Double bind

A double bind is a dilemma in communication in which an individual (or group) receives two or more conflicting messages, with one message negating the other. This creates a situation in which a successful response to one message implicates a failed response to the other, so that the person will be automatically wrong regardless of response. The person can neither comment on the conflict, nor resolve it, nor opt out of the situation.

A double bind generally includes different levels of abstraction in orders of messages, and these messages can be stated or implicit within the context of the situation, or conveyed by tone of voice or body language. Further complications arise when frequent double binds are part of an ongoing relationship to which the person or group is committed.

Double bind theory is more clearly understood in the context of complex systems and cybernetics because human communication as well as the mind function much like ecosystems. Complex systems theory helps us understand the interdependence of the parts of a message and provides "an ordering of what to the Newtonian looks like chaos."

History
The term double bind was first used by the anthropologist Gregory Bateson and his colleagues (including Don D. Jackson, Jay Haley and John H. Weakland) in their discussions on complexity of communication in relation to schizophrenia. Bateson made clear that such complexities also exist in normal circumstances, especially in "play, humor, poetry, ritual and fiction" (see Logical Types*** see top of discussion page ). Their findings indicated that the confused communication which is often diagnosed as schizophrenia is not necessarily an organic brain dysfunction. Instead, they found that destructive double binds were a frequent pattern of communication among families of patients, and they proposed that growing up with perpetual double binds could lead to learned patterns of confusion in thinking and communication.

Complexity in communication
Human communication is complex; 90% of it is nonverbal (see also Albert Mehrabian) and context is an essential part of it. Communication consists of the words said, tone of voice, and body language. It also includes how these relate to what has been said in the past; what is not said, but is implied; how these are modified by other nonverbal cues, such as the environment in which it is said, and so forth. For example, if someone says "I love you", one takes into account who is saying it, their tone of voice and body language, and the context in which it is said. It may be a declaration of passion or a serene reaffirmation, insincere and/or manipulative, an implied demand for a response, a joke, its public or private context may affect its meaning, and so forth.

Conflicts in communication are common and often we ask "What do you mean?" or seek clarification in other ways. This is called metacommunication: communication about the communication. Sometimes, asking for clarification is impossible. Communication difficulties are common in ordinary life, and often occur when metacommunication and feedback systems are lacking or inadequate or there is not enough time. Double binds can be stressful and potentially destructive when one is trapped in a dilemma and punished for finding a way out, but making the effort to find the way out of the trap can lead to emotional growth.

A Classic Example
The classic example given of a negative double bind is of a mother telling her child that she loves him, while at the same time turning her head away in disgust. The child doesn't know how to respond to the conflict between the words and the body language and, because s/he is dependent on his mother for his or her basic needs, s/he is in a quandary. Small children have difficulty articulating contradictions verbally and he can neither ignore it nor leave the relationship.

Another example is when one is commanded to "be spontaneous". The very command contradicts spontaneity, but it only becomes a double bind when one can neither ignore the command nor comment on the contradiction. Often, the contradiction in communication is not apparent to bystanders unfamiliar with previous communications.

Bateson also described positive double binds, both in relation to Zen Buddhism with its paths of spiritual growth, and the use of therapeutic double binding by psychiatrists to confront their patients with the contradictions in their life in such a way that would help them heal. One of Bateson's consultants, Milton H. Erickson (5 volumes, edited by Rossi) eloquently demonstrated through his own life the productive possibilities of double binds, showing the technique in a brighter light.

Explanation
The double bind is often misunderstood to be a simple contradictory situation, where the victim is trapped by two conflicting demands. While it is true that the core of the double bind is two conflicting demands, the differences lie in how they are imposed on the victim, what the victim's understanding of the situation is and finally, who (or what) imposes these demands upon the victim. Unlike the usual no-win situation, the victim is largely unaware of the exact nature of the paradoxical situation in which he or she is. The contradiction may be entirely invisible in its immediate context and therefore invisible to external observers, only becoming evident when some broader context is considered. Typically, a demand is imposed upon the victim by someone who they respect (a parent, teacher or doctor), but the demand itself is inherently impossible to fulfil, because some broader context forbids it. Bateson and colleagues defined the double bind as follows (paraphrased):


 * 1) The situation involves two or more people, one of whom (for the purpose of definition), is designated as the "victim". The others are people who are considered the victim's superiors: figures of authority (such as parents), whom the victim respects.
 * 2) Repeated experience: the double bind is a recurrent theme in the experience of the victim, and as such, cannot be resolved as a single traumatic experience.
 * 3) A "primary injunction" is imposed on the victim by the others in one of two forms:
 * (a) "Do X, or I will punish you";
 * (b) "Do not do X, or I will punish you".
 * The punishment is assumed to be either the withdrawing of love, the expression of hate and anger, or abandonment resulting from the authority figure's expression of helplessness.


 * 1) A "secondary injunction" is imposed on the victim, conflicting with the first at a higher and more abstract level. For example: "Do X, but only do it because you want to". It is unnecessary for this injunction to be expressed verbally.
 * 2) If necessary, a "tertiary injunction" is imposed on the victim to prevent them from escaping the dilemma.
 * 3) Finally, Bateson states that the complete list of the previous requirements may be unnecessary, in the event that the victim is already viewing their world in double bind patterns. Bateson goes on to give the general characteristics of such a relationship:
 * 4) When the victim is involved in an intense relationship; that is, a relationship in which he feels it is vitally important that he discriminate accurately what sort of message is being communicated so that he may respond appropriately;
 * 5) And, the victim is caught in a situation in which the other person in the relationship is expressing two orders of message and one of these denies the other;
 * 6) And, the victim is unable to comment on the messages being expressed to correct his discrimination of what order of message to respond to: i.e., he cannot make a metacommunicative statement.

Thus, the essence of a double bind is two conflicting demands, each on a different logical level, neither of which can be ignored or escaped. This leaves the victim torn both ways, so that whichever demand they try to meet, the other demand cannot be met. "I must do it, but I can't do it" is a typical description of the double bind experience.

For a double bind to be effective, the victim must fail to see that the demand placed by the primary injunction conflicts with that of the secondary injunction. In this sense, the double bind differentiates itself from a simple contradiction to a more inexpressible internal conflict, where the victim really wants to meet the demands of the primary injunction, but fails each time through failing to see the situation's incompatibility with the demands of the secondary injunction. Thus, victims may express feelings of extreme anxiety in such a situation, as they attempt to fulfil the demands of the primary injunction albeit with obvious contradictions in their actions.

The double bind was originally presented as a situation which could conceivably lead to schizophrenia if imposed on young children or those with unstable or "weak" personalities. Creating a situation where the victim could not make a comment or "metacommunicative statement" about their dilemma would (in theory) escalate their mental anxiety. Today, it is more important as an example of Bateson's approach to the complexities of communication.

One solution to a double bind is to place the problem in an even larger context, a state Bateson identified as Learning III, a step up from Learning II (which requires only learned responses to reward/consequence situations). In Learning III, the double bind is contextualized and understood as an impossible no-win scenario. Bateson maintained that in the case of the schizophrenic, the double bind is presented continually and habitually within the family context. By the time the child is old enough to have identified the double bind situation, it has already been internalized, and the child is unable to confront it. The solution then is to create an escape from the conflicting logical demands of the double bind, in the world of the delusional system.

Phrase examples

 * Mother telling her child: "You must love me".
 * The primary injunction here is the command itself: "you must"; the secondary injunction is the unspoken condition that love is spontaneous, that the child love the mother genuinely, of its own accord.


 * Zen koan: "Be genuine" or "Who are you?"
 * Argued by Watts to be the underlying theme of all Zen koans, the idea here is to present your true self to the roshi (master). The more the student tries, the phonier they are, and even the "act" of not trying is just another version of trying.


 * "You must be free".
 * Freedom is the ability to be spontaneous and do whatever you want; to be told that you must do this means that you are conforming to a commandment ordering you to express a state of freedom. (An extreme example of this is the New Hampshire state slogan, "Live Free Or Die", which also veers into the realm of Hobson's choice).


 * Mother to child: "Show your relatives how you play".
 * Child play is a spontaneous process which the child does of its own accord; to be forced to play is not play. This is similar to the double bind: "You must be free".


 * "You should enjoy playing with the children, just like other parents".
 * Same as the double bind between the mother and child.


 * Mother to son: "Leave your sister alone!", while the son knows his sister will approach and antagonize him to get him into trouble.
 * The primary injunction is the command, for which he will be punished for breaking. The secondary injunction is the knowledge that his sister will get into conflict with him, but his mother will not know the difference and will default to punishing him. He may be under the impression that if he argues with his mother, he may be punished. One possibility for the son to escape this double bind is to realize that his sister only antagonizes him to make him feel anxious (if indeed it is the reason behind his sister's behavior). If he were not bothered about punishment, his sister might not bother either.  He could also leave the situation entirely, avoiding both the mother and the sister.  The sister can't claim to be bothered by a non-present brother, and the mother can't punish (nor scapegoat) a non-present son.  There are other alternatives as well that are realised through creative application of logic and reasoning.

Usage in Zen Buddhism
According to philosopher and theologian Alan Watts, the double bind has long been used in Zen Buddhism as a therapeutic tool. The Zen Master purposefully imposes the double bind upon his students (through various "skilful means", called upaya), hoping that they achieve enlightenment (satori). One of the most prominent techniques used by Zen Masters (especially those of the Rinzai school) is called the koan, in which the master gives his or her students a question, and instructs them to pour all their mental energies into finding the answer to it. As an example of a koan, a student can be asked to present to the master their genuine self, "Show me who you really are". According to Watts, the student will eventually realize there is nothing they can do, yet also nothing they cannot do, to present their actual self; thus, they truly learn the Buddhist concept of anatman (non-self) via reductio ad absurdum.

Criticism
Gregory Bateson's double bind theory is very complex, and has only been partly tested; there are gaps in the current psychological and experimental evidence required to establish causation. Current subjective assessments of individuals, faced with making a serious decision while exposed to conflicting messages, report feelings of anxiety. It is argued that if the double bind theory is indeed to overturn findings indicating a genetic basis for schizophrenia, more comprehensive psychological and experimental studies are needed, with different family types and across various family contexts. The current understanding of schizophrenia takes into account a complex interaction of genetic, neurological as well as emotional stressors, including family interaction. Perhaps Bateson's theory has greater relevance to the unfortunate manifestations of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Neuro-linguistic programming
The field of neuro-linguistic programming also makes use of the expression "double bind". Grinder and Bandler (both of whom had personal contact with Bateson) asserted that a message could be constructed with multiple messages, whereby the recipient of the message is given the impression of choice - although both options have the same outcome at a higher level of intention. This is called a "double bind" in NLP terminology, and has applications in both sales and therapy. A salesperson might ask: "Would you like to pay cash or by credit card?", with both outcomes presupposing that the person will make the purchase; whereas the third option (that of not buying) is intentionally excluded from the list of choices. Strictly speaking, however, "cash or credit card?" is not a double bind, because there is no contradiction involved.

If the salesman was selling a book about the evils of commerce, it could perhaps be a "true" double bind, but only if the buyer happened to believe that commerce was evil, and felt compelled or obliged to buy the book.