Map the roles in the story you grew up on

Use your favourite childhood story to see which roles you learned to expect and play.

Warum es wirkt

Karpman's 1968 article starts from fairy tales: a person "living in a fairy tale" sees the world with a minimum of characters, and when someone knows their favourite tale its key roles can be listed and their life roles fitted to it. Because the roles are interchangeable, a person may play each of them at one time or another, and Karpman wrote that work may not be complete until a person's position in each role is looked at. In his 2019 article he adds that naming the games and the Persecutors, Rescuers and Victims in one's family can bring welcome relief.

So gehst du vor

1. Name the fairy tale, story or film that gripped you most as a child.
2. List its main characters and mark each as Persecutor, Rescuer or Victim, noting where a character switches.
3. Ask which of those roles you recognise in your adult relationships, and who in your life has played the others.
4. Look for yourself in every role, not only the one you identify with: Karpman's rule is that each can be played at one time or another.

Evidenz

The favourite-fairy-tale role diagram is the opening method of Karpman's 1968 article, which includes a case history, which he says might be called "Little Red Riding Hood meets 'Waiting for Cinderella'", in which a mother cast her three children in separate roles in a family fairy tale. His 2019 article extends it to naming family games and roles. It is an interpretive exercise from script analysis, not a tested intervention. (anecdotal)

Looking at family roles can stir up painful memories. If what comes up feels overwhelming, you lose track of where you are, or images keep returning and will not settle, stop and continue with a trained therapist.

Quellen

• Karpman, S. B. (1968). Fairy tales and script drama analysis. Transactional Analysis Bulletin, 7(26), 39-43.
• Karpman, S. B. (2019). Script drama analysis II. International Journal of Transactional Analysis Research & Practice, 10(1), 21-39.

Häufiger Fehler

Treating the story as a fate you are bound to repeat. Karpman's point is that the roles are interchangeable; the map shows a pattern you can now see, not a script you must follow.