AARON WOLFE SCHIFF, B.A.

JACQVI LEE SCHIFF, M.S.S.W.

This p p e r represents the culmination
of severkl years research on passivity carried on at the Schiff Rehabilitation Project. In the past we have failed with
certain patients when, even with very
concertpd effort, we were unable to interrupt a pattern of passive behavior; for
some time we have been aware that we
must in some way be supporting or reinforcing the passivity.
In the summer of 1969 we witnessed
a dramatic resolutioii to psychosis in a
hebephrenic patient; what Eric Berne described as a flip-in. Much of our investigation since that time has focused on
the several hebephrenic patients who have
been available to us. The findings have
been confirmed as consistent with pathology as demonstrated in paranoia, undiffercntiated schizophrenia, manic-depressive psychosis, depressions, hysteria, and
other psycho-neurotic disorders where
passive-aggressive or passive-dependent
behaviors are significantly present. We
have not yet established these findings as
significant w i t h catatonic, characterdisordered, or obsessive-compulsive paticnts duc to thc lack of patients with these
diagnoses in our program.
The identification of the complex of
behaviors which we are treating as part of
a passivity syndrome seems to have farrcaching implications for the treatment of
psychosis. We are presently undertaking
Trarisactional Anal. J. l : I , January 1971

a renovation of our entire treatment approach with both residential and outpatients as a result of these findings.

SYMBIOSIS
Symbiosis is a normal condition of the
oral stage in the development of a child.
It is experienced by both the mother and
the child as a merging or sharing of their
needs. An example of normal symbiosis
is a mother who normally sleeps soundly
but wakes easily when her infant cries;
if nursing, she is likely to begin lactating.
As the child grows he identifies himself
as feeling, thinking, and solving problems
independently, therefore as a separate
individual. It would appear that the function of the symbiosis is to insure the
infants survival during a period when he
is completely dependent.
Pathology is likely to result from disturbances in the symbiotic relationship
(examples, separation, unresponsiveness),
or in the differentiation of the child from
the mother (examples, neglect or overprotection). It is also likely to occur in
instances where parenting is inadequate
to prepare the child to function
an
independent person who can solve problems in the world.
All games develop out of unresolved
symbiotic relationships with discounting
as the mechanism and grandiosity as the
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PASSIVITY

justification. They represent a re-enactment of the symbiotic relationship in an

attempt to get taken care of, or reacting
to the symbiotic relatinnship with anger.
The exact moves in the game are learned
in the parent-child relationship and reinforce the symbiosis.
The structure of a symbiosis is as follows, with the combined ego states which

Person No. 1

Person No. 2

are typical of transactions between two

individuals resulting in the structure of
one total personality. The purpose of the
passivity is to maintain the non-functioning of those ego states which would challenge the dependency contract.
When the passivity begins to break
down there may be a competition for the
dependent Child position in the symbiosis. Since both individuals are relatively
unaware of alternatives to symbiosis, the
competition is perceived as a struggle for
survival, the issue being existence versus
non-existence.
The functions of the Child may also
be divided up between two individuals,
the contract being that when CI is cathected, C , will cathect P or A. Example:
Joe gets a headache and Jane, who never
gets headaches, cathects her Parent to
take care of him or to criticize his weakness. However, Jane, who is inclined to
drink too much, can always depend on
Joe to take care of her and drive home
from parties. The symbiosis can also be
extended to children within the family.
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Example: the mother, when asked how

Johnny gets along in the 4th grade, responds, Oh, he doesnt do very well in
school - Jimmy is the studious one,
and continues to respond to questions by
attributing characteristics to each youngster in a definitive way. In one instance
a mother in a symbiotic family was asked
to write out a developmental history of
her son. She described all of his development, He talked earlier than his
brother but was toilet trained later, with
no external reference for either of the
children; thus, definitions in such families
occur only within the symbiosis, with no
reference to external reality, and with all
characteristics identified as extreme, i.e.,
Johnny and Jimmy may have similar
intelligence but Jimmy is defined as intelligent and Johnny as outgoing or artistic.
In this situation Johnny is scripted not to
achieve academically (to do so would be
fratricide) and Jimmy may not have
friends or be creative.
The transactions within the symbiotic
relationship are structured to maintain the
symbiotic cathexis. Example: Joe says,
from Child, I need a ride to the depot.
Sam says, What time is your train? Joe
tells him, and Sam says, Okay, I can
take you then. Neither of them notice
that Joe has not asked Sam for a ride.
Moreover, should it become necessary for
him to do so, Joe would become very
uncomfortable. He has structured his
transactions with other people in such a
way as to decrease the probability of a
Child-Child transaction. Asking a direct
question or making a request recognizes
the existence of the other person and is
likely to precipitate a Child-Khild response. If he is required to ask a direct
question, the symbiosis would bc threatened, and Joe is likely to become agitated.
Thus, when there is n symbiosis, it
becomes apparent that transactions are
structured so that it is difficult or unlikely
for the response to be from the same ego
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AARON WOLFE SCHIFF & JACQUI LEE SCHIFF

state as was cathected in the initial transaction. Many patients will begin acting
crazy as an alternative to transactions
which threaten the symbiosis.

DISCOUNTING
Discounting is the functional manifestation of either a contamination or an
exclusion. The person who discounts
believes, or acts as though he believes,
that his feelings about what someone else
has said, done, or felt, are more significant
that what that person actually said, did
or felt. He does not use information
relevant to a situation.
There are four possible ways to discount.
( 1 ) Discount the problem. Example:
The baby is crying. The mother turns up
the radio or goes to sleep.

( 2 ) Discount the significance of the

problem. Example: The baby is crying.
The mother says, He always cries this
time of the day.
( 3 ) Discount the solvability of the
problem. Example: The baby is crying.
The mother says, Nothing satisfies him!
(4) Discount the person. Example:

The baby is crying. The mother says,

Theres nothing I can do!

In our program we bypass analyzing

games by confronting the discount, which
is identifiable as the initial unstraight
transaction and is the point at which the
patients Adult ceases to be aware of
what is happening. Recathecting the Adult
in this transaction effectively stops the
game at a time when the patient is in
touch with the feeling motivating the behavior.

GRA NDIOSlTY
Grandiosity provides thc justification
for the maintenance of the symb -is. It
involves a purposeful exaggeration, which
Trarisactional Anal. J . l : l , January 1971

may be one of the characteristics of the

self, or may be projected into the environment (distortion of characteristics of persons or situations). The grandiosity always
compensates feelings of inadequacy and
prevents the establishment of tenable
goals by providing a flexible reality in
which the patient can never effectively
achieve or fail.
The thinking which underlies grandiosity includes a delusional I cant stand
it position, which can be identified
through such remarks as, I was petrified
with fright, He lost control, It hurt
so much I couldnt think, I did it because I was so mad. The patient takes
no responsibility for the decisions involved in specific situations and describes
the situations as responsible for the behavior.

PASSIVE BEHA Vl OR
We have identified four behaviors as
passive: ( 1 ) doing nothing relevant to
solving the problem; ( 2 ) over-adaptation;
( 3 ) agitation; and (4) incapacitation or
violence.

1. Doing Nothing
In a situation where there is a problem
and the response is passively doing
nothing (as opposed to cathecting Adult
and deciding to do nothing), all of the
patients energy is utilized in inhibiting
responses. The Child is executive and
contamination is motivated by an attempt
to maintain the symbiosis (thus the issue
is survival). Patients report not thinking, I cant think, I was too scared
to think, while doing nothing. For the
observer, very little thinking can be
identified. Patients report that they maintain an awareness of their own identity,
and are uncomfortable. Anyone trying to
transact with the passive person gets involved with the symbiosis.
The paradigm case of doing nothing is
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PASSIVITY

described in Brer Rabbits encounter with

the T a r Baby. After several unsi~ccessful attempts to elicit a response, Brer
Rabbit hits the T a r Baby and gets stuck
in the tar.
Example: Joe says to Jane, Im mad
about your doing that! Jane looks
stricken, but does not respond. After an
interval of waiting, Joe becomes acutely
uncomfortable and begins to have impulses to rescue her.

2. 0ver- Ad aptat ion

Over-adaptation is the one of the passive behaviors which is most difficult to
identify; it is also the most adaptive to
the situation; therefore it is most likely to
be reinforced. I t occurs when the individual does not identify a goal for himself
in attempting to solve a problem but tries
to achieve what he believes to bc someone elses goal. Grandiosity is projected
onto what he believes to be the other persons expectation, thus defining the problem as unsolvable and the expectation as
unreasonable.
An example of this behavior occurred
with a physician who worked in an emergency service. T h e hospital administration
complained that the physician was too
slow in processing patients. T h e physician
responded by feeling defensive, and in his
head he built a case against the administration in which he maintained that they
had no real concern for the welfare of
patients and that good medical practice
required more time per patient than they
were willing to allow. I n trying to hurry
up, in conformity to their goals, he became increasingly agitated and ineflicient.
When he established as a goal for himself
that he should not get fired from hi5 position, he was able to begin to think
productively about ways to process patients more efficiently without sacrificing
medical standards.
Over-adaptation is the passive behavior
in which the most thinking occurs. While
74

the person is over-adapted he can be given

information about his behavior, and offer
a great deal of objective data about his
abilities and capacities. It is difficult,
while over-adapted, to continue discounting when the passivity is confronted.
Therefore, this position is the most accessible to treatment.
We consider that we need to d o a great
deal more work in understanding the
implications of over-adaption and how
it disrupts and enhances problem-solving.
3. Agitation
Agitation is likely to occur between
over-adaptation and violence. It consists
of repetitive activities which are purposeless or non-goal directed. T h e agitated
individual is acutely uncomfortable and
thinking is confused. The patient is trying
frantically to defend the symbiosis against
a threat; he knows he could solve the
problem by doing something but feels
inadequate. A Parental injunction, Sit
down and think about it, stated firmly
and calmly, or stroking from the Parent
position, is likely to restore over-adaptation. If there is pressure to do something the patient is likely to become
violent (incapacitated).
W e d o not know a way to cathcct the
patients Adult while he is agitated; the
recommended procedure is to restore the
over-adaptation to avert violonce. The
wriousness of the agitated bchavior
3hmld not be underestimatcd.
Grandiosity is supported by the belief
that the activity is productive. Exmiple:
The patient thinks he is accomplishing
something by pacing the floor. Actually
he is working u p hysteria in the direction
of a violent o r incapacitating discharge of
energy.

4. Incapacitation or Violence
Incapacitation or violence occurs in the
discharge of energy built u p from passivity, and is a n attempt to enforce the
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AARON WOLFE SCHIFF & JACQUI LEE SCHIFF

syabiosis at the time of breakdown. No

thinking can be identified. T h e patient
x c e p t s no responsibility for the behavior.
Following the discharge of energy, the
Adult is likely to be cathectable. Violence
involves a switch in the game position,
whzreas incapacitation may o r may not
involve a switch (Karpmans triangle).
Both incapacitation and violence are payoff~in the I cant stand it game, thus
grandiose.

TREATMENT
Reinforcing any one of the four passive
beha? iors involves reinforcing the complex. Frequently there is environmental
support for several or all of the behaviors;
at present we are working on the
assumption that intervention must come
from the environment in order to resolve
the passivity.
A very common reaction to passivity
is for the respondent to become more
passive than the initiator. Example:
Well, I just wont talk to him until he
says something first. I dont want anything to d o with you until you stop that!
This is the most common defense people
utilize to protect themselves from the discomfolt of taking the active position in
a symbiotic transaction; it is not tenable
as a way of breaking down passivity. We
have tested this out many times and have
always found that attempting to outpassive a passive person only re-inforces
the pathology. T h e passive person needs
to learn that his environment can and will
demand active participation and problemsolving from him in order to break down
the grandiosity.
To disrupt the symbiosis the passive
individual must be made more uncomfortable (responsible for his feelings)
than he can make anyone else. This is
done by consistently confronting the discount at a level which cannot be ignored
or acted on symbiotically. We are presTrarisactional Anal. 1. I : I , January 1971

ently using negative strokes (disapproval

and punishment) and attempt to escalate
over the grandiosity. T h e patient is most
likely to say, I dont care, or, You
cant make me, and it seems essential
to find ways to deal with this.
The first discount is cocsistently confronted in an attempt to avoid the individuals getting into the game. The passive
person is expected to give a straight
answer as to why he was discounting, and
to take account of his feelings, and the
feelings of other people involved (which
must be determined in transactions with
them). It is extremely important that all
three factors ( 1 ) the situation, (2) his
feelings, ( 3 ) other peoples feelings be
dealt with without discounting, in order
to insure that productive thinking i,
taking place. Often the first indication of
a discount is the discomfort of one o r
more people involved in a situation.
Example: A student reciting before a
classroom falters several times and
becomes confused. Others in the class,
perhaps including the teacher, feel sympathetic and anxious about his poor performance. Afterwards the student says, I
knew the material but T go to pieces when
I try to talk in front of a group! In
looking carefully at the situation, it becomes apparent that the discomfort of the
rc5t of the class may have exceeded that
of the student who was performing poorly.
The students information was sufficient
for him to have done a good job (discount) and his poor performance makes
the rest of the group not all right. The
grandiosity is projected onto the group
and the teachers expectations.
In checking out the three factors listed
above, it will become apparent that ( 1 )
the situation is that the student has the
information and could perform well, ( 2 )
he feels that h e cannot perform adequately, and ( 3 ) he believes the teacher or
group to expect more than he can achieve.
All of the above include obvious dis75

PASSIVITY

counts which can be easily identified and

confronted. Similar discounts are present
in any game situation, and brief questioning will expose them. The person being
confronted will then deal straight with the
game, or he will become confused. People
on a passivity confrontation program are
expected to be aware, responsive, and
demonstrate initiative in activities and relationships; consequently, in most in.
stances the games are successfully confronted.
Grandiosity is the most difficult aspect
of the problem to confront because it

often occurs in thinking and is not clearly

demonstrated in overt behavior. The person should be checked out to see if his
thinking includes clear cause-and-eff ect
relationships, or reasons for everything.
He may need to be assured that there are.
indeed, reasons for everything, and an
expectation that he consider reasons
should be established iiom the beginning
of a passivity confrontation program. It is
crucial that this be done in reference to
all positions in Karpmans game triangle;
the person is capable 3f presenting a
complete, cohesive account of how he
uses passivity in all positions of his game.
The patient who respond- to problematic situations by doing nothkg is very
likely to precipitate a symbiosis. A- with
Brer Rabbit, the more active participant
in a situation frequently has a stronger
reaction to occurrences and therefore is
vulnerable to expressing feelings for both
persons, cathecting his Parent and Adult
in the process, both t o find out what is
happening and to inhibit anger, then
eventually switching to enraged Child,
with a corresponding 5witch of ego states
in the passive person who i- in a position
to say, But I didnt do arything! What
are you so upset about?
Speech behaviorv are ofter the easiest
to confront aroi nd this typc of passivity.
The patient will speak too quietly, be
76

hesitant, or halting in his expression.

There will be uncomfortable pauses while
he looks away or gropes for words, or
long silences before he responds to simple
questions. He should be given negative
strokes every time this happens and the
expectation should be established that he
talk effectively and that he answer immediately. Example: I expect you to answer! Im not willing to stand here. The
same expectation of immediate, appropriate behavior should be established around
all behaviors. If the patient does not have
information about how to respond, he can
still be held responsible for identifying
that as a problem, actively seeking information, communicating around the problem, and utilizing all the information
which he does have.
Over-adaptation appears i n many
games, such as Look How Hard Im Trying, If It Werent for Him, Wooden Leg,
etc. The patient appears to be seeking
a solution to the problem but is unable to
come to a satisfactory resolution because,
I was too scared, out of touch with
my feelings. just didnt know what to
say, didnt think, dont know, or any
of a large number of excuses. The excuses
and the presence of poor cause and effect
thinking, involving a discount of reasons,
is the best indication that over-adaptation
is a problem.
However, the over-adapted position is
t .e wrie with the most favorable prognosis.
Since more thinking occurs from this
form of passivity, resolution is most easily
acccmplished. The passive individual is
likely to adapt to the expectation that he
think and respond appropriately. He may
need to be told that there are reasons for
everything, that he is responsible for
knowing what is in his head, and that he
can solve problems. A combination of
expectations and support may be most
helpful in precipitating a breakthrough of
passivity. Although the patient may seem
to be responding appropriately to the
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AARON WOLFE SCHIFF & JACQUI LEE SCHIFF

situation, his thinking is clearly deviant

(as determined by using the three criteria
described previously) , much projected
grandiosity is involved, and it is necessary
that there be external definitions of reality
and expectations. Punishment is effective
in helping the passive person to establish
tenable goals. For example, he may not
be motivated to perform the task for positive strokes, b u t may be motivated by
wishing to avoid the punishment, and
therefore willing to establish a goal for
himself consistent with t h e expectation.
Example: The 4th grader may not learn
his times tables, even though he would
like to have an A grade, until he is told
that unless he does the work he will have
to stay after school until it is completed.
Agitation is repetitive, non-productive
activity which is motivated in an attempt
to generate energy to inhibit behavior.
The behavior is seen as threatening the
symbiosis. It is likely to be terminated in
an outburst of violence or incapacitation,
and should therefore be dealt with at a
high priority. Some agitated behaviors,
such as stuttering, are, in themselves, so
incapacitating, that it is difficult to distinguish agitation and incapacitation.
Ritualistic behaviors such as smoking,
may play an important role in controlling
agitation, or may be agitated behaviors.
The goal of confronting agitation is to
restore the patient to an over-adapted
position. The usual procedure is to parent
the patient in several consecutively more
complex behaviors until he is well-adapted
to the parenting, and then deal with what
is causing the behavior. We recently saw
a clergyman deal very effectively with
distraught and grieving relatives in a hospital waiting room with, Well, Brother
Andrew, you just come right over here,
thats right, right over here where I can
put my arm around you, thats right,
you just sit right down here, sit right
down beside me, now have you got a
handkerchief? Thats right, sit down and
Transactional Anal. J . I : l , January I971

get out your handkerchief, and have a

good cry, and then we can talk a little
aiid pray a little, thats right, just have
a good cry. . .,
Violence or incapacitation is the ultimate in passive behavior, in that the
person has given up any responsibility
for thinking or problem-solving. We have
not found a way to effectively cathect the
patients Adult until the energy worked
up during the agitation period is discharged, but after the discharge of energy,
the patient is likely to be rational and
accessible to treatment, with a good deal
of Child cathected, and a readily cathectable Adult. This time can be effectively
utilized to rescript the patient, obtain
information which may not be available
other times, and facilitate insight and an
assumption of responsibility.
We have found passivity confrontation
to be most effectively utilized in a residential or day care program, at least for
the first week or so. The patient can best
be confronted in a structure where there
are things to do which will stimulate his
interest and contribute to his comfort. H e
needs help in identifying the difference
between his goals and other peoples
expectations, and it should be checked out
that these are realistic in view of his
abilities.
We are finding that the majority of
patients who are passive are enthusiastic
about having the problem confronted and
willing to have it dealt with at high level.
Within a few hours of non-passive behavior, the patient begins to feel better
and can generally actively participate in
identifying and solving problems of passivity.

EXAMPLES
Joe was supposed to pick up Johnny
after the ball game. His wife did not
have that information. However, as they
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PASSIVITY

drove up to their home, Joe said, Oh,

we forgot to pick up Johnny!

Therapist: Why cant you?

Jane: Because I dont get any support
from Joe.

Symbiosis: Joe assumes his wife is equally responsible for his mistake.
Symbiosis: Jane cannot act independently
Grandiosity: Joe projects that his wife
of Joe.
could be responsible without informaGrandiosity: Jane is inadequate; Johnny
tion.
is unmanagable.
D ~ s c o K Joe
~ ~ :is responsible, his wife is
Discount: Jane could solve the problem.
not.
Johnny is not unmanagable.
Passive Behavior: Doing nothing.
Passivity: Doing nothing.
Therapist: (To Joe) How do YOU feel
about coming in for counselling?
Joe: I was willing to come.
Jane: But he didnt want to!
Therapist: (TO Jane) Why did You say
that?
Jane: Well, I wanted to!

Symbiosis: Jane expresses Joes feelings

and thinks he should share hers.
Grandiosity: Jane thinks her feelings
should control Joes feelings.
Discou~t:Joe did not answer therapists
question. Jane responded relevant to
Joes feelings.
Passive Behavior: Agitation.
Jane: I cant make my S-year old son
turn off the television.

Jane: Im really furious about that!

Joe: I know. Will you forgive me?

Symbiosis: Joe tries to get Jane to take

care of him.
Grandiosity: Janes anger is overwhelming, Joe is inadequate to deal with it.
Discount: That Joe is not responding to
Jams feelings.
Passivity: Over-adaptation.
Joe is driving in a heavy fog. He says, I
cant see anything, and lets go of the
wheel, causing an accident.

Symbiosis: There is no one to take care

of Joe.
Grandiosity: Fog was overwhelming.
Discount: Joe could have stopped the car.
Passivity: Incapacitation or violence.