TA in Pills - 1-6.2 TA Game Theory 2

TA Game Theory 2

(Games are unhealthy interactional mechanisms.)

(People play games unawarely. Games generate unpleasant feelings.)

(Games deny having happy, joyful, rewarding relationships.)

"Words with special meaning are marked * in text and explained in Notes"

Games usually occur in environments where people know each other fairly well. They have a sort of interlocking agenda at the psychological level. Games occur at home, in family circles, in social circles, in offices and organisations, in politics and sports where accusations and counter accusations are common place. The underworld is no exception. They play what are called tissue games. I am using this blog to provide a fair overview and understanding of what games really are before moving to a theory overload.

I invite you to watch these four short one minute videos on YouTube to illustrate games. Video 1 shows how small fish jump at boat occupants' faces by the dozen. They leave almost no ripples in the water when they jump back into it.  Video 2 shows how dolphins jump out of water and leave medium ripples in the water. Video 3 shows a massive big whale fish which createing massive ripples when it lands back in the water. They last for a long time and also affect floating objects in the vicinity. Video 4 shows a sword fish take down a fairly large sized fishing boat.

There are three types of games. The first types of games lead to and generate gossip. The second types of games result in hurt relationships but not break-ups. The affected persons do not speak or mention about them socially. They however affect lives of the players significantly. The players keep simmering in the after effects for a long time. A patch up could take two to seven days or as long as a year or two. The milder of the third types of games result in severely hurt relationships, divorces, non-lethal accidents, legal battles, criminal cases and the like. The severe of the third types of games lead to terms in jails or death if person be a victim. Some of these spend time in mental asylums because their case is very severe. One could only guess how many of us are free of game play involvement. These four could be compared to the fish events in the four videos. Games are classified as First Degree, Second Degree and Third Degree games based on the outcome of their engagements. 

It is interesting to know that games resemble parts of dramatic plays, the parts called episodic plots. There are plots with mild and event loaded dramas. To know click here. 

Stephen Karpman, an early associate of Eric Berne - the founder of Transactional Analysis was an enthusiastic and passionate field games watcher. He took fancy to chart moves of players in games such as football and hockey. He shared his drawings with Berne. Berne encouraged him to devise a model that could connect the moves to Game. Thus the Drama Triangle click here was born and has become part of TA Literature. People adopt complementing roles on the drama triangle when they get engaged in 'game play'. These roles are labelled Persecutor, Rescuer and Victim. There is a preferred role of entry and a preferred role of exit for game players. People switch roles during the course of the game in progress. The feelings that one experiences matches the role at exit. Drama triangle illustrates the hidden agendas and surprise elements that accompany game play. 

Dramatic games are characterised by a 'buildup' that is usually cool, a 'charged high' usually accompanied by debate and argument, an 'emotionally charged accusation and counter accusation' phase, and a show down.

With this background it will be fairly easy to understand The TA Game Theory in greater depth.

This blog comes from Ajit Karve from Pune. I am a qualified TA Practitioner. I specialise in using TA for personal growth, personal development, personal effectiveness and for transformational change. I can be reached on +919822024037. Please feel free to seek clarifications by writing to me on ajitpkarve@gmail.com or taforyouandme@gmail.com. 

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