Gregory Bateson, an American psychiatrist and anthropologist of English origin, carries out his studies among the Iatmul of New Guinea where he meets and falls in love with the anthropologist Margaret Mead. The two will give rise to an interesting intellectual association that will last even beyond their sentimental history.
During World War II, the two will meet with Wiener, who is beginning his studies in cybernetics and will involve Bateson in his research. It was precisely in 1952 when they moved to Palo Alto, California, to participate in research on communication in schizophrenic families, which gave shape to the theory of the double bind. Therefore, in this Psychology-Online article we will see together what the Bateson double bind theory.
Origin of the double bind theory
In the early years, Bateson and his collaborators deal mainly with ambiguous and paradoxical communications. In one of their publications, they propose the hypothesis of the double bind theory as a typical modality in the family with a young schizophrenic. In effect, it is a explanatory theory of schizophrenia which reveals the influence that the relational context and relationships have on the appearance of schizophrenic disorder.
In the double bind theory, Bateson highlights the psychological values of communication, that is, how individuals, by communicating, put themselves and their own identity at stake. Every time a person communicates with another, they offer a definition of themselves to the other, in addition to the type of interaction that exists between them.
The problem arises when communication involves contradictory requests from which the recipient cannot escape. In this case, we speak of paradoxical requirements, for example, a mother who sends an ambiguous message to her son when she says “I love you”, but then uses non-verbal messages that contradict what she has said.
What is a double bind
Double bond or Bateson double bond means a type of communicationin the context of an important emotional relationship, in which there is an unacknowledged contradiction between messages located at different logical levels.
For example, in the mother-son relationship, when the mother tells the child “if you don’t do this I will punish you” and, immediately afterwards, adds “don’t question my love”, she makes the child a prisoner of a context in which The communication is full of ambiguities, since the secondary requirement said by the mother is contradictory to the first.
The child, in this case, is in the situation of not being able to analyze the contradiction and discriminate to which order of message he should respond: he is punished if he correctly discriminates the mother’s messages and also points if he discriminates them incorrectly. Therefore, he is subject to a double commitment.
How the double bind manifests itself
The necessary ingredients for Gregory Bateson’s theory of the double bind are:
- Two or more people involved in a relationship that has a high psychophysical survival value for one or more people. For example, family life, economic dependence, captivity, love, etc.
- In this context, a message is sent that asserts something, and then another message is sent that asserts something about the assertion itself. The two statements are mutually exclusiveso if the message is an order, it must be disobeyed to be obeyed.
- The person who receives the message is prevented from moving away from the educational context, is prevented from commenting and/or withdrawing.
One of the examples of the double bind is a clinical case cited by Bateson himself that effectively illustrates the concept of double bind: “A young man who had recovered quite well from an excess of alcohol received a visit from his mother in the hospital. Happy to see her , put his arm on her shoulders. He drew his arm and the mother asked him: “Don’t you love me?” The boy blushed and the mother said again: “Honey, you don’t have to feel ashamed and afraid of feelings so easily.” The patient could not be with his mother for a few more minutes and, after her departure, attacked a janitor and was put in the cold bathroom.”
The double bind effect
Born as a hypothesis of etiology for schizophrenia, in reality the double bind constitutes a condition that exceeds the limits of pathology and characterizes all interactions between living beings. The double bind is not a simple contradiction, but a true paradox and, if it is repeated, it is expected and does not require further reinforcement.
The paradoxical behavior induced by the double bind is double bind in nature, and therefore self-perpetuating. Thus, the effects of the double bind are:
- The continuous search for clarifications in oneself and in others.
- The blind and passive observation.
- The withdrawal and .
Furthermore, the double binding ingredients described above refer, respectively, to common forms of paranoid, hebephrenic and catatonic schizophrenia. Discover the different ones.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
Bibliography
- Cerulo, M. (2005). Sociology of cornici. Il concetto di frame nella teoria de Erving Goffman. Cosenza: Pellegrini Editore.
- Gambini, P. (2007). Family psychology. The systemic-relazionale perspective. Milan: Franco Angeli.
- Novellino, M. (2004). L’approccio clinical all’analisi transazionale. Epistemology, methodology and clinical psychopathology. Milan: Franco Angeli.