00.08 TA Script Theory

8. TA Script Theory

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Introduction

TA is a theory of life scripts. People need beliefs, myths and stories to live by. We as children are compelled by circumstances to make choices to aid our survival. The possibilities are limited. Elderly persons in the house, besides our parents tell us stories and fairy tales. We also get to read them from books and while watching TV and You Tube videos. We happen to choose our hero in those stories, fairy tales, videos, cartoons. The stories usually match our life situations. We 'in a way' decide what life is good to live - by fighting it out, by being manipulative, by being mischeavous, by being cunning, by taking life lying down, by being nice and complying among many other. The decisions get embedded in our psyche. They structure our life in adulthood.

Definition

Script is defined as an ongoing program, developed in early childhood under parental influence, which directs the individual's behaviour in the most important aspects of his adult life.  ‘Ongoing’ means always moving forward with an element of irreversibility; 'program' means there is a well laid out plan. Its skeleton can be found in a specific fairy tale; 'under parental influence' means during interactions with parents; 'directs' means is ordered to comply; 'important aspects' means significant events of life.

Berne asserts that "Script is the psychological force which propels the person toward his destiny, regardless of whether he fights it or says it is his own free will".

Relevance

TA is a theory meant to treat people afflicted by mental, emotional, behavioural, hurt and broken relationships, addictions and habits, aggressiveness and accident proneness, homicidal and suicidal tendencies, depression and  related problems, adjustment and accommodating difficulties and socially unacceptable behaviours. Script is to be viewed in that context.

Script and Personality Anomalies

Script and personality are two faces of the same coin. Personality anomalies represent the manner in which the afflicted person perceives, evaluates, assesses and responds to the prevailing reality, events, people, and emerging situations, problems, difficulties, conditions and challenges in the instant of becoming script ridden. Stroking patterns, transacting, games and rackets are the manifestations observed  in script ridden or script afflicted people.

Script has survival value and is psycho-cybernetic

Script leads people to achieve their life goal. It builds peoples' destiny. It is psycho-cybernetic, meaning that the goal (script payoff) determines the pace, direction and nature of events that contribute to it being achieved over a life-time.

Types of Scripts

Scripts are classified as being Winner, Loser and Non-winner Scripts  People with winner scripts achieve their goals by actively pursuing them despite intermittent problems, difficulties and failures. People with loser scripts are driven to fail. They have no Plan B in place to pick up strings and proceed to achieve rewarding goals. Losers have hurt or painful relationships and ups and downs in life. People with Non-Winner Banal scripts live uneventful lives. They are neither high achievers nor are they pathetic losers.

Characteristic Features of Script-ridden people

Script prone people justify their views, perception, beliefs, values and judgements. They are also protective about them. Their behaviour escalates when questioned. They are quick to reach conclusions. They have fixed ideas about their life and the way it is moving.

Antonym of Script

Script-free people find themselves enjoying freedom and flexibility in their manner of thinking, feeling, behaving, as well as assessing, evaluating and responding to reality, people and life situations. They are driven to achieve sane, safe, effective and rewarding outcomes in life. They are able to forget painful, hurting, embarrassing, escalating events and outcomes resulting from interactions with persons. They are able to restore life on track the many times it slips.

Patterns that help identify script prone people

Thinking : Script prone people display thinking disorders and pursue fantasies. They frequently get log-jammed in down-spin thinking. Confusion, indecision and struggle to put life on track are other indicators.

Feeling : Script prone people express racket feelings and get log-jammed in escalated racket feelings converting them into psychological trading stamps. They find it difficult to revert to a stable emotional state after a particularly disturbing event or interaction.

Behaviours : Script prone people engage in behaviours that are inauthentic, manipulative, recurring and leading to self / other person mental / physical / emotional harm or hurt. They justify their actions and behaviour as being appropriate and the correct one.

Other Indicators :

Victimised by Injunctions Injunctions are don't messages. They stop the affected persons in their track. There are twelve injunctions that impact existence, being sane, thinking, feeling, being close, being loved, being successful, being important, being close, experiencing belonging and enjoying one's sexuality.

Compulsive Behaviours : Script prone people display some of these four behaviour patters. Being Perfect, Being Nice and Pleasing, Being Strong and Trying Hard.

Passivity and Passive Behaviours Script prone people display passivity and the many types of passive behaviours.

Rackety Behaviours Rackety behaviours are repetitive, intense, and escalated. They display stylised expressions of thoughts, feelings and emotions.

Escalation of Somatic Ailments

Justifies Behaviour as being the only correct and appropriate one

Implements Unicorn and Procrustes Procrustes is the tendency to use justifications to make reasoning fit one’s proposition. Procrustes - Britanica Unicorn is the tendency to expand the proposition to become applicable to every aspect of a topic, subject or hypothesis. Unicorn - Wikipedia

Multi-level Manifestations of Script 

Script manifests at many levels. They are intra-psychic, intra-personal, psychological, emotional, interactional, social, behavioural and somatic levels. 

Intra-psychic Manifestation Ego state pathology and discounting constitute occurrences at intra-psychic levels. Mind talk and lock-jams smarting in feelings and emotions also constitute intra personal manifestations. 

Intra-personal Manifestation Intense mind talk constitutes its intra-personal manifestation.

Psychological Manifestation Affects of mind, altered thinking and feeling patterns constitute the psychological manifestations. 

Emotional Manifestation Emotional disturbances and challenges concerning affects of mind, and its management constitute emotional manifestations. 

Interactional Manifestation Unhealthy simple and complex transactions constitute its interactional manifestations. 

Social Manifestation 'Pastimes', 'Games' and 'Racketing' constitute its social manifestations. 'Drivers', 'Process Script Patterns', 

Behavioural Manifestation 'Racketing' and other observable activation across all the aforementioned levels constitute its behavioural manifestations.

Attributes of a Script-free Person

A script free person has the following attributes and qualities:

1. Autonomy: An autonomous person has capacity for conscious awareness, generating a variety of responses, choosing from options and capacity for intimacy - the ability to express one's thinking, feeling, opinion candidly, freely, openly and without put-down.

2. Script Free Living: Script free living is having capacity to be in control of one's life, have awareness for the surfacing of script directives as and when they surface.

3. Decision Making and Problem Solving: These are evident when a person is free of discounting.

4. Capacity for Adult Reality Testing: Reality testing is manifest when a person is largely free of pathology. The person is able to test subjective view of reality on the touchstone of objective reality.

5. Capacity to spend time in solitude and in the company of others with equal ease.

6. Attitude: The person is able to wait patiently for a better time when things are not favourable or going right. He is able to make haste when the time is opportune.

7. Free of Power Plays: The person upholds OK-ness in self as also in others during normal,  stressful and challenging times.

8. Own good and general good: The person is conscious about his responsibilities toward himself, his family, his profession, his clan and his nation without overlooking his responsibilities toward others.

9. Upholds universal values: Two values are important. One is citizenship and the other is sustainability. He does work in ways which causes minimum ripples in the lives of others.

10. Freedom from Psychological Time Engagements, Thinking and Emotional lock-jams, Sense of Purpose: These attributes are self explanatory. He / she is also loving, considerate, inclusive in his approach to life and decisions. 

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Links to Blogs by Ajit Karve on Transactional Analysis

This Blog : TA for Beginners

TA Theory and Practice : TA Theory and Practice
Daily Dose of TA : Daily Dose of TA

00.07 TA Racket Theory

7. TA Racket Theory

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Eric Berne has described rackets as being feelings of hurt, pain, insult, injury, embarrassment, anger, sadness that people work for by engaging in a host of activities. He described racket as a feeling, out of all the possible feelings, that is habitually turned on by a given persons as their payoff in the games they play. Fantia English describes rackets as feelings a child is allowed to have which cover up feelings the child is not allowed to experience or express. Behind each racket is an authentic feeling which cannot be felt in the current situation, and was not allowed to be felt as a child. Stewart and Joines describe racket to be familiar emotion, learned and encouraged in childhood, experienced in many different stress situations, and maladaptive as an adult means of problem-solving.

The term racket has been taken from the dictionary where they mean to be: a dishonest or fraudulent line of business; or a method of swindling for financial gain or as cover for extortion.

Therefore rackets are patterns of thinking, feeling, behaviour and transacting that are:

     Inauthentic;

     Repetitive;

     Manipulative;

     Maladaptive in ending situations and solving problems;

Racketing

While racket is an inauthentic feeling, racketing is an activity in which people engage unawarely  with the intent of manipulating others, and with the objective of drawing their attention, engaging with them in game, or for extracting strokes. The racketing activity draws adverse attention of others. The spectator/s stroke the person in hurting, painful or critical ways. The person thus obtains his yield of racket feelings.

Racketeering

Racketeering is a behaviour or a sequence of behaviours used by racketeers as a way to manipulate others in order to obtain their favoured racket feelings through the mode of strokes.

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This Blog : TA for Beginners

TA Theory and Practice : TA Theory and Practice
Daily Dose of TA : Daily Dose of TA

00.06 TA Game Theory

6. TA Game Theory

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Introduction

Game is a type of time structuring. It is a means that furthers Script. Games are segments of Script. While script takes a lifetime to unfold, games further script through agency of payoff. Games generate payoff. Racketing converts payoff to Psychological Trading Stamps. Psychological Trading stamps are the currency of script.

Games are played unawarely. They are played outside Adult conscious awareness. That they have occurred is mostly known when an ongoing interaction unexpectedly goes awry. Both parties are surprised by the lull in interaction. Then as a follow up the parties proceed to collect the payoff in the nature of racket feelings. Each of the parties becomes log-jammed in intense thinking and emotional supercharge.

Game is a unit of social action. This means that it benefits each of the participants (negatively) in some way.

Definition of Game

Game is defined as an ongoing series of ulterior complementary transactions having a switch and a cross-up leading to a predictable outcome called payoff.

Formula G defines Game

Formula G : C [Con] + G [Gimmick] = R [Response] → S [Switch] → X [Cross-up] → PO [Pay-off]

Note: + means evokes; = means results in; → means leads to

Con is inadvertently released in an ongoing conversation. It is a sentence with a hidden meaning. The Con hooks the Gimmick in the other. Gimmick is a soft spot. The main topic of discussion is forgotten. The discussion moves to arguing over the misunderstanding. This is the Response section of Game. Then one of the parties pulls the Switch. Switch is a statement which puts the other in a tight spot. This happens inadvertently and unintentionally. It takes both parties by surprise. This constitutes the Cross-up. A break in conversation ensues. Both parties are at their wits end to come to terms. Both parties collect their favourite racket feelings (stamps) as Pay-off resulting from engaging in the dynamic.

An example :

Sam : Hi Timothy long time no see.

Timothy : Yes Sam. I have been busy.

Sam : Doing some great things. You are always up to something.

Timothy : What do you mean.

Sam : What do I mean. I mean what I say.

Timothy : Shut up. You are always leg pulling.

Sam : Leg pulling? Your mischief is evident. Cheating people is what you do in the name of selling insurance.

Timothy : Stupid fellow with dirt filled in your head. Get lost.

Sam does not know why he said what he did. Timothy is embarrassed.

A cross-up follows.

Sam picks up ‘guilt’ stamps. Timothy picks up anger, dislike stamps. They avoid each other and do not talk about the incident in their social circles. A game has occurred.

Drama Triangle

Drama Triangle is a diagram that is used to picture game moves. The three corners are named Persecutor (P), Rescuer (R) and Victim (V). These are names of roles parties take in the dynamic. An arrow pointing outward shows the departure from the dynamic with payoff.

In the given example Sam initiates the game by assuming the Persecutor Role. Timothy is forced to occupy the Victim Role then shifts to Rescuer Role. In the mean time Sam continues to Persecutor role. Then Timothy moves to Persecutor Role and Sam is forced to Victim Role. Both parties move out with they respective Pay-offs.

Gains from Game Engagements

Games are played inadvertently, unintentionally and outside Adult conscious awareness. People fall prey  to playing them because they are rewarding in many ways. Games help in maintaining psychological inertia and its homeostasis. Games feed psychological hunger components to the exclusion of aspirational hunger. Intense feelings generate internal strokes that fulfil stimulus hunger needs. The game payoff is impacting and difficult to erase with ease. The interactions fulfil recognition hunger. Game itself forms one of the six methods of structuring time. Games generate and foster pseudo-intimacy. They help to reinforce one's favourite life position. Thereby they fulfil position hunger. They generate incidents of hurt and pain which fulfil incidence hunger.

Ending Games

Games can be ended or avoided by:

Gaining awareness of a game in progress.

Not blaming self or the other for being the cause of the dynamic.

By not justifying the reason for engaging in the game.

Moving to intimacy at switch.

Having the skill of going backward to pre-switch point and ending it in a constructive way. This process is 

called 'roll back and move forward'.

By putting the payoff in a drawer and proceeding with the other player as if nothing happened.

Forgetting the past event.

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Links to Blogs by Ajit Karve on Transactional Analysis

This Blog : TA for Beginners

TA Theory and Practice : TA Theory and Practice
Daily Dose of TA : Daily Dose of TA

00.05 TA StrokeTheory

5. TA Stroke Theory

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Introduction

Stroke represents an infant's need for touch. It is as much necessary for grown up adults as it was when we were infants and children. We observe that children seek undivided parental attention every twenty minutes. They engage in mischief if the same is denied. This need for touch is fulfilled by adults by holding or shaking hands, an affectionate embrace, looking compassionately, speaking to each other, giving and receiving undivided attention, being praised or appreciated, being noticed, being thanked, being heard attentively, and many more similar. These are healthy modes of stroking. If these are denied or one experiences a lack of them recourse is taken to unhealthy modes. These result in hurt, injury, insult, pain, embarrassment, guilt or feelings of anger, sadness, anxiety, distress and the like. These are symbolic forms of touch. Prayer, meditation and social service also give an yield of healthy strokes.

Strokes have a bodily component. Strokes have survival value. Therefore, people seek them out. Some stroke is better than no stroke at all. When healthy strokes are not available people obtain unhealthy strokes. Stroke deprivation leads to neurological, psychological and emotional disorders in children. Stroke deprivation causes the spinal cord to shrivel up. Marasmus or Anaclytic Depression results.

Definition of Stroke

A stroke is defined as a unit of recognition. By unit is meant any activity that promotes recognition. Physical touch, looking and listening are the principal modes. Examples are given in the introduction. Stroke is also described by Berne as being a fundamental unit of social action. Social action is activity in twos and groups that contributes in mutual growth and development.

Stroke Accounting and Stroke Economy

Stroke Accounting and Stroke Economy are modes in which stokes are given and received. Mentally healthy people (script free people) have no inhibition in giving, receiving, asking, rejecting, discarding strokes and self stroking. Mentally unhealthy people (script-ridden / script-prone people) are in denial mode in these areas. 

These manifest as stroking patterns explained in the table below.

Mode	Healthy People - Accounting	Unhealthy People - Economy
Giving	Give the strokes they have with them to give.	They do not give the strokes they have with them to give.
Receiving	They receive the strokes that are given to give to them.	They do not receive the strokes that are given to them.
Asking	They ask for strokes they need from others.	They do not ask for the strokes they need.
Rejecting and Discarding	They reject and discard  strokes that are hurting, painful or unpalatable.	They do not reject and discard the strokes that are hurting or painful.
Self Stroking	They do self stroking by way of self acceptance, self praise, and boosting self value, worth, dignity and esteem.	They do not do self stroking by way of self acceptance, self praise and boosting self value, worth, dignity and esteem.

   

Stroking Profile / Strokogram

The stroking patterns generate a stroking profile. The same can be mapped in a bar-chart like the one shown below. It shows the relative stroke appetite in five areas of dealing with strokes.

Stroke Bank

Strokes may not be available all the time. People store strokes for future use. Like for example a couple which has separated for employment would retain happy memoires of their union during separation. The same is true in children sent to boarding schools. Script prone people retain memories of pain, hurt, insult, injury, embarrassment, guilt or feelings of anger, sadness, anxiety, distress, hate, dislike and resentment as examples.

Factors affecting retention of strokes

The quality, intensity, depth, impact and memory are factors that affect retention of strokes. Our frame of reference and life position concerning the event, person, circumstances in the moment prevailing influence the factors lead to retention of strokes.

Types of Strokes

We have seen that strokes can be physical (kinesthetic), visual and auditory. Strokes can also be symbolic. These strokes can be positive or negative, verbal or non-verbal and conditional or unconditional.

Positive and negative strokes : Positive strokes are pleasant. They make us feel nice. They boost well being and enhance our self image. Negative strokes are unpleasant. They deny well being and mar our self image. Positive strokes may not last long. To the contrary negative strokes are retained for a long time. It is said that negative strokes hurt the body down to the cells.

Positive strokes are pleasant. They provide a feeling of well being, boost our self image and deliver a feel good factor. Being attended to, being recognised, being praised being upheld constitute positive strokes. Negative strokes in contrast are unpleasant. They deprive the feeling of well being, deny a good self image and also deny the feel good factor. Being overlooked, being blamed, being hung on the hook or blamed, being cornered are negative strokes. Positive strokes have short retention. In contrast negative strokes have a deep impact and retention is for a long time.  Negative strokes leave trails of pain, hurt and feeling bad. Intense negative strokes hurt the body down to the cell.

Verbal and Non-verbal Strokes

Verbal strokes are delivered by saying something. Non-verbal strokes are conveyed by facial expressions, gestures, touch, a hug, kiss, pat, holding, movements of hands, posture and pose.

Conditional and Un-conditional Strokes

Conditional strokes are given for a reason. Something said about how we look, how we have dressed, how we have performed or done something are examples of conditional strokes. Unconditional strokes are given for who we are. You are lovable, you are good, I like you, you are an asset, I hate you, I despise you, get lost are examples of un-conditional strokes.

When put together they generate eight types of strokes. They are:

Positive Verbal Conditional                              Negative Verbal Conditional

Positive Verbal Un-conditional                       Negative Verbal Un-conditional

Positive Non-verbal Conditional                     Negative Non-verbal Conditional

Positive Non-verbal Un-conditional                Negative Non-verbal Un-conditional

Other Types of Strokes

There are three other types of strokes. They are Marshmallows, counterfeit strokes and filtered strokes.

Marshmallows

Marshmallows are statements without any stroke content - bland and non-stimulating or statements which are obviously insincere. “Good Morning Sir. You look so fresh. It looks you had a good nights sleep.” as an example. The person looks drained and tired.

Counterfeit Strokes

These are pleasant statements with a hidden sting / pinch / prick / pain / hurt causing content. “Hi young man. I see you are wearing this ‘Alligator Tee Shirt’. It looks really good on you. I used to export loads of these to India for the grey market.” as an example. Fact was that the person had paid quite a sum for the shirt in a branded shop and felt humiliated.  

Filtered Strokes

Filtered strokes are distorted strokes. A well meaning statement is taken by the other in a distorted sense. Boss praises the subordinate thus: “Thank you for your help. It made my task easy to implement. I am now ready for the presentation and your contribution has been immense.” The subordinate makes out something different. He says something like this to himself: “All bosses are alike. All these statements are meant to take advantage later on. Now I will be used time and again.”

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Links to Blogs by Ajit Karve on Transactional Analysis

This Blog : TA for Beginners

TA Theory and Practice : TA Theory and Practice
Daily Dose of TA : Daily Dose of TA