Julie’s Blog 29: TA, Prejudice and Anti-Discriminatory Practice - Part 1

This and the following three blogs cover the content of an article I wrote in 1993.
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Within the UK at present [i.e. when I wrote it in 1993] the accepted conventions appeared to be to use the words ‘white’ and ‘black’.  However, this is NOT acceptable around the world.  I have therefore used the somewhat cumbersome terms ‘caucasian’ and ‘non-caucasian’ (without initial capitals on purpose to show that they are simply labels).  Please let me know what terms would be acceptable in your country.

It seems strange that an approach that is used worldwide should be seen in the UK as irregular or unsuitable for non-caucasian ethnic groups.  This appears to be the situation with Transactional Analysis (TA) – widely applied in over 60 countries, with considerable activity in cultures as diverse as India, Singapore, Japan, China, South America, and Eastern Europe, it is still regarded in the UK as a typically “American” approach that has no relevance for non-caucasian people.

Yet TA is a humanist psychology, which means that it “stands for respect for the worth of persons, respect for differences of approach, open-mindedness as to acceptable methods, and interest in exploration of new aspects of human behaviour” (Articles of Association – American Association for Humanistic Psychology).  The basic building blocks of TA, the ego states as Berne defined them, are very much the result of what happens as an individual is growing up.  Their ‘contents’, in terms of Parental precepts, Child experiences and Adult skills, are therefore culture and context specific.  Indeed, much TA facilitation is based on helping people to recognise that interpersonal difficulties arise because we carry different expectations due to different circumstances during our formative years.

Conversely, where similarities are described, as in script patterns, they are based on recognised archetypes that appear in myths, legends and fairy stories around the world.

​So, if TA is based on cultural differences balanced by archetypes, with an underlying humanist philosophy of I’m OK – You’re OK, why does it seem to have so little relevance to non-caucasian trainers in the UK?  A major reason could be the lack of TA material that includes examples drawn from non-caucasian cultures within the West (there are plenty of books and articles available in India, for example, but these might still seem irrelevant to someone growing up in the UK).  Another notable gap is the dearth of attempts to relate TA to anti-discriminatory practice and equal opportunities.

As a caucasian trainer it is not easy for me to write an article with examples from non-caucasian cultures.  I hope that this article will itself stimulate some non-caucasian readers to do so, or at least to provide me with examples I could incorporate.

I will instead focus on how we might use some basic TA models to understand and tackle the dynamics of discrimination.  I am aware that any article on such a topic by a caucasian trainer will be seen as presumptuous by some non-caucasian people – but hope that most will recognise my good intentions.  I also hope this will start a dialogue so that we can share the potential TA contribution to anti-discriminatory practice more widely.

Internal Ego States
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We can better understand much discriminatory or prejudicial behaviour if we use a framework of internal ego states.  Using the usual TA ego state diagram of 3 stacked circles but with dotted lines to indicate that these are internal and cannot actually be observed directly, we can explain how our past limits and stimulates our current behaviour. (see below)

Internal Ego States

Our Internal Parent is composed of recordings, or copies, of people we have known in the past.  There will be more recordings based on those we spent most time with (e.g. parents, caregivers, teachers) or those who made a big impression on us (e.g. a favourite sports coach, a particularly unpleasant neighbour).  As well as ‘filing’ away our impressions of their behaviour, we will also have stored what we observed of their feelings and opinions.  In later life, we may well trot out exactly the same comments, same feelings and same behaviour – quite often remaining unaware that are doing so.

Our Internal Child can be likened to the rings of a tree – all that happens to us is recorded there in terms of thicker or thinner rings, depending on the level of nourishment available.  There will also be knots, or internal scars, left by particularly traumatic events.  There will be an outer layer that is our new growth, our development in the here-and-now, and that will become yet another inner ring as time passes.

Our Internal Adult is more like a processor, taking in data from the outside world, checking with our Internal Parent and Child, and selecting an appropriate course of action.  We may well behave like a parent or a child but that will be a conscious choice if our Internal Adult is functioning.  If it is temporarily out of commission, however, we may display inappropriate parental or childish behaviour.

Prejudice
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This ego state model can be used to explain prejudice.  More importantly, it can also be helpful in identifying actions for eliminating such prejudice.

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Extract from: Hay, Julie (1993) TA and ADP – What can Transactional Analysis contribute to Anti-Discriminatory Practice?  INTAD Newsletter 2:1 4-8

​In Part 2 of this blog, I will give an example and some ideas about how internal ego states can help us deal with prejudice.  In Part 3 I will look at behavioural ego states and channels of communication, and finally in Part 4 I give some ideas about the game of PC –  Politically Correct’. ​
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References

Hay, Julie (1993) TA and ADP – What can Transactional Analysis contribute to Anti-Discriminatory Practice?  INTAD Newsletter 2:1 4-8

In 1993 there was not so much attention being paid to referencing. Additional references that apply for this blog are:

American Association for Humanistic Psychology now seems to no longer have ‘American’ in its title and is at https://www.ahpweb.org/

Ego states – Berne, Eric (1961) Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy New York: Grove Press
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Internal ego states - Hay, Julie (1992) Transactional Analysis for Trainers Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill (currently published as 2nd edition, 2009, Hertford: Sherwood Publishing
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​© 2018 Julie Hay​
 
​Julie is a fan of open access publishing so feel free to reproduce any of these blogs as long as you still attribute it to her.
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If you’re interested in learning more TA, Julie runs regular workshops and webinars –  we currently have an offer of a free place on one of our webinars. You can use these toward your CPD and as credit hours in pursuing professional TA qualification