend to use direct transactions in important situations.
INTENSITY
Transactional analysis deals with what actually happens rather than with what is going on in the minds of the individuals concerned. Someone who uses indirect or diluted transactions may be motivated by very intense feelings, but the feelings are deflected or watered down in the actual transactional exchanges. When the transaction itself can be observed or judged to have a strong emotional intensity at the time of its occurrence, it is more likely to be direct than indirect or diluted. It is often useful to classify transactions according to their intensity. The most intense are passionate murder or impregnation, the one the most intense expression of hostility, the other the most intense expression of love. If murder takes the form of accidental manslaughter, or impregnation takes place in the course of more or less perfunctory love-making, then the transaction as carried out may not have been very intense. Similarly, the transactions which are more open to everyday observation should be carefully considered before their intensity is estimated.
The important items to be considered in analyzing single, simple transactions are therefore complementarity (or crossing), directness (or indirectness), purity (or dilution) and intensity (or weakness). Thus in intimate love relationships, people talk to each other relevantly, directly, without distractions, and intensely.
144 Analysis of Transactions
ULTERIOR TRANSACTIONS
Simple transactions are those that can be regarded as involving only a single ego state in each of the people concerned. However, a large number of transactions are obviously based on ulterior motives. An ulterior transaction is one that involves major activity from more than one ego state in one or all of the individuals concerned.
In certain situations ulterior transactions are deliberately cultivated, and their properties are carefully studied, although not under that name. For example, an insurance salesman who takes an authoritative, paternal interest in the welfare and the future of a potential client is engaging in an ulterior transaction, since, however genuine his Parental interest in the client, his chief goal is the Adult one of getting money from him. Good salesmanship, advertising and promotion always involve ulterior transactions in which a real or apparent concern with the welfare of the prospective buyer conceals quite another interest. The fact that salesmen speak of "making a killing," and are not referring entirely to their own financial gain but to a kind of childlike victory over the client, shows that in most cases the Child of a salesman is involved in his work, as well as his carefully cultivated Parental attitude and his Adult skill in closing sales. This ulterior aspect is more or less frankly acknowledged in referring to "the insurance game," "the real estate game" and, among criminals, to "the con game." Some ulterior transactions, such as cultivating acquaintances at parties with the ulterior motive of selling them something later, or playing golf with the ulterior object of exploiting the relationship later, are socially acceptable in many circles. Such operations must conform to the etiquette of informal commerce. Expert sales work requires social and psychological sophistication in order to appeal to more than one ego state of the client.
Diagrams of some ulterior transactions will be found in the next chapter.
SUMMARY
The following hypotheses are proposed:
1. Simple transactions can be usefully and pertinently classified according to certain significant variables: complementarity, directness, purity and intensity.
2. As long as transactions are complementary, communication can be maintained indefinitely. It is broken off if a crossed transaction occurs and must be re-established at a new level.
SPECIAL TERMS INTRODUCED IN THIS CHAPTER
Transactional diagram Direct transaction
Vector Intensity
Complementary transaction Purity
Crossed transaction Simple transaction
Indirect transaction Ulterior transaction Diluted transaction
TECHNICAL NOTES
For further information regarding the analysis of transactions, my book on this subject (Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy, loc. cit.) or, for a shorter account, the paper on this subject cited previously (American Journal of Psychotherapy 22:735-743, 1958) may be consulted.
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INDIVIDUAL PARTICIPATION
The analysis of single transactions may be very useful in certain situations, but for a more thorough understanding of the nature of the individual's participation in the proceedings of a group, it is necessary to consider chains of transactions. Such chains can be usefully classified into six important types, including the extreme cases of nonparticipation (withdrawal) and "total" participation (intimacy). This gives the individual six options or choices as to how he will conduct himself in a group.
1. Withdrawal. Some people may be physically present but are in effect mentally absent from the gathering. They do not participate in the proceedings, and on inquiry it is found that they are engaged in fantasies. These generally fall into one of two classes:
a. Extraneous fantasies in which the individual mentally leaves the group and imagines himself elsewhere doing something quite unrelated to the proceedings.
b. Autistic transactions in which he is interested in what is going on but for various reasons is unable to participate. He spends his time imagining things that he might say or do with various members of the group. Autistic transactions are sometimes concerned with the possibility of participating in an acceptable way and at other times are less well adapted to the situation and may be concerned with direct assaults or sexual advances which would be quite unacceptable to the other members. Thus, autistic transactions may in turn be classified as adapted or unadapted.
2. Rituals, ceremonies and ceremonials. The preliminary and closing stages of the proceedings of any social aggregation, including groups, are often ritualistic in nature. These ritualistic phases may be abortive, consisting only of standard greetings and farewells, or they may be more prolonged, with formalities such as reading the minutes and votes of thanks. At formal ceremonies, such as weddings, not only the initial and terminal phases, but also the body of the meeting
is ritualistic. From the point of view of social dynamics, the characteristic of ritualistic behavior is predictability. If at the beginning of a meeting one member says to another "Hello," it can be predicted with a high degree of confidence that the response will be "Hello" or one of its equivalents. If the first member then says "Hot enough for you?" it can likewise be predicted that the response will be "Yes," or some variant—similarly with the farewells at the end of a meeting. In a traditional ritual such as a church service, the stimuli and the responses are well known to all present and are completely predictable under ordinary conditions.
The unit of ritualistic transactions is called a stroke. The following is an example of a typical 8-stroke American greeting ritual:
A. "Hi!"
B. "Hi!"
A. "Warm enough for you?"
B. "Sure is. How's it going?"
A. "Fine. And you?"
B. "Fine."
A. "Well, so long."
B. "I'll be seeing you. So long."
Here there is an approximately equal exchange comprising a greeting stroke, an impersonal stroke, a personal stroke and a terminal stroke. Such rituals are part of the group etiquette.
At a group meeting the first six strokes may be exchanged at the beginning and the last two at the end. The problem then remains how the time is filled in between these two segments.
3. Activity. Most groups come together for the ostensible purpose of engaging in some activity which, as noted, is usually mentioned at least in a general way in the constitution. Pure activity in transactional language consists of simple, complementary, Adult transactions starting with something like "Pass the hammer!" or "What is the sum of 3 plus 3?" If there is no planned activity, as at many social parties, and in some psychotherapy groups, then the time is usually filled in with either pastimes or games.
4. Pastimes. Pastimes consist of a semi-ritualistic series of complementary transactions, usually of an agreeable nature and sometimes instructive. At formal meetings the time between the greeting rituals and the beginning of the formal proceedings is often filled in with pastimes. During this period the gathering has the structure of a party rather than that of a group. At social parties, pastimes may occupy the whole period between the greeting and the terminal rituals. In psychotherapy groups, they may continue or be initiated even
148 Analysis of Games
after the entrance of the therapist which signals the beginning of the formal proceedings.
5. Games. As members become acquainted with each other, generally through pastimes carried on in the course of the group activity, they tend to develop more personal relationships with each other, and ulterior transactions begin to creep in. These often occur in chains, with a well-defined goal, and are actually attempts of various people to manipulate each other in a subtle way in order to produce certain desired responses. Such sets of ongoing transactions with an ulterior motive are called games.
6. Intimacy comes out transactionally in the direct expression of meaningful emotions between two individuals, without ulterior motives or reservations. Under special conditions, as in family life, more than two people may be engaged. Since such "pairing" may distract from the activity of a group, it is not encouraged in large work groups. For example, some organizations have a rule that if two members marry, one of them must resign. Because the subjective aspects are so important in true intimacy, and because it rarely comes out in groups because of external prohibitions and internal inhibitions, its characteristics are difficult to investigate. Indeed, this is one of the cases in which attempts at investigation are likely to destroy what is being investigated, since true intimacy is by nature a private matter. Few people would care to have their honeymoons tape recorded by a third person. There are certain sacrifices that should not be expected, even for the sake of science.
Pseudo-intimacy (with ulterior motives or reservations) is quite another matter and is frequently observed and erroneously described in the scientific literature as real intimacy. Some special groups are set up so that physical freedom, including sexual intercourse, is encouraged, but these are ritualistic, commercialized or rebellious and do not necessarily promote the subjective binding of two personalities. Pseudo-intimacy usually falls into the category of rituals, pastimes or games.
These six options have been listed roughly in order of the complexity of engagement and the seriousness of the commitment. The two extremes, withdrawal and intimacy, properly belong to the field of psychiatry. The two that stand out as most needful of further clarification for the student of social dynamics are pastimes and games, since these are the ones that most commonly affect the course of the internal group process.
PASTIMES A pastime may be described as a chain of simple complementary
transactions, usually dealing with the environment and basically irrelevant to the group activity. Pastimes are appropriate at parties, and they can be easily observed in such unstructured enclaves. Happy or well-organized people whose capacity for enjoyment is unimpaired may indulge in a social pastime for its own sake and for the satisfactions which it brings. Others, particularly neurotics, engaged in pastimes for just what their name implies—a way of passing (i.e., structuring) the time "until": until one gets to know people better, until this hour has been sweated out, and on a larger scale, until bedtime, until vacation-time, until school starts, until the cure is forthcoming, or until a miracle, rescue or death arrives. (In therapy groups the last three are known colloquially as "waiting for Santa Claus".) Besides the immediate advantages which it offers, a pastime serves as a means of getting acquainted in the hope of achieving the longed-for intimacy with another human being. In any case, each participant tries to get whatever he can out of it. The best place to study pastimes systematically is in psychotherapy groups.
The two commonest pastimes in such groups are variations of "PTA" and "Psychiatry," and these may be used as illustrations for analysis. At an actual Parent-Teachers Association meeting "PTA," officially at least, is not a pastime, since it is the constitutionally stated activity of the group. But in a psychotherapy group it is basically irrelevant because very few people are cured of neuroses or psychoses by playing it. In that situation it occurs in two forms. The projective type of "PTA" is a Parental pastime. Its subject is delinquency in the general meaning of the word, and it may deal with delinquent juveniles, delinquent husbands, delinquent wives, delinquent tradesmen, delinquent authorities or delinquent celebrities. Introjective "PTA" is Adult and deals with one's own socially acceptable delinquencies. "Why can't I be a good mother, father, employer, worker, fellow, hostess?" The motto of the projective form is "Isn't It Awful?"; that of the introjective form is "Me Too!"
"Psychiatry" is an Adult or at least pseudo-Adult pastime. In its projective form it is known colloquially as "Here's What You're Doing"; its introjective form is called "Why Do I Do This?"
People in therapy groups are particularly apt to fall back on pastimes in three types of situations: when a new member comes in, when the members are avoiding something, or when the leader is absent. The superficial nature of these interchanges is shown in the following two examples, the analyses of which are represented in Figures 24 and 25.
150 Analysis of Games
I. "PTA"—projective type.
Mary: "There wouldn't be all this delinquency if it weren't for broken homes."
Jane: "It's not only that. Even in good homes nowadays the children aren't taught manners the way they used to be."
II. "Psychiatry"—introjective type.
Mary: "Painting must symbolize smearing to me." Jane: "In my case, it would be trying to please my father." In most cases pastimes are variations of "small talk," such as "General Motors" (comparing cars) and "Who Won" (both "man-talk"); "Grocery," "Kitchen" and "Wardrobe," (all "lady talk"); "How To" (go about doing something), "How Much" (does it cost?), "Ever Been" (to some nostalgic place), "Do You Know" (so-and-so), "Whatever Became" (of good old Joe), "Morning After" (what a hangover), and "Martini" (I know a better drink).
It is evident that at any given moment when two people are engaged in one of these pastimes, there are thousands of conversations going on throughout the world, allowing for differences in time zones, in which essentially the same exchanges are taking place, with a few differences in proper nouns and other local terms. The situation brings to mind those printed postal cards which were supplied to the soldiers in the trenches in World War I, in which the terms that did not apply could be crossed out; or those box-top contests that require the completion of a sentence in less than 25 words. Thus, pastimes are for the most part stereotyped sets of transactions, each
Stimulus
Response
Stimulus
Response
Mary Jane Mary Jane
Fig. 24. "PTA"—projective type. Fig. 25. "Psychiatry"—introjective
type.
PASTIMES
element consisting of what a psychology student might call a multiple choice plus a sentence completion; e.g., in "General Motors": "I like a (Ford, Plymouth, Chevrolet) better than a (Ford, Plymouth, Chevrolet) because . . ."
The social value of pastimes is that they offer a harmless way for people to feel each other out. They provide a preliminary period of noncomittal observation during which the players can line each other up before the games begin. Many people are grateful for such a trial period, because once he is committed to a game, the individual must take the consequences.
GAMES
The game called "If It Weren't For You," which is the commonest game played between husbands and wives, can be used to illustrate the characteristics of games in general.
Mrs. White complained that her husband would not allow her to indulge in any athletic or social activities. As she improved with psychiatric treatment, she became more independent and decided to do some of the things she had always wanted to do. She signed up for swimming and dancing lessons. When the courses began, she was surprised and dismayed to discover that she had abnormal fears of both swimming pools and dance-floors and had to give up both projects.
These experiences revealed some important aspects of the structure of her marriage. There were good Parental and Adult reasons why she loved her husband, but her Child had a special interest in his domineering Parent. By prohibiting outside activities, he saved her from exposing herself to situations that would frighten her. This was the psychological advantage of her marriage. At the same time, as a kind of bonus, he gave her the "justifiable" right to complain about his restrictions. These complaints were part of the social advantages of the marriage. Within the family group, she could say to him: "If it weren't for you, I could . . . etc." Outside the home, she was also in an advantageous position, since she could join her friends, with a sense of gratification and accomplishment, in their similar complaints about their husbands: "If it weren't for him, I could . . . etc."
"If It Weren't For You" was a game because it exploited her husband unfairly. In prohibiting outside activities, Mr. White was only doing what his wife's Child really wanted him to do (the psychological advantage), but instead of expressing appreciation, she took further advantage of him by enjoying herself in complaining about it (the social advantage).
But it was an even exchange, and that is what kept the marriage
152 Analysis of Games
going; for Mr. White, on his side, was also using the situation to get questionable satisfactions out of it. As an important by-product, the White children's emotional education included an intensive field course in playing this game, so that eventually the whole family could and did indulge in this occupation skillfully and frequently. Thus, the social dynamics of this family revolved around the game of "If It Weren't For You."
In a pastime the transactions are simple and complementary. In a game they are also complementary, but they are not simple; they involve two levels simultaneously, called the social and the psychological. The transactional analysis of "If It Weren't For You" is shown in Figure 26. At the social level, the scheme is as follows:
Husband: "You stay home and take care of the house."
Wife: "If it weren't for you I could be having fun."
Here the transactional stimulus is Parent to Child, and the response is Child to Parent.
At the psychological level (the ulterior marriage contract) the situation is quite different.
Husband: "You must always be here when I get home. I am terrified of desertion."
Wife: "I will be, if you help me to avoid situations that arouse my abnormal fears."
Here both stimulus and response are Child to Child. At neither level is there a crossing, so that the game can proceed indefinitely as
Husband Wife
Fig. 26. "If It Weren't For You."
Hyacinth Others
Fig. 27. "Why Don't You . . Yes, But."
GAMES
long as both parties are interested. Such a transaction, since it involves two complementary levels simultaneously, is a typical ulterior transaction.
A game can be defined as a set of ongoing ulterior transactions with a concealed motivation, leading to a well-defined climax. Because each player has a definite goal (of which he may not be aware), the innocent-looking transactions are really a series of moves with a snare or "gimmick" designed to bring about the climax or "pay-off." The most common game in parties and groups of all kinds including psychotherapy groups, is "Why Don't You . . . Yes, But." Hyacinth: "My husband never builds anything right." Camellia: "Why doesn't he take a course in carpentry?" Hyacinth: "Yes, but he doesn't have time." Rosita: "Why don't you buy him some good tools?" Hyacinth: "Yes, but he doesn't know how to use them." Holly: "Why don't you have your building done by a carpenter?" Hyacinth: "Yes, but that would cost too much." Iris: "Why don't you just accept what he does the way he does it?" Hyacinth: "Yes, but the whole thing might fall down." "Why Don't You . . . Yes, But" can be played by any number. One player, who is "It," presents a problem. The others start to present solutions, each beginning with "Why don't you?" To each of these the one who is "It" objects with a "Yes, but ..." A good player can stand off the rest of the group indefinitely, until they all give up, whereupon "It" wins. Hyacinth, for example, successfully objected to more than a dozen solutions before Rosita and the therapist broke up the game.
Since all the solutions, with rare exceptions, are rejected, it soon becomes evident that this game must serve some ulterior purpose. The "gimmick" in "Why Don't You . . . Yes, But" is that it is not played for its apparent purpose (an Adult quest for information or solutions) but to reassure and gratify the Child. In writing it may sound Adult, but in the living tissue it can be observed that the one who is "It" presents herself as a Child inadequate to meet the situation; whereupon the others become transformed into sage Parents anxious to dispense their wisdom for the benefit of the helpless one. This is exactly what "It" wants, since her object is to confound these Parents one after another. The analysis of that game is shown in Figure 27. The game can proceed because, at the social level, both stimulus and response are Adult to Adult, and at the psychological level they are also complementary, a Parent-to-Child stimulus ("Why don't you . . .") bringing out a Child-to-Parent response ("Yes, but .. ."). The psychological level may be unconscious on both sides.
154 Analysis of Games
Some interesting features come to light by following through on Hyacinth's game.
Hyacinth: "Yes, but the whole thing might fall down."
Dr. Q: "What do you all think of this?"
Rosita: "There we go, playing 'Why Don't You . . . Yes, But' again. You'd think we'd know better by this time."
Dr. Q: "Did anyone suggest anything you hadn't thought of yourself?"
Hyacinth: "No, they didn't. As a matter of fact, I've actually tried almost everything they suggested. I did buy my husband some tools, and he did take a course in carpentry."
Dr. Q: "It's interesting that Hyacinth said he didn't have time to take the course."
Hyacinth: "Well, while we were talking I didn't realize what we were doing, but now I see I was playing 'Why Don't You . . . Yes, But' again, so I guess I'm still trying to prove that no Parent can tell me anything, and this time I even had to lie to do it."
One object of games it to prevent discomfort by structuring an interval of time. This was clearly brought out by another woman, Mrs. Black. As is commonly the case, Mrs. Black could switch roles in any of her favorite games. In "Why Don't You . . . Yes, But," she was equally adept at playing either "It" or one of the sages, and this was discussed with her at an individual session.
Dr. Q: "Why do you play it if you know it's a con?"
Mrs. Black: "When I'm with people, I have to keep thinking of things to'say. If I don't I feel uncomfortable."
Dr. Q: "It would be an interesting experiment if you stopped playing 'Why Don't You . . .' in the group. We might all learn something.
Mrs. Black: "But I can't stand a lull. I know it and my husband knows it too, and he's always told me that."
Dr. Q: "You mean if your Adult doesn't keep busy, your Child is exposed and you feel uncomfortable?"
Mrs. Black: "That's it. So if I can keep making suggestions to somebody or get them to make suggestions to me, then I'm all right. I'm protected."
Here Mrs. Black indicates clearly enough that she fears unstructured time. Her Child can be soothed as long as her Adult can be kept busy in a social situation, and a game is a good way to keep her Adult occupied. But in order to maintain her interest, it must also offer satisfactions to her Child. Her choice of this particular game depended on the fact that, for psychiatric reasons, it suited the needs of her special kind of Child.
Other common games are "Schlemiel," "Alcoholic," "Uproar," "You Got Me Into This," "There I Go Again," and "Let's You and Him
Fight." Such games have many similarities to popular contests such as chess or football. "White makes the first move," "East kicks off," each have their parallels in the first moves of social games. After a definite number of moves the game ends in a distinct climax which is the equivalent of a checkmate or touchdown. This should make it clear that a game is not just a way of grumbling or a hypocritical attitude but a goal-directed set of ulterior transactions with an unexpected twist which is often overlooked.
The sequence of moves is illustrated in the game of Schlemiel. In this game the one who is "It" breaks things, spills things and makes messes of various kinds, and each time says "I'm sorry!" The moves in a typical situation are as follows:
1. White spills a highball on the hostess's evening gown.
2. Black responds at first with anger, but he senses (often only vaguely) that if he shows it, White wins. Black therefore pulls himself together, and this gives him the illusion that he wins.
3. White says, "I'm sorry!"
4. Black mutters forgiveness, strengthening his illusion that he wins.
It can be seen that both parties gain considerable satisfaction. White's Child is exhilarated because he has enjoyed himself in the messy moves of the game and has been forgiven at the end, while Black has made a gratifying display of suffering self-control. Thus, both of them profit from an unfortunate situation, and Black is not necessarily anxious to end the apparently unpromising friendship. It should be noted that as with most games, White, the aggressor, wins either way. If Black shows his anger, White can feel "justified" in his own resentment. If Black restrains himself, White can go on enjoying his opportunities.
The "gimmick" in such games almost always has an element of surprise. For example, a careless observer might sympathize with Mrs. White because of her autocratic husband, but the "gimmick" is that while she is complaining about him he is really serving a very important purpose in protecting her from her abnormal fears. In "Why Don't You .. . Yes, But" the "gimmick" has remained concealed from serious investigation through the thousands of years that this game has been played. It may have been observed facetiously that the one who is "It" rejects all the suggestions offered, but the possibility that this in itself might be a source of reassurance and pleasure has not been taken seriously enough to stimulate scientific interest. The clumsiness of the Schlemiel, and the possible secret pleasure he may derive from it, have been discussed, but this pleasure is merely a dividend; the "gimmick" and the goal of the whole procedure, which lie in the apology and the resulting forgiveness, have been overlooked.
156 Analysis of Games
The kinds of games, such as those mentioned above, which are of interest to the student of social dynamics, are of a serious nature, even though their descriptions may bring to mind the English humorists. They form the stuff out of which many lives are made and many personal and national destinies are decided. Any set of transactions that occurs repeatedly in a group, and that can be analyzed on two levels like the illustrations in Figures 26 and 27, is probably a game. The diagnosis is confirmed if an ulterior motive can be found which leads progressively to the same climax again and again.
SUMMARY The most significant hypotheses offered in this chapter are as follows:
1. With appropriate classification of group proceedings, it can be said that there are only a limited number of behavioral options open to an individual member.
2. The social function of pastimes is to serve as an innocuous matrix for tentative excursions of the Child.
3. Certain repetitive sets of transactions have an ulterior motive and lead to a climax which is concealed by the superficial indications.
SPECIAL TERMS INTRODUCED IN THIS CHAPTER Withdrawal Intimacy
Extraneous fantasies Pseudo-intimacy
Autistic transactions Psychological advantage
Ritual Social advantage
Stroke Psychological level
Pastimes Social level
Games
TECHNICAL NOTES
The elements of rituals, especially of greeting and farewell rituals, are called "strokes" for reasons which will become clearer in the next chapter.
The word "gimmick" is particularly appropriate to games. Its original technical meaning referred to a device placed behind a wheel of fortune so that the operator could stop it in order to prevent a player from winning. Thus it is the hidden snare which is controlled by the operator and assures him of an advantage in the pay-off. It's the "con" that leads to the "sting."
For further information and descriptions of some of the other games mentioned, the reader is again referred to my book Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy (loc. cit.). Stephen Potter is the chief representative of the humorous exposition of ulterior transactions (e.g., Lifemanship, New York, Henry Holt & Company, 1951; Gamesmanship, id. n.d.). An extensive discussion and thesaurus of pastimes and games is contained in my book Games People Play (New York, Grove Press).
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Each individual enters a group with the following necessary equipment: (1) biologic needs, (2) psychological needs, (3) drives, (4) patterns of striving, (5) past experience, and (6) adjustive capacities. It is just this equipment which makes it possible for leaders to exploit their members for good or evil, and which hampers the independent flowering of individual personalities. But that is another matter which does not belong in a technical book on group dynamics, any more than a discussion of human morality belongs in a textbook of medicine. After he sees what forces people are up against when they join groups, the reader will be better able to form his own philosophy.
BIOLOGIC NEEDS
The well-known sensory deprivation experiments indicate that a continual flow of changing sensory stimuli is necessary for the mental health of the individual. The study of infants in foundling hospitals, as well as everyday considerations, demonstrates that the preferred form of stimulation is being touched by another human being. In infants, the withholding of caresses and normal human contact, which Rene Spitz calls "emotional deprivation," results directly or indirectly in physical as well as mental deterioration. Among transactional analysts, these findings are summarized in the inexact but handy slogan: "If the infant is not stroked, his spinal cord shrivels up."
As the individual grows up, he learns to accept symbolic forms of stroking instead of the actual touch, until the mere act of recognition serves the purpose. That is why the elements of greeting rituals are called "strokes." What is said is less important than the fact that people are recognizing each other's presence and in that way offering the social contact which is necessary for the preservation of health. Thus, both infants and grownups show a need for, or at least an appreciation of, social contact even in its most primitive forms. This can be easily tested by anyone who has the courage to refuse to
158 Adjustment of the Individual to the Group
respond when his friends say "Hello." The desire for "stroking" may also be related to the fact that outside stimulation is necessary to keep certain parts of the brain active in order to maintain a normal waking state. This need to be "recharged," as it were, by stimulation, and especially by social contact, may be regarded as one of the biologic origins of group formation. The fear of loneliness (or of lack of social stimulation) is one reason why people are willing to resign part of their individual proclivities in favor of the group cohesion.
PSYCHOLOGICAL NEEDS
Beyond that, human beings find it difficult to face an interval of time which is not allotted to a specific program: an empty period without some sort of structure, especially a long one. This "structure hunger" accounts for the inability of most people simply to sit still and do nothing for any length of time. Structure hunger is well known to parents. The wail of children during summer vacation and of teenagers on Sunday afternoon—"Mommy, there's nothing to do!"— recurrently taxes their leadership and ingenuity.
Only a relatively small proportion of people are able to structure their time independently. As a class, the most highly paid people in our society are the ones who can offer an entertaining time structure for those whose inner resources are not equal to the task. Television now makes this advantage available in every home. In a group, it is principally the leader who performs the necessary task of structuring time. Capable leaders know that few things are more demoralizing than idleness, and soldiers have said that risking their lives in active combat is preferable to sitting out a "bore war." Psychotherapists see the same thing in a milder degree when their group patients beg them for instructions as to how to proceed and resent it if a program is not forthcoming. One product of structure hunger is "leadership hunger," which quickly emerges if the leader refuses to offer a program or if he is absent from a meeting and there is no adequate substitute. No doubt there are other factors involved here, but the fact remains that a long unexpected silence at any group meeting or on the radio arouses increasing anxiety in most people.
Because a group offers a program for structuring an interval of time, the members are willing to pay a price for their membership. They are willing to resign still more of their individual proclivities in favor of ensuring the survival of the group and its structure. They also appreciate the fact that the leader is the principal time-structurer, and that is one factor in awakening their devotion.
The reason given by Mrs. Black for playing her games throws some light on why people seek time-structuring. Unless the Adult is kept
busy, or the Child's activities are channeled, there is a danger that the Child may run wild, so to speak, in a way the individual is not prepared to handle. The need to avoid this kind of chaos is one of the strongest influences which sends people into groups and disposes them to make the sacrifices and the adjustments necessary to remain in good standing.
The need for social contact and the hunger for time-structure might be called the preventive motives for group formation. One purpose of forming, joining and adjusting to groups is to prevent biologic, psychological and also moral deterioration. Few people are able to "recharge their own batteries," lift themselves up by their own psychological bootstraps, and keep their own morals trimmed without outside assistance.
DRIVES
On the positive side, the presence of other human beings offers many opportunities for gratification, and everyone intuitively or deliberately acquires a high proficiency in getting as many satisfactions as possible from the people in the groups to which he belongs. These are obtained by means of the options for participation listed in the previous chapter. The surrounding people contribute least to the satisfactions reaped from fantasy and most to those enjoyed in intimacy. Intimacy is threatening for various reasons, partly because it requires independent structuring and personal responsibility; also, as already noted, it is not well suited to public situations. Hence, most people in groups settle for whatever satisfactions they can get from games, and the more timid ones may not go beyond pastimes.
Neverthless, hidden or open, simple or complicated, a striving for intimacy underlies the most intense and important operations in the group process. This striving, which gives rise to active individual proclivities, may be called the individual anancasm, the inner necessity that drives each man throughout his life to his own special destiny. Four factors lend variety to its expression: (1) the resignations and compromises that are necessary to ensure the survival of the group. This is the individual's contribution to the group cohesion. (2) The disguises resulting from fear of the longed-for intimacy. (3) Individual differences in the meaning of intimacy: to most it means a loving sexual union, to some a one-sided penetration into the being of another through torture; it may involve self-glorification or self-abasement. There are differences in the kind of stroking received or given. Most want a partner of the opposite sex, some want one of the same sex, in love or in torment. All of these elements are influenced by the individual's past experiences in dealing with or
160 Adjustment of the Individual to the Group
being dealt with by other human beings. From the very day of birth, each person is subjected to a different kind of handling: rough and harsh or soft and gentle or any combination or variation of these may signify to him the nature of intimacy. (4) Differences in the method of operation, the patterns of behavior learned and used in transacting emotional business with other people.
PATTERNS OF STRIVING
Each person has an unconscious life plan, formulated in his earliest years, which he takes every opportunity to further as much as he dares in a given situation. This plan calls for other people to respond in a desired way and is generally divided, on a long-term basis, into distinct sections and subsections, very much like the script of a play. In fact, it may be said that the theatre is an outgrowth of such unconscious life plans or scripts. The original set of experiences which forms the pattern for the plan is called the protocol. The Oedipus complex of Sigmund Freud is an example. In transactional analysis the Oedipus complex is not regarded as a mere set of attitudes, but as an ongoing drama, divided, as are Sophocles's Oedipus Rex, Electra, Antigone, and other dramas, into natural scenes and acts calling for other people to play definite roles.
Partly because of the advantages of being an infant, even under bad conditions, every human being is left with some nostalgia for his infancy and often for his childhood as well; therefore, in later years he strives to bring about as close as possible a reproduction of the original protocol situation, either to live it through again if it was enjoyable, or to try to re-experience it in a more benevolent form if it was unpleasant. In fact, many people are so nostalgic and confused that they try to relive the original experience as it was even if it was very unpleasant—hence the peculiar behavior of some individuals who are willing to subject themselves to all sorts of pain and humiliation, repeating the same situation again and again. In any case, this nostalgia is the basis for the individual anancasm. This is something like what Freud calls the "repetition compulsion," except that a single re-enactment may take a whole lifetime, so that there may be no actual repetition but only one grand re-experiencing of the whole protocol.
Since the script calls for the manipulation of other people, it is first necessary to choose an appropriate cast. This is what takes place in the course of pastimes. Stereotyped as they are, they nevertheless give some opportunity for individual variations which are revealing of the underlying personalities of the participants. Such indications help each player to select the people he would like to know better,
with the object of involving suitable ones in his favorite games. From among those who are willing and able to play his games, he then selects candidates who show promise of playing the roles called for in his script; this is an important factor in the choice of a spouse (the chief supporting role). Of course, if things are to progress, this process of selection must be. mutual and complementary.
Because of its complexity, it is fortunate that it is not necessary to consider the script as a whole in order to understand what is going on in most group situations. It is usually enough to be aware of the favorite games of the people concerned.
THE PROVISIONAL GROUP IMAGO There are various forces which determine group membership, and the individual is not necessarily attracted mainly by the activity of a group. If it is the kind of group in which he will meet other members face to face, his more personal desires become important. As soon as his membership is impending, he begins to form a provisional group imago, an image of what the group is going to be like for him and what he may hope to get out of it. In most cases, this provisional group imago will not long remain unchanged under the impact of reality; but, as already noted, the internal group process is based on the desire of each member to make the actual, real group correspond as closely as possible to his provisional group imago. For example, a man may join a country club because that will offer him an opportunity to engage in his favorite pastimes. If the club is not equipped for one of them, he may try to introduce it. Membership in any group that includes unmarried people is nearly always influenced by the hope of finding a mate, and this may give rise to a very lively and colorful provisional group imago.
Psychotherapists often have to deal with provisional group imagoes when they suggest that a patient join a therapy group. The patient questions the therapist either to adjust an imago he has already formed from reading or gossip or to start forming one so that he will know what to expect. If the picture offered by the therapist does not meet his desires, the patient will not be favorably inclined and may join only to please the doctor rather than with the hope that "the group" will be of value to him.
While the script and the games that go along with it and set it in action come from older levels of the individual's history, his provisional group imago is based on more recent experiences: partly first-hand, from groups he has been a member of, and partly secondhand, from descriptions of groups similar to the one he desires or expects to join. One branch of the advertising and procurement pro-
162 Adjustment of the Individual to the Group
fessions is particularly concerned with favorably influencing provisional group imagoes.
It should be clear now that each member first enters the group equipped with: (1) a biologic need for stimulation; (2) a psychological need for time-structuring; (3) a social need for intimacy; (4) a nostalgic need for patterning transactions; and (5) a provisional set of expectations based on past experience. His task is then to adjust these needs and expectations to the reality that confronts him.
ADJUSTMENT
Each new member of a group can be judged according to his ability to adjust. This involves two different capacities: adaptability and flexibility.
Adaptability is a matter of Adult technics. It depends on the carefulness and the accuracy with which he appraises the situation. Some individuals make prudent estimates of the kinds of people they are dealing with before they make their moves. They are tactful, diplomatic, shrewd or patient in their operations, without swerving from their purposes. The adaptable person continually adjusts his group imago in accordance with his experiences and observations in the group, with the practical goal of eventually getting the greatest satisfaction for the needs of his script. If his script calls for him to be president, he picks his way carefully and with forethought through the hazards of political groups.
On the other hand, the arbitrary person proceeds blindly on the basis of his provisional group imago. This is typical of a certain type of impulsive woman, who will launch a sexually seductive game immediately on entering a group, hardly glancing around the room to see what company she has to reckon with. Occasionally her crude, unadapted maneuvers may be successful, and she will get the responses her script calls for: advances from the men and jealousy from the women. However, if the other members are not so easily manipulated, she may be ignored or rebuffed by both sexes. Then she is faced with the alternatives of either adjusting or withdrawing; otherwise, she may be extruded by the other members.
The second variable, flexibility, depends on the individual's ability and willingness to modify or sacrifice elements of his script. He may decide that he cannot obtain a certain type of satisfaction from a group and may settle for other satisfactions which are more readily available. Or he may settle for a lesser degree of satisfaction than he originally hoped for. The rigid person is unable or unwilling to do either of these things.
Adaptability, then, concerns chiefly the Adult, whose task it is to arrange satisfactions for the Child. The adaptable person may keep his script intact by modifying his group imago in a realistic way. Flexibility becomes the concern of the Child, who must modify his script to accord with the possibilities presented by the group imago. From this it can be seen that adaptability and flexibility often overlap, but they may also be independent of each other, as consideration of four extreme cases will demonstrate.
The adaptable, flexible individual will carry out his operations smoothly and with patience and will settle for what is expedient. ("Politics is the science of the possible.") He is the rather uninspiring "socially adjusted" person that some school systems take as their ideal, the "common-ground finder" who sacrifices principle to convenience in a "socially acceptable" way. In certain professions, such capacities may be desirable or profitable and may be deliberately cultivated.
The adaptable, inflexible member will carry on patiently and diplomatically but will not yield on any of the goals he is striving for. In this class are many successful business men who do things their own way. The arbitrary, flexible person will shift from one goal to another, showing little skill or patience, and will settle for what he can get without changing his tactics. The arbitrary, inflexible person is the dictator: ready to accomplish his aims without regard to the needs of others and inflexible in his demands. The others play it his way, and he gets and gives what he wants to.
The above descriptions are transactional and refer to the individual's behavior in a group situation, but they resemble character types described from other points of view.
It should be noted that it is the group process and not the group activity that leads to adjustment. For example, a certain type of bookkeeper may never adjust himself to the office group; he may concentrate on his work and do it well while remaining an isolate year in and year out except for participating in greeting rituals.
THE GROUP IMAGO
The complete process of adjustment of the group imago involves four different stages. The provisional group imago of a candidate for membership, the first stage, is a blend of Child fantasy and Adult expectations based on previous experience. This is modified into an adapted group imago, the second stage, by rather superficial Adult appraisals of the other people, usually made by observing them during rituals and activities. At this point, the member is ready to participate in pastimes, but if he is careful and not arbitrary, he will not
164 Adjustment of the Individual to the Group
yet start any games of his own, although he may become passively involved in the games of others. Before he begins his own games, his adapted imago must be changed into an operative one, which is the third stage. This transformation works on the following principle: the imago of a member does not become operative until he thinks he knows his own place in the leader's group imago, and this operative group imago remains shaky unless it has repeated existential reinforcement. To become operative, an imago must have a high degree of the differentiation mentioned in Chapter 5.
Grim examples may be found in the memoirs of officers of secret police forces. Many of these officers felt uncertain of their positions in the hierarchy until they thought they knew how they rated with their superiors, whom they were continually trying to impress in the course of their work. Once they felt that their positions were established, they were then able to differentiate themselves and their colleagues more clearly in their own group imagoes, whereupon they felt free to unleash the full force of their individual proclivities. They grew more and more confident in their atrocious actions and in their relationships with other party members as the approval of their leaders was reinforced.
A more commonplace example of operative adjustment is the case of the inhibited boy in kindergarten. He may find it difficult to associate with the other children until he feels sure that he knows how he stands with the teacher. Of course, this principle is intuitively known to all capable teachers, and they act accordingly. If they are successful, they will then note that "this boy has improved his adjustment and has now made some friends," i.e., he has differentiated some of the other children in a meaningful way. Similarly, in a psychotherapy group, an adaptable member will not begin to play his games until he thinks he knows how he stands with the leader. If he is arbitrary and not adaptable (e.g., the impulsive type of woman mentioned in the previous section), he may act prematurely and pay the penalty.
The operative principle may sound complicated, but it is really very simple. After a new child is born into a family, the other children treat him cautiously until they think they know how they stand in relation to the baby in the group imagoes of their parents, which they find out by testing. If a father is replaced by a stepfather, the wise child walks softly with the other children until he finds out how he and they stand with the new parent.
The operative principle is what makes it advisable to draw an authority diagram in considering an ailing group. The imago of each person on such a diagram operates according to how he thinks he
stands with his superiors, and what he thinks they expect from him; this determines how he will behave in his role in the organizational structure. The primal leader, or the leader who is on his own, has to raise his imago by its own bootstraps, as it were. But even here the operative principle may come into play. An independent leader, such as a group therapist in private practice, may feel responsible to his own Parent, and his group imago becomes operative on that basis. Thus it may be said that the true leader of some psychotherapy groups is the therapist's father. The leadership slot in such an imago is occupied by a phantom, and the therapist operates as the executive of his father's canon. (Incidentally, a phantom is also left whenever a well-differentiated member leaves a group, and it persists until the mourning process is completed, if it ever is. Since only autistic transactions are possible with phantoms, they give rise to many interesting and complex events.)
The fourth phase of the group imago is secondary adjustment. At this stage the member begins to give up his own games in favor of playing it the group's way, conforming to its culture. If this occurs in a small group or subgroup, it may prepare the way for game-free intimacy. However, activity may be carried on effectively regardless of the state of an individual's group imago.
The four stages of adjustment of the group imago and their suitability for structuring time are: (1) the provisional imago for rituals; (2) the adapted imago for pastimes; (3) the operative imago for games; and (4) the secondarily adjusted imago for intimacy.
Knowledge of this progression makes it possible to define with some exactness four popular terms which are usually used carelessly and even interchangeably: participation, involvement, engagement and belonging.
An individual who gives any transactional stimuli or transactional responses, in words or otherwise, is to that extent participating. Thus, participation is the opposite of withdrawal. It may occur at any stage of adjustment. A member may participate in activities, rituals, pastimes or games, depending on how far his provisional group imago has been adjusted.
A person who plays a passive role in the game of another member, without taking the initiative, is involved. Involvement may occur with an adapted group imago which is not yet operative.
A member who takes the initiative in starting one of his own games, or who actively tries to influence the course of someone else's game to his own advantage, is engaged. This occurs only after his group imago becomes operative. As already noted, this may happen prematurely and inappropriately in arbitrary individuals.
166 Adjustment of the Individual to the Group
Belonging is more complicated. A member belongs when he has met three conditions: eligibility, adjustment and acceptance. Eligibility means that he can meet the requirements for membership. Adjustment means that he is willing to resign his own games in favor of playing it the group's way. Such a resignation results from secondary adjustment of an operative group imago. Those who are "born to belong" are taught very early certain rituals, pastimes and games which are acceptable to their class; their secondary adjustment takes place during their early training. Acceptance means that the other members recognize that he has given up some of his individual proclivities in favor of the group cohesion, and that he will abide by the group canon. If he fails to do so, acceptance may be withdrawn. The sign of belonging is assurance, and the sign of acceptance is that the members give the responses required by the canon. If they break the social contract and show rudeness, the member loses his assurance. All this is well illustrated in the process of naturalization. The foreigner must first be eligible to cross the external boundary by immigration. Then he is required to study the canon of his adopted country. The better he adjusts his group imago, the more he is accepted and the more he belongs.
THE SCRIPT
The script is the most important item and, at the same time, the most difficult to investigate of all the items of equipment which the individual brings with him when he enters a group. For example, in choosing a new president from among the vice-presidents of a corporation, a psychologist can test the capacities of the various candidates for the job, but the script will determine what use each individual will make of his capacities, and the script cannot be reliably brought to light by any form of testing. Its unmasking requires a long period of psychiatric investigation by a skilled script analyst. Fortunately, however, the intuition of the member's associates or superiors, especially those who have known him a long time and have seen him react to a variety of pressures, is sometimes fairly reliable in this respect. There are outstanding vice-presidents whose scripts call for them to excel the deceased president in effectiveness, and there are equally capable vice-presidents who may give no indication to an untrained observer that their scripts call for them to destroy what the deceased president has built up and also destroy themselves in the process.
The adjustment of a script is similar to the adjustment of a group imago, but the preparatory stages occur before the individual enters the group.
The original drama, the protocol, is usualy completed in the early years of childhood, often by the age of 5, occasionally earlier. This drama may be played out again in more elaborate form, in accordance with the growing child's changing abilities, needs and social situation, in the next few years. Such a later version is called a palimpsest. A protocol or palimpsest is of such a crude nature that it is quite unsuitable as a program for grown-up relationships. It becomes largely forgotten (unconscious) and is replaced by a more civilized version, tne script proper: a plan of which the individual is not actively aware (preconscious), but which can be brought into consciousness by appropriate procedures. The script proper is closely related to the provisional group imago and can be found along with it among the fantasies of a candidate about to enter a group. Once he becomes a member, the script goes through the same processes of adjustment as the provisional group imago, depending on the individual's flexibility. In a clear-cut case there is an adapted script, called the adaptation, then an operative script and finally a secondary adjustment. The similarity to the development of theatrical and movie scripts is evident, and sometimes it is remarkable.
Since some scripts may take years or even a whole lifetime to play out, they are not easily studied in experimental situations or in groups of short duration. They are most efficiently unmasked by a careful review of the life history or in long term psychotherapy groups, which are much better than individual therapy for this purpose. But in some measure, the script influences a large percentage of the individual's transactions in any group meeting in which he participates actively.
One of the easiest scripts to observe in action is that of the man whose individual anancasm tragically drives him to failure. He can be followed through his expulsion from college to his discharge from one job after another, and the acute observer can soon spot the decisive moments in each of these performances which set the stage for the final outcome and can see the same drama being played over and over again with a different cast.
The adjustment of a script can be illustrated by a more constructive example. A therapist whose protocol had to do with "curing lots of people" (siblings) had a palimpsest by the age of 5 where he would invite his neighborhood contemporaries en masse to his house to play doctor. The protocol was based on a beloved family physician and much illness in the family. The palimpsest was necessary because Davy's siblings, being of various ages up to adolescence, were not readily available for his performances, so that he had to fill his cast with extras off the street. The script proper was active for a while
168 Adjustment of the Individual to the Group
during his grade-school years when he would invite various clubs to "meet at my house," hoping in this way to become a leader. The adaptation occurred years later when he was able to become a group therapist, which was a socially acceptable way of trying to "cure a lot of people who meet at my house." During the period of the adaptation, his efforts were tentative and not very successful. During the phase of his operative script when he took more initiative in structuring his therapy groups, he was more efficient but became heavily involved ("identified") with his patients. Finally, his script underwent a secondary adjustment, in which his therapeutic efforts were better controlled, involved fewer games, and were still more successful. He still had "lots of sick people meeting at my house" but was flexible enough to give up the magical satisfactions of "curing" them, acting in accordance with Ambroise Pare's dictum "I treated them, but God cured them." This "meeting at my house" was the first act of a long script which led to a satisfactory professional career when it was properly adjusted.
SUMMARY
We have now studied the individual's course from infancy until the time he belongs to a group, the kinds of transactions he may participate in and the manner in which he sets up and becomes engaged in chains of transactions. This is sufficient information to understand the operations of any individual in any group in terms of social dynamics and complements the study of the structure and the dynamics of groups as a whole.
The most important hypotheses on which this discussion of the adjustment of the individual to the group is based are as follows:
1. Social contact and time-structuring are necessary for psychological survival and probably for biologic survival as well.
2. Therefore, the problem of the healthy individual is primarily to find a suitable group for structuring his time. Secondarily, he strives to attain the maximum possible satisfactions from the facilities available.
3. The secondary considerations lead to the emergence of a provisional group imago before entering the group.
4. The individual then adjusts his operations in the group according to his adaptability and flexibility.
5. His participation is programmed by a mental picture of the group, its social customs, certain idiosyncratic patterns of manipulation and specific predetermined long-term goals, or, more concisely, his group imago, the group culture, his games and his script.
thinks he knows his place in the leader's group imago, although he may be premature in his inferences.
7. The group imago and the script go through well-defined phases of adjustment.
SPECIAL TERMS INTRODUCED IN THIS CHAPTER
TECHNICAL NOTES
The need for time structuring is discussed by W. Heron in "The Pathology of Boredom" (Scientific American 196:52-56, 1957). The survival value of physical contact is demonstrated by Rene Spitz: "Hospitalism, Genesis of Psychiatric Conditions in Early Childhood" (Psychoanalytic Study of the Child i:53-74, 1945). See also his articles on "Hospitalism: A Follow-up Report" and "Anaclitic Depression" (ibid. 2:113-117 and 313-342). Cf. the confirmatory experimental work of H. F. and M. K. Harlow on "Social Deprivation in Monkeys" (Scientific American 207:136-146, November 1962).
The significance of of unstructured time—i.e., boredom—as an existential problem is discussed by Soren Kierkegaard and others (R. Bretall, [ed.]: A Kierkegaard Anthology, pp. 22 ff., Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1947).
For a demonstration of leadership hunger, see E. Berne, R. J. Starrels and A. Trinchero: "Leadership Hunger in a Therapy Group" (Archives of General Psychiatry 2:75-81, 1960). Also.Bion's first paper (loc. cit.) .
The term "anancasm" has already been discussed in the Notes to Chapter 4, p. 79.
"Protocol" comes from Proto-Kollon, the first leaf of a volume, a fly leaf stuck to the outside case by glue and containing some account of the MS (Iiddell & Scott, loc. cit).
The need for careful definition of words relating to various forms of participation is evident to anyone reading the literature, especially the literature of group psychotherapy, which tends to be particularly careless in this respect.
As to palimpsests, in clinical practice what at first looks like an original protocol (e.g., phallic) often turns out to be an elaborated version of an earlier protocol (e.g., anal or oral). Or, from the developmental viewpoint,
170 Adjustment of the Individual to the Group
an oral protocol may have anal and phallic palimpsests. From the example given no implication is intended that group therapists tend to come from large families.
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Only the group dynamic aspects of psychotherapy groups will be discussed here, since the technical aspects belong to the psychiatric literature.
THE LOCATION DIAGRAM
The location diagram, which incorporates the roster and the schedule as shown in Figure 1 (p. 2), raises several important practical questions. Trigant Burrow noted as early as 1928 that membership in psychotherapy groups should be limited to 10 if there is to be adequate opportunity for individual self-expression. Nowadays many therapists prefer 8, and some like to work with 6. Theoretically, a smaller number would be sufficient, but the difficulty is that in practice the absences of 2 or more members may coincide, leaving the therapist with only one or 2 people to work with at some sessions, and such a situation is not desirable from the point of view of using the group as a therapeutic instrument. Therefore, 5 members would be a practical minimum. With a group larger than 10, it becomes almost impossible to be aware of every patient at every moment, so that group psychotherapy with larger groups is of a different order than with smaller groups.
Some therapists prefer 2-hour sessions. A 1-hour session is too short because a kind of warm-up period is necessary and termination also may be a distinct phase, leaving insufficient time in between to accomplish the necessary work of gathering information and observing and interpreting enough of the group process to obtain the best therapeutic results. However, it will be found that shortening the 2-hour session to 1 % hours does little damage. An erroneous impression may be given by certain patients whose policy is to abstain from their significant transactions until the end of the session. The error is to assume that it takes them 2 hours to make their minds up. Actually, such terminal activity is part of a game and will occur no matter how long or short the group session is. If a 2-hour session
174 Group Psychotherapy
is shortened to 90 minutes, it will be found that the patients who formerly made their plays at the end of the 2 hours will now do so at the end of the hour-and-a-half. Therefore, shortening the session does not appear to impair the efficiency of therapy; in fact it may increase it by tightening things up. It also leaves the therapist free to handle more groups per day, which is desirable in the present state of psychotherapy because of the relative scarcity of therapists all over the world. This is particularly applicable to Africa and the Orient where the ratio of psychiatrists to the general population is extremely low.
As to the arrangement of the room, the principle factor is the presence or absence of a table; or more precisely, the presence or absence of an empty space in the middle of the room. Whatever is in the middle of the room tends to become endowed with special properties, and if it is a space, it is treated differently from a large object such as a table. A table has the additional property of tending to conceal the lower halves of the bodies of the members, which has some effect on the proceedings of the group, particularly if it includes both sexes. There is not sufficient information at present to make firm statements about the presence or absence of a table, but there is no doubt that it has some significance.
THE AUTHORITY DIAGRAM
Group psychotherapists in public facilities are understandably reluctant to accept the idea that their groups are dynamically different from those in private practice. These differences arise from the authority diagram and the operative principle which influence to some degree everything that a psychotherapist in an institutional setting does. An authority diagram for a psychotherapy setup in a clinic is given in Figure 29 (p. 182). Anyone doing group therapy in this situation is responsible primarily to the Chief of Clinic and secondarily to the Chief Public Health Officer and the others shown in the diagram. He carries with him at all times a preconscious concept of what these people expect from him. Under ordinary conditions many of these suppositions may never become conscious, but in time of stress they will emerge full blown. Everyone in the clinic knows in the back of his mind that at any moment some patient might write a letter to the governor or some other official which, in rare instances, and however remote the possibility, might be of decisive importance to the official's own career.
In institutions under Federal jurisdiction, such as the Veterans Administration, the authority diagram must be traced right back through the head of the Department in Washington to the President
of the United States because it is just possible that the case of an individual patient in a psychotherapy group might become a national issue, and this is known to Federal employees. More commonly, the therapist is aware of the expectations of his immediate supervisor and the chief of his clinic and knows that if those expectations are not met, difficulties may arise. Hence, before setting up a psychotherapy group, it is important to draw an authority diagram to clarify what the therapist thinks is expected of him. Often he is surprised at what that brings out, since pride may have kept him from acknowledging the influence of these factors.
The authority within the group itself depends on the capabilities of the leader. If the appointed therapist is weak, his patients may appeal to higher authority and undermine his leadership. If he is competent, this will rarely occur.
The physician in private practice is for all practical purposes responsible only to himself and therefore does not have to take into account the expectations of a hierarchy of superiors. All this may be summarized by saying that the senior leader of a therapy group in an institution is the Chief of Clinic, and the invisible leader of a therapy group in private practice, as already noted, is the father (or mother) of the therapist. Interestingly enough, in those therapy groups which are conducted by psychoanalytically trained therapists, there is an active euhemerus in the person of Freud. And this is often well-known to the patients, so that in such groups the influence of a euhemerus may make itself felt in times of stress.
THE STRUCTURAL DIAGRAM
Psychotherapy groups have the structure of simple groups, with two classes only: the leadership, represented by one individual, the therapist; and the membership, represented by one class of individuals, the patients. The commonest departure from this simple structure is to have a compound or complex minor structure within the leadership, represented by an observer or recorder or by an assistant or co-therapist.
A phantom complexity may be introduced if the sessions are mechanically recorded. The group then becomes a complex one because of the fantasies the jpatients will have about the recording instrument. It is said that the patients get used to having their sessions recorded, but this is always done at some cost and with some warping of the proceedings; i.e., their anxiety is controlled by the marshalling of defenses, and those defenses alter the nature of the proceedings. This is easily validated when a patient transfers from a regularly recorded group. If he enters a group where the proceedings
176 Group Psychotherapy
are not recorded or goes into individual therapy, it soon appears that fantasies of what would be done with the recording were active throughout his membership in the previous group. These fantasies can easily be revived and are often surprising to the patient himself, who has successfully forgotten that they ever existed even though actually they were there as an active artifact all the time.
Some groups are set up in the public structure as having a co-therapist when it is well-known to the patients that the so-called co-therapist is really an assistant therapist who is subject to the authority of the senior therapist in a show-down. This hypocrisy of the leadership is recognized in the group imago of the patients and introduces cant as an element of the group culture. Overlooking this psychological reality does more harm than good, and the myth of the "co-therapist" (if it is a myth in a given instance) will impair therapeutic efficiency. In any case, the presence of more than one individual in the leadership region alters the proceedings in a way which cannot be foreseen at present and is not sufficiently understood. Therefore, the introduction of another person as an arm of the leadership must always be undertaken with caution and with the knowledge that there are certain disadvantages which in many cases outweigh the advantages of having an observer or co-therapist.
In this simplest kind of group, the leader acts as his own external and internal apparatus. That is, it is usually his job to select the members, arrange the time and the place of the meetings, set up the furniture and other equipment required, answer the telephone, deal with outside authorities, collect the fees and keep internal order. At times these duties may be delegated to the "co-therapist" or to the observer.
THE DYNAMICS DIAGRAM
For most psychotherapy groups, the external pressure is negligible. Most commonly in time of war, and in rare cases in a hurricane, earthquake or epidemic area, it may affect the proceedings. In an institution the external pressure generally is represented by the people who have the authority to transfer the therapist or terminate permanently the meetings of the group. If situations arise in which this pressure becomes active, the therapist may deal with it without mentioning it to the patients or he may discuss it with them.
By and large, however, it is unusual for a therapy group to go into the combat state; in most cases it remains a simple process group. The patients' transactions can be divided into those in the major process, which are commonly labelled transference phenomena, and those in the minor process—i.e., transactions between the patients that do
Transactional Diagrams 111
not directly involve the therapist. Theoretically, every transaction that takes place in such a group is influenced by the transference— i.e., by the major process—but it is still possible in practice to separate the proceedings into those of the major internal process and those of the minor internal process; or, put in group dynamic terms, those in which individual proclivities are engaged with the group cohesion, and those in which two or more individual proclivities are engaged with each other.
An elementary classification of chains of transactions which is particularly useful to beginners in group therapy is the triad discussion-description-expression. Discussion is concerned with the external environment (pastimes and activity). Description is concerned with personal feelings—talking about them rather than expressing them; these are Adult descriptions of Child and Parent attitudes and are often part of a game of Psychiatry. Description is often marked by the use of "this" in place of "that" as a demonstrative ("This is what I did yesterday" rather than "That is (or was) what I did yesterday."). Expression refers to the direct, undiluted expression of feelings toward another member of the group.
THE GROUP IMAGOES
The real aim of most dynamic psychotherapy groups is to clarify the group imagoes of the individual members, although this may be stated in different words. Some therapists believe that the protocol for all therapy groups is based on early family life. Hence, the group imago is a facsimile of an infantile or childhood group imago. However, it is probably an error to accept ihis too easily, and valuable insights may be lost by making unwarranted assumptions in this respect; in particular, the careful study of adjustments is apt to be neglected.
TRANSACTIONAL DIAGRAMS The advantage of using transactional analysis in group therapy is that it raises the theoretical efficiency of this treatment to 100 per cent. In principle, each stimulus and each response, no matter how trivial it appears, is a potentially fruitful subject for analysis. There is no need to wait for "material," and there is no such thing as an "unproductive" session unless the therapist makes it so. The old joke about the psychiatrist who said "Hello!" to his colleague and was asked in reply "What do you mean by that?" becomes a serious central question in transactional analysis.* The fact that the thera-
* Too often a patient who asks the therapist "How are you?" really means "When are you going to drop dead?"
178 Group Psychotherapy
pist has a well-defined, progressive program leading from structural analysis through transactional analysis proper and game analysis to script analysis, gives him a confidence and forthrightness which is in itself therapeutic and eliminates the gingerly, tentative approach which is the hallmark of technics borrowed from individual therapy. Transactional analysis is a strong instrument in group therapy because it is based on a theory native to and derived from the group therapy chamber. Thus, it not only is highly efficient, but the results so far indicate that it is also of superior therapeutic effectiveness.
Transactional diagrams of what occurs in psychotherapy groups are the models for all other transactional diagrams, since only in such a group can the characteristics of transactions be adequately investigated. Hence, it is from psychotherapy groups that most knowledge of the relationship between individual dynamics and group dynamics is derived. For this reason it is common for all sorts of people who work with groups to become interested in group therapy and to enter psychotherapy groups as patients, particularly if they wish to learn the principles of structural analysis, transactional analysis and game analysis. It appears that group leaders of many kinds can benefit from such experiences both in regard to their own inner problems and as an aid to understanding the proceedings of their own groups; but only if they genuinely feel a need for personal psychotherapy.
TECHNICAL NOTES
The work of Trigant Burrow, the first systematic psychiatric group therapist, is discussed at some length in the appendix on the literature of group dynamics, together with the ideas of other creative group therapists. C. Beukenkamp ("Further Developments of the Transference Life Concept in Therapeutic Groups," Journal of the Hillside Hospital 5:441-498, 1956) is the ablest exponent of the theory that a psychotherapy group recapitulates the family situation. G. R. Bach (Intensive Group Psychotherapy, New York, Ronald Press Company, 1954) has noted the occurrence of chains of transactions which he calls "set-up operations," and which are actually parts of games.
For further discussion of the problems of group psychotherapy and group treatment, see Eric Berne, Principles of Group Treatment, (New York, Oxford University Press, 1966).
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APPLIED GROUP DYNAMICS
Applied social psychiatry deals on the one hand with unhealthy transactions between individuals, where it finds its chief usefulness in group psychotherapy; and on the other hand with unhealthy aspects of organizations and groups, where it becomes a branch of applied group dynamics.
The therapy of ailing groups, like the therapy of individuals, depends on a clear understanding of the problems at issue. In both cases, the ailments may be considered under the classic headings of pathologic structure (anatomy), pathologic function (physiology), symptoms, diagnosis, outlook and treatment. In order to understand the malfunctioning of a group, one should have at least enough information to draw the 6 basic diagrams: Location, Authority, Structural, Dynamics, Imago and Transactional. In addition, it is necessary to know something about the history of the group and the motivations of the leadership and the membership. The actual proceedings at a given moment then can be considered or reconsidered in an attempt to find a remedy.
At the present time, the therapy of ailing groups is mostly in the hands of industrial psychologists. But all chiefs of state and their internal apparatuses, legislators, public officials, political scientists, economists, sociologists, educators, criminologists and sometimes (as in the islands of the South Pacific) anthropologists are concerned with the questions involved. In fact, this applies to anyone in a position of leadership and to any member of a group apparatus.
One of the most important contributions of industrial psychology is the following principle: No conflicts between two classes of membership can be settled satisfactorily by consultation with each class separately. For example, if there is a conflict between factory managers and factory workers, little will be accomplished by a consultant who meets first with the managers and then with the workers, or vice versa. The increase in cohesion and the decrease in agitation which
180 The Therapy of Ailing Groups
favor productivity can best be brought about by joint meetings of both subgroups. From this principle, the usefulness of "family group therapy" can be deduced logically.
However, the personal leader is the personal representative of the group cohesion, and his group imago influences the behavior of all the members in accordance with the operative principle. Therefore, a shift in his group imago will have the greatest effect in changing the private structure of the group, with a resulting change in effectiveness. Hence, consultations with the leadership are the most powerful weapon in the therapy of ailing groups.
Four examples will be used to illustrate the practical application of this method: an outpatient clinic, a psychotherapy group, a state hospital and a boy's club. The best way to learn the therapy of ailing groups is to practice the use of this approach at a regular professional seminar, each weekly session of which should last at least 2 hours: 1 hour for presentation and 1 hour for diagnosis. Once an accurate diagnosis has been made, the treatment is usually easy to work out, and the results can be checked by a follow-up presentation a few weeks or months later. Almost any kind of a group or organization will do, provided that the leader or a regular member is willing and able to give the required information; e.g., a rowdy classroom, a postgraduate school, a county health department, a social welfare clinic, a disorganized theatrical company, a housing development, a hospital, a teen-age activity group—any group which is not producing the best it should be capable of. The most instructive is a psychotherapy group, since a psychotherapist knows more about his members than the leaders of most other groups. In order to head off idle speculation and rambling discussions, the person who presents the situation should be requested to ask a specific question right at the beginning, so that the members of the seminar can direct their attention to the particular symptom which is causing uneasiness.
AN AILING CLINIC
Dr. Lebon had recently been appointed Chief of Staff of a psychiatric outpatient clinic in a medium-sized inland city. His predecessor, Dr. Fabel, had resigned in order to go into private practice. Dr. Lebon had not had previous administrative experience but felt that he had abilities along these lines and wanted to use them to the best advantage. A colleague referred him to Dr. Q.
Dr. Fabel had given little attention to the organizational aspects of the clinic. He had preferred to devote himself to seeing patients, leaving the rest of the staff to do pretty much as they pleased. Dr. Lebon said that he found the morale poor. No one spoke up at staff
Lavatory
Emergency Room
Conference and Library
Offices
Offices
Secretary
Chief Psychologist
Chief of Social Work
Waiting Room
Fig. 28. Location diagram.
conferences, which tended to be perfunctory and lackadaisical. He had attempted to review some of the medical and therapeutic procedures so that he would have a clearer idea of how the staff was performing its duties, and this had aroused resentment.
182 The Therapy of Ailing Groups
A. The First Session At their first session, Dr. Q encouraged Dr. Lebon to present whatever problems were uppermost in his mind. He then questioned him for details that would help to set up the 6 basic diagrams. Since this was a private consultation and not a teaching seminar, Dr. Q did not draw all the diagrams on the blackboard, but constructed them in his mind. He did not attempt to give Dr. Lebon a course in group dynamics. He focused his opinions and suggestions on the points which Dr. Lebon raised and said enough so that Dr. Lebon could follow his train of thought; when he had to use a technical term for
Press and Electorate
Governor of State
Mayor
Manual:
Hospital and Clinic
Ordinances
Legislature m^at Act
Board of Supervisors
Department of Mental Health
Chief of Social Work
Chief Public Health Officer
I
—— Chief of Clinic —
Psychiatric Social Workers
rti
Psychiatrists
Chief Psychologist Psychologists I
Janitor Receptionist Secretaries
Note: Psychiatrists, Psychologists and Social Workers work independently on the same echelon.
Fig. 29. Authority diagram.
the sake of precision, he explained it sufficiently so that Dr. Lebon would know what it referred to in his particular situation. This approach was quite acceptable to Dr. Lebon. Being a practical clinician himself, he did not want a course in theory at that time but workable answers to concrete problems, and he trusted Dr. Q's judgment just as he would trust a consultant in any other branch of psychiatry or medicine.
Fig. 30. A (top). A typical clinic. B {bottom). An ailing clinic.
184 The Therapy of Ailing Groups
It was not necessary to go into much detail to set up an adequate Location Diagram, shown roughly in Figure 28. Dr. Lebon described briefly the layout of the clinic, with larger offices for himself, the chief psychologist and the chief social worker and smaller ones for the other members of the staff; a waiting room, reception desk, emergency treatment room, secretaries , offices and conference room. The most important point established here was that the physical facilities of the clinic were satisfactory to him.
More attention was paid to the Authority Diagram. The clinic was financed by*the city, with some state funds as well. The finances were administered by the Public Health Officer, to whom the Chief of Clinic was directly responsible. The Public Health Officer was responsible to the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors. The local newspaper was actively interested in the clinic and so was the general public, since it was expected to diminish the need for welfare funds and to provide superior psychiatric care for the segment of the population who could not afford private treatment. At this session it appeared that the senior portion of the chain of authority was not directly involved in the problem, so this aspect was soon dropped. However, the junior portion seemed more disturbed and, therefore, was investigated in more detail. The senior echelons are partly represented in Figure 29; the junior echelons include the janitor and the
External Pressure (Inactive)
Fig. 31. Dynamics diagram.
secretaries, but in this case it turned out that they were not implicated, as far as could be determined.
By this time the structural diagram was becoming clear. Unlike some clinics, which are structured as compound groups in which the psychologists and the social workers are supervised by and responsible to the medical personnel (Fig. 30A), this clinic was structured as a complex group. The psychiatrists, the psychologists and the social workers each functioned as an independent subgroup, so that the Chief of Clinic served only as an administrative buffer who protected them from external pressures (Fig. 30B). Dr. Lebon indicated this by saying that procedures for the clinic were poorly outlined. Everyone did pretty much as he pleased. The social workers in particular resented any interference. The chief social worker was an energetic, well-organized woman of large build, much more aggressive than Dr. Fabel, for example.
It was the social workers who had been most upset when Dr. Lebon had reviewed the therapeutic procedures. They felt this was an invasion of their field and an abrogation of their rights (the social contract as they saw it). In an attempt to mollify them, Dr. Lebon explained that he had undertaken this review as part of his duties under the State Mental Health Act.
The important aspects of the Dynamics Diagram were now clear in Dr. Q's mind (Fig. 31). The external pressure was negligible. The social workers were weakening the group cohesion by agitation across the major internal boundary and also by intrigues across the Psychiatrist-Social Worker minor internal boundary, freely expressing their individual proclivities with little compromise in favor of the effectiveness and the survival of the group as a whole.
At this point, Dr. Q made three observations to Dr. Lebon. 1. He explained the principle that the members of a group do not engage in the group process until they think they know their positions in the group imago of the leader and then engage accordingly. The former chief, by his "hands-off" policy, had given the social workers no indications to go by. Therefore, during his regime there had been no engagement in the major process, and Dr. Fabel and the social workers had treated each other like strangers, with consequent weakening of the group cohesion. But, in their own subgroup, the chief social worker had been a good psychological leader. They knew where they stood with her, and this enabled them to go ahead with their subgroup process. As Dr. Lebon made clear, they were engaged in a competitive game. At one level they were emotionally involved by their patients, and at another level they vied with each other for the chief social worker's approval by using a rather stereotyped thera-
186 The Therapy of Ailing Groups
peutic approach which she favored. (This was a version of the game called "I'm Only Trying to Help You.") What they resented was his interference with this game, and they feared him because they could not guess how far he might go in this direction. The culture of the group as a whole was soft and lax.
2. He suggested that leaders exist partly to provide an object for the hostility of the members, and that Dr. Lebon should not be surprised or ruffled at their reaction to his inquiries, since to them his questions indicated that there might be trouble in the future if he was dissatisfied with their work. Dr. Fabel had acted more like an external apparatus than like a real Chief. Now they were confronted with someone who wanted to be a responsible and effective leader, instead
/ State \ and
f Psychologists j f Psychiatrists j ( Self j
Other Social Workers
Fig. 32. A (top). Group imago of member of disjunctive subgroup (weak cohesion). B (bottom). Group imago of a conjunctive member (strong cohesion).
of merely an administrator who only did the undesirable paper work and acted as a buffer. Hence, they too must become responsible and effective. If they did not fight him, their Adults would have to take over their clinical work, leaving the Parent in each of them frustrated and resentful. Therefore, although he could understand their feelings, this should not deter him from doing what had to be done.
3. In saying that he had undertaken the review of procedures because of the Mental Health Act, he had started a 3-handed game in which he was in effect calling in the State Legislature as his backer. Since they could not attack the Legislature, this left them helpless. He could always brush off their resentment by referring it to someone they could not deal with instead of meeting it directly himself. This "successful" maneuver, as he thought of it, might be successful in keeping him from having the anxieties of responsibility, but its effect would probably be to arouse even more resentment. Since he was dodging his responsibility, in their helplessness they might fall back on passive resistance, which would further damage the group cohesion. Furthermore, they might interpret his explanation quite rightly as a sign of weakness, which would decrease their respect for him and make it more difficult for them to accept his leadership. The fact that this device of falling back on the protection of higher authorities was common did not necessarily mean that it was good practice; perhaps its popularity only indicated how difficult it was to be a courageous leader.
B. The Second Session
At the next session, 2 weeks later, Dr. Lebon described a staff conference. Some transactional analysis became possible, and the Group Imagoes of the social workers could be visualized (Fig. 32A). It appeared that they viewed the staff, including themselves, as a group of precocious children, all on an equal level, under the benevolent protection of the state and the city governments.
According to Dr. Lebon's description, the 3 psychologists stood apart as a small subgroup and concentrated on doing their jobs; their talk was confined to matters concerning their own profession, and they did not join in more general discussions as the social workers did. The psychiatrists tended to work as independent individuals, each primarily interested in his own patients, with little participation in the group process. The staff conferences were repetitious and ritualistic, with strict adherence to the etiquette of the social contract. There was no frank discussion, no real thought; no one wanted or ventured any criticism. After a case was presented, the attitude of the members was: "Don't say anything destructive. Please look
188 The Therapy of Ailing Groups
on the constructive side." This was said aloud by more than one social worker. The proceedings consisted only of reinforcing the speaker's persona as a "good" therapist. In the face of such a rigid ritual, no real activity was possible, and little or no benefit came to the patients from the conferences.
The problem here was how to develop a more useful group culture. The first step must be to change the poorly differentiated group imagoes of the social workers, which actually represented the situation as a party rather than as a group or organization, into something more effective, and to get the psychologists and the psychiatrists to participate more. Dr. Lebon had to make clear that it was his right and duty as a leader to question their personas and to differentiate himself from the other members. In order to do this, he must be willing to take the consequences of occupying the leadership slot instead of just another membership slot. The desired change in the imagoes of the members is represented in the shift from Figure 32A to Figure 32B. One question was how rapidly the shift should be attempted. The dilemma was: the quicker, the better for the patients; the slower, the more time for the staff to adjust and the less likelihood of resignations. It was agreed that the kind of social worker who becomes too personally involved with her patients does not give up her psychological position easily and sometimes under pressure would flee rather than make an orderly retreat.
Chief of Clinic
Social Worker
Fig. 33. (A) Crossed transaction (Type I). (S) "Let's discuss it." (R) "Why do you criticize me?"
Besides the need for careful timing, there was also a transactional difficulty. The chances were that any questioning of the persona of the "good therapist" would result in a crossed transaction. No matter how objective the leader was, his remarks would likely be regarded (in the beginning at least) as a Parental criticism of the Child, resulting in the situation represented in Figure 33, with a resentful response. The best approach would be to "hook" their Adults by stressing "good clinic practice" before questioning any particular procedure. By thus arousing Adult pride, the leader would have a valuable ally, an inner check against resentful rebellion on the part of any member's Child. How Dr. Lebon would accomplish this preparation was left to his judgment.
He asked whether he should do it by talking quietly to the sub-leader, the chief social worker, and letting her handle it from there, or whether he should take over. The first alternative, hiding behind her skirts, did not promise to be constructive. She was getting considerable satisfaction out of being an independent leader, and he would be asking her to give that up and come over to his side. She would only do this if she thought she would get something in return. That meant he would have to "seduce" her into bringing her subgroup into his fold. A seduction, however subtle and hidden, always contains unspoken promises and holds unpredictable possibilities. It is some kind of a "deal." It was suggested that he tell the sub-leader first, to prepare her, and then take over himself. If he shows her clearly that he is not making a deal, but that he is the leader and expects her co-operation, then he is organizing a group and not a seduction. She then has the alternatives of open rebellion or of acknowledging and respecting his leadership, both of which are easier to handle than the possible consequences of his first proposition.
In discussing the problem of firmness as outlined above, Dr. Lebon's special characteristics as a leader came out more strongly than before, and he readily acknowledged them. He had a tendency in his declarations of policy to be Parentally sermonizing and over-justifying, rather than practical and Adult. And if he was challenged, he would, like a little boy, bring up external authorities instead of standing on his own ground. He was recognizing these things more clearly, but he still found himself doing them occasionally; nevertheless, he felt that there was some improvement in these respects and looked for more.
C. The Third Session At the third session, which took place a month after the first, Dr. Lebon said that the clinic staff was now in better shape and that the
190 The Therapy of Ailing Groups
discussions had been a great help. After the previous session, he had spoken privately to the chief social worker. He had simply asked her what the role of a social worker was and stopped there without defending or embroidering his question, which was unusual for him and even felt a little unnatural. Much to his surprise, instead of becoming defensive, she had at first appeared to be confused by his new approach, but had then proceeded to answer in a matter of fact way, reciting the well-established tasks which were the legitimate concern of her profession. He had listened quietly and had then mentioned that many of the items she listed were beyond the capacity of a psychiatrist to deal with and clearly indicated the need for social workers at the clinic. He had suggested that the social work staff at the next clinic conference talk about the things they could contribute. The presentations had been poor, and Dr. Lebon thought this meant that they were worried and displeased at his suggestion. Dr. Q agreed that the issue had now been joined, and that they were fighting what they rightly felt was an intrusion into the private preserve they had set up.
But in spite of themselves, the presentations had had a good effect. The psychiatrists had hitherto been ignorant of the proper usefulness of a social worker because the social workers had set themselves up as envious competitors of the medical staff. Now the psychiatrists saw for the first time and readily acknowledged that the social workers, if they went legitimate, could make a definite and unique contribution to the effectiveness of the clinic. With all its deficiencies, this one conference had made a strong impression on the staff, so that the different members were beginning to "appreciate" each other (i.e., listen to each other) for the first time since the clinic had been activated.
Dr. Lebon went on to another problem. He wanted to open an inpatient ward in the local hospital, and the social workers objected because it would give the public the idea that the clinic dealt with "crazy" people. Dr. Lebon wanted to go secretly to the Superintendent of the hospital and persuade him to say that it was his, the Superintendent's, idea to start an inpatient psychiatric ward. Dr. Lebon thought that in this manner he could avoid taking responsibility for the ward and thus escape the criticism of the social workers.
Dr. Q said that in his opinion that would be a very bad move, since once more it amounted to setting up a 3-handed game between himself and his staff, with the Superintendent as his ally, except that this time it was worse because it involved keeping a secret. Since Dr. Lebon's aim at the moment was to break up the games that the
staff was now playing with him, it seemed inadvisable meanwhile for him to set up a game from his side.
At this point, Dr. Q thought to himself that if Dr. Lebon went ahead with his plan, sooner or later he would unconsciously arrange for the secret to leak out and thus get himself into difficulties, very likely at precisely the moment when "at last everything is going well." However, he did not say this aloud, because Dr. Lebon had come for therapy for his ailing group and not for treatment of his personal problems. It is always an easy out for a psychiatric consultant in group dynamics to suggest that the leader is in need of personal psychotherapy, but that merely amounts to a confession that the consultant has reached the end of his rope, as far as his knowledge of group dynamics is concerned. If that is the best he has to contribute, he should resign before he begins.
Dr. Lebon's thoughts were evidently running along similar lines because the very next thing he said was that he realized things had now come to the point where he had to choose between psychotherapy for himself and studying more about the theory of social dynamics. He added that he thought he was "not very sick." Dr. Q replied:
"I don't feel that you're 'sick* at all. It's not a question of 'sick' or 'not sick' behavior on your part, as you've often said it was. It's a question of procedures that work, and procedures that don't work."
Thus it was agreed between them that further consultations could be postponed. Dr. Lebon concluded:
"A lot of things have been straightened out in my mind, and the situation is considerably improved. I think now I know enough about everybody's weaknesses, including my own, to go ahead.
Subsequent events confirmed his confidence.
AN AILING PSYCHOTHERAPY GROUP
Psychotherapy groups are similar in most respects to simple work gangs such as rural classrooms and small plantations. The main differences are in the group cultures. In all three, the location diagrams allow people to talk to each other face to face, and the manning tables and the structural diagrams are simple, with only two roles ("overseer" and members). There are only small differences in the authority diagrams; as long as the job gets done, there is not likely to be any interference from above, and if anything goes wrong, the leader knows exactly whom he is responsible to: the clinic head, the school board or the manager. If the groups are healthy, the dynamics diagrams are equally simple: internally, the leader has almost absolute authority to impose certain restrictions, and the members have no authority over each other. For the most part, the work proceeds
192 The Therapy of Ailing Groups
without any interruption from external pressure, although a flood or a hurricane might disrupt any of these groups. The imagoes are of an elementary type if the group cohesion is strong, and transactions tend to be Adult-to-Adult in the activity and Parent-to-Child in the major process.
The ailments that affect classrooms are often due to softness and some form of laxity in the culture. On the plantations, according to responsible press reports, difficulties usually seem to arise from the opposite condition of overfirmness and overseverity. For example, tropical planters whose fathers settled their lands in the face of crocodiles and cannibals, often exert rigid and sometimes irritable discipline over their indentured native laborers. Thus, unhealthy
Window
J4/16
J Tom
XVIII 1/wk Tuesdays 3-4 p.m. Door
3/6 70%
^ 4/18
I Mary I
9 5/18
Fig. 34. "Discussion Diagram" of a therapy group. A diagram like this is drawn on the blackboard whenever a therapy group is discussed. It gives on inspection the answers to many different questions. If a recording is being played the therapist can indicate which patient is talking.
Key XVHL 18th meeting 1/wk: meets once weekly 3/6: 3 out of 6 active members present
70%: average attendance during life of group (indicates cohesion) 4/16: Tom came 2 weeks after the group was activated and has been
to 4 out of 16 possible meetings since. Other information can be included, such as age or diagnosis of each
patient, but here it is irrelevant.
cultures may be divided into flabby and brittle types. Flabby cultures are soft and lax, and the activity is not sufficiently structured and goal-directed to engage the Adult seriously. Brittle cultures are too firm and severe, and the activity is too highly structured, with the result that the Child becomes sullen from suppression, or completely cowed. A flabby culture encourages decay, and a brittle one passive resistance or open rebellion. Nobody can learn anything in the classroom, or the natives refuse to pay their head-tax, and spears and bullets fly.
The therapy of an ailing psychotherapy group is usually easy to prescribe. Because of the simple structure and dynamics, the difficulty rarely lies in those areas. Unhealthy therapy groups are almost always flabby, so that the cohesion is weak and the members gradually drift away. Sometimes the leader rides, knowingly or unknowingly, on the magical powers attributed to him by the Child in his patients and makes little effort to offer a progressive, well-planned therapeutic program.
A. The Diagnostic Interview
Dr. Goedig came for consultation because his psychotherapy group was decaying. He had started with 8 members, but in a short time his average attendance was reduced to 3. In order to clarify the situation, Figure 34 was drawn on the blackboard. Enquiry revealed that the low attendance was not due to the usual "statistical" attrition, in which 50 per cent of the members might be expected to withdraw during the first few months, 50 per cent of their replacements during the next few months, and so on. Indeed, the group cohesion was stronger than average in respect to withdrawals; the weakness was of the type manifested by irregular attendance. Only 2 of the 8 members had permanently withdrawn, but the others attended spasmodically. It was as though Dr. Goedig was holding out some promise which was more attractive than usual but was somehow delaying its fulfillment. Thus, the members were too intrigued to drop out for good but not sufficiently interested to come regularly. From time to time, one or another of them would come for a few weeks, as if to see whether the group was any closer to the end of the rainbow, and then stay away for a few weeks hoping that things would advance meanwhile. Hence, the average attendance of 3 seldom included the same individuals for very long.
Dr. Goedig was an agreeable, kindhearted man with some training in both psychoanalysis and transactional analysis. He let his patients, selected from his private practice on somewhat snobbish intellectual grounds, proceed as they wished and occasionally threw in an inter-
194 The Therapy of Ailing Groups
pretation. If a patient spoke to him directly and he did not know what to say, he would fall back on a popular but erroneous idea of the canon of Freud (the euhemerus, as noted, of most psychotherapy groups) and "reflect the question" or exercise his "right" to maintain a poker-faced silence. He could not explain exactly how he acquired this "right." He felt that it was "good psychiatric practice" but was not sure what it was good for. On careful inquiry, it developed that he felt the right was conferred on him when he got his diploma.
This line of questioning was not what Dr. Goedig had expected, and it made him uncomfortable, but it impressed on him that the real purpose of the "psychiatric poker face" was to avoid becoming involved in games. Such immobility was not something to be exhibited arbitrarily to conceal the therapist's own ignorance or uneasiness or to convey a false impression of superiority; it was a rational procedure to be applied when rationally indicated, and not otherwise. His indiscriminate use of it was part of a game of Psychiatry on his side. Actually, he did it less for the patients' benefit than for his own.
This discussion revealed that he had no ongoing therapeutic plan and no well-defined program for conducting the group. His feeling was that somehow the patients would get "better" if they said whatever came into their heads and he said whatever came into his. In short, this was a flabby group. At no time did the patients understand clearly what was going on (culture soft), nor were his interventions consistent and well organized (culture lax). His analytic approach was too poorly defined and too lacking in direction to interest the Adult part of his patients. It was mostly the Child in each of them that brought him or her there to be mothered by Dr. Goedig and to see if the miraculous promise secretly held out by the therapist was nearer fulfillment.
B. Remedial Progress After a few sessions, Dr. Goedig admitted that he was lazy, lacking in courage and not really committed to any system of therapy. He now decided to use transactional analysis and game analysis more systematically and vigorously, rather than maintaining his former eclectic approach. Dr. Q explained that there were two aspects to be considered: the first was the problem of ensuring more regular attendance and averting complete decay, and the second was the quality of the therapeutic results he hoped to obtain. For the first, it did not matter which approach he used, so long as he was committed to it. Such a commitment would result in a firmer, stricter,
healthier group culture, which would give the Child in his patients increased confidence that he knew what he was doing; it would also give their Adults a feeling that he (and they) knew where they were going, how they were going to get there, and what could be done about it; in addition, it would offer an example of unswerving strength which they could apply to their own lives. These improvements would reinforce the group cohesion and increase the attendance. However, the quality of the therapeutic results did depend on which particular approach he selected. Dr. Goedig decided to give up "halfhearted psychoanalysis" in favor of a systematic and vigorous use of transactional and game analysis.
Again, it would have been an easy out for Dr. Q to suggest to a colleague who was lazy, lacking in courage and commitment and flabby in his approach, that he was in need of personal therapy. However, as it turned out, the situation improved without that. It took only a few weeks to establish increased vigor and confidence on Dr. Goedig's part, increased interest and zest on the patients' part and regular attendance.
During this period, Dr. Goedig continued to behave in an apologetic, defensive, Child-Parent way to Dr. Q. But the gratifying responses of his patients soon encouraged him to be independent, so that his consultations became much more Adult-Adult and more and more focussed on the details of the major and the minor group processes rather than on Dr. Goedig's capacities as a leader and therapist. After 6 months of weekly consultations attendance had risen from the previous rate of about 70 per cent to a new rate of about 95 per cent. After another 6 months, Dr. Goedig had become confident and skillful in his use of transactional analysis; his patients found this useful enough so that some of them wanted to bring their spouses for analysis of their marital games. The result was that after 18 months of consultation his group had grown so large that he had to split it in two. This attractiveness may have been due partly to the use of transactional analysis rather than some other approach, but it was also due partly to improvements in the firmness and the strictness of the group culture, as well as to the leader's increased understanding of group dynamics.*
* After 2 years Dr. Goedig had 3 groups springing from the original one, all 3 engaged in the most productive form of transactional analysis and with an aggregate 6 month attendance record of 96.5 per cent—the highest in Dr. Q's experience, exceeding the cohesion of his own therapy groups. This was an approximate 90 per cent reduction in absences. This is a gratifying example of the pupil excelling the teacher. "Dr. Goedig" is of course a pseudonym.