Life Script Theory: A Critical Review From

A Developmental Perspective
William F. Cornell
Abstract It may even be that I am one of the few
fortunate people on earth who has cast
Script theory is examined and expanded off the shackles entirely and who calls his
from the perspective of contemporary own tune. In that case I am a brave im-
developmental research and theory. Each proviser facing the world alone. (pp.
major script theorist is reviewed and cri- 276-277)
tiqued. Script, as a comprehensive theory This frank and poignant personal observation
presented in most of the TA literature, is is filled with fascinating contradictions and im-
found to be overly reductionistic and insuf- plications. Berne's comments seem to reflect
ficiently attentive to the formative factors in his own conflicts about personal autonomy ver-
healthy psychological development. sus the authority of life script, true individual
creativity versus the expression of family tradi-
tion, and the satisfactions of personal freedom
Great literature has always provided a versus the aloneness of autonomy. The conflict
balance to the lopsided preoccupation of between individual expression and family and
psychological science with patholo- societal pressure are apparent throughout
gy .... In contrast to the reductionism of Berne's writings.
science, the model of great literature ,However, Berne never resolved these con-
often enlists an interactionist, longitudinal flicts, even though his theory of scripts evolved
perspective and seeks to illuminate the over time. I think these conflicts remain, under-
myriad forces at work within and without mining the clarity and coherence of script
an individual. A novelist would never theory andour practice as transactional analysts
diminish his protagonist with a finite today. Some eighteen years after Berne's death,
label. (Felsman & Vaillant, 1987, p. 303) the music roll remains the binding image and
Shortly before his death, Eric Berne (1972), dilemma in our efforts to conceptualize the
using the analogy of a piano player, wondered nature of life script and to translate those con-
if he was actually playing the piano or if he was ceptualizations into effective educational and
mostly sitting there while a piano roll deter- clinical techniques.
mined the tune. What is the nature and function of life script?
As for myself, I know not whether I am What are the clinical implications of the script
still run by a music roll or not. If I am, model TA therapists present to themselves and
I wait with interest and anticipation-and their clients? Although transactional analysts
without apprehension-for the next notes pay careful attention to the "scripty" beliefs
to unroll their melody, and for the har- and behaviors of clients, do they give equal at-
mony and discord after that. Where will tention to their own beliefs about script, about
I go next? In this case my life is mean- the coherence and validity of TA script theory?
ingful because I am following the long Does script theory hold up under the scrutiny
and glorious tradition of my ancestors, of developmental theories and research or other
passed on to me by my parents, music theoretical perspectives?
perhaps sweeter than I could compose In this paper some key developmental
myself. Certainly I know that there are perspectives are reviewed and summarized
large areas where I am free to improvise. after which the ideas of major TA script

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 LIFE SCRIPT THEORY: A CRITICAL REVIEW FROM A DEVELOPMENTAL PERSPECTIVE

theorists are examined in light of developmen- forces that influence the developing child's con-
tal theory and research. Finally, a concep- struction of reality. There is great vitality in
tualization of the evolution and function of the his account of human development. For
life script process is offered. Erikson (1968), periods of developmental crisis
are as likely opportunities for new growth as
An Overview of Selected Developmental occasions of overadaptation and acquiescence.
Theories My first introduction to current developmen-
tal research was Adaptation to Life by George
Developmental theorists attempt to delineate Vaillant (1977). The book was simultaneously
human development as a definable and predic- exciting and disturbing. Vaillant presented
table sequence of "stages," with earlier stages vivid case studies and substantial data which
providing a foundation for later evolution. indicated that the evolution of an individual's
Whether studying cognitive, affective, social, psychological construction of reality was
moral, linguistic, or behavioral development, anything but linear and certainly not cemented
simpler levels of functioning develop into more to the dynamics of the nuclear family. This
complex and highly organized forms of material raised major questions about the validi-
psychological organization and function. ty of TA script theory and was the beginning
Freud. Within the psychodynamic perspec- of a review of the developmental literature that
tive, Freud presented the first developmental has culminated in this paper. The brief over-
theory. Although his work has had a pervasive view of developmental theories presented here
and lasting impact on the clinical understanding stresses those based on direct, longitudinal
of human development, recently his ideas have studies rather than on clinical theorizing about
begun to yield to current developmental development derived from adult psychopathol-
research. Freud (1938/1949) stated une- ogy and psychotherapy.
quivocally that "neuroses are only acquired Chess and Thomas. The work of Stella Chess
during early childhood (up to the age of six), and Alexander Thomas involved long-term
even though their symptoms may not make studies of normal children, "high-risk"
their appearance until much later.... The children and families, and children with
events of the first years are of paramount im- physical handicaps. Their work presents com-
portance for ... [a child's] whole subsequent pelling evidence of the resilience and plastici-
life" (p. 83). Freud's (1917/1938) concep- ty of the psyche:
tualization of the oral, anal, Oedipal, phallic, The deaf child, the blind child, the
and genital stages of psychosexual development motoricaUy handicapped child-each can
was the first formal effort to delineate the find a developmental pathway consonant
evolution of psychological and emotional with his capacities and limitations, thanks
maturation. Freud's ideas were the product of to the plasticity of the brain. By the same
his psychoanalytic reconstruction of childhood token, the environmentally handicapped
from his clinical practice and theoretical child is not inevitably doomed to an in-
assumptions. His emphasis, and a lasting em- ferior and abnormal psychological
phasis in the psychodynamic literature, was on course. Whether the handicap comes
the clinical and pathological implications of from social ideology, poverty, a
"fixation" at anyone stage. pathological family environment, or
Erikson. Erik Erikson (1963), in probably the stressful life experiences, the plastic
best known and most widely accepted potential of the brain offers the promise
developmental scheme, significantly altered for positive and corrective change. This
Freud's model by shifting from a psychosex- central human potential for plasticity and
ual focus, with its emphasis on libidinal learning bears directly on a number of
cathexis, to a psychosocial orientation that at- issues in developmental theory-the
tempts to incorporate societal and interpersonal significance of early life experiences,
influences in human evolution. Erikson's stages continuity-discontinuity over time, and
of development reach into adult life. His work sequential patterning of developmental
opened the developmental perspective to a stages. (Thomas & Chess, 1980, p. 28)
recognition of social, cultural, and historical Chess and Thomas (1984, p. 293) conclude

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WILLIAM F. CORNELL

without equivocation that simple, linear predic- meaning of defense mechanisms, but "discuss-
tion from early childhood through later ing defenses as actual behaviors, affects, and
childhood, adolescence, and adulthood is not ideas which serve defensive purposes" (p. 7).
supported by research data. Furthermore, they However, Vaillant's account of defense
challenge the reliability of a causal explanation mechanisms and their development is far richer
based on clinical reconstruction of childhood and more complex than that evident in the
from adult problems. writing of most script theorists. Vaillant
Instead, Chess and Thomas emphasize the disputed the Freudian emphasis on fixation and
importance of the individual child's tempera- maintained that there are many corrective ex-
ment and capabilities and the "goodness of fit" periences in the course of an individual's
or the "poorness of fit" with that child's fami- development and many pathways to health
ly, social, and school environment. They throughout childhood and adult life. He observ-
(1984, 1986) describe psychological develop- ed that dysfunctional thinking and relating in
ment as occurring in a "biosocial matrix, " an adulthood is "rarely the fault of anyone per-
ongoing, continuous, and dynamic interaction son or event, for in human development, it is
of the biological and the social. Their research the sustained emotional trauma, not the sudden
demonstrates convincingly that significant insult, that does the most lasting damage to the
change can occur at any time in the course of human spirit. No single childhood factor ac-
development: "The evolving child- counted for happiness or unhappiness at fifty' ,
environment interactional process was affected (Vaillant, 1977, p. 197).
by many emerging unanticipated influences- Like Chess and Thomas, Vaillant argued
changes in basic function, new talents, new en- vigorously against linear, causal linkages be-
vironmental opportunities or stresses, changes tween childhood experience and adult life. He
in family structure or attitudes, and possible late concluded in his 1977 book that "successful
emerging genetic factors" (Thomas & Chess, careers and satisfying marriages were relatively
1980, pp. 103-104). independent of unhappy childhoods" (p. 300),
Chess and Thomas emphasize the importance and that "the life cycle is more than an invariant
for future psychological health of the child's sequence of stages with simple predictable out-
development of "task mastery" and "social comes. The men's lives were full of surprises,
competence." Using weaning and toilet train- and the Grant Study provides no prediction
ing as examples, typical Freudian (and script) tables" (p. 373).
theory tends to emphasize the experience of loss The most relevant of Vaillant's (1977) con-
and frustration. In contrast, Chess and Thomas clusions for the reconsideration of script theory
view these developmental transitions as steps are: reconstructed, retrospective explanations
in social competence and task mastery, noting are fraught with distortions; isolated traumas
the potential for achievement and satisfaction in childhood rarely have significant impact in
as well as for loss or frustration. adulthood; adaptive (defensive) patterns change
Vaillant. Adaptation to Life by George both in childhood and adulthood; psychologi-
Vaillant (1977) was also based on longitudinal cal evolution is often discontinuous; those
study. It summarized the Harvard Grant Study judged initially to have the "worst" childhoods
in which 95 Harvard University students were did not always have the "worst" adult lives;
tested and interviewed intensively during col- and significant, close adult relationships
lege and then followed systematically for 30 (spouse, friends, psychotherapist) had major in-
years. Vaillant emphasized the evolution and fluences on improved quality of life. Thus the
function of ego defense mechanisms in relation Harvard Grant Study offers further evidence of
to psychological and interpersonal health and the remarkable resilience, plasticity, and un-
psychopathology. predictability of the human psyche.
There is striking congruence between It is also important to note the work of Robert
Vaillant's view of defense mechanisms as Jay Lifton (1983a, 1983b) and Robert Coles
"adaptive styles" or "coping strategies" and (1986a, 1986b), both of whom, while not
the functional, adaptive intent of script deci- writing specifically from a developmental
sions as described in TA theory. Unlike Freud, perspective, based their work on the direct
Vaillant (1977) emphasized not the intrapsychic observation of nonclinical populations. The

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 LIFE SCRIPT THEORY: A CRITICAL REVIEW FROM A DEVELOPMENTAL PERSPECTIVE

work of both Lifton and Coles is rich with im- development, defining the essence of ego func-
plications that can expand and enliven the con- tion as the striving to master, to integrate, and
cept of script. They have described the yearn- to make sense of experience. Stem (1985), after
ing of the human mind to find and give mean- years of direct observation of infants,
ing to life, often in the face of severe depriva- characterized infant development as a creative,
tion or tragedy. In The Political Life of highly interactive process. Mahler, Pine, and
Children, Coles (1986b) observed: Bergman (1975) described pre-Oedipal
And, very important, a boy demonstrates development in the infant and toddler's rela-
evidence of moral development, a capaci- tionship to the mother. In his most recent book,
ty for ethical reflection, even though both Pine (1985), in contrast to most developmen-
at home and at school he has been given tal researchers, writes,
scant encouragement to regard either I find it impossible not to think in terms
migrants or Indians with compas- of the events of the months and years un-
sion .... Children ingeniously use every til, say, age three as a primary determi-
scrap of emotional life available to them nant of psychological functioning.... All
in their "psychosexual development," have, I believe, not only their origins, but
and they do likewise as they try to figure a substantial degree of their final form
out how (and for whom) the world established in this period. (pA)
works. (p. 41) While the developmentalists have addressed
Additional Developmental Theorists. It is not the nature and problems of human growth from
possible in this paper to adequately review all various perspectives, most would agree that it
developmental theorists. Maslow (1954, 1962) is an interactive, creative, ever-changing pro-
studied primarily healthy, achieving individuals cess. Most agree that parents are not the ex-
and delineated his developmental hierarchy of clusive, or even primary, source for a child's
needs and a major theory of human motivation. construction of reality or coping mechanisms.
Wilson (1972) provided an excellent summary Most would agree, especially those who have
of Maslow's work in the context of a critique engaged in long-term longitudinal studies, that
of Freudian psychology. Piaget (1977) ad- significant growth and change can occur at any
dressed the most basic question of "how do time of life. As Chess and Thomas (1984)
people know" through his direct studies of conclude:
children's evolving patterns of cognition and As the field of developmental studies has
other studies of forms of knowledge. His was matured, we now have to give up the il-
an interactionist perspective-viewing the child lusion that once we know the young
as an active agent engaged with the environ- child's psychological history, subsequent
ment in his or her own learning. More recent- personality and functioning are ipso fac-
ly Kagan (1984) extended the study of cognitive to predictable. On the other hand, we
development. Kohlberg (1984) researched now have a much more optimistic vision
moral development in children and delineated of human development. (p. 293)
six sequential stages of morality. Kegan (1982)
suggested a developmental theory that is of par- Summary and Critique
ticular significance in relation to TA script of Major Script Theorists
theory. He attempted to integrate a psychody-
namic perspective with the work of Piaget and Berne. Beginning with Transactional
Kohlberg. Central to Kegan's perspective is the Analysis in Psychotherapy, Berne (1961) of-
ongoing and increasingly complex "meaning- fered this description of the nature and func-
making" in the child's endeavor to comprehend tion of script:
the world and give form to it. Gilligan (1982) Games appear to be segments of larger,
challenged the pervasive influence of the more complex sets of transactions called
masculine perspective in developmental scripts. Scripts belong in the realm of
theories stressing individuation and autonomy transference phenomena, that is, they are
and argued persuasively for the recognition of derivatives, or more precisely, adapta-
the role of caring and relatedness in human tions, of infantile reactions and ex-
development. Loevinger (1976) addressed ego periences. But a script does not deal with

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WILLIAM F. CORNELL

a mere transference reaction or transfer- the prince or princess" (p. 290). But how readi-
ence situation; it is an attempt to repeat ly can a person cast off the frog skin and
in derivative form a whole transference recreate a healthy life? Not easily, Berne im-
drama, often split up into acts, exactly plied; it was he who introduced the images of
like the theatrical scripts which are in- witches, ogres, and implanted script electrodes
tuitive artistic derivatives of these primal into the language of script theory, a language
dramas of childhood. Operationally, a that suggests the individual is more a product
script is a complex set of transactions, by than a producer of script.
nature recurrent, but not necessarily Five years after Principles, Berne (1970)
recurring, since a complete performance wrote in Sex in Human Loving:
may require a whole lifetime. (p. 116) Man is born free, but one of the first
things he learns is to do as he is told, and
Since the dominant influence in social in- he spends the rest of his life doing that.
tercourse is the script, and since that is Thus his first enslavement is to his
derived and adapted from a protocol parents. He follows their instructions
based on early experiences of the in- forevermore, retaining only in some
dividual with his parents, those ex- cases the right to choose his own methods
periences are the chief determinants of and consoling himself with the illusion of
every engagement and of every choice of autonomy .... In order to break away
associates. This is a more general state- from such script programs, he must stop
ment than the familiar transference and think. But he cannot think about his
theory which it brings to mind because programming unless he first gives up the
it applies to any engagement whatsoever illusion of autonomy. He must realize
in any social aggregation whatsoever; that he has not been up to now the free
that is, to any transaction or series of agent he likes to imagine he is, but rather
transactions which is not completely the puppet of some Destiny from genera-
structured by external reality. tions ago. Few people have the courage
While every human being faces the or elasticity to tum around and stare
world initially as the captive of his script, down the monkeys on their backs, and
the great hope and value of the human the older they get, the stiffer their backs
race is that the Adult can be dissatisfied become. (p. 168)
with such strivings when they are unwor- Berne's personal optimism seemed to col-
thy. (pp. 125-126) lapse under the weight of a deterministic sense
Thus, from the beginning script was cast in of destiny; he even capitalized destiny and of-
a highly deterministic mode. Script is a fered "The Psychology of Human Destiny" as
"household drama," with neurotic, psychotic, the subtitle of his 1972 book, What Do You Say
and psychopathic scripts viewed as "almost After You Say Hello? For Berne, the process
always tragic." Script is viewed as the projec- of individuation seemed a courageous excep-
tion and reenactment of an elaborate tion rather than the natural, common process
transference phenomenon. it is presented to be in the developmental
Berne was certainly a strong advocate for the literature.
intelligence and dignity of the individual in Much of the literature on development refer-
psychotherapy. He seemed at times to be very red to earlier did not exist when Berne was
confident of a person's capacity to change. He evolving script theory. However, the work of
wrote in Principles of Group Treatment, Erikson, Piaget, and Maslow did exist, but does
"Every human being is born a prince or a not seem to have influenced Berne's thinking
princess: early experiences convince some that about human development. Like many clini-
they are frogs, and the rest of the pathological cians, Berne became possessed by the effort to
development follows from this" (Berne, 1966, understand psychopathology. He lost track of
pp. 289-290). For Berne (1966), transactional health. This is a criticism to be made of many
treatment "aims at getting well, or 'cure,' clinically oriented theorists. Felsman and
which means to cast off the frog skin and take Vaillant (1987) emphasize, "Clinical language
up once more the interrupted development of rarely includes the process of healthy

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 LIFE SCRIPT THEORY: A CRITICAL REVIEW FROM A DEVELOPMENTAL PERSPECTIVE

adaptation. What is healthy and going well is ly "reconstructed clinical infant" and research
often overlooked and obscured in the shadow on the actual "observed infant." Current
of illness" (p. 302). developmental research strongly suggests that
By the time he wrote the material later com- infants influence and shape their parents as
piled for What Do You Say After You Say much as their parents shape them. Perhaps even
Hello?, Berne had given the developing child more important is awareness of the child's
more choice and authorship in his or her script, mastery and evolving competence, an idea cen-
but it was still a tale dominated by family tral to developmental theory but seriously lack-
drama, parents, grandparents, and intergenera- ing in Berne's description of script formation.
tional transmissions. In Hello, script was de- The forces of submission and compromise
fined as "a life plan based on a decision made override the experience of mastery in Berne's
in childhood, reinforced by the parents, writing.
justified by subsequent events, and culminating Although Berne did not work specifically
in a chosen alternative" (Berne, 1972, p. 446). within a developmental frame of reference, he
One wonders about the children Berne offered his most thorough account of
described-did they ever change their minds, psychological evolution in Hello. He portrays,
did their parents ever change, did they have in essence, progressive acquiescence. Maturi-
friends, a neighborhood, a culture? There is lit- ty, for Berne, brings the mortgage, literally and
tle sense of excitement and no sense of seren- symbolically. He wrote, "During the periods
dipity in the world as Berne described it. of maturity, the dramatic nature of the script
Berne (1972) wrote that "the first script pro- is brought into full flower. ... In fact, all strug-
gramming takes place during the nursing gles in life are struggles to move around the
period, in the form of short protocols which can [Drama] triangle in accordance with the
later be worked into complicated dramas" (p. demands of script" (Berne, 1972, pp.
83), for which Berne provided a lengthy, rather 186-187). What of the struggles between adults
nasty list of "breast-fed titles." that result in individuationand autonomy? What
Berne's image of the helpless, needy, depen- of the struggles that result in the resolution of
dent infant, forever attached to and pro- problems, in deeper understanding and attach-
grammed by mother and family through a ment between people, and in sustained love and
literal or symbolic umbilicus, does not hold up individual differentiation? If Berne's vision of
in light of current research. Rather, it in- maturity is accurate for most people, it seems
troduces a severe and inaccurate bias to the Peter Pan and all perpetual children made
foundation for a theory of script formation. For logical and compelling choices.
example, according to Chess and Thomas Berne acknowledged the existence of win-
(1984): ners, but wrote little about them, and he thought
Two striking characteristics of the child's even winners were the product of more affirm-
behavior in the first weeks of life are his ing and more productive parental programming
interest in manipulatory-exploratory and permission. Sprietsma (1978), writing from
behavior and the active social exchange a treatment perspective, took a closer look at
with his caretakers.... Along these lines, the "winner's script" and offered a diagram
we have suggested that the primary adap- and language that elaborated on the concept of
tive goals of the neonate and young in- a winner. Although he did not challenge the
fant, for which he is biologically concept of a "winner's script" theoretically,
equipped, can be conceptualized as the Sprietsma offered a useful clinical approach.
development of social relations and the Allen and Allen (1972) emphasized factors
mastery of skills and tasks-i.e., social outside the family sphere that can be crucial
competence and task mastery. (p. 16) variables in a child's evolving script. Based on
The observations of Chess and Thomas are clinical experience, the AlIens delineated a
verified and extended by the research of Daniel developmental sequence of eight permissions
Stern (1985). Stem's conclusions are based on that enhance a person's "readiness" to interact
direct observation of infant behavior; he with an ever-widening world. Their article
delineated numerous contradictions between represented a significant widening of the world
psychoanalytic literature on the therapeutical- of script theory. Most current developmental

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WILLIAM F. CORNELL

presentation of a literal hierarchy of develop- having solved a difficult life dilemma with some
ment. For example, their "last" permission is degree of success. There is virtually no ac-
that of "finding life meaningful," although it counting in Berne's writing for this experience
seems clear that children are busy virtually of mastery and individuation in script forma-
from the start making life meaningful. It is the tion or in the maintenance of styles of adapta-
making which the AlIens (1987) emphasize in tion in adulthood.
a more recent article. Steiner. Steiner, too, seems to suggest a
Groder (cited in Barnes, 1977, p. 20) preponderance of conflictual compromise in the
repeated Berne's observation that there seems formation of script; he presents the develop-
to be a self that is "script free," and noted that ing child as victim to negative family and social
Berne was not very articulate on the subject. environments. However, Steiner does give far
While suggesting that there can be healthy more importance than Berne did to the social,
scripts or script-free health, Berne never fully cultural, and economic forces that influence a
explored the question, and it remains child's developing sense of self, autonomy, and
unanswered by subsequent script theorists. possibility. Although a strong and eloquent ad-
In Berne's view, nearly all the force of the vocate of individual rights and dignity, his
vectors in psychological development is from theory of script does little to challenge the
the parents (sometimes grandparents and other deterministic and reductionistic underpinnings
authority figures) toward the child. For Berne, of Berne's approach. Steiner (1974, p. 19) even
the child may have some limited range of attributed Berne's death to the influence of a
choice in the face of the forces that impinge life script that called for an early death of a
upon him or her, but the child is by and large broken heart.
restricted and formed by these forces. What Steiner's (1974) definition of script is as
Berne comes to characterize as the very nature follows:
of script is often reflected in the psychological The script is based on a decision made
systems of severely dysfunctional families, but by the Adult in the young person who,
it is not the essential nature of script. Both the with all of the information at their
literature and clinical experience demonstrate disposal at the time, decides that a cer-
that in severely dysfunctional families (especial- tain position, expectations, and life
ly those that isolate themselves from normal course are a reasonable solution to the ex-
social interaction), a child's range of choice and istential predicament in which she finds
expression may be drastically restricted. For herself. Her predicament comes from the
example, a recent collection of articles on conflict between her own autonomous
"resilient children" (Anthony & Cobler, 1987) tendencies and the injunction received
vividly describes the debilitating impact of liv- from her primary family group.
ing with psychotic, neglectful, impoverished, The most important influence or
or abusive parents. However, these articles also pressure impinging upon the young-
examine and describe the factors outside of the ster originates from the parental
family and within the child's own style of cop- Child.... That is, the Child ego states of
ing that support resilience and health. These the parents of the person are the main
factors are not adequately addressed in Berne's determining factors in the formation of
theories of script. scripts. (p. 55)
In Berne's thinking there was an overwhelm- Steiner (1971, 1974) developed the script
ing sense of self-limiting adaptation and little matrix, an elegant clinical tool and a major con-
sense of self-enhancing adaptation. There was tribution to TA. The matrix, along with the
even less sense of the child's ability to influence three stacked ego state circles and the Drama
his or her parents and childhood environment. Triangle (Karpman, 1968), provides a central
Although it is often striking in clinical work to image in transactional analysis. As a therapeutic
note the tenacity with which people cling to pat- tool, it is clear and impactful. As a central ele-
terns of "scripty" adaptation, this tenacity is ment in theory, however, it is restrictive and
not always motivated by some fearful or de- deterministic, placing much too much power
fiant resistance, but often by the pride and within the nuclear family, with the ego states
satisfaction of mastery, of self-expression, of of the parents drawn above the child, script

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 LIFE SCRIPT THEORY: A CRITICAL REVIEW FROM A DEVELOPMENTAL PERSPECTIVE

messages literally descending on the child. through dramatic scenes enacted in the
Since its introduction, numerous variations on here-and-now. The scenes are taken from
the script matrix have been presented in the TA our' 'script," our personal story or col-
literature, although there has been little lections of early decisions and unmet
challenge to its theoretical limitations. needs, now long forgotten. We continue
For example, in the script matrix the central to use them to program our current ex-
emphasis on the nuclear family does a disser- periences, even without being aware of
vice to our understanding of the range of fac- them. Scripts represent our attempts to
tors that significantlyinfluence human develop- get needs met which were not met
ment. Even limiting the image of the script originally. When we play out our script
matrix to the nuclear family, it would be more as grown-ups, we act in ways which are
accurately drawn as shown in Figure 1. symbolic of the original unsatisfactory
childhood experience. Thus, script
Mother Youngster Father behavior is predetermined. We are con-
troled by yesterday, as if we were
haunted by demons or hunted by witches.
(Levin, 1985, pp. 29-30)
Levin (1985) describes infancy (birth to six
months) as "Stage One: Being the Natural
Child," and characterizes it as follows:
The events of the first six months of our
lives are crucial to all the rest of our
development. The way we experience
our existence for the rest of our lives is
largely determined by the foundation we
create while we are still helpless. Our
Figure 1 first basic "set" or program is the
Mutual Vectors in Script Development building block upon which we support all
our later developmental experiences and
The concept of script and the images used decisions. This is our basic position in
to represent it need to include the active in- life, our OKness, our right to be taking
fluence of the developing child upon the en- up space in the physical plane. It is our
vironment. Both Berne's and Steiner's concep- basic existential position. All the ex-
tualizations of script are embedded in Oedipal periences from which we derive our first
theory and Freudian assumption, with little program are recorded in ego states which
acknowledgement of the curiosity, spontanei- we call the Natural Child. They are on
ty, and expressiveness of childhood. Neither film and on file in each of us, a personal
children nor adults create psychological documentary of how we each arrive at
organization primarily around negative our basic life position. (pp. 60-61)
messages and experiences in childhood, as sug- This description of infancy and the establish-
gested by Berne and Steiner. ment of a basic existential life position is not
Levin. Within the TA literature, Levin has only in contradiction to the research on infant
made a strong effort to present a developmen- and child development, it is inconsistent with
tal perspective. Ironically, however, of all the Berne's own conceptualization of the basic life
script theorists, Levin's accounting is the most position, which he saw as a phenomenon of
deterministic. According to her: later psychological development. Levin's em-
We record our entire personal history in phasis on script as an effort to get "un-met"
our ego states. The way we were as needs "met" and on needs as the primary focus
children doesn't go away when we get of therapy distorts and severely limits our
older. It remains a dynamic part of us, understanding of both pathological and healthy
motivating our current experiences. If we human development. A comprehensive theory
didn't get what we needed as children, of the evolution of self and script must attend
we continue to seek it symbolically to the influence of wants, desire, excitement,

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WILLIAM F. CORNELL

hopes, dreams, chance, and culture. elude much of TA script theory) may be more
In Cycles of Power, Levin (1980) accurate for later phases of childhood, when
acknowledges that "Repeating the stages of symbolic functions playa more crucial role in
development implies that we naturally change, psychosocial evolution.
advance and mature even though we use the The developmental literature indicates that
same pattern as before, building on the early the binding nature of psychological and emo-
skills in the same way that we build walking tional difficulty is the pervasiveness and the
skills on the ability to crawl" (p. 7). At the chronicity of the family dynamics, not a stage-
same time, she presents "normal symptoms" specific problem. It also seems clear that even
which she suggests are indicative of unresolved when the family difficulties are chronic, the im-
issues at various developmental stages. Such pact of the family can be significantly altered
clinical literalism is simply not supported by by the child's own attitudes toward the dif-
developmental research. In Cycles of Power, ficulties and by extra-familial experiences. For
Levin's references are drawn almost exclusive- the clinician, the developmental literature sug-
ly from TA literature, virtually disregarding the gests that the careful, continued attention to the
vast clinical and research literature on develop- effectiveness of a client's present day function-
ment. This parochial approach, seen all too ing is more apt to facilitate self-enhancement
often in TA literature, does transactional than the therapeutic "re-doing" of a specific
analysis and TA clients a grave disservice. developmental period.
Chess and Thomas concluded from their Babcock and Keepers. Within the TA
research that similar causes can lead to different literature that incorporates a developmental
symptoms, and similar symptoms can evolve perspective, Raising Kids OK by Dorothy Bab-
or "be chosen" in response to different causes. cock and Terry Keepers (1976/1986) is con-
Likewise, Daniel Stern (1985), in The Interper- sistent with current developmental theory and
sonal World ofthe Infant, also addressed some research and effective in its presentation of an
of the clinical implications of data drawn from active, evolutionary model of script formation.
direct observation of infants rather than from The process and importance of mastery, attach-
interpretive reconstruction of infantile ex- ment, change, and individuation are well
perience from psychotherapy with adults. presented in Babcock and Keepers's book.
Stern's (1985) central conclusion was that: Written primarily as a child-rearing manual for
The traditional clinical-developmental parents, it makes an important contribution to
issues such as orality, dependence, the TA literature. Babcock and Keepers pre-
autonomy, and trust, have been disen- sent life script as an ongoing formative process
gaged from anyone specific point or usually not set until adolescence, describing it
phase of origin in developmental time. as the consolidation of family patterns, the
These issues are seen here as child's "favorite" and "preferred" modes of
developmental lines-that is, issues for managing, and cultural and historical in-
life, not phases of life. They do not fluences. They emphasize the psychosocial
undergo a sensitive period, a presumed perspective on human development and a stage-
phase of ascendency and predominance specific hierarchy. They also emphasize con-
when relatively irreversible "fixations" tinued learning, relearning, and change,
could occur. It therefore cannot be known presuming a drive toward health and satisfac-
in advance, on theoretical grounds, at tion. The child's experience of mastery in social
what point in life a particular traditional relations and task competence, central for many
clinical-developmental issue will receive developmental theories, is evident throughout
its pathogenic origin. (p. 256) Babcock and Keepers's presentation, and they
The "theoretical infant," Stem concluded, acknowledge the impact of the baby and grow-
does not exist. However, he did point out that ing child on the parents.
the "clinical-developmental" literature may, in Gouldings. Robert and Mary Goulding made
fact, offer useful therapeutic constructs or a major shift in script theory by demonstrating
metaphors, even if these are not empirically that script is the result ofactive decisions made
valid. He also suggested that the "clinical- in childhood rather than from injunctions im-
developmental" perspective (which would in- posed on (or implanted in) a developing child.

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 LIFE SCRIPT THEORY: A CRITICAL REVIEW FROM A DEVELOPMENTAL PERSPECTIVE

The Gouldings (1978) observed, "Although pa- Richard Erskine (1980) offers a significantly
tients remembered remarkably similar early different definition of script as: "a life plan
scenes and injunctions, each individual reacted based on decisions made at any developmental
uniquely. Our clients were not 'scripted.' In- stage which inhibit spontaneity and limit flex-
junctions are not placed in people's heads like ibility in problem-solvingand in relating to peo-
electrodes. Each child makes decisions in ple" (p. 102). Erksine does not reduce script
response to real or imagined injunctions, and to childhood and the family. Here script is
thereby 'scripts' her/himself' (p. 213). The presented clearly as a mechanism of psycho-
Gouldings' conceptualization of script em- logical defense, of coping, rather than as a
phasizes the "injunction-decision complex," an debilitating, unconscious strategy for life. It
interactive process between the growing child directly mirrors the concerns of task mastery
and his or her parents in which the meaning the and social competence so central in much of
child attaches to parental injunctions and at- the developmental literature. It is clear in the
tributions is the binding force of the script. developmental literature, and in clinical prac-
For the Gouldings, script is flexible and tice, that a person relies on defense
changeable during its formation in childhood. mechanisms, however limiting, to cope with
The home environment is central in script for- trauma or life problems that cannot be ade-
mation, but the Gouldings acknowledge the in- quately managed by current skills, knowledge,
fluence of school, neighborhood, television, and environmental supports. For example,
and the world environments on the life deci- Thomas and Chess (1980) offered the follow-
sions made during childhood. Their observa- ing: "Operationally, defense mechanisms can
tions about the importance of the child's efforts be defined as behavioral strategies with which
to comprehend, adjust to, and influence his or individuals attempt to cope with stress or con-
her family and social environments are much flict which they cannot or will not master direct-
more in keeping with the findings of ly. This definition does not assume, as Freud
developmental researchers. The Gouldings' ap- did, that defense mechanisms are necessarily
proach to script in theory and technique unconscious" (pp. 169-170). These difficulties
challenges the determinism inherent in so much are not exclusive to childhood, nor are
of script theory. Their treatment approach also childhood coping mechanisms necessarily more
brings humor, vitality, and action to script compelling or permanent than those of later
analysis and change. They seat the client in life.
front of the piano, place his or her fingers on Consistent with most script theorists, Er-
the keyboard, and encourage the audience to skine's definition stresses the pathological
applaud. They train therapists to work within nature of script. Although he makes an impor-
the client's construction of reality (past and pre- tant addition to the concept of script by clearly
sent) and to allow for important script in- indicating that restrictive life script decisions
fluences within and outside of the family. can be made during any phase of life, Erskine
The Gouldings' approach does, however, does not address the individual's capacity to
take on a reductionistic cast in their efforts to reopen and change those decisions in subse-
identify ten basic injunctions. This author has quent phases of life (in response to new and dif-
heard countless TA clients and TA therapists ferent life experience as well as therapeutic in-
speak of "having" a "Don't Be" injunction terventions). This is a theory of pathology, not
or a "Don't Grow Up" script, thereby miss- one that adequately addresses the nature of
ing both the subtleties and variations of an in- human development and spirit. Kegan (1982)
dividual's childhood experience and meaning. is critical of the psychotherapeutic/psycho-
It seems both more theoretically accurate and pathological attitude toward life. He calls
therapeutically useful to encourage clients to psychotherapy "unnatural therapy" and urges
find their own words to express script conclu- therapists to remember the "natural
sions, to articulate their own "meaning- therapy" -stressing that' 'theories are needed
making." It is also crucial not to restrict the which are as powerful in their understanding
analysis of script to negative, restrictive of normal processes of development as they are
decisions. in their understandingof disturbance" (p. 262).
Erskine. In his article on "Script Cure," Groder. Perhaps the most pointed and

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WILLIAM F. CORNELL

existential definition of script in the TA he can develop a perspective about his

literature is provided by Martin Groder (cited life.... During the script-structuring age
in Barnes, 1977, p. 19): "Each of us has the period, the child experiences the intense
task each morning to recreate the universe from excitement of being a living human be-
our central focus and this responsibility is ing with ideas. (English, 1977, p. 290)
unavoidable. Unfortunately, we tend to be More than any other TA theorist, English
habit-ridden and do the same lousy job every captures the essence of "meaning-making"
morning. This is what scripts are all about." which is fundamental in much of the current
For Groder, the essence of script is the daily, developmental literature. However, consistent
unavoidable psychological construction and with many script theorists, English still places
reconstruction of reality. Groder appears to too much emphasis on childhood as the primary
agree with those authors already quoted: The time for script formation and uses too literal
script is habit-ridden, restrictive, self-limiting, an adaptation of developmental stages.
and hence pathological. Interestingly, Alfred English (1977) does not ignore the dysfunc-
Adler (1956, p. 191), in his discussion of "the tional, even pathological aspects of script; she
style of life," elegantly described the daily contextualizes them:
"pathology" of "being in script." He observed However many irrational elements there
that once individuals settle into a "style of may be in script-including horrible
life," they remove aspects of thinking, feeling, devouring monsters, pitfalls, dangers,
and relating from "the criticism of ex- and even, in many cases, terrible endings
perience. " The process of script formation and for the unwary hero or heroine-there are
"meaning-making" in life is not inherently also fairy elements of excitement, adven-
pathological; "being in script" becomes ture, love, beautiful fantasy, and all kinds
dysfunctional when it involves hanging of magical tricks and prescriptions as to
tenaciously on to certain beliefs about self how calamity can be circumvented and
and the world rather than allowing for the how misfortune can be turned into good
surprises and opportunities presented in fortune. It is these latter aspects that of-
actually living. fer clues as to how a person can fulfill
English. Fanita English is virtually alone himself through his script rather than in
among the major TA theorists in considering opposition to it and in fear.
scripts to be valuable assets, another advantage Even a script generated under the worst
humans have over other animals. English environmental circumstances contains
(1977) states without equivocation, "Our within itself the Child's own genetic in-
scripts enable us to blossom, rather than tuitions as to how he might fulfill his in-
preventing us from doing so, even though they ner goals creatively, if certain malevolent
may contain certain 'conclusions' out of early fairies and cobwebs can be neutralized.
childhood that can be dysfunctional or Without a script, the Child ego state
downright dangerous" (p. 288). English's con- would be operating only out of a vacuum
ceptualization is strongly influenced by Piaget of time and space within which there
and particularly conguent with the ideas sug- would be no content from which to con-
gested by Kegan and Vaillant. As she says in nect the past to the future, so he would
"What Shall I Do Tomorrow? Reconceptualiz- be rootless, like a leaf in the wind. I
ing Transactional Analysis": suspect that certain cases of psychosis
We all need a script. The child's need for represent lack of script formation, as a
a script reflects an inborn human need for result of which the individual has no
structuring the time, space and relation- background from which to experience the
ships that are ahead of him, so that he can foreground and, therefore, he operates
conceptualize boundaries against which out of a condition of total disorganization.
to test his ongoing experience of reali- (p. 290)
ty. . . . By constructing the outline of a There is tremendous power and vitality in
script, he can hold together his hopes, his English's conceptualizations. Her ideas are
fantasies, and his experiences. This enlivening in the clinical context and more
becomes a basic structure out of which theoretically valid than most script theory. For

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her, script formation is determining rather than centered experiences in determining adult
determined, formative rather than acquiescent, behavior.
unpredictable and creative rather than reduc- Although life script is not inherently
tionistic, focused on the future rather than pathological, it may be hopelessly imbued with
embedded (mired) in the past. "Survival con- pathological meaning in TA theory and prac-
clusions" for English are an aspect of script, tice. Transactional analysts need to either
not its primary purpose. significantly challenge and broaden the current
conceptualization of script or to introduce a se-
Summary cond, parallel term-such as psychological life
plan-to describe healthy, functional aspects of
TA as an approach to therapy stresses the "meaning-making" in the ongoing psycholog-
dignity of people and their ability to change. ical construction of reality. Perhaps it would
This perspective is supported by developmen- be more inclusive to use a term such as
tal research which has repeatedly demonstrated ,'psychological life plan" to describe the ongo-
the enormous flexibility and resilience of the ing evolution of healthy psychological develop-
human psyche. Unfortunately, much of script ment, with "life script" used to describe
theory as it has evolved is inconsistent with this dysfunctional, pathological constructions.
perspective on human nature. By integrating the evidence from current
Although TA began as a social psychiatry, developmental theory, life script could be more
it seems increasingly to have collapsed into a comprehensively defined as follows: Life script
psychodynamic framework. The interpersonal is the ongoing process of a self-defining and
is too often lost to an over-emphasis on the sometimes self-limitingpsychological construc-
intrapsychic. tion of reality. Script formation is the process
It is not the intent here to remove the intra- by which the individual attempts to make sense
psychic focus from script theory. The of family and social environments, to establish
psychodynamic perspective brings a richness meaning in life, and to predict and manage
and depth to clinical understanding. It is one life's problems in the hope of realizing one's
intent of this paper to return the intrapsychic dreams and desires. Major script decisions can
emphasis that permeates much of script theory be made at any point in life. Times of crisis,
to a place within a context of the interpersonal during which a person experiences severe "self
and cognitive/behavioral fields. failure" or "environmental failure" or chronic
Script theory has become more restrictive "environmental failure" will likely foster more
than enlivening. Script analysis as it has rigid, and therefore more dysfunctional,
evolved over the years is overly psychoanalytic elements in an individual's script.
in attitude and overly reductionistic in what it
communicates to people about human develop- William F. Cornell, M.A. is a Certified
ment. In addition, the incorporation of devel- Teaching Member, Instructor and Supervisor,
opmental theory into script theory has too often of the ITAA. He maintains a private practice
been simplistic and inaccurate, placing primary in TA treatment and training in Pittsburgh and
emphasis on psychopathology rather than on Gibsonia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Please send
psychological formation. reprint requests to William Cornell, Box 515
The richness, depth, and complexity of cur- Rd. #5, Middle Rd. Extension, Gibsonia, PA
rent developmental research and theory is not 15044, U.S.A.
well-represented in the TA literature, although
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