What question did this study set out to answer?

To formulate an etiological framework for schizophrenia grounded in communications analysis and the Theory of Logical Types.

January 17, 2007Systems Research and Behavioral Science2,742 citations

Toward a theory of schizophrenia

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GBGregory Bateson DJDon D. Jackson JHJay Haley

Key Points

To formulate an etiological framework for schizophrenia grounded in communications analysis and the Theory of Logical Types.
Applied principles of communications analysis and formal logical typing to human interaction systems.
Evaluated clinical case observations and experimental family interaction scenarios involving individuals with schizophrenia.
Formulated the 'double bind' construct, defined as a recurrent relational situation wherein contradictory behavioral injunctions prevent an individual from making a valid response or escaping the context.
Demonstrated qualitatively that persistent exposure to double bind communication within family systems fosters the cognitive, linguistic, and behavioral manifestations of schizophrenia.

Abstract

Schizophrenia—its nature, etiology, and the kind of therapy to use for it—remains one of the most puzzling of the mental illnesses. The theory of schizophrenia presented here is based on communications analysis, and specifically on the Theory of Logical Types. From this theory and from observations of schizophrenic patients is derived a description, and the necessary conditions for, a situation called the “double bind”—a situation in which no matter what a person does, he “can't win.” It is hypothesized that a person caught in the double bind may develop schizophrenic symptoms. How and why the double bind may arise in a family situation is discussed, together with illustrations from clinical and experimental data.

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Cite This Study

Bateson et al. (2007) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a0f07471c5e2d2319fa4025 https://doi.org/10.1002/bs.3830010402

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January 17, 2007Systems Research and Behavioral Science2,742 citations

Toward a theory of schizophrenia

View Full Paper

GBGregory Bateson DJDon D. Jackson JHJay Haley

Key Points

To formulate an etiological framework for schizophrenia grounded in communications analysis and the Theory of Logical Types.
Applied principles of communications analysis and formal logical typing to human interaction systems.
Evaluated clinical case observations and experimental family interaction scenarios involving individuals with schizophrenia.
Formulated the 'double bind' construct, defined as a recurrent relational situation wherein contradictory behavioral injunctions prevent an individual from making a valid response or escaping the context.
Demonstrated qualitatively that persistent exposure to double bind communication within family systems fosters the cognitive, linguistic, and behavioral manifestations of schizophrenia.

Abstract

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Cite This Study

Bateson et al. (2007) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a0f07471c5e2d2319fa4025 https://doi.org/10.1002/bs.3830010402

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