A PSYCHOBIOGRAPHICAL STUDY OF ROBERT NESTA “BOB” MARLEY
LYNN WILLIS 200338234
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree
MASTER OF ARTS In Clinical Psychology
In the Faculty of Health Sciences At the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
Supervisor: Ms. Alida Sandison March 2017
i
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that the work in this thesis is my own, except for quotations and summaries, which have been duly acknowledged. I understand what plagiarism is and none of this work is plagiarized.It is submitted for the degree of Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology at the
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. It has not been submitted for any other degree or examination at any other university.
Lynn Willis
Date: 30 March 2016
Student Number: 200338234
Qualification: MA Clinical Psychology ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the following people for their encouragement and support through this process.
Firstly the completion of this treatise would not have been remotely possible without the help of my Almighty and encouragement of my parents.
A warmhearted thank you to Tracy McIntyre who believed in me throughout this process and whose unfailing support and motivation gave me the strength I needed to complete this treatise.
A special thank you to my supervisor Ms Alida Sandison who guided the research and helped develop my skills and expertise.
And last but not least thank you to all the friends and family who served as a sounding board to my thoughts and feelings.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION...... i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... ii
APPENDICES ...... ix
LIST OF FIGURES ...... x
ABSTRACT ...... xi
CHAPTER 1 ...... 1
INTRODUCTION...... 1
Chapter Overview ...... 1
Motivation for the Study ...... 1
Overview of the Psychobiographical Approach ...... 2
Overview of Theoretical Framework ...... 2
Overview of Marley’s Life ...... 4
Aim of the Research ...... 5
Overview of the Treatise ...... 6
Conclusion ...... 6
CHAPTER 2 ...... 7
TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS ...... 7
Chapter Overview ...... 7
Historical Context of Ta ...... 7
Structural Analysis ...... 8
Functional Model...... 10 iv
Parent...... 10
Adult...... 11
Child...... 11
Structural Model...... 13
Parent2...... 13
Adult2...... 13
Child2...... 14
Transactional Analysis Proper ...... 15
Different types of transactions...... 16
Complimentary...... 16
Crossed...... 17
Ulterior...... 18
Script Analysis ...... 19
Definition and Elements of scripts...... 21
Has a payoff...... 21
Is directional...... 21
Reinforced by parents...... 21
Outside of awareness...... 22
Redefines reality...... 22
Life positions...... 22
Different kinds of scripts...... 24
Script process...... 25
The script matrix...... 26
Drivers...... 27
Programme...... 27 v
Injunctions...... 28
Don’t be (don’t exist)...... 28
Don’t be you...... 28
Don’t be a child...... 28
Don’t grow up...... 28
Don’t make it...... 29
Don’t do anything...... 29
Don’t be important...... 29
Don’t belong...... 29
Don’t be close...... 29
Don’t be well (don’t be sane)...... 30
Don’t think...... 30
Don’t feel...... 30
Strokes and Time Structuring ...... 31
Game analysis...... 32
Critique of TA ...... 34
Conclusion ...... 34
CHAPTER 3 ...... 35
THE LIFE OF NESTA ROBERT ‘BOB’ MARLEY ...... 35
Chapter Overview ...... 35
Childhood ...... 35
Adolescence ...... 38
Young Adulthood ...... 41
Conclusion ...... 52 vi
CHAPTER 4 ...... 53
PSYCHOBIOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY ...... 53
Chapter Overview ...... 53
Psychobiography ...... 53
Defining Psychobiography...... 53
The value of psychobiographical research...... 54
The uniqueness of the individual case within the whole...... 54
The socio-historical context...... 54
Process and pattern over time ...... 55
Subjective reality...... 55
Theory testing and development...... 56
Preliminary methodological considerations...... 56
Researcher bias...... 56
Reductionism...... 57
Cross-cultural differences...... 58
Analysing an absent subject...... 58
Inflated expectations...... 59
Infinite amount of biographical data...... 60
Elitism and easy genre...... 60
Validity and reliability considerations...... 61
Psychobiographical Ethical Considerations ...... 62
Primary Aim of the Research Study ...... 63
Research design ...... 63
Sampling procedure ...... 64
Data collection and analysis ...... 65 vii
CONCLUSION ...... 67
CHAPTER 5 ...... 68
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ...... 68
Chapter Overview ...... 68
Structural Analysis ...... 68
Functional model ...... 68
FunctionalAnalysis Application...... 70
Structural Model ...... 72
Script Analysis ...... 77
Life Positions...... 79
Elements of scripts...... 81
Has a payoff...... 81
Is directional...... 82
Reinforced by parents...... 82
Outside of awareness...... 83
Redefines reality...... 83
Influences to the script decision...... 84
Nonverbal messages...... 84
Commands and attributions...... 85
Modeling...... 85
Traumatic events...... 86
Environmental influences...... 86
Different scripts...... 87
Detecting script behaviour...... 89 viii
The Script Matrix...... 90
Drivers and Allowers...... 90
Be perfect driver...... 90
Be strong driver...... 91
Program...... 91
Injunctions and permissions...... 91
Script Process ...... 94
Strokes and Time Structuring ...... 94
Games Analysis ...... 96
Rackets...... 97
Conclusion ...... 98
CHAPTER 6 ...... 99
CONCLUSIONS, LIMITATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...... 99
Chapter Overview ...... 99
The Aims of the Study Revisited ...... 99
Summary of Research Findings ...... 99
Limitations of this Study ...... 102
Value of the Study ...... 104
Recommendations for Future Research ...... 105
Final Conclusion ...... 105
REFERENCES ...... 107
ix
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Timeline Representing Marley’s Musical Career: From Humble
Beginnings To Super Stardom ...... 114
Appendix B: My thoughts and feelings about ‘Bob Marley’ ...... 116
Appendix C: Data Collection Matrix ...... 119
x
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Ego-states: This diagram illustrates the three ego-states ...... 9
Figure 2: Functional (behavioural) model of ego-states ...... 12
Figure 3: Structural model of Second Order Structure of ego-states ...... 15
Figure 4: Complimentary transaction ...... 17
Figure 5: Crossed transaction...... 18
Figure 6: Ulterior transaction ...... 19
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ABSTRACT
Psychobiography is a qualitative research design used to explore and understand the life story of an individual through the lens of psychological theory. The application of theory is typically done to finished lives of well-known or enigmatic people, and covers the person’s entire lifespan. The aim of the study was to explore and describe the personality development of the Rastafarian reggae musician Bob Marley.To meet this aim the study created a comprehensive picture of Marley’s life within the particular social, economic and historical context in which he lived. Marley’s work was considered influential both during and after his life. His music is listened to by diverse groups of people, and is known internationally.
Marley’s personality was explored by applying Eric Berne’s theory of Transactional Analysis
(TA) to his life story. Data was collected and analyzed using a strategy consisting of three steps, namely, data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing and verification. Results of the study indicated that TA is a suitable theory for creating insight into the life of this historical figure, and has led to an increased understanding of the application of this psychological theory. Lastly, the study has contributed towards increasing the number of psychobiographical studies conducted in the South African context.
Key words: Bob Marley, Psychobiography, Transactional Analysis
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Chapter Overview
In this introductory chapter the reader is orientated to the research study. This chapter provides a brief motivation for the study, as well as an outline of the psychobiographical approach to research, and an overview of Eric Berne’s theory of Transactional Analysis (TA).
A brief account of Nesta Robert “Bob” Marley’s life is also provided. Thereafter, the aim of the study is described. Finally, an overview of the research is given.
Motivation for the Study
Bob Marley was specifically chosen for this study because of the researcher’s interest in the profound impact Marley has had on the music industry. The researcher wanted to find out more about the driving force behind the powerful lyricist. The reggae superstar died 35 years ago,yet the researcher believes that his music has a longevity that has outlasted his short life.
It is also fascinating to the researcher that Marley came from very humble beginnings but had a determination to succeed despite this. TA was chosen as the theoretical framework for understanding Marley’s personality because the theory resonated well with the researcher.
Furthermore, to the researcher’s knowledge, TA has never been used as a theoretical framework within a psychobiography, and seemed to be a suitable theoretical framework within which to explore a life. The use of this framework was further motivated by the researcher’s wish to further solidify her knowledge in TA, placing her in a better position to use TA as a framework in her therapeutic work in future.Thus this study represents an exploration of the use of TA for this purpose.
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Overview of the Psychobiographical Approach
Psychobiographical research studies provide an in-depth understanding of the uniqueness of individuals (Runyan, 1984). Because psychobiographers focus on finished lives, psychobiography enables the researcher to trace patterns of human development over a continuum of time from birth until death (Carlson, 1988). Thus, the development of personality as it occurs over a lifespan can be comprehensively described and understood
(Alexander, 1990). The contextualised background within which the individual existed is considered when doing so (Runyan, 1984). Psychological theory is used to understand the story of the lived life. Carlson (1988) was of the view that the materials of life histories provide an opportunity for developing and testing personality theory. Thus, the testing and development of psychological theory is a further outcome of psychobiography (Carlson,
1988).
Van Niekerk (2007) cited in Fouché and van Niekerk (2010), identified five facets to psychobiographical research. He indicated that psychobiography makes use of qualitative data, in an in-depth and holistic approach; it utilises biographical information mainly gathered by other researchers, and the collected data is considered valuable and has historical and psychological significance; he also noted that the subject is always identified by name.
For its strength in understanding personality, psychobiography was deemed a unique and suitable approach to understanding the life of Nesta Robert “Bob” Marley.
Overview of Theoretical Framework
To understand Marley’s life, Transactional Analysis (TA) was employed as the theoretical framework. TA is built on the premise that people are social beings, who manifest patterns of behaviour in social interaction (Berne, 1978). Berne understood these patterns 3 according to the following theoretical constructs: structural analysis, transactional analysis proper, script analysis, strokes and time structuring and game analysis.
According to Berne (1978) all individuals have three ego-states: Parent, Adult and
Child. Each of these can be observed in an individual and the individual chooses which ego- state to transact from with other people (Steiner, 1974). When someone is in their Parent, they act think and feel as one of the parental figures in their life did. When someone is in their Adult they respond to a situation in the here and now. When someone is in their Child they act, feel and think as they did when they were a child (Joines & Stewart,
2002).Understanding these ego-states is called structural analysis.
This analysis becomes more complex when one examines the interactions between individuals. When people are communicating they are transacting, and transactions occur from certain ego-states; transactions can hook certain ego-states in others. Analyses of these transactions are called Transactional Analysis proper (Kambly, 1975).There are three different types of transactions that occur, depending on which ego-state is hooked in the other person, namely; complimentary, crossed and ulterior transactions (Joines & Stewart, 2002).
Complimentary transactions make for easy interaction, but interpersonal difficulties usually surround patterns of crossed and ulterior transactions.
The patterns of transactions that individuals take part in are usually guided by their script. A script is an unconscious life plan (Berne, 1961). Scripts function outside of our awareness, and define the individual’s reality, playing out in the individuals life, in a predetermined way (Joines & Stewart, 2002).
Built into scripts is the individual’s need for strokes. A stroke is seen as a unit of recognition (Joines & Stewart, 2002). Within their script, the individual structures their time, 4 in a variety of different ways, to get the strokes that they want. One way of structuring time, that is important to mention here, is through the engagement of games.Games are played to satisfy position hunger, and enhance the script (Steiner, 1974). During a game individuals move through different phases, and at the end, they are left with feelings which feel familiar, which confirm their script expectations. For example, I try to help but people never appreciate me. Others are not okay. I always end up feeling sad and disappointed. Within the above study, the outlined theoretical constructs are applied to Marley’s life story, in order to gain insight into his personality development.
Overview of Marley’s Life
Nesta Robert Marley was born on 6 February 1945, in Jamaica. Marley’s mother was a black Jamaican, and his father was a white Jamaican (Moskowitz, 2007a). They were married on 9 June 1944, shortly after which his father abandoned them. Marley was raised on his grandfather’s farm in the village of Nine Miles, where he helped out on the farm
(Moskowitz, 2007a). Marley started school at the age of four.
When Marley was ten he learned that his father died, Marley was also separated from his mother for two years when she left for Kingston in search of work (Moskowitz, 2007a).
Two years later he joined her in Trench Town, a slum area in Kingston. Over time Marley spent more time socialising, and less time on his school work; he dropped out of school at the age of fourteen (Paprocki & Dolan, 2009).
When Marley was 18 his mother left for Wilimington Delaware where she was married. Marley was alone, with no income. Marley along with Neville Livingston and Peter
Tosh started the band the Wailing Wailers. They soon became a household name in Jamaica
(Salewicz, 2009).They struggled for many years to make a name for themselves beyond 5
Jamaica, but they still lived in poverty. They had difficult experiences with music producers, who took advantage of their talent but did not provide them with financial rewards.
Eventually, Chris Blackwell helped them to become successful, and it was under his ambit that they reached superstardom (Moskowitz, 2007a).
At age twenty, Marley married Rita Anderson (Moskowitz, 2007b). During the course of their marriage he fathered three children with her, but also had children with several other women (Moskowitz, 2007b). It was approximately at this point in this life that Marley embraced Rastafarianism (Noble, 1980). He became notorious for marijuana smoking and as a result of it received a lot of bad publicity (Salewicz, 2009). Marley did not shy away from being very militant in his lyrics and was clear about what he thought was corrupt and exploitative political governments (Moskowitz, 2007a). As a result his music was used to fight corruption.
Marley’s success grew. In 1976, Rolling Stone magazine voted Bob Marley and the
Wailers ‘band of the year’ and Marley appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone issue 219
(Moskowitz, 2007a). However, in 1977 Marley was diagnosed with cancer. In 1980 it was discovered that he had a brain tumour and that the cancer had metastasised and spread to other parts of his body (Paprocki & Dolan, 2009). On 11 May 1981 Marley died at the age of
36 (Moskowitz, 2007b).
Aim of the Research
The aim of this research was to explore and describe the personality development of
Marley by applying Eric Berne’s theory of Transactional Analysis to his life story. The study did not intend to generalise its finding to a broader population. Instead, it generalised its finding to the theory of TA. In so doing it contributes towards the understanding and 6 development of this psychological theory, while concurrently generating insight into the life of a well-known figure.
Overview of the Treatise
This study consists of six chapters the first being the introduction which provides an overview of the research. Chapter 2 describes the key constructs of Eric Berne’s theory of
Transactional Analysis. Chapter 3 provides an historical overview of the life of Nesta Robert
“Bob” Marley. In Chapter 4 a theoretical overview of a psychobiography, the preliminary methodological considerations as well as the research methodology followed in the study are provided. In Chapter 5 the findings of the research are discussed. The final chapter focuses on the conclusions and limitations of the study as well as recommendations for further research.
Conclusion
This chapter aimed to introduce the reader to the study. It does so by providing a brief motivation for the study, an outline of psychobiography as a methodology, an overview of the theoretical framework used, and a brief historical account of the life of Bob Marley. It also specifies the aim of the research, and provides an overview of the chapter format. The following chapter will present the key constructs of Eric Berne’s theory of Transactional
Analysis.
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CHAPTER 2
TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS
Chapter Overview
This chapter will provide an overview of the theory of Transactional Analysis (TA).
TA is the theoretical framework used to conceptualise the study. TA is built on the premise that people are social beings, who manifest patterns of behaviour in social interactions
(Berne, 1978). Berne understood these patterns according to theoretical constructs associated with: structural analysis, transactional analysis proper, script analysis, strokes and time structuring, and game analysis. Application of these concepts to the personality uncovers the individual’s patterns of behaviour, and provides a picture of how the individual is structured psychologically. Each of the theoretical constructs mentioned above will be explored in the sections below.
Historical Context of Ta
TA was created by Eric Berne in the 1950’s. The two big influences to the development of the theory of TA were the work of Sigmund Freud and that of neurosurgeon
Wilder Penfield. Freud viewed the human personality as being multi-faceted. He identified the id, ego, and superego, and specified that these facets interact with one another, which influence the individual’s behaviour, thoughts and feelings. Furthermore, if these facets are analyzed the individual’s behaviour can be understood (Berne, 1961). In the same way Berne, developed theoretical constructs to explain the emergence of an individual’s behaviour and personality. 8
Penfield conducted various experiments usingthe application of electrical currents to specific regions of the brain. Penfield concluded that the brain can replay past experiences and the events, and feelings associated with them, even though they might not be consciously remembered (when the experience is recalled the same emotions are experienced. Lastly
Penfield determined that individuals are able to exist in two states simultaneously, meaning that even though they might experience certain emotions while talking about an event, they can also talk about the event objectively (Berne, 1961). These conclusions have strong links with the theoretical concepts that Berne designed, and how they practically function. Thus, the work of both these theorists strongly informed Berne’s theory.
Structural Analysis
The building blocks of the theory of TA are three observable forms of ego function:
Child, Parent and Adult (Steiner, 1974). All individuals have these three ego-states, and choose which ego-state to interact from with other people (Steiner, 1974).The ego-state can be thought of as a consistent pattern of feeling and experience directly related to a corresponding consistent pattern of behaviour (Berne, 1961). An ego-state is a way in which we manifest a part of our personality at a given time. A capital letter beginning the word shows the ego-state e.g. Adult and a small letter beginning the word shows the real-life parent, adult or child e.g. adult (Joines & Stewart, 2002).Figure 1provides a diagrammatical representation of the ego-states.
9
Figure 1
Ego-states
Structural analysis is concerned with the process and content of ego-states
(Spenceley, 2016), and is made up of a functional model and a structural model. It also examines how the individual displays one of these ego-states at a given point in time, and how they move between ego-states over time (Williamson & Ward, 1999). Structural analysis is made up of a functional model and a structural model. The functional model classifies observed behaviours, while the structural model classifies stored memories and strategies
(Joines & Stewart, 2002).
10
Functional Model.
A functional model divides the ego-states to show us how we use them and is concerned with their process (Joines & Stewart, 2002).
Parent.
When behaving, thinking and feeling in ways copied from parents or parental-figures, individuals are said to be in their Parent ego-state. This ego-state consequently consists of a collection of moral and value judgments, making up a collection of pre-recorded rules for living (Kambly, 1975). The Parent ego-state can be further subdivided into the Critical Parent
(CP) and the Nurturing Parent (NP). The CP refers to ways of behaving which copy parents or parental figures when they were telling the individual what to do, controlling them or criticising them. The critical part is therefore the Parent tape that contains prohibitions such as “you must” or “you’d better’’ or “you ought” or “you should” or “never,” “don’t,” etc.
(Kambly, 1975). When behaviour from the CP is genuinely aimed at protecting and promoting the wellbeing of others, the individual is said to be in positive CP. When behaviour is aimed as a put-down of the person being interacted with, the individual is said to be in the negative CP (Joines & Stewart, 2002).
The NP is associated with ways of behaving which copy kind and caring behaviour learnt from parents or parental figures (Joines & Stewart, 2002). These are NP messages which are reassuring, accepting, tolerant, and consoling (Kambly, 1975). The individual’s behaviour can furthermore be seen as coming from Positive NP and Negative NP. Positive
NP involves behaviour that comes from a position of genuine regard for the other person.
Behaviour from the Negative NP, on the other hand, means that help is given from a one-up position that discounts the other person (Steward, 2002). 11
Adult.
When the person uses all their grown-up resources when responding to a situation in the here-and-now, they are said to be in their Adult (Joines & Stewart, 2002).The Adult ego- state is often likened to that of a computer because it functions in a logical way without feelings, and processes the data fed into it (Kambly, 1975).The Adult is not subdivided.
Child.
When behaving, thinking and feeling as they did as children, individuals are said to be in their Child ego-state. The Child ego-state can be further sub-divided into Adapted Child
(AC) and Free Child (FC). The AC is the part of the Child ego-state that has been programmed by the adult world, primarily by parents or parental figures (Joines & Stewart,
2002). It exhibits automatic patterns of behaviour that enable the individual to adapt to the child’s unique family programming (Kambly, 1975). When in the AC, the individual thus engages in ways of behaving that he decided on as a child, which acquiesces to the rules his parents imposed on him. A distinction can be made between positive and negative AC.
Positive AC is productive ways of behaving from the AC ego-state. Negative AC behaviour, called the Rebellious Child (RC) is non-productive ways of behaving from the AC, to get what they want. The RC is associated with the individual replaying ways of behaving, that he decided on as a child, which opposes the rules his parents imposed on him (Joines & Stewart,
2002). Individuals do not conform to parental instruction, and ignore their grown-up option of simply asking for what they want directly (Joines & Stewart, 2002).
When the individual acts in a way that is independent from parental expectations, neither adapting to nor rebelling from it, the individual is said to be in their Free Child (FC) or Natural Child (Joines & Stewart, 2002).The FC is the source of energy for creativity, 12 spontaneity, and intuition (Spenceley, 2016). When the individual satisfies their uncensored
Child urges in a way that could cause social discomfort or danger, the individual is in their
Negative FC. When the individual’s uncensored emotions lead to creativity and is socially acceptable, the individual is in their Positive FC (Joines & Stewart, 2002).
See Figure 2 for diagrammatical representation of the Functional (behavioural) model of ego-states.
Figure 2
Functional (behavioural) model of ego-states 13
Structural Model.
The structural model further explores the ego-states by examining their content
(Spenceley, 2016). In so doing it looks at experiences of thoughts, feelings, and behaviour that are stored away in memory (Joines & Stewart, 2002). In the structural model, the Parent and Child are now referred to as Parent2 and Child2 and are further subdivided. The Adult is not subdivided. This may be understood as follows.
Parent2.
The content of the Parent2 is defined as the set of memory traces of parental thoughts, feelings and behaviours, which are referred to as parental introjects. Parent2 is divided into
Parent3, Adult3 and Child3. Parent3 is a storehouse of messages which may be passed down through generations [e.g. listen more than you speak]. Adult3 might include statements which are true, the parents’ misapprehensions or fantasies about the world, or include things that were once factually true but are no longer so [e.g. people with long hair shouldn’t be trusted].
Child3 messages reflect how the mother or father replays his or her own childhood (Joines &
Stewart, 2002) [e.g. when as a child amother cried to have her needs met she might replay this strategy in adulthood to get the child or others to have her needs met as well as. The child then learns that if she wants her needs met she can do so by crying].
Adult2.
The content of Adult2 can be defined as the thinking, feeling and behaving which the individual engages in as a response to the here and now. Adult can therefore be seen as the filing compartment in which the set of strategies for reality-testing and problem- solving,which are available to the individual, is placed (Joines & Stewart, 2002). Adult2 is not sub-divided. 14
Child2.
The content of the Child2 ego-state is defined as stored experiences from the individual’s own childhood. Divisions of the Child2 are Parent1, Adult1 and Child1 (Joines &
Stewart, 2002). Parent1 is the AC, and includes fantasies about how best to get its needs met,
[e.g. if I want mother to praise me I need to eat all my vegetables even if I don’t want to].
Adult1 is also called the Little Professor; it possesses intuitive problem-solving skills and is a very primitive thinking mechanism [e.g. if mother’s facial expression looks a certain way I need to be quiet to avoid being shouted at ],while Child1 is the natural or FC, and contains the basic needs of the child [e.g. when the child is angry and throws a temper tantrum or when the child gets something she really likes and jumps for joy] (Kambly, 1975).
See figure3 for diagrammatical representation of the structural model: second order structure of ego-states.
15
Note: The Parent2 ego-state is seen to contain the PACs of mother, father, siblings,
teachers, authority figures Adapted from Kambly (1975)
Figure 3
Structural model of Second Order Structure of ego-states
Transactional Analysis Proper
TA is concerned with the analysis of transactions between individuals (Kambly,
1975).Analysis of these transactions is referred to as Transactional Analysis “Proper”
(Kambly, 1975).When individuals are communicating they are transacting. Thus, transactions are the basic unit of social discourse, and are made up of a transactional stimulus plus a 16 transactional response (Joines & Stewart, 2002). Transactional Analysis Proper focuses on determining which ego-state the individual is transacting with, and which ego-state in another the response is coming from. In other words what is the transactional stimulus and what is the transactional response (Kambly, 1975).
Different types of transactions.
There are three different types of transactions that occur, depending on which ego- state is hooked in the individuals transacting. These transactions are either:complimentary, crossed or ulterior transactions.
Complimentary.
A complementary transaction is one in which the transactional vectors are parallel and the ego-state addressed is the one which responds (Steiner, 1974).These transactions can continue indefinitely. Examples of these types of transactions are A-A, P-P, C-C, A-Cand P-
C.Figure 4 provides a diagrammatical representation of a complimentary transaction.
17
Adapted from Steiner (1974) P. 35
Figure 4
Complimentary transaction
Crossed.
A crossed transaction is one in which the transactional vectors are not parallel, or in which the ego-state addressed is not the one which responds (Joines & Stewart, 2002).These types of transactions result in a break in communication, and one or both of the individuals will need to shift ego-states in order for communication to be re-established (Joines &
Stewart, 2002). Two of the most common examples are when an Adult (stimulus) is crossed by a Child or Parent (response), or a Child or Parent (stimulus) is crossed by an Adult
(response). A crossed transaction is also called a discount (Steiner, 1974). Figure 5 provides a diagrammatical representation of a crossed transaction. 18
Adapted from Steiner (1974) P. 35
Figure 5
Crossed transaction
Ulterior.
An ulterior transaction presents two simultaneous levels of communication: the social stimulus and social response, and the psychological stimulus and psychological response
(Joines & Stewart, 2002).The behavioural response of the receptor of an ulterior transaction is determined by the psychological level of transaction, not by the social level (Noriega,
2010).
See figure 6 for diagrammatical representation of an ulterior transaction.
19
Adapted from Steiner (1974) P. 35
Figure 6
Ulterior transaction
Complimentary transactions make for easy interaction, but interpersonal difficulties usually surround patterns of crossed and ulterior transactions.
Script Analysis
The patterns of transactions that individuals take part in are usually guided by their script. A script is an unconscious life plan (Berne, 1961) formed in early childhood.Young children perceive the world as frightening because they are completely dependent on parents, who are seen as having total power. Infants decide upon strategies to stay alive and to have 20 their needs met. These strategies are decisions that the child makes in response to their perception of what is going on around them. The reasoning guides the script that is created, and forms the basis for their expectation of how the world is, at any time in their life.
Scripts are initially short protocols and “are two-handed scenes between the baby and his mother" (Berne, 1972, p. 83). Over time scripts are extended. Life scripts are then stored in memory (Wells, 2012). For example, a young child could build a script around the expectation of always getting what they need, and this script is then stored. By the time the child learns language, the child already believes the story he has told himself about who he is; the narrative he has developed becomes crystallized. Having a script provides a certain confidence and predictability (Mellor, 2011), as though through scripts the future can be known. The loss of a script stimulates fear and resistance (Mellor, 2011), as the individual is
“confronted with an empty space, a potentially frightening void in which anything may happen” (Wells, 2012, p.146).
There are a variety of influencing factors that affect the narrative or script that forms.
Young children receive script messages, both verbally and non-verbally, and they may construe script messages from the surroundings that are not intentional e.g. loud noises, sudden movements, separation from parents, which may be seen by the young child as threats from the parents. They are furthermore influenced by their general environment, through early attachment patterns, significant trauma, and other deeply influential experiences.
Children also learn through modeling, where they copy what parents or parental figures do when they want their needs met (Joines & Stewart, 2002).Their scripts are further influenced by direct commands or attributions. A command is when the child is told what to do. An attribution is when the child is told what he is. In general, expected behaviour is likely to 21 occur simply because it is expected (Steiner, 1974), and actual script decisions are made in response to script messages received repetitively (Joines & Stewart, 2002).
Definition and Elements of scripts.
A script may be thought of as “an extensive unconscious life plan that determines the identity and destiny of the person” [Berne (1961) p. 23, cited in (Tosi, O'Reilly-Knapp,
Napper, English, & Stuthridge, 2011)]. This life plan is laid out in the form of a story with a clear cut beginning, middle and end. Scripts contain the following five elements:
Has a payoff.
The individual decides on the beginning, middle and the end to their script (Joines &
Stewart, 2002). At the end or closing scene there is a payoff (Tudor, 2002), or outcome. The individual unconsciously chooses the payoff for the particular emotional or psychological repercussion it has. The individual chooses behaviour that brings him closer to the payoff.
Is directional.
The individual decides upon the life plan, and pursues directional behaviours based on the plan. Although individuals are faced with external factors, the direction of their behaviour is set through the script.
Reinforced by parents.
Verbal and non-verbal messages by parents reinforce the child’s script.
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Outside of awareness.
The decisions made by the individual about what their script looks like, occur outside of their awareness. The nearest individuals come to a memory of their earliest years, in which these decisions take place, is in dreams and fantasies (Joines & Stewart, 2002). Berne refers to this information as being preconscious (Tudor, 2002). The child therefore has no memory of having made script decisions.
Redefines reality.
From the Child ego-state, any threat to the script-based view of the world is perceived as a threat to having their needs met or even a threat to their survival (Joines & Stewart,
2002). Reality is therefore interpreted in the individual’s frame of reference to justify their script behaviour (Tudor, 2002).
According to Berne (1972) the script is an ongoing programme, developed in early childhood under parental influence, that directs the individual’s behaviour in the most important parts of his or her life; it is based on archaic decisions and conclusions. Berne warned that the story that individuals develop about their lives limit their identity, as their behaviour is directed at the repetition of patterns outlined in the story (Tosi et al., 2011).
Scripts are complex, and contain a variety of elements that need to be explored to understand them. These include the life position the script contains, the different kinds of scripts the individual may follow, the script process and script matrix.
Life positions.
Berne suggested that the young child, early in the process of script formation, forms certain convictions about himself and the people around him. These convictions are likely to 23 stay with him for the rest of his life, and are formed according to how his needs are met.
Children whose needs are met develop an I’m OK position and those whose needs are not met develop an I’m not-OK position. They also take on a position of those around them and can classify them as you’re OK or you’re not OK (Joines & Stewart, 2002).
When putting these together in all their combinations, there are four positions about self and others which the individual will choose from. 1) I’m OK you’re OK. The child with this position has a winning script. He loves himself and trusts others. 2) I’m not OK you’re
OK. Individuals with this life position take on a banal or losing life –story. This individual’s script will center on the theme that he or she is the victim and is losing out to others (Joines &
Stewart, 2002). The script may call for a life of withdrawal or the individualmay behave in a way which provokes others to turn on him to prove his not OK-ness (Harris, 1973). 3) I’m
OK you’re not OK. This will appear to be a winning script but the individual needs the conviction that he is one-up and others are one-down. The individual with this position might have had abusive parents and as a result decided that the parents were not OK. The individual then strokes himself in an attempt to deal with the difficulties he experiences and develops an
OK position as long as he is away from the people who are not OK (Harris, 1973). 4) I’m not
OK you’re not OK. This is the foundation of a losing script. The theme of this script centers on rejecting and being rejected, and this individual is convinced that life is futile and full of despair. He views himself as one-down and also believes that no one can help him because they are also not OK (Joines & Stewart, 2002). The individual holding this position stops using their Adult with regard to their relationship with others (Harris, 1973).
There are differences in opinion regarding when life positions develop. According to
Berne a life position is taken in early childhood between the “third to seventh year in order to justify a decision based on early experience”; therefore, the script decision comes first and 24 then the life position is established (Joines & Stewart, 2002). According to Harris (1973) a decision is made about the life position, based on the experiences of the first year of life. By the end of the second year this position either stays the same or changes to another position.
The position forms the basis to the script decisions.
Different kinds of scripts.
Scripts fall into three categories, namely, winning, losing or non-winning scripts.According to Berne a winning script is associated with someone who accomplishes his declared purpose comfortably, happily and smoothly. Winning is also relative to the individual’s set of goals (Joines & Stewart, 2002). Individuals with winning scripts care about the world and the people in it, value others and themselves, and leave the world a bit better for having been in it (Steiner, 1974). Individual’s following this script work actively to change situations that contribute to poverty, disease, discrimination, and they work to alleviate problems leading to unhealthiness and unhappiness (James, 1977).
A losing script is associated with someone who does not accomplish a declared purpose, or if they do, they suffer a lot of discomfort while doing so. Losing scripts can also be broadly classified as first, second and third degree losing scripts, according to the severity and payoff. In a 1st degree losing script the failures and losses are mild. In a 2nd degree losing script the outcomes might include being fired, expulsion, or depression. A 3rd degree losing script might end in death, serious injury, or legal problems (Joines & Stewart, 2002).
Individuals with a third degree losing script might harm themselves or others through, for example, drinking, eating or working themselves to death; they may drive recklessly or commit suicide (James, 1977). 25
A non-winning script is also referred to as a banal script. The individual following this script suffers no great losses or makes no big wins (Joines & Stewart, 2002). They restrict their own growth, limit their own opportunities, and avoid the full realisation of their potentialities (James, 1977).
It is important to note that individuals can have winning, losing, or non- winningscripts in different areas of their lives(Joines & Stewart, 2002). Two areas in which the script is lived out is work and home. The individual might be very competent at work but at home might have destructive acting-out behaviour (James, 1977).
Script process.
The script process refersto how individuals live out their script over time. There are six patterns of script process: Until, After, Never, Always, Almost and Open-minded (Joines &
Stewart, 2002).
Individuals who live out the Until script pattern have the following motto in life: ‘I can’t have fun until I’ve finished my work’. In other words something good can’t happen until something less good has finished. This process can be noted in sentence structure, when the individual interrupts himself to add an extra thought (Joines & Stewart, 2002).
Individuals with the Afterscript follow the motto: ‘I can have fun today, but I’ll have to pay for it tomorrow’. This individual’s sentence structure normally starts with a high, followed by but, and ends low (Joines & Stewart, 2002).
The Never script followers believe they can never get what they want. There is no distinctive sentence pattern for this script. They do however talk about the same problems over and over. 26
Individuals with an Always script often ask the question, ‘why does this always happen to me?’ Their sentence pattern is characterised by veering off on tangential thoughts, followed by another one (Joines & Stewart, 2002).
Individuals with the Almost script process have the motto: ‘I almost made it this time’.
This is referred to Almost type 1. In the Almost type 2 patterns, individuals reach their goal but do not take the time to enjoy it and instead immediately start looking for a new challenge.
Two different sentence patterns signal the Almost script. The individual may start a sentence, then veer on a tangential thought or come up with a string of negatives thoughts, followed by a positive thought (Joines & Stewart, 2002).
The motto of individuals following an Open-ended script is: ‘once I get to a certain point in time, I won’t know what to do with myself afterwards’. Individuals with this type of script process typically set short term goals, and once they have been completed they do not know what to do and then set up another series of short term goals (Joines & Stewart, 2002).
Many individuals show all six process script patterns, but for most, one of the patterns is predominant, while others combine two patterns.
The script matrix.
The script matrix deals with the content of the script and was developed by Claude
Steiner (1974). Script content is focused on script messages that were transmitted from the parents’ Parent, Adult and Child ego-states to the child’s ego-states, and became part of the individual’s script. When considering the individual’s script, the script matrix is made up of drivers, the programme, and injunctions (Joines & Stewart, 2002). These may be understood as follows: 27
Drivers.
Drivers, also called counterinjunctions, are Parent to Parent messages or commands that consist of definitions about the world, and what to do and not to do, for example: “be good” and “work hard”. Drivers work positively most of the time to assist the individual to fit in with society and to look after themselves (Joines & Stewart, 2002). The child feels compelled to follow these Parent to Parent messages or commands; the child believes these messages and believes that his Ok-ness depends on obeying this message (Joines & Stewart,
2002). There are five drivers, namely; Be perfect, Be strong, Try hard, Please people and
Hurry up (Joines & Stewart, 2002).
Each of the drivers has a distinctive set of words, tones, gestures, postures and facial expressions associated with them. When the individual is acting according to their drivers, the associated drive behaviour becomes apparent (Julie, 2013).
Programme.
It is the Adult in the parent that gives the programme (Berne, 1978). The programme consists of “here’s how” messages about how to do things. These messages can be used in positive or negative ways (Joines & Stewart, 2002). Positive messages may be used constructively informing the processing of Adult decisions. However, negative messages come from the contaminated Adult in the parent and are filed away in the contaminated Adult of the child (Joines & Stewart, 2002). When an individual’s Adult is contaminated it contains content that also form part of the Child or Parent ego-states. Many of the messages in the programme might form part of the Little Professor (A1) of the parent and are stored in
A1 of the child rather than A2 (Joines & Stewart, 2002). The effect of this is that the Little
Professor (A1) in the child is able to intuitively pick up hidden psychological messages which are missed by the A2. 28
Injunctions.
Injunctions are messages conveyed from the parents Child, and reflect the fears, wishes, anger and desires of the Child in the parent (Steiner, 1974). These messages may be negative and positive. The child makes a decision in response to these parental messages that form the principal foundations of the child’s life script. Injunctions vary in range, intensity, area of restriction and malignancy (Steiner, 1974). There are twelve injunctions:
Don’t be (don’t exist).
Individuals who have contemplated suicide, or experienced feelings of worthlessness, being useless and unlovable have this injunction (Joines & Stewart, 2002). Children decide that they mustn’t exist when they perceive their parent(s) as wishing them dead (Stewart,
1989).
Don’t be you.
This injunction can be conveyed by parents who convey a message of wanting a different child (Stewart, 1989). For example, the parents have a boy but wanted a girl, or they prefer one child to the other (Joines & Stewart, 2002).
Don’t be a child.
This injunction is communicated by parents who were never allowed to be child-like themselves (Joines & Stewart, 2002), eldest and only children might have this injunction
(Stewart, 1989).
Don’t grow up.
This injunction might be given from parents who value being a parent so much, that they will no longer feel valued should their child grow up. Often the youngest child receives this injunction (Joines & Stewart, 2002). 29
Don’t make it.
This injunction is given by parents who, in their own Child, are jealous of the accomplishments of their son or daughter, but from the Parent want the child to do well. The combination of the two messages puts the child in a double bind (Stewart, 1989).
Don’t do anything.
This injunction is given by parents who are terrified that their child will come to harm if allowed to run free of the parental apron strings.
Don’t be important.
This injunction can sometimes be seen in individuals who are reluctant to take leadership roles, and don’t ask for what they want. The parent gives the message; ‘it’s OK for you to be around, but only if you realize you and your wants are not important’(Stewart,
1989).
Don’t belong.
This injunction is a message conveyed by parents as an attribution by continually telling their child that he or she is different from other children or that he or she is difficult
(Joines & Stewart, 2002).
Don’t be close.
This injunction is associated with physical or emotional closeness, but a variant of this injunction is don’t trust. Individuals with this injunction might be continually suspicious of others in adult life. Even when others warmly accept the individual, he or she may have their feelers out for signs of rejection. If the other individual refuses to reject him or her, s/he may test the relationship to destruction (Joines & Stewart, 2002). A mother who shows affection inconsistently might be giving this injunction (Stewart, 1989). 30
Don’t be well (don’t be sane).
This injunction could be given by attribution when parents, for example, continually tell others ‘this child is not the strong one’. A psychotic parent or relative might model the don’t be sane variant of this injunction (Joines & Stewart, 2002).
Don’t think.
This injunction is given when a child’s thinking is consistently belittled. Individuals carrying this injunction often respond to problems by becoming confused or feeling bad about the problem instead of thinking about how to solve it (Joines & Stewart, 2002).
Don’t feel.
This injunction is often given very early in infancy. It can be modeled by parents who themselves bottle up their feelings.
It is important to note that the child can decide to accept, modify, or refuse the injunctions communicated to them. Injunctions can furthermore be avoided by compound decisions. This means that a driver can cover an injunction; one injunction can cover another injunction and can play the injunction of one parent against the injunction of the other parent.
For example: if a child has a be perfect driver he does not have to obey his don’t exist injunction. If the child has the injunction of don’t belong and don’t exist he can obey the don’t belong one and avoid the don’t exist one. And if the one parent gave the child a don’t think injunction and the other parent a don’t exist injunction, the child can choose to obey the parent with the less threatening injunction.The difference between injunctions and drivers is that injunctions are given earlier in the developmental years, followed by drivers. Children absorb injunctions in the years before they have command of language until the age of between five and eight (Joines & Stewart, 2002). Drivers may be given between the ages of three and twelve. 31
The messages sent from the parents’ Parent and Child to the child’s Parent and Child, influences the child in different ways. These messages, drivers and injunctions form part of the script matrix and seem to work in contrast to one another, but depending on what decisions the child made regarding his script can also enhance one another.
It is evident that scripts are very complex. Decisions made are thus not only about script content, but the content interacts with script dynamics associated with the individual’s life position, script kind, and script processes.
Strokes and Time Structuring
In 1961 Berne wrote that people hunger for stimulation and structure (Ligabue, 2007).
Stimulus hunger is the need for physical and mental stimulation, while recognition hunger is the need to be recognised by others (Joines & Stewart, 2002).
In TA the word stroke means recognition (James, 1977). Individuals need strokes to survive and interact with others for the purpose of getting strokes (Kambly, 1975), in other words to satisfy the need for stimulation and recognition. There are different types of strokes, namely, positive (pleasant) or negative (unpleasant), verbal or non-verbal, and conditional
(relates to what you do) or unconditional (relates to what you are) (Joines & Stewart, 2002).
It seems logical to think that people would prefer positive to negative strokes, when in reality a negative stroke is preferred to no stroke at all (Kambly, 1975). Individuals have their own preference of giving and taking strokes called a stroke quotient. When someone gets a stroke that doesn’t fit in with his preferred stroke quotient, he is likely to ignore or belittle it (Joines
& Stewart, 2002). Built into scripts is the individual’s need for strokes. The script plays out in a way that individuals can attain strokes. The need for strokes also effects how individuals structure their time (Spenceley, 2016). 32
Berne (1978) asserted that people become uncomfortable with unstructured time. He identified ways in which people structure their time, including withdrawal, rituals, activities, pastimes, games and intimacy.
Withdrawal is when someone within a group withdraws and carries on a monologue in their head (Joines & Stewart, 2002). The individual enters into their own private world and only internal fantasy strokes are available (Spenceley, 2016). Rituals are familiar social interactions that proceed as if they were pre-programmed. An activity is when communication between the group members is directed at achieving a goal. The activity is action based, and ends with a material outcome (Joines & Stewart, 2002). A pastime, like a ritual, proceeds in a way that is familiar but the content of a pastime is not programmed so strictly as that of a ritual. A game is an ongoing series of complementary ulterior transactions progressing to a well-defined, predictable outcome (Harris, 1973). Games are an important part of time structuring; this will be discussed in greater detail in a section below. Intimacy between two individuals may be thought of as existing independently of the first five ways of time structuring, and consist of interactions between individuals that are “candid” and “game- free” (Berne, 1978, p. 25). In intimacy there are no secret messages; the social level and psychological level are congruent, and the feelings expressed are appropriate to the situation
(Joines & Stewart, 2002).
Game analysis.
A game can be understood as a pivotal act or scene in the script (Stuthridge, 2015).
They are played in an attempt to structure time, but also to satisfy position hunger, and enhance the script (Steiner, 1974). Psychological games contain the hidden messages transmitted by individuals, through ulterior transactions (Noriega, 2010). A game is made up of a series of complimentary ulterior transactions, followed by a payoff. Games are played 33 from: Negative Adapted Child, Negative Critical Parent or Negative Nurturing Parent and are replays of childhood strategies that are no longer appropriate to use as grown-ups (Steward,
2002).Well known games identified by Berne (1973) include Kick me, Poor me, Yes but, and
See what you made me do.
Racket feelings are familiar emotions that are learned and encouraged in childhood, and are experienced in many different stressful situations. As children, certain feelings were considered acceptable within the family, and others were not. Consequently, in order to keep supplied with strokes from parents, the child learns to discount disallowed feelings and substitute them with allowed feelings (Kambly, 1975). The racket process occurs outside of an individual’s awareness. This pattern of feeling is maintained and brought forward into adulthood. The adult substitutes the authentic feeling for the allowed racket feeling (Kambly,
1975). A racket then, is a feeling that is habitually turned on by a given individual as his payoff in the games he plays (Berne, 1978).
There are four authentic feelings; mad (anger), sad, scared (fear) and glad
(happiness). The function of experiencing an authentic feeling is to help us solve a problem in the here and now. Thomson (1983) explained the problem solving function of the abovementioned four authentic feelings. Fear helps to solve a problem the individual foresees in the future. Anger is for solving problems in the present. Sadness is for helping the individual process a painful past event. The expression of authentic happiness is to relax, feel comfortable and enjoy the present moment. When fear, sadness or anger is felt out of their appropriate time frame, the emotion is a racket feeling (Joines & Stewart, 2002), and cannot be used for its authentic purpose. When individuals experience a racket feeling, the feeling cannot be used to solve the problem. It is a maladaptive means of problem solving.Whenever someone experiences a racket feeling they are in script. 34
It is also important to note that there are different degrees of games depending on the payoff. A first degree game is one which leads to amusement, along with possibly mild embarrassment (Spenceley, 2016). A second degree game leads to shame and the desire to cover it up; players really do not want others to know about it (Spenceley, 2016). While a third degree game payoff leads to serious damage to the players, and ends up in court or hospital or worse (Spenceley, 2016).
Critique of TA
The theory is made up of a great many small parts which creates the impression of incoherence. This can be confusing and the user then needs to build up their own semblance of coherence to use the theory effectively. Furthermore, TA has grown over time, and there are a variety of disparate schools of thought within the theory which sometime clash. This causes inconsistency in terms of how the theory is applied.
Conclusion
This chapter focused on the theory of Transactional Analysis. It explored the structure and function of an individual’s ego-state and how transactions occur. It also discussed scripts, their elements in the form of life positions, winning and losing scripts, script process and the script matrix. It looked at how individuals structure their time and receives strokes, and placed particular emphasis on games and rackets.
35
CHAPTER 3
THE LIFE OF NESTA ROBERT ‘BOB’ MARLEY
Chapter Overview
This chapter provides an overview of the life of Nesta Robert Marley, better known to the world as Bob Marley. His lifespan is presented over a period of 36 years, spanning from his birth in 1945 to his death in 1981. The chapter explores his life experiences as a child, adolescent, andadult.
Childhood
Marley was born at 2:30 P.M. on 6 February 1945, in rural Jamaica. Marley’s mother was a black Jamaican woman named Cedella Malcolm, and his father was Captain Norval
Sinclair Marley, a white Jamaican man (Marley senior) (Moskowitz, 2007a). Marley’s mother was 18 years old and his father 63 year old when they met and began their relationship on Omeriah Malcolm’s family farm (Cedella Malcolm’s father’s farm); they married on 9 June 1944. A day after they were married, Marley senior left with no intention of returning. This said, Marley senior’s family disinherited him when they found out about the marriage (Moskowitz, 2007a), and he was therefore unable to support himself, Malcolm, and their unborn child. During the course of the pregnancy Marley senior reportedly only visited his pregnant wife twice. In later years Marley was bitter about how his parents got together and said;
White guy get the black woman and breed her… I’m born in Babylon. My father, a guy who got together with my mother, he is an English… a guy who was a captain in the 36 army, go to war. You can’t get more Babylon than that. You know what I mean? (Paprocki&
Dolan, 2009, p.13)
On a different occasion Marley said that he was born fatherless. As an adult, Marley described his father as a “ship’s captain, an adventurer and a rebel”(Moskowitz, 2007a, p.1).
Marley was given both his names by his father, although Robert came from his father’s brother who was a prominent cricket and tennis player. According to Cedella
Malcolm, Nesta meant “messenger” (Moskowitz, 2007a).Marley was raised on his grandfather’s farm, in the village of Nine Miles(Moskowitz, 2007a). Omeriah Malcolm had nineteen children by various women (Salewicz, 2009). He was described as a hard worker and a disciplinarian. Omeriah Malcolm gave Marley various chores such as chopping wood, caring for and milking the cows, and looking after the other farm animals. When Marley was much older he talked about his grandfather as someone who really cared for him (Salewicz,
2009).
Going to church was the norm in Jamaica, but Omeriah Malcolm was a very open minded person about church attendance, and did not consistently send Marley. Marley did however attend school, from the age of four, at a rural Jamaican school called Stepney
School. According to his teacher, Marley was a bright and helpful student (Moskowitz,
2007a). The school provided Marley with rudimentary education in letters and numbers. He was singled out by his teacher as being a bright child and a fast learner (Moskowitz, 2007b).
In 1951 Marley’s father reappeared in their lives to remove Marley from his mother’s care, because he thought that Marley would receive a better education in the city. Cedella
Malcolm discussed this with her father, Omeriah Malcolm, and decided that it would be in
Marley’s best interest to attend a school in Kingston (Moskowitz, 2007a). So at the age of 37 six years old, Marley relocated to Kingston to live with his father and to attend public school.
While in Kingston, Cedella Malcolm could not visit Marley and was told by his father that he was doing well (Moskowitz, 2007a).When she received no more word from Marley’s father after six months, she went looking for Marley after she heard that he was in fact not staying with his father but with a lady called Mrs Grey (Salewicz, 2009). She eventually found
Marley and took him back to the farm. Marley went back to the Stephney School and returned to Mrs Isaac’s class.
Marley spent a lot of time in his mother’s grocery store in Nine Miles (Salewicz,
2009). It was in this store that Marley began to sing to the customers (Moskowitz, 2007a).
Another musical influence early in Marley’s life was a celebrated guitarist and relative
Clarence Malcolm, who allowed Marley to play with his guitar; Clarence Malcolm was very proud of Marley when he won a singing talent contest (Salewicz, 2009). Marley was also exposed to the burru music tradition, which was an African-derived drumming style played in the west Kingston ghettos. These influences had a strong impact on his music later in life
(Moskowitz, 2007a).
According to Miss Bushay, a teacher that Marley had when he was ten, he was a very timid and shy child. Miss Bushay discovered that Marley hated getting answers wrong and when given constant reassurance he blossomed (Salewicz, 2009). It was during this time that
Marley learned that his father had died. Marley was also separated from his mother for a second time when she left him on the farm, in pursuit of better financial stability in the city
(Moskowitz, 2007a). This time mother and child were separated for two years. Marley was left in the care of his grandfather (Moskowitz, 2007a).
Another one of Marley’s caretakers at the time when Cedella Malcolm had left was her sister Amy. Marley lived with her for a time,and spent most of his time with his cousin 38
Sledger (Salewicz, 2009). The two boys were mischievous and invariably got into trouble; consequently, they were sent back to live with Omeriah Malcolm on the family farm. Marley reportedly did not like staying with his aunt (Moskowitz, 2007a).
Marley’s lighter skin was the cause of much resistance from others as well as conflict within himself (Salewicz, 2009). He was considered different and also felt different. He felt he was not wanted by either race, and was tormented with the many unanswered questions such as; “why am I this person? Why is my father white and not black like everyone else?
What did I do wrong?”(Salewicz, 2009, p. 57).
Adolescence
When he was twelve, Cedella Malcolm sent for Marley to join her in Kingston. The west side of Kingston experienced third world difficulties described as “smoky and reeking ghetto conditions of destitution, malnourished children, typhus, polio and violence of caged people” (Moskowitz, 2007a, p.4). Marley and his mother lived in public housing, which was built by the Jamaican government, and known as Trench Town (Moskowitz, 2007a).
When he was much older Marley said of the experience of living in Trench Town:
Me grow without mother or father me no have no parents for have not big
influence of me. Me just grow in the ghetto with the youth. Stubborn, no me
no obey no one, but we had qualities, and we were good to one another
(Paprocki & Dolan, 2009).
On moving to Trench Town, Marley attended several different schools including,
Ebenezer, Wesley, and St. Aloysius. Marley was described by Pauline Morrison, a pupil in
Kingston who knew him when he was a teenager, as easygoing and as someone who was able 39 to defend himself should anyone look for trouble. She also saw him as a being a loner, saying
“it was always the man and his guitar” (Paprocki & Dolan, 2009, p. 33). She continued to say
It was very rare you could just sit with him. Because he was a very moody
person, the way I see him. If people were sitting together with him, he
would suddenly just get up and go somewhere else. Just to be by himself
(Paprocki& Dolan, 2009, p. 33).
Marley believed that there was only one person he could rely on, himself, although he could expect the occasional unexpected intervention and assistance of others (Salewicz,
2009). Neville Livingston, Marley’s friend nicknamed Bunny, shared Pauline Morrison’s sentiment on Marley. Bunny noted that to a large extent Marley seemed timid, withdrawn, and sensitive as though there was always something on his mind (Salewicz, 2009).
Growing up in the ghetto, Marley had been given the nickname “Tuff Gong” for his no nonsense street attitude (Moskowitz, 2007b). One night, after he lost one of the talent contests that he regularly took part in, he flew into a rage and challenged the winning band to a fight (Moskowitz, 2007b). Over time, Marley became more interested in playing soccer and spending time with fellow “getto youths” than in his studies (Moskowitz, 2007a). Although
Marley remained a strong student, his loss of interest in school led him to stop attending school by the time he was fourteen (Moskowitz, 2007b). Cedella Malcolm and her son often had to move from one home to the next and Marley was sometimes left in the care of relatives. He would sometimes while playing find himself in the area he spent time in during that year when he was separated from his mother. This brought back unhappy memories, as he was confronted with old feelings of losing his mother. Marley had a fear of opening up to others and he would sometimes feel tears of frustration and anger welling in his eyes. As he grew older he seemed to wear a permanent frown (Salewicz, 2009). 40
Marley made musical connections that would affect the rest of his life in Trench
Town (Moskowitz, 2007a). He became friends with Bunny, and the two of them would make musical instruments with anything they could find; they began singing together and would listen to music on Bunny’s radio. Appendix A provides a diagrammatic representation of
Marley’s humble beginnings in music to superstardom. Marley realised that if he wanted his singing to improve he needed lessons on how to harmonise and project his voice (Moskowitz,
2007a). It was during this time that Joe Higgs, a reggae musician from Jamaica,taught Marley to sing and construct music.
In 1961 Marley began writing his own songs and the next natural step was to have them recorded (Moskowitz, 2007b). Although Cedella Malcolm had become used to
Marley’s hobby, she had little faith that this would secure his future, and wanted him to learn a trade. To please his mother Marley learnt how to weld; however, after hurting his eye, he went back to learning music (Salewicz, 2009).
In 1962, Cedella Malcolm gave birth to Marley’s half-sister, Pearl. Pearl was fathered by Bunny’s father. During this time Marley was in a relationship with a girl named Cheryl
Murray, but was forced to break up this relationship because her brother did not want her to be involved with someone who had ‘white blood’. In 1963, Cheryl Murray gave birth to
Marley’s first child, Imani Carole (Salewicz, 2009). At this time, Cedella Malcolm left
Marley for the third time, to gain financial stability. She did so by getting married to Edward
Booker and relocating to Wilmington, Delaware (Moskowitz, 2007b). At the age of eighteen
Marley was left alone and lived on the kitchen floor of a friend named Tartar’s house
(Salewicz, 2009). They lived in immense poverty, and to keep their minds off being hungry,
Marley and Tartar would sing to keep themselves busy (Moskowitz, 2007b). 41
Marley and Bunny together with Peter Tosh formed the Wailing Wailers in 1963; they started recording for Clement Coxsone Dodd (Moskowitz, 2007b). They recorded Simmer down, and It hurts to be alone,which reached number one on the Jamaican Broadcasting
Company (Moskowitz, 2007a). Feeling sorry for Marley’s living conditions, Dodd invited
Marley to stay in a small shed in the back of the studio. Living on the studio grounds, Marley spent most of his time playing his guitar, and listening to American rhythm and blues soul records; he continued to learn about the music business (Moskowitz, 2007a). Besides his love for music he also loved playing soccer and discussing events in Jamaica.
Marley emerged from the ghetto with determination and an unstoppable will power to succeed. He faced many personal challenges and encountered many stumbling blocks in climbing the ladder of success in his music career. The difficulties did not deter him from achieving his goal, instead he used it to fuel his creativity and it became the basis on which he built his success. However, difficulties around his ethnic origins continued to torment
Marley through his adolescence. He continued to have questions about his absent white father, for which there were no answers.
Young Adulthood
In 1965 the Wailers were still working for Dodd. They had a hit song Rude Boy, yet the Wailers were poor and had to hustle to get by. They would take whatever they caught fishing to the market and exchange for other food, pick fruit and sell it, and gather scrap metal. They each had two pairs of pants and shirts (Salewicz, 2009). Marley met Rita
Anderson at this time. She was the head of a female vocal trio called the Soulettes
(Moskowitz, 2007b). The Wailers expected money to come their way from previously released singles so in December that year when they wanted to collect their money from
Dodd, he gave them “sixty pounds in cash to be split among the group” (Moskowitz, 2007a, 42 p15). Dodd was the only one making real money from the Wailers’ efforts. After being disappointed by Dodd numerous times, the Wailers decided to break their contract with him
(Moskowitz, 2007a).With this Marley’s distrust of record producers began; it continued to worsen throughouthis life (Moskowitz, 2007b).
In the meantime Marley wrote love notes to Anderson, with Bunny acting as the intermediary. A love affair began between them that lasted the rest of Marley’s life
(Moskowitz, 2007b). Marley was still living in Dodd’s studio but because of reportedly being attacked by a duppy (evil spirit) regularly, Marley moved in with Anderson (Salewicz, 2009).
In 1966 the Wailers started their own record label, “Wailin Soul Records”. Marley said, “I thought I wasn’t going to work for anyone again, so we split Coxsone to form
Wail’n’Soul. But I don’t know anything about business and I got caught again” (Moskowitz,
2007a, p.19). This label was short lived and the business unsuccessful.In that same year
Marley and Anderson were married on 10 February, with her taking on the surname Marley.
Sadly, Marley left for the United States to find work in Delaware the day after the wedding, much as his father had done the day after marrying Marley’s mother (Moskowitz,
2007a).When Rita Marley and Marley married she already had a daughter named Sharon and in 1967 she gave birth to Cedella, her first child with Marley. They moved to St. Ann where they stayed until 1970.
During Marley’s first visit to Delaware in 1966 he converted from Catholicism to
Rastafarianism (Moskowitz, 2007b). Cedella Malcolm was not in favour of the changes she witnessed in Marley but was powerless to do anything about it (Moskowitz, 2007b). It was also during this time that the rest of theWailers changed their spiritual identity. The new
Wailers emerged as the first Jamaican vocal group to outwardly adopt the Rastafarian culture including an esthetic strict diet (Ital), Bible reading, and marijuana smoking (Moskowitz, 43
2007a). Rasta’s consider marijuana the “wisdom weed” and it is part of their religious rituals as a means for bringing oneself closer to Jah (God) (Moskowitz, 2007b). Marley’s first song dealing with Rastafarianism was ‘Crying in the chapel’(Moskowitz, 2007a).
In 1968 Peter was arrested for taking part in a protest and Marley and Bunny were each temporarily jailed for marijuana possession (Moskowitz, 2007b). The group turned these negative experiences into a positive force by incorporating the material in their songs
(Moskowitz, 2007b). At the end of that year the Wailers began recording for Nash and Sims
(Cayman Music) and in the subsequent four years recorded more than eighty songs for them
(Moskowitz, 2007a). Near the end of the 1960’s Marley’s Rastafarian beliefs strengthened when Mortimer Planner, Marley’s spiritual advisor, took Marley to a group of Rasta’s named the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Marley became closely associated with them and because he was born in February, he became part of the tribe of Joseph (Moskowitz, 2007b). Marley was overjoyed when Rita Marley gave birth to his first son David Marley, who was nicknamed
Ziggy, in1968 (Moskowitz, 2007a).
By 1969, Marley started working with Lee Perry and started another label called Tuff
Gong. However, the label disappeared as quickly as its predecessor due to a lack of radio play, distribution, advertising and money (Moskowitz, 2007a).
In 1970, Marley accompanied Nash and Sims to Sweden where they worked on a movie. Nash secured a deal for the band with the English branch of Columbia Broadcasting
System (CBS) Records.With the deal secured, Peter, Bunny, and the Barrett Brothers went to
London in order to support Nash on a tour of England. However, success remained out of their reach and they continued to live in poverty stricken circumstances in England. The following year the Wailers still had no record sales. Sims and Nash disappeared 44 unexpectedly, abandoning Marley and the Wailers in England with no money, no work and no means of getting back to Jamaica (Moskowitz, 2007a).
Perry became the new producer and songwriting assistant of the Wailers. Early in
1971, the Wailers and Perry recorded and released Trench Town Rock, “a true reggae standard that not only galvanized ghetto residents”(Moskowitz, 2007a, p26) but also sent the
Wailers to the top of the Jamaican charts for the next five months. The Wailers finished their work with Perry that year. With money that was made from Trench town rock, Marley and his wife were able to establish Tuff Gong Records, a shop where they sold Wailers releases.
The Marley’s had their second son Stephen, and they moved to a small house in Bull Bay, west of Kingston.This move signaled a change for the Marley family. They had made it out of the ghetto and would never live there again (Moskowitz, 2007b). Rita Marley preferred to live with the children at Bull Bay while Marley slept either there or at 56 Hope Road
(Moskowitz, 2007a).
Marley approached music producer Chris Blackwell after the disappointment with
Nash and Sims, and he advanced the Wailers eight thousand pounds to record their first reggae album (Moskowitz, 2007a). They began new recording sessions with Blackwell in early 1972 and produced the tracks for the album Catch a fire. Prior to this album, true reggae music had always been released on 45-rpm singles, but Blackwell wanted the Wailers to make the first reggae album. They made a mixture of songs of alienation, rebellion, and love that had previously been released in Jamaica in addition to several new songs
(Moskowitz, 2007a).
In April 1973 the Wailers toured in London to promote their album Catch a fire and were well received by audiences. Marley said of the album, “Catch a Fire was an introduction. Nobody know who Bob Marley and the Wailers were, at the same time maybe 45 you have other group who people were more interested in at the time, It was for the people to get in and listen” (Moskowitz, 2007a, p29). Although they were in peak performing condition, they started to struggle in other areas. Marley and Bunny started having difficulties because of Marley’s increasing control issues (Moskowitz, 2007a). The once tight friendship began to show some cracks. With the release of Catch a fire it dawned on the Wailers that they were now professional musicians who would no longer have to work other jobs to make a living (Moskowitz, 2007b). A second album Burnin was released in October 1973 just six months after Catch a fire, and was indicative of Marley’s prolific songwriting ability
(Moskowitz, 2007a). The tracks on the new album were on a mixture of topics that ranged from the political protest sentiment to direct Rastafarian content (Moskowitz, 2007a). The essence of the message was that if black people all around could stand up against oppression, change would be inevitable.
Near the end of 1973, the tension between Marley and Bunny led to a fight that culminated in physical blows. The Wailers were miserable; one of the band members Earl left the band, Peter became ill and could not continue and returned to Jamaica along with the
Barret Brothers, leaving Marley behind in England (Moskowitz, 2007a).
The third album Natty Dread emerged during early 1974 (Moskowitz, 2007b). These sessions produced the first recording of No woman no cry (Moskowitz, 2007a). The album captured Marley at a critical point because Peter and Bunny left the band. It reflected the fact that the Wailers, as they had existed, had unofficially disbanded (Moskowitz, 2007a). In that same year, Marley granted Eric Clapton recording rights to his song I shot the sheriff. It became the number one hit in the United States and number nine in the United Kingdom.
Through this achievement Marley gained serious respect from the rock and roll critics
(Moskowitz, 2007b). In 1974 Rita Marley gave birth to Stephanie. During this time Rita 46
Marley and Marley were not that close, and she had an affair with a local rasta called Tacky
(Jamaican soccer star, Owen Stewart). It is unclear whether Marley was Stephanie’s biological father, but he identified with her as his daughter (Moskowitz, 2007b).
In early 1975, Marley and the new members of the Wailers made their official debut as the opener for a Jackson Five concert in Kingston. In this year began the media’s love-hate relationship with Marley. He readily accepted interviews and never missed an opportunity to talk about his faith. During some of these interviews he would turn the questions to the journalist, quote from the Bible, and leave the interviewer confused. John Rockwell, the reviewer of the NewYork Times described Marley as “handsomely fine featured, rapt, even crazed, with those lurching movements and all that wild hair” (Moskowitz, 2007a, p.60).
In 1974, Don Taylor approached Marley to manage the Wailers. In the spring of 1975
Marley decided to allow Taylor to become their manager. Before doing so however, he first consulted with his lawyer because he was concerned that Taylor was just trying to take a cut of their earnings, and that Taylor did not have the professional connections or management skills the Wailers needed. Marley agreed to allow Taylor to manage them, because Taylor did not see the necessity of a contract (Moskowitz, 2007b).
The Wailers were building an impressive reputation throughout the rock and roll community. They gathered momentum in the United States, and their audience grew exponentially, largely as a result of the fervor of their live performances (Moskowitz, 2007a).
Marley was a serious taskmaster when it came to making sure that the group performed well on stage, and mistakes were not tolerated (Moskowitz, 2007b). In November 1975, the original Wailers reunited in support of a benefit concert given by Stevie Wonder.
Upon release of the album Rastaman Vibration, Marley said the following: 47
It’s not music right now, we’re dealing with a message. Right now the
music is not important, we’re dealing with a message. Rastaman Vibration
is more like a dub kinda album and its come without tampering y’know.
Like war or rat race the music don’t take you away,its more to listen to.
(Moskowitz, 2007a, p65)
Lyric content on this album ranged from songs of Rastafarian faith to an overt call for
African independence in war (Moskowitz, 2007a). The use of Selassie’s United Nations speech in the song titled War forever identified Marley with the international support movement for African resistance to colonial oppression, that would come to a head with the liberation of Rhodesia (Moskowitz, 2007a).
The year 1976 marked the beginning of Marley’s reaching of superstar status. He was in demand for concerts and interviews, and his records received advance orders for the first time. Rolling Stone magazine voted Marley and the Wailers ‘band of the year’ and Marley appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone issue 219 (Moskowitz, 2007a). Up until this point in his career, Cedella Malcolm had never attended any of Marley’s performances and made her first appearance to watch her son perform in 1976 (Moskowitz, 2007a). In October of that same year, she called Marley to Delaware, to aid her as his stepfather, Edward Booker, was dying.
During this time the situation in Jamaican politics became very heated, partly because it was an election year. Marley planned a free concert to thank the Jamaicans for their support and reduce the friction. The concert had the theme “Smile Jamaica”(Moskowitz, 2007a).
Before the concert took place an attempt was made on Marley’s life. On 3 December 1976, while the Wailers were at 56 Hope Road rehearsing for the concert, four gunmen opened fire on the house. One of the bullets grazed Rita Marley’s head as she tried to shelter her children. 48
A gunman with a submachine gun opened fire in the kitchen where Marley was at the time.
One of the bullets hit Marley, grazing his sternum and lodging in his left bicep. At the hospital, after the shooting, Marley was informed that if the doctors removed the bullet from his arm he could lose feeling in his left hand. Marley refused to take the risk, as this would affect his ability to play the guitar. Consequently, the bullet was left where it had lodged
(Moskowitz, 2007b). Marley was placed under the protection of the Jamaican security service.
Michael Manley still wanted Marley to play the “Smile Jamaica” concert and was determined to keep Marley alive (Moskowitz, 2007a). As the concert loomed, the Wailers were unsure whether they should still participate (Moskowitz, 2007a). Marley was anxious, in part due to the fact that the gunmen had not been caught (Moskowitz, 2007a). Marley decided to go ahead with the concert but left Jamaica shortly thereafter, only to return after two years.
Marley fathered twelve biological children in his lifetime. Three from his wife Rita
Marley and the others from affairs he had while married. None of the relationships outside of his marriage were considered serious, except for the one with Cindy Breakspeare that began in 1976. Their relationship was immediately turned into a scandal in the press, which dubbed them ‘Beauty and the Beast’. They received even more bad publicity when they had a child named Damian two years later (Moskowitz, 2007b).
In early 1977, the Wailers traveled to London to begin work on their next album.
During this year they recorded more than twenty songs. The recordings produced two albums called Exodus: Movement of Jah People released in June 1977, and Kaya, released in 1978. In
1999 Time magazine named Exodus the most important album of the twentieth century 49
(Moskowitz, 2007a). Kaya, was again described as “one of the most influential live albums ever” (Moskowitz, 2007a, p.93).
During the Exodus tour in 1977, Marley injured his right foot during a soccer game.
The doctor informed Marley that he needed to stay off his feet to allow the wound to heal properly. With the tour already scheduled and in progress, the rest that Marley’s foot required was not forthcoming. He hoped that his foot would heal before the tour got to England, and in the meantime, he played several concerts and traveled around Europe in pain. After the final show of the week, Marley limped off stage to find his right boot filling with blood; the wound on his toe had reopened while he danced on stage. After the European leg of the tour, Marley had a break spent by traveling to Delaware, which had him resting in the comfort of his mother’s house. The injured foot caused Marley such pain that he consulted with a foot specialist who detected cancerous cells.
Consequently, Marley faced amputation of his toe and part of his foot.Extremely displeased by the news and suspicious of the proposed treatment, Marley returned to the
United States for a second opinion. The second opinion confirmed that his toe had to be removed. Part of Marley’s toenail and sections of cancerous flesh were removed from the area so that it could be cleaned. The deadly melanoma was also removed, and Marley recovered quickly. Even as he healed he composed new songs (Moskowitz, 2007a). Despite the doctor’s protests Marley was constantly involved in games of soccer. He also did not keep up with his medical checkups as prescribed after his initial foot surgery (Moskowitz, 2007a).
In 1978 Marley returned to Jamaica for the ‘Peace Concert’which was on 22 April
“The concert was not intended for any political posturing, instead it was meant to undo years of damage caused by the infighting that had created the current state of meltdown”
(Moskowitz, 2007b, p. 46). The concert was sold out. The front rows had been reserved for 50
Prime Minister Manley, the opposition leader Edward Seaga of the Jamaican Labour Party, other important political figures, and popular music stars such as Mick Jagger of the Rolling
Stones. During the performance Marley called Michael Manley and Edward Seaga on stage with him. With the leaders of the two opposing parties on stage, Marley grabbed their right hands and held them aloft as a symbol of Jamaican unity (Moskowitz, 2007a).
In 1979 the ninth album Survival was released. Marley considered the Survival album the first third of a trilogy of releases that also included Uprising and Confrontation
(Moskowitz, 2007a). On one of the tracks Zimbabwe, Marley pushed the point that only a unified black populace could overcome Babylonian oppression (Moskowitz, 2007a). After the release of the album, the song became an African nationalist anthem and the guerilla fighters of Zimbabwe’s Patriotic Front. With the release of the new album, Marley gained notoriety around the world, and identified himself with black people worldwide (Moskowitz,
2007a).
In 1980 Marley was invited to perform and be one of the dignitaries at the independence celebrations in Zimbabwe. When Marley arrived in Harare he was met by
Mugabe himself and Britain’s Prince Charles. In the same year yet another business relationship ended on a sour note. It came to light that Don Taylor was pocketing money from a trip Marley and the Wailers took to Africa, and could not pay back the debt. This inevitably led to Taylor being fired as the manager of the Wailers (Moskowitz, 2007a).
Marley fought a cold from the starting of the Survival tour (Moskowitz, 2007b), for
47 of the 49 days. Throughout the tour, Marley worked on new lyrics and experimented with new chords to use on the next Wailers album (Moskowitz, 2007a). After their show in
Zimbabwe, on their way back to London, Marley looked ill (Moskowitz, 2007a). By August that year he was thin and pale and had become increasingly quiet and withdrawn, and 51 complained about pain in his throat and head. A few weeks later, while jogging in Central
Park, he collapsed and it was discovered that he had suffered a stroke. After a medical examination Marley was diagnosed as having a cancerous brain tumor. The neurologist predicted that he only had two or three weeks left to live. Marley and the Wailers played their final show in September that year.
Rita Marley took Marley to his mother in Miami. Doctors there confirmed that he had cancer in his lungs and stomach, in addition to the brain tumour. He received radiation and chemotherapy. After losing more weight it seemed as if he was going to die soon. Marley’s mother wanted him to be baptized into the Ethiopian Baptist Church. Marley agreed to the baptism out of moral fear and as a favour to his mother. On 4 November 1980 he was baptized into the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and was christened Berhane Selassie “light of holy trinity” (Moskowitz, 2007a).
Marley became the patient of Dr Issels who had some unorthodox treatment methods and was blacklisted from the American Cancer Society. Marley responded to the treatment and regained some of his strength. He stayed in an apartment in an adjacent building with his mother. Even though the treatment was very painful, Marley endured silently. However, by the end of March, Marley lay in bed for days at a time and refused to eat or drink. His mother sang to him and together they spent hours reading the Bible. Dr Issels’ treatment stopped working and Marley’s vital signs started to fade. Doctors told Rita Marley that Marley would not last more than a few hours. Marley had the opportunity to say goodbye to his sons Ziggy and Stephen. Marley died at approximately 11:45 am Monday 11 May 1981 (Moskowitz,
2007b).
The following Thursday after his death a memorial service attended by Chris
Blackwell, Don Taylor, Danny Sims and most of the Wailers, was held at Marley’s house in 52
Miami. Lying in the casket Marley had in his right hand a copy of the Bible open to Psalm 23 and his left hand on his guitar. Back in Jamaica, the Prime Minister arranged for Marley to have a two day state funeral and bestowed the Jamaican Order of Merit on him, to which his title became the Honorable Robert Nesta Marley. On 20 May a national day of mourning was declared to allow Marley’s body to lay in state (Moskowitz, 2007a).
Conclusion
This chapter explored the life of Bob Marley as a child, teenager and adult. It did this by examining his life and reflecting on his experiences in these particular developmental stages.
53
CHAPTER 4
PSYCHOBIOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
Chapter Overview
The aim of this chapter is to provide an understanding of psychobiography as a research approach and methodology. To explore the psychobiographical approach the chapter will provide a brief overview of psychobiography and its various definitions, and underline the value thereof; it will also provide an overview of methodological and ethical considerations important to psychobiographical research. Thereafter the chapter will describe the primary aim of the study, and unpack psychobiography as a research methodology by exploring the research design, sampling procedure, data collection procedure and data analysis methods.
Psychobiography
Defining Psychobiography.
Psychobiography is focused on the understanding of persons (Schultz, 2005). It involves an in-depth study of an entire life-span, done within the framework of a formal psychological theory (Schultz, 2005). It is thus both a psychological analysis of an individual’s life, and a biographical representation of an individual’s life history and achievements, both of which are used to attain an interpretation concerning the individual’s personality development (McAdams, 1994). Consequently, psychobiography is described as idiographic, as it explores the distinctiveness of a single life, as well as morphogenic in nature, as it focuses on the subject as a whole and not only on specific aspects that make the individual unique (Runyan, 1982). The socio-historical context is considered within 54 interpretation, in order to understand the context within which the life unfolded. According to
Van Niekerk (2007, cited in Fouché and van Niekerk, 2010) there are five fundamental and universal characteristics which are common to psychobiographical research. Van Niekerk asserted that psychobiographical research makes use of qualitative data, and an in-depth and holistic approach in describing their subjects lives; the research subject is always identified by name and is not anonymous; biographical information that has mainly been gathered by other researchers are utilised; and collected data about the research subject is considered valuable and has historical and psychological significance, as opposed to collecting information with the aim of solving “pre-set research problems” (Fouché & van Niekerk,
2010, p. 496).
The value of psychobiographical research.
Various scholars in the field of life history research have furthermore advocated the value of psychobiographical case studies (Runyan, 1984). Runyan (1984) illustrated this value through the exploration of the five following areas:
The uniqueness of the individual case within the whole.
Psychobiography tends to be morphogenic in nature, emphasising the individuality of the whole person, rather than individuality found in an isolated element associated with the person (Runyan, 1984). This approach allows for a holistic description of the person being studied and provides an in-depth understanding of the uniqueness of the person.
The socio-historical context.
The psychobiographical researcher is provided with a wide range of contextual information because data is drawn from biographical and autobiographical material. This includes information about the person’s family history and relationships as well as their 55 socio-historical and cultural contexts (Runyan, 1982). In psychobiographical research these contexts and their influence on the person’s development are taken into account (Roberts,
2002). A unique and holistic description of the individual can therefore be provided because the larger contextualized background within which the individual existed is considered
(Runyan, 1984). This background gives insight into the person and the interaction between the person and their environment.
Process and pattern over time
Psychobiographers tend to focus on finished lives. This enables the researcher to trace patterns of human development over a continuum of time from birth until death (Carlson,
1988). Fiske (1988) suggested that the study of personality over a period of time results in the understanding of personality in action, as well as dynamic changes and reasons for these changes. This enables the researcher to record different dimensions and processes in the personality functioning at any point in time and in any specific situation (Fouché & Van
Niekerk, 2005). Thus, the development of personality as it occurs over a lifespan, can be comprehensively described and understood (Alexander, 1990).
Subjective reality.
Individuals are the authors of their own identity and it is thus important for researchers to understand the subject’s life story being studied, from the subject’s perspective
(Schultz, 2001). Mouton (1988) indicated that an illuminating description and understanding of the inner experiences, thoughts, and feelings of the subject is provided to the researcher by the subject’s life history. It is the appreciation and understanding of this subjective reality that facilitates empathy and sympathy in order to provide a clear picture of the individual’s life story (Runyan, 1984). A good case report should be so compelling, vivid, and interesting that the reader is guaranteed to continue reading until the end of the report (Yin, 2003). 56
Theory testing and development.
Not only does psychobiography tell the story of a lived life, but it also has a role to play in the testing and development of psychological theory (Carlson, 1988). Carlson stated that “life history materials constitute a perfect laboratory for developing and testing basic personality theory” (Carlson, 1988, p.266). Theory provides a framework for formulating research objectives and design, and it also guides the data collection and analysis process through conceptualising the data within theoretical constructs (Green, 2006). Theory serves as a template against which the research findings are compared (Yin, 2003). This is referred to as analytical generalisation which is generalising from a case study to a specific theory; analytic generalisation allows a previously developed theory to act as a basis against which to compare the result of the study. This in turn facilitates testing, extending and further developing the theory. Psychobiography is thus a valuable tool for the extension or modification of psychological theory.
Preliminary methodological considerations.
There are a number of disadvantages associated with psychobiography, which should be considered, along with strategies used to counter their influence. These include cross cultural differences, reductionism, analysing the absent subject, research bias, validity and reliability criticisms, inflated expectations, infinite amount of biographical data, andelitism and easy genre.
Researcher bias.
Because of the lengthy in-depth nature of psychobiographical research, it facilitates a relationship between the researcher and the subject, which may result in the researcher developing countertransference-like reactions to their subject (Anderson, 1981a).
Furthermore the subject may be idealised and the psychobiographer may feel privileged to be 57 connected to such an extraordinary person. On the contrary, psychobiographers may feel contempt for their subjects and find fault with their lives in order to convince themselves that they are smarter and friendlier than the subject (Anderson, 1981a). Psychobiographers may also experience a range of complex, unconscious, non-deliberate and personal reactions to their subjects (Fouché& Van Niekerk, 2005). These reactions can influence the research process, and can be minimised by the researcher consciously developing empathy for the subject. Furthermore, the manuscript should be read by other biographical experts and close acquaintances in order to comment on the psychobiographer’s relationship with the subject.
Psychobiographers need to continuously examine the range of feelings they experience towards their subject (Anderson, 1981a; Anderson, 1981b). Bearing these steps in mind, within the current study the researcher has kept a record of her feelings as related to the biographical subject, Marley. This was done in order to examine how these feelings influenced the researcher’s analysis, in order to avoid bias. The record is included in
Appendix B.
Elms (1994) also suggested that researchers should choose subjects about whom they feel considerable ambivalence, a mixture of approval and disapproval. This will help to keep them honest in their examination of data, and it was considered in the choice of Marley for this study.
Reductionism.
Another limitation of the psychobiographical approach is “reductionism”. One form of the reductionism is the overemphasis of psychological factors at the expense of external social and historical factors (Runyan, 1984). Other forms are that psychobiographies tend to focus on pathological processes rather than normality or health, and that the later formative influences are neglected for early childhood experiences (Runyan, 1984). The negative 58 impact of reductionism to the analysis can be minimised through the use of multiple sources of data collection and analysis (Runyan, 1988), the avoidance of excessive use of psychological jargon (Runyan, 1988), and the avoidance of pathologising the subject through the use of health-orientated approaches (Elms, 1994). A further useful tactic is approaching the subject as a complex, whole person in context (Anderson, 1981a; Howe, 1997). In the researcher’s attempt to minimise reductionism,she analysed Marley’s life holistically taking into account his social, historical and cultural context when applying the selected theoretical framework.
Cross-cultural differences.
Psychobiographical studies may be considered a form of cross-cultural research, in that the culture in which the subject lived would have differed from the present day culture
(Anderson, 1981). In light of this, Anderson (1981) recommended that the researcher undertake extensive and in-depth historical research in order to develop a culturally empathic understanding of the subject. The researcher is aware that Marley lived in a period that is socially, politically and culturally different to hers. It was therefore essential for the researcher to become familiar with the abovementioned conditions in which Marley lived.
Sources such as biographies and documentaries were used to gain a better understanding of
Marley’s socio-cultural context.
Analysing an absent subject.
Psychobiographical researchers never have contact with the subject, and this is often viewed as a disadvantage. However, Anderson (1981) provided an alternative explanation, saying that the psychobiographer is at an advantage as they are able to access various information sources which cover the subject’s entire lifespan. This affords the researcher the opportunity to analyse events in light of their eventual effects which, in turn, results in a more 59 accurate and objective view of the subject’s life. According to Anderson (1981), psychobiographers are also not limited by therapeutic considerations. Because therapists focus on their client’s maladaptive behaviour they may develop a distorted view of their clients, whereas psychobiographers are free to develop a comprehensive, balanced description of the research subject (Fouché& Van Niekerk, 2005).
In order to holistically analyse and develop a well-rounded portrait of an absent subject, the psychobiographer needs to collect and collate a broad range of data relating to the subject of the study (Stroud, 2004). They need to make a thorough investigation into what material is available about the subject. The researcher consulted various sources to develop an in depth portrait of Marley, including his biographies as well as documentaries about his life.
Inflated expectations.
The psychobiographical literature examined suggested that inflated expectations are not prevalent within the psychobiographical paradigm as yet and that it is rather a fear of critique than a specific widespread problem (Fouché, 1999). The psychobiographical approach has its limitations, therefore psychobiographers need to acknowledge that psychological explanations add to other explanations and do not replace them.
Psychobiographical explanations should be recognised as speculative, and not viewed as the final word about the subject (Anderson, 1981). The current study aimed to hypothesise about
Marley’s personality development from Transactional Analysis’s theoretical perspective. The researcher is aware that the hypotheses offered in the current study is speculative, and that there are other interpretations. This study is only one means of explaining Marley’s life experiences and should be seen within this context and restriction (Green, 2006).
60
Infinite amount of biographical data.
McAdams (1994) stated that psychobiographers often find themselves faced with limitless information and the psychobiographer thus needs to decide what material is relevant to their research, and what is not.Anderson (1981) suggested using a split-half approach when dealing with large amounts of information. This approach requires the researcher to divide information into two parts, one of which is used to identify theoretical propositions and constructs, while the other investigates the material in order to compare and test the theoretical propositions identified in the first body of material.This is to determine whether both halves render the same results (Anderson, 1981b; Neuman, 2006).This is a form of triangulation that was usedto identify pertinent facts of the life of Marley. Furthermore, the lens of TA encouraged a focus on particular kinds of data and not on others, as with any theoretical focus. This focus reduced information considerably. Thus, these approaches, namely triangulation and the theoretical lens were used to reduce data to a workable format.
Elitism and easy genre.
Psychobiographies have been disparaged as being both elitist and an easy genre
(Runyan, 1988).The elitist criticism is based on the belief that psychobiographical research is directed toward the socially elite, such as kings, queens, political leaders, and the privileged.This criticism depends simultaneously on the individual being studied and the interpretation offered by the psychobiography.
The second argument against biographical research is that some critics consider it too easy a genre. Runyan (1988) stated that a superficial biography might be written quickly and easily. However, he also stated that a good biography demands in-depth consultation with numerous sources, psychological knowledge of the subject’s socio-historical context and good literary skill. Runyan also pointed out that when examining the life of the individual, it 61 is important to consider issues related to personality development and “humanness”, rather than social standing or celebrity status, as this will assist in enriching the body of knowledge within this area of psychology. To guard against these critiques the researcher consulted a range of sources written about Marley in order to gain understanding of him as a person that extends beyond his music, and fame.
Validity and reliability considerations.
Runyan (1988) stated that the psychobiographical approach has been criticised for the lack of controls and the difficulty of generalising findings. In order to ensure good quality in psychobiographical studies, strategies addressing construct validity, internal validity, external validity and reliability should be used.
Construct validity refers to the establishment of correct operational measures for the concepts being studied; this can be achieved through the careful conceptual conceptualisation of the constructs and variables to be studied (Yin, 1994). This is not easily achieved in psychobiographical research, but toward this, it is recommended that the researcher triangulate data through the use of multiple sources of data. The researcher made use of data triangulation in order to ensure construct validity.
Internal validity is concerned with apparent causal relationships of situations, conditions or other factors (Yin, 1994). The researcher used multiple data sources which provided different perspectives on the same events and inconsistencies or distortions were carefully sought (Rudestam & Newton, 2001). Published materials are stable and can be viewed repeatedly in order to verify dates and facts. These materials are also easily cross- referenced (Yin, 2009). As mentioned above, triangulation of data was applied, and where possible alternative explanations were explored to enhance internal validity in the current study. 62
External validityis the extent to which the results can be generalised to other populations and settings (Cozby, 1997). In the case of the psychobiographical study, external validity will be achieved by carefully establishing the territory to which the proposed study can be generalised (Runyan, 1984). The research aimed to generalise the findings to Berne’s theory of Transactional Analysis, and not to the larger population. External validity is therefore not a concern for the proposed study as the aim of the study was not to generalise the findings of the study to the general population.
Reliability refers to demonstrating that the operations of study, such as data collection procedures, can be repeated with similar results (Yin, 1994; Alexander, 1988). Towards this end, data was handled carefully, and clear notes were made on the process of data collection and analysis.
Psychobiographical Ethical Considerations
Runyan (1984) noted a number of ethical issues that psychobiographies bring to the fore, including the invasion of privacy, and the potential embarrassment or harm to the subject, and to his or her relatives and associates. It is important that the researcher treat and document intimate knowledge obtained with respect and empathy (Elms, 1994). It should be noted that all data used in this study was already in public domain.Thus, confidentiality was not an issue in this study. However, the researcher strove to approach all data with care.
Due to an apparent shortage of ethical guidelines pertaining to psychobiographical research, those set out by the American Psychiatric Association in 2010 are still adhered to today. These are set out by Elms (1994) as follows: Psychobiographies should be conducted on subjects that are preferably long dead and if subjects are still alive, permission should be obtained to undertake a study. Marley still has living relatives. However, given that only 63 published data was utilised in this research study, and that much has been written about his life, the researcher felt that privacy was not a relevant issue to the study. Furthermore, careful consideration was given to the information that is disseminated by this research. Theresearch was conducted in accordance with HPCSA ethical guidelines, as stated in booklet 6, paragraph 3 (HPCSA, 2008).
Primary Aim of the Research Study
The primary aim of the proposed study was to explore and describe the personality development of Bob Marley through the use of Transactional Analysis. To meet this aim the study examinedhis personality development, creating a comprehensive picture of Marley’s lifewithin the particular social, economic and historical context in which he lived.The study findings were not generalised to the broader population but to Eric Berne’s theory of
Transactional Analysis. In so doing the study contributes towards the understanding and development of a psychological theory, while concurrently generating insight into the life of this well-known figure.
Research design
The current study may be described as life history research (Runyan, 1988). It uses a qualitative single-case design (Yin, 2003). Qualitative research focuses on the use of words rather than numbers (Kaplan & Maxwell, 2005). By focusing on words qualitative research tries to explore a topic in depth to really understand it. However, by doing so the ability to generalise results broadly is problematic (Yin, 2003). A single-case focuses on the behaviour within one individual by comparing conditions and monitoring behaviour (Elmes, Kantowitz,
& Roediger, 2006). Yin (2003) suggested that the qualitative single-case design is used to confirm, challenge or extend theory with a specific set of propositions and circumstances 64 under which these propositions are believed to be true (McAdams, 1994). Understand real life contexts. Neg again is lack of generalizability (ref)
Psychobiography can be classified as single-case research it examines a single case over an entire lifespan. This is as psychobiographies look at a single case in depth. The psychobiographical research design serves to transform the subject’s life into a coherent and illuminating life story through systematic use of psychological theory (McAdams, 1988).
Psychobiography can be described as both descriptive-dialogic and exploratory- descriptive in nature (Fouché & Van Niekerk, 2005). The descriptive-dialogic component of the study refers to the description of essential phenomena, as well as the clarification and testing of the constructs of specific theories, in particular here, Eric Berne’s theory of
Transactional Analysis (Fouché& de Vos, 2005). The exploratory-descriptive nature refers to the provision of a rich description of Marley’s personality development over his entire lifespan, and in so doing providing an in-depth understanding of his individual case within his socio-historical context (Fouché& de Vos, 2005).
Sampling procedure
Given that psychobiography is focused on a single case, the selection of the case is very important. Marley was deliberately and specifically selected, therefore the sampling technique used for this purpose was non-probability purposive sampling. Non-probability purposive sampling is a sampling technique that is based on the subjective judgement of the researcher, and is grounded in the characteristic attributes relevant to the study (Neuman,
2006). Neuman (2003) noted that purposive sampling is effective in conjunction with case study research where (a) the case is especially unique; (b) a part of a difficult-to-reach or specialised population; or (c) where the study’s purpose is less to generalise to the larger 65 population than it is to gain a deeper understanding of a type or specific individual. Marley was selected because of his interest value to the researcher, centred around his contribution to reggae music, inspirational lyrics and the unique and significant life that he lived. Marley’s life is well documented, with extensive literature focusing on his life events and his career.
However, there is little existing literature that adopts a psychological focus into understanding his personality development. This study is the researchers attempted to gain a better understanding of his personality development.
Data collection and analysis
Data for the proposed research study was collected from several primary and secondary sources including numerous biographical materials spanning the life and development of Marley. Primary sources are materials produced by the subject (Babbie &
Mouton, 2001; Plummer, 1983), and within the context of this study include excerpts from interviews. Secondary sources are biographical literature produced by others. There are numerous books written that focus on Marley’s life history, development, personality and individuality across his lifespan. Additional writings, films and materials produced by family, friends, contemporaries and journalists were also consulted.
According to Yin (2003), the use of published data is advantageous since it enables the researcher to access information as needed, and according to his or her own timeframe. In addition, the information from other sources can be corroborated, spelling of names and dates can be checked and verified, and information is relatively accessible. In collecting data for a psychobiographical study, it must be remembered that written and published materials may be subject to author bias (Yin, 2003). This however can be overcome by data triangulation.
This would entail the use of different types of measures or data collection techniques, to 66 examine the same variable (Neuman, 2006). In this case it involves the use of different sources to confirm facts.
The framework followed for the data analysis may also be seen as a data collection technique. It is the general approach proposed by Miles and Huberman (1994), utilised as a means to organise, analyse and interpret the collected data. Miles and Huberman (1994) proposed a strategy of analysis by way of three linked sub-processes which are thus not limited to only the analysis stage of research, but are utilised throughout the course of the research. These are data reduction, data display and conclusion drawing and verification.
Data reduction refers to the process by which the potential universe of data can be reduced by the researcher in an anticipatory way (Stroud, 2004). Data display is an organised, concise assembly of information that permits conclusion drawing and/or action taking
(Stroud, 2004). Conclusion drawing and verification involves the researcher making interpretations, and drawing meaning from the displayed data in the descriptive frameworks
(Stroud, 2004). These sub-processes occur before any data is collected, during the research planning stage, during the data collection when initial analysis takes place, as well as after data collection has been completed and the research is being collated into a cohesive whole.
The three stages are thus linked, and recur in the process called data analysis.
According to Miles and Huberman (1994), data management is the systematic, coherent process of data collection, storage and retrieval.They indicated that a clear working framework is essential in the data management process.The researcher developed a conceptual framework to organise and integrate the components of Transactional Analysis across Marley’s lifespan. The conceptual framework is attached in Appendix C, and consists of a matrix; the left vertical column represents constructs of Transactional Analysis. The horizontal rows represent historical periods over Marley’s lifespan. The researcher made use 67 of the framework to capture and organise data about Marley’s life that is relevant to his personality development. The data collected on Marley’s life was understood with the use of constructs of personality development of Transactional Analysis. These concepts were applied to data across Marley’s lifespan in order to identify themes over time, and illuminate
Marley’s personality.
CONCLUSION
This chapter outlined a contextual foundation and theoretical overview of psychobiographical research as a subject matter, and preliminary methodological and ethical considerations relevant to psychobiographical research. The aims and research methodology were furthermore described. In particular, the discussion expanded on the research design, sampling procedure, data collection and analysis procedures. The following chapter presents a discussion of the results obtained from the sources of information used in this study.
68
CHAPTER 5
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Chapter Overview
The aim of this chapter was to explore and describe the personality development of
Bob Marley using Transactional Analysis. The results generated from the data collected on the life of Marley are understood with Transactional Analysis constructs, namely: structural analysis, transactional analysis proper, script analysis, strokes and time structuring as well as game analysis.
Structural Analysis
Structural analysis is made up of a functional model and a structural model. The functional model classifies observed behaviours, while the structural model classifies stored memories and strategies (Joines & Stewart, 2002). The functional model and the structural model are used below to describe Bob Marley’s different ego-states.
Functional model
The functional model identifies which part of the structure is functioning (Cox, 1999), with the structure here referring to the ego-states of Parent, Adult and Child (Kambly, 1975).
According to Berne (1961) there are four ways of diagnosing which ego-state a person is in: behaviourally, socially, historically and phenomenologically (Stewart, 1989).
Behavioural diagnosis is made by focusing on the words, posture, tones, gestures and facial expressions of the observed individual (Joines & Stewart, 1987, p39). In order to identify Parent, Adult and Child ego states, there are particular behavioural cues that are 69 looked for. Behavioural clues indicating a Parent ego-state might include words such as
‘should’ or ‘must’; Behavioural clues indicating the Adult ego-state might include words such as; ‘the probabilities are’ and ‘it seems as if’(Dusay, 1977). Child-like phrases, such as
‘what am I supposed to do here?’, ‘do you think it would be good for me?’often indicative of the Child ego-state.The observations need to be correlated over a period of time in order to confirm or refute the initial diagnosis (Hardy, 2013) Social diagnosis is made based on how the observer reacts to the individual. This is based on the premise that an individual in a particular ego-state will produce a response from a complimentary ego-state in another person (Hardy, 2013).
Historical diagnosis is a historical check where an individual is asked whether the way they are behaving reminds them of anything from their childhood. Similarly, if the behavioral clues look like, for example, Parent, then the questions about their parents or caretakers can confirm or refute the behavioural diagnosis (Hardy, 2013).
Phenomenological diagnosis is made when it is evident that the individual re- experiences exactly a past event, in the here and now (Spenceley, 2016). This goes beyond merely remembering the event, but involves the individual re-experiencing “the whole ego- state in full intensity” (Berne, 1961, p77). According to Berne, phenomenological diagnosis is the ultimate criteria for ego-state diagnosis, and validates the subjective truth about the client’s childhood experience, whether or not there is any historical evidence available
(Clarkson, 2013).
When an ego-state dictates an individual’s behaviour, that ego-state is said to have executive power (Joines & Stewart, 2002). When an individual experiences himself to be in a particular ego-state we say he is experiencing that ego-state as his real self (Joines & Stewart,
2002). In order to understand Marley’s general experience of his real self, the researcher first 70 drew from an interview that was conducted between him and Gill Nobel in 1980. In doing so the researcher is aware that using only one interview is very limiting in obtaining a comprehensive picture. From the interview, however, the researcher could draw hypotheses about behavioural and social diagnosis, which were further investigated through other sources, including interviews in which others described how they experienced Marley, as well as published autobiographical and biographical material. A historical diagnosis was difficult because such information did not become apparent in published material, and as such was not included in the analysis. Phenomenologically the only resource available to the researcher to witness emotion filled experiences of Marley was video clips of his live, on stage performances.
FunctionalAnalysis Application.
Drawing from behavioural diagnosis, Marley’s interview at first glance appeared to be an Adult interaction between Marley and the interviewer. The transactions at face value seemed complimentary; the questions and answers had a continuous flow. Upon closer inspection the researcher observed various behavioural clues that led to a different opinion.
Although his voice was well modulated and even toned, giving the impression of being in his
Adult, this was not consistent with the rest of his non-verbal communication. Marley displayed very few behavioural clues indicating an Adult ego-state, and did not use words typically used by the Parent or Adult ego-states. Marley had a very relaxed demeanor, for example, he had one leg on the couch, was playing with his dreadlocks, laughed often, and in one instance fiddled with his belt, in a childlike manner. For most part of the interview
Marley seemed to be in his Adapted Child, more specifically, his Positive Adapted Child.
Marley was compliant, respectful and well-mannered during the interview, and gave the impression of a child wanting to do something to the best of his ability. 71
Drawing from social diagnosis strategies, the researcher’s impression when watching the interview was that her Nurturing Parent ego-state was hooked. Similarly it appeared that the interviewer took on a very understanding and warm attitude towards Marley. The researcher and the interviewer’s response to Marley is in line with the behavioural clues indicating a Positive Adapted Child ego-state.
The researcher looked toward other sources for further collateral on the experiences of others in relation to Marley. When he was in his early twenties, Marley had an affair with a woman named Esther Anderson, before he became really famous. She had the following to say on the topic:
I didn’t know he was married with kids all over the place. I was absolutely
flabbergasted. I said how can a young boy like you have so many
children… He was a country boy, very very simple very unsophisticated. He
might have acquired a bit of sophistication later on as he became famous
but when I met him he was totally innocent that’s why I thought it was
unbelievable that he had children. I thought of him as a little boy.
(Lambert, 2012).
Along a similar vein of description, Rita Marley said the following:
I didn’t feel like I was a wife. I felt I was Marley’s back up vocal so there’s
things I have to remind Marley to be careful watch those girls watch those
this. Then I became the watch eye the mother-hen type and he would call
me sometimes to get the girls out of his room. (Menell, 2013) 72
Both women knew Marley considerably well and in both cases they give the impression that Marley as “boy-like”, both in his behaviour, and in the motherly response he hooked in them.
Phenomenological diagnosis relies primarily on re-experiencing. Phenomenological information can possibly be seen in Marley in action, on stage. Tears and sadness seemed to be a common thread when linking Marley’s music from his early days to his performances.
Behaviourally, he often had a facial expression that resembled a person crying and in pain. In many of his live performances Marley would jump around on stage, throwing his head from side to side dreadlocks flying around embodying spontaneity and looking free like a child with no inhibitions. Even though it is difficult to prove that he experienced his stage performances phenomenologically, this is possible. Based on these descriptions of both sadness and joy, the researcher is of the opinion that Marley’s live performances could be considered as a phenomenological criterion to diagnose a Free Child ego-state. Thus, it seems probable that Marley spent much time in his Child ego state, both in Adapted Child and Free
Child.
Structural Model
In a second order analysis, the Parent and Child ego-states are subdivided, and will be looked at here (Kambly, 1975). Information in this model can only be inferred and the researcher is fully aware of the speculative nature of such inferences.
Parent2 The Parent ego-state is seen to contain the PACs of mother, father, siblings, teachers, authority figures (Kambly, 1975). It may contain slogans and commands from parents that they got from their parents. 73
According to Chris Blackwell, Marley’s success was constituted from the fact that he grew up in the countryside(Lambert, 2012). Marley’s grandfather played an important role in his life as a father figure when Marley was young. Omeriah Malcolm was considered to be a very hardworking man and a disciplinarian. He taught Marley most things he knew about farm life and working hard. It could be deduced that certain commands from Omeriah
Malcolm about working hard stayed with Marley throughout his life.
Marley’s uncle let him play with his guitar, and was very impressed with Marley when he won the competition as a little boy. Although no exact words between the two of them can be quoted, the experience is likely to have added messages affirming achievement and success in music.
Child2 P1, A1 and C1 is respectively referred to as the individual’s Adapted Child,
Little Professor and Natural Child states (Kambly, 1975).The child in a good household is nurtured, protected and raised by the Parent ego-state of his parents, with their Adult and
Child playing lesser roles. The Nurturing Parent has its main interest to support, to keep taking care of, and to protect the child. The Nurturing Parent will let the child be itself, speak and move freely, explore, and be largely free of constraints. On the other hand, if the parents themselves are in an oppressive and stressful situation, they are less likely to engender this kind of environment. The Child in the father and mother will say “don’t …” (Steiner, 1974).
This may impact the child’s ability to express itself. Marley’s family circumstances were stressful. Financial constraints were strong. The probability is high that Marley received less
Nurturing Parent messages than he did Critical or prohibitive messages. This would have grown his Adaptive Child ego-state.
In Marley’s P1 he stored messages coming from his parental figures’ Child. Cedella
Malcolm did not get any financial support from Marley’s father to help look after Marley. 74
She was still very young, and had to raise Marley by herself, and had to scrape by (Salewicz,
2009). The young Cedella Malcolm might have felt abandoned scared and alone, and her
Child may have unknowingly sent messages to her young son that made him feel fearful of his mother’s response. In his A1 which acts as an intuitive problem solver he might have decided that the only way to survive his mother disfavour with him was to work hard, and accommodate to her wishes. We see this in Marley’s teenage years, when he trained to be a welder even though it held no interest for him, as his mother wanted him to pursue a profession instead of music.
The Child1 is the natural or free child, and contains the basic needs of the child
(Kambly, 1975). Not much can be said about messages in Marley’s C1.
Transactional Analysis Proper
When two individuals are communicating with one another, they are transacting and want to obtain strokes. The strokes can be given from any of the ego-states of the one individual and returned from any ego-states of the other individual. Transactional Analysis
Proper is concerned withwhich ego-states are involved in such transactions. Based on the ego-state stimulus and ego-state response, three different transactions occur between people.
These include complimentary, crossed and ulterior transactions. Dialogue taken from interviews conducted with Marley is drawn on to illustrate some of his transactions. The researcher acknowledges that these examples are not comprehensive, but serve to illustrate
Marley in interaction, at a point in time.
Complimentary transactions are parallel, and can continue indefinitely. Examples of these types of transactions are A-A, P-P, C-C and P-C. 75
The following transactions took place between Marley and Gil Noble in 1980 and can be described as complimentary transactions. The interviewer’s ego-state stimulus came from his Parent and Marley’s ego-state stimulus came from his Positive Adapted Child.
G: “How did it all start? Has music always been a part of your life as a little boy?
B: “Yeah grew up in musical family…..” (laughs plays with dreadlocks)
G: “What part of Jamaica?”
B: “St. Anns you know. It’s in the country.”
G: “How big is your family?”
B: “Well my family is really big family, Malcolm. Family name is Malcolm is plenty”
The interview continued with the same type of flow but there were instances that
Marley crossed the transactions.
Crossed transactions lead to a break in communication because the ego-state stimulus did not hook the intended ego-state response. In order to re-establish communication, one or both of the individuals need to shift ego-states (Joines & Stewart, 2002).
G: ‘How do you handle fame?’
B: ‘I handle fame by not being famous’
G: ‘Come on you know you’re a famous man’
B: ‘Na you know not to me. I’m not famous to me’(Noble, 1980) 76
Marley reached superstardom in 1976 and the interview took place in 1980 so in actual fact he was very famous. Instead of responding from his Adult, and answering the question seriously, Marley moved into his Adapted Child and by doing so, discounted his fame, and crossed the transaction.
Ulterior transactions take place on two levels, namely, the social and the psychological level (Kambly, 1975). The social message is given by words, and the psychological message is implied through non-verbal cues (Joines & Stewart, 2002). The following transaction was taken from an interview Marley had with another journalist
(Menell, 2013).
Isocial: “Rastafarianism is very popular in Jamaica yet in Canada and the United States
it has a bad reputation. People are associating it with drugs and the trafficking
of marijuana.
Ipsych: You have a bad reputation because you are a Rasta.
Bsocial: Yeah man, they crucify Christ remember. Christ was a Christian and them
crucify Christ.
Bpsych: You are blaming an innocent person. I’m innocent.
Isocial:: No but let’s go back to the fact. People have been arrested. Rastafarians in
Toronto have a very bad reputation.
Ipsych: Don’t change the subject I have the facts. Rasta’s have a bad reputation. 77
Bsocial: I wouldn’t say Rastafarians have a bad reputation. I would say people give
Rastafarians a bad reputations because all of the these things happen before the
Rastafarians were here before they started coming to Canada (gallows laugh)
Bpsych: We are not bad just because you say so.
Isocial: But the things that are very obvious are the way you look. To most people who
are very conservative you look quite strange plus the fact that you advocate
smoking marijuana
Ipsych; But you are bad because look at your dreadlocks its weird and you know
smoking marijuana is wrong.
Bsocial: Yes but can you tell God that it’s not legal. You couldn’t tell God that it’s not
legal.
Bpsych: You can’t tell me it’s wrong. Only God can.”
From these interactions we can see that although Marley spent time in his Positive
Adapted Child, his Negative Adapted Child could also easily be hooked.
Script Analysis
A script is a life plan, containing what of significance will happen to the
Individual (Steiner, 1974). This life plan is laid out in the form of a story, with expectations about the beginning, middle and end of the story. Berne (1972) believed that the script formation is heavily influenced by the mother during the first two years of life. 78
The beginning of Marley’s script was heavily influenced by the circumstances around his conception, which was deemed as wrong. It was unheard of that a white Jamaican fathers a child and marries a black Jamaican woman. At the time, it was something that went against the cultural grain of the people of the island. In an interview Bunny stated the following about the topic:
Bob’s father being a white person, and his mother being a black person. In those days it was a kind of a reproach situation. Reproach came from both sides of the fence. You should never have gotten a black woman pregnant. You should not become pregnant by a white man.
So the child is kind of a you know, a child that is not seen not wanted but scared of (Lambert,
2012).
Marley’s lighter complexion was confirmation in the flesh of a forbidden deed that could not be reversed. Consequently Marley grew up feeling and looking different.
Furthermore, Marley and his family lived in immense poverty during his early life, and he experienced various hardships, primarily being separations from his mother, and the death of this father. The beginning of his script was immersed in struggle.
During the middle of the story there seemed to be a turnaround, a change in course.
Marley took up the struggle personally, and decided to fight the poverty of his existence; he went against his mother’s wishes of learning a trade, and pursued a career in music instead. It was as if he realised that if he worked hard, he would eventually be successful. His tough childhood provided him with the hardiness he needed to survive the difficulties he faced with music producers, and turned him into a relentless workaholic. Working hard had the associated consequences of having an impact on others, challenging the hypocrisy he saw around him, and spreading his message to the world. 79
Success, in the final section of his script, freed him from the shackles of poverty. It has been reported that he predicted that his life would end at the age of thirty six (Garrison,
2011). The question now arises was it a good or a bad ending? Was Marley a winner of a loser?
Life Positions.
Toward answering this question, Marley’s life position is important to explore. Of foremost importance to assigning a life position to Marley are his childhood circumstances. It was documented that his mother found it hard to get by without the financial aid of her husband (Salewicz, 2009) and life in the countryside was hard work (Salewicz, 2009). Life was so tough that Cedella Malcolm saw it fit to send Marley to his father to Kingston in order to receive a better education than she could provide (Moskowitz, 2007b). OK-ness comes from the receiving of adequate strokes (Harris, 1973). It is clear that the young Cedella
Malcolm must have been under considerable stress due to all of these factors. How this presumed stress was communicated to the young infant can only be speculated. However, stress would have negatively impacted her ability to stroke Marley, and culminated in a lack of stroking through his absence at school. It is hypothesized here that Marley internalised the absence and perceived rejection by forming the I’m OK you’re not OK position Children in this position refuse to give up, and as they get older they strike back. They have seen toughness and know how to be tough. For this child this position is a life saving position.
They always blame others; it is always their fault (Harris, 1973).
Evidence for this position is seen later on in Marley’s life. Marley was described as shy and withdrawn as a teenager. However, it was also said that he could stand his ground when pushed to defend himself (Moskowitz, 2007a), to the degree that he earned himself the nickname Tuff Gong (Moskowitz, 2007b). In an interview Bunny described an incident when 80 they went to the studio of the disc jockey and threatened him with violence if he did not play their song (Lambert, 2012). Marley was able to fight back and survive what life threw at him.
A child with this life position learns to stroke themselves, and this is where they get their sense of OK-ness. In his songs Marley placed Rastafarians in high esteem, they are seen as the chosen ones, living life as it should be lived. He condemned any group of individuals who oppresses others, and anyone who acts out against Rastafarians (Moskowitz, 2007a).
Marley therefore placed himself and other Rastafarians in an OK position because of their beliefs, and others who were against their beliefs as well as governments who are abusing their power, in a not OK position. In doing so he gave himself strokes leading to hisexperience ofOK-ness.
The I’m OK you’re not OK life position may form the basis for a script that seems on the face of it to be winning script (Joines & Stewart, 2002). However, the individual functioning from this position suffers from stroke deprivation. A stroke is only as good as the stroker, and as there are no OK people, there are no OK strokes (Harris, 1973). This individual has the conviction that he needs to be one-up and put others one down. He may manage to do this for some of the time, achieving his wants but only with a continual struggle. At other times the people around him will get tired of being one down andwill reject him. Then he will switch from apparent winner to heavy loser (Harris, 1973).
By the late 1970’s Bob Marley and the Wailers had achieved major successes in their music career. They produced award winning albums and were known worldwide. The picture created was the sense of winning, through money and fame. But upon closer inspection Bob
Marley and the Wailers did not reach success overnight. Early in their career they were at times exploited by sharks in the industry leaving them penniless and once even stranded in
England in deplorable circumstances. It took hours of rehearsing and studio time to get songs 81 to Marley’s liking and they were afforded little time to rest. The more famous Marley became the less time he had to spend with his family.
Cindy Breakspeare one of the women with whom Marley had an affair, said: “ he just worked harder and harder. Reached a point where there was no peace” (Lambert, 2012). Rita
Marley, Marley’s wife said: “Pressure started… it made a difference…he became edgy… relaxation was minimal… he was losing something” (Lambert, 2012). Al Anderson one of the band members said that “Everyone wanted a piece of him and they took a piece and there was hardly anything left for him” (Lambert, 2012). The pressure of fame took precedence over Marley’s health. And in order to keep up with the pressure, his health deteriorated. He ignored his cough, did not go for regular check-ups on his foot, and even when he found out he had cancer he still performed. In the end the winning did not seem like winning anymore because he paid for it with his health, and ultimately his life. Marley’s sense of OKness came from working hard and impacting others; when it he could no longer do this, he became not
OK because his conditional sense of OKness could not be maintained.
Elements of scripts.
Scripts contain the following five elements.
Has a payoff.
How things will end. The individual chooses behaviour that brings him closer to the payoff (Joines & Stewart, 2002). Marley predicted his own death (Garrison, 2011). Bearing this in mind it is as if he was working towards this goal by ignoring his deteriorating health.
In a documentary on Marley’s life he said: 82
my life not important to me, other people life important. My life is only important if me can help plenty people. If me my life is just my security than I don’t want it, my life is for the people (Lambert, 2012).
With this statement he confirmed how unimportant his own life is to him.
Is directional.
Even though the individual might be faced with external factors,the individual decides upon the life plan, and pursues directional behaviour based on the plan (Joines & Stewart,
2002). The time when the actual decision has been made as well as what has been decided is very difficult to determine. However, there was clear directionality in Marley’s script. He worked very hard to become successful, and was determined to reach that goaldespite the price he had to pay.
Reinforced by parents.
Verbal and non-verbal messages by parents reinforce the child’s script. If parents’ attention is seldom available or if it is continually negative, children usually adopt scripts that are destructive of themselves and often of others (James, 1977). Marley’s father died when he was ten, and in all that time Marley never knew him. There is no evidence to suggest that his father made an effort to form a relationship with him, and this most likely led to him feeling abandoned, unloved and inferior. This is a vulnerable position that would have been experienced as veryuncomfortable by Marley. Instead of staying in this vulnerable position,
Marley persecuted those whom he blamed for that position(i.e. persecuted those who placed him in the one down position). It can therefore be speculated that Marley’s father’s perceived rejection of him led to Marley’s contempt for people who rejected his religion and his beliefs as well as governments who were corrupt. 83
When he was six Marley was separated from his mother to live in Kingston. Marley and his cousin stayed at Marley’s aunt’s house, up until she did not want him to stay there anymore. Marley’s grandfather also died when Marley was in his teenage years. All of
Marley’s parental figures seemed to either be disinterested in him, did not want him, or left him. This most likely led to Marley feeling unimportant. As a result of this he could have made the decision that he will make himself important and that he will depend on no one to do it for him. In the interview with Gil Noble when asked about his life in Trench Town, he answered that he had no family and made an example of how a man should grow and pick his own corn and that if you wanted to make it you have to depend on yourself (Noble, 1980).
Outside of awareness.
The nearest we come to a memory of our earliest years, in which these decisions take place, is in dreams and fantasies (Joines & Stewart, 2002). The child therefore has no memory of having made the decision. A dream state is a total manifestation of the Free Child, creative in both its content and presentation (Dusay, 1977). Thus, there is no information here about Marley’s script decisions.
Redefines reality.
In the Child ego-state any threat to our script-based view of the world, is perceived as a threat to having our needs met or even a threat to our survival (Joines & Stewart, 2002).
Reality is therefore interpreted in the individual’s frame of reference to justify the script behaviour(Tudor, 2002). As a young boy Marley felt that he did not belong because of his lighter skin. During the time when he embraced Rastafarianism, the regular smoking of marijuana and the dreadlocks were often highlighted by newspapers, and he was asked about this in interviews. It created a lot of negativity around the religion and Marley was at times heavily criticized for it. During the interview with Gil Noble, Marley explained that their 84 scriptures state that when you become a Rasta, even your mother and your father will forsake you (Noble, 1980). One could therefore speculate that Marley chose this religion to support his script belief of not belonging. His view on why Rasta’s were treated badly appears to fit in with his frame of reference. As a young boy he did not belong to either black or white race because of his mixed heritage, and as an adult he did not belong to the Westernised world by being a Rastafarian.
Influences to the script decision.
Script messages, which influence script decisions, can be conveyed in a variety of different ways, verbally and non-verbally. The child may construe script messages from the surroundings, and from the messages they receive.
Nonverbal messages.
Marley’s early life circumstances were difficult, particularly in light of family poverty and his mixed heritage. Some of the nonverbal messages that Marley received would have led him to view his life in a negative manner, such as that his life is unimportant or that he does not belong. Even though script decisions are made at a very early age, the fact that Marley was separated by his mother at age six would have been very traumatic for him, sending a further message that he is not wanted. When asked about his parents influence in his life,
Marley said:
Me grow without mother or father. Me no have no parent for have no big
influence upon me. Me just grow in the ghetto with the youth. Stubborn, no
obey no one; but we had qualities, and we were good to one another
(Paprocki & Dolan, 2009). 85
This statement gives one the impression that Marley saw himself alone in his childhood.
Commands and attributions.
Children learn through being told what to do (command) and when being told who they are (attribution). These statements have an influence on the child’s script decision depending on how frequently they are given (Joines & Stewart, 2002). When attributions are followed by the child, they are reinforced. There is little information about direct commands and attributions given to Marley when he was little. After Cedella Malcolm fetched Marley from Kingston, he started singing in her grocery store. When he did so, people enjoyed his singing. Attributions gained from this experience led Marley to continue singing for them, and most likely led to his identification with singing as a means to received positive attention, and to have a positive impact on others. Because of his success with singing, his uncle also let him play with his guitar because he was so impressed with him, which would have further positively reinforced the associations he had with singing. In general, expected behaviour is likely to occur simply because it is expected (Steiner, 2012).
Modeling.
Children also learn through modeling. In the quest for ways to have their needs met, children might decide to copy what parents or parental figures do to have their needs met.
Marley’s grandfather was known for his hard work and for being a disciplinarian. Later in his life Marley applied the same work ethic to his music career. Marley’s grandfather also modeled multiple relationships with women, leading tothe birth of many children, which might have led to similar behaviour in Marley.
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Traumatic events.
Another contributing factor to script formation is a traumatic life event, which is perceived as threatening. Most often, script decisions are made in response to script messages received repetitively (Joines & Stewart, 2002). When Marley reached the age of ten, his mother left him in the care of his aunt and went to Kingston, and he learned that his father passed away (Moskowitz, 2007a).Having both parents leave him at the time could have been very traumatic for Marley, and would most likely have been experienced as loss or rejection.
This would have further reinforced his experience of not belonging.
Environmental influences.
A child’s name can be regarded as the onset of his or her biography as well as part of a specific life plan (Jagieła & Gębuś, 2015). Marley’s father named him Nesta Robert
Marley. He was named Robert after his father’s brother who was a prominent cricket and tennis player. According Cedella Malcolm, the name Nesta meant messenger (Salewicz,
2009). Marley certainly did become a prominent person in not just the Rastafarian community, but was considered aninternational symbol of freedom. He also became the voice of the oppressed and was described by Al Anderson as the vocal newspaper for the people in
Jamaica. Marley put into music the message the people needed to hear to inspire them and give hope for a better future. It is however important to note that when Marley was asked about his family he referred to the Malcolms and not the Marley’s. “Oppressive conditions which force people into scripts exist in all social classes, but they are more obvious in the lower socio-economic classes which bear heavier and more brutal oppression” (Steiner, 1974, p. 99). The political climate in Jamaica resulted in a lot of violence and death. Socio- economic conditions were poor and people suffered as a result of poverty. Because Marley was raised in these conditions made him very tough. These environmental factors also played a very big role in the formation of Marley’s script. 87
Different scripts.
Scripts fall into three categories, namely, winning, losing or non-winning scripts. It is important to note that individuals can have winning, losing, or non-winning scripts in different areas of their lives (Joines & Stewart, 2002). Marley achieved superstardom at the age of thirty one, when his music was known my many around the world. He can beseen as an inspiration by anyone who strives to overcome hardship and poverty. Yet there are aspects of his life that are quite contradictory to the success he achieved. His showed concern for the world, but his lack of concern for his own health eventually lead to his death. The researcher therefore could not assign a purely winning or purely losing script to his life. Marley could be considered as having aspects of a winning as well as a losing script.
According to Berne (1972), a winning script is associated with someone who accomplishes his declared purpose comfortably, happily and smoothly. Marley’s declared purpose in his own words were “truth, peace love and music and livity” (NRK-Broadcasting,
1978). He also said: “Me try to bring peace, knowing that we really can’t solve the problem with a war. Whose problem am I gonna solve when I kill someone. So I figure peace is the best thing” (Lambert, 2012). Marley did achieve his declared purpose with his music by spreading the message of love, peace and freedom but did so at a very high price. Time spent with his family became minimal and his health suffered. The declared purpose was therefore not reached smoothly and comfortably because he ultimately paid for it with his life.
Winning is also relative to the person’s set of goals (Joines & Stewart, 2002). Marley did reach his goal in terms of having his music and message spread to most corners of the world. He was also recognised for his efforts; Marley received the Third World Peace Medal from an African delegation to the United Nations, a tribute which recognised his efforts on behalf of disenfranchised blackpeople around the world (Moskowitz, 2007a). In 1980 Marley 88 was invited to perform and be one of the dignitaries at the independence celebrations.
Individuals with winning scripts care about the world and the people in it, value others and themselves, and leave the world a bit better for having been in it (Steiner, 1974). Marley left the world a better place. He inspired many oppressed people around the world to unite and stand up for their rights. The abovementioned awards are testimony to his contributions for having done this. According to Chris Blackwell and Collin Leslie, Tuff Gong’s accountant,
Marley was a very generous person. He took on more than four thousand people to give hot meals to and spent hours at night to aid people who suffered as a result of the violence in
Jamaica (Lambert, 2012).
A losing script is associated with someone who did not accomplish a declared purpose, or if they did, suffered a lot of discomfort while doing so; Marley did accomplish his declared purpose but it came at a high price. He sacrificed his health and time with his family. Losing scripts can also be broadly classified as first, second and third degree losing scripts, according to the severity and payoff. A 3rd degree losing script might end in death, serious injury, or legal problems (Joines & Stewart, 2002). Individuals with third degree losing scripts might harm themselves or others through, for example, drinking, eating or working themselves to death; they may drive recklessly or commit suicide (James, 1977).
The typical classical loser is the man who makes himself suffer sickness or damage for no good cause. If he has a good cause, then he may become a successful martyr, which is the best way to win by losing (Dusay, 1977). If Marley paid more attention to his health, went for the checkups regularly and rested more it might have saved his life. One could therefore classify his death under a 3rd degree losing script. He did suffer for the greater good which makes him a successful martyr. Marley therefore had elements of both a winning and a losing script. 89
Detecting script behaviour.
Most people when making decisions in life do so thinking these decisions are autonomous. In most cases though they are driven by script decisions that were made outside of conscious awareness when the person was very young in an attempt to have their needs met. As an adult, this individual then utilises these same strategies not realising that they are outdated. According to (Joines & Stewart, 2002) two factors indicate that one is in script : 1) when the here and now is perceived as stressful. 2) when there is a resemblance between the here and now situation and a stressful situation in childhood. This later possibility is referred to as a rubberband (Joines & Stewart, 2002).
Marley was described by his teacher as a shy and timid boy. She reported that he needed a lot of attention to come out of his shell and he was reluctant to give answers if he thought it might be wrong. A girl named Pauline also reported that as a teenager Marley liked sitting by himself busying himself with his guitar. Al Anderson reported that when Marley and the Wailers reached superstardom Marley faced a lot of pressure with the constant touring, interviews and preparation for the shows. According to him, Marley was sometimes so preoccupied that he could not even greet back. It would therefore appear that when Marley was faced with a stressful situation he would become quiet and withdrawn.
Two indications associated with an individual playing out their script are; 1) body clues, such as e.g. tightening of certain muscles or change in body posture, 2) when individuals find themselves in situations that repetitively seem wrong to them. It is not that clear which bodily clues indicate when Marley went into script but he did have the habit of having a very serious facial expression. The situations that kept going wrong for him were his disappointments with people in the music industry, being hounded by the media over his dreadlocks, marijuana smoking and extramarital affairs. 90
The Script Matrix.
The script matrix deals with the content of the script and contains script messages that are transmitted from the parents’ Parent, Adult and Child ego states to the child’s ego-states
(Joines & Stewart, 2002). In trying to understand the individual, the three ego-states of both their mother and father have to be understood as well (Steiner, 1974).
The script matrix consists of the counterscript, program and script.
Drivers and Allowers.
The counterscript contains messages given from the parents’ Parent to the child’s
Parent. These messages are normally given verbally and entail a list of instructions of what to do. They are referred to as drivers and when followed, provide the individual with a conditional sense of OK-ness. There are five drivers, namely; Be perfect, Be strong, Try hard, Please people and Hurry up(Joines & Stewart, 2002). Most people have one or two drivers they show most frequently. The primary prevalent drivers in Marley’s life were:
Be perfect driver.
Be Perfect characteristics involve a quest for perfection – no errors, everything must be exactly right (Hay, 2013). As a child in school Marley’s teacher reported that he needed a lot of praise in class to answer. He did not want to speak up if he was not sure his answer was right. He was also very meticulous when it came to recording and preparing for stage performances, to the degree that it created interpersonal difficulties between him and band members. Individuals with this driver choose their words carefully and may therefore use long, less familiar words or technical terms that others do not understand (Hay, 2013). In his interview with Gil Noble, when asked about his religious beliefs, Marley answered him using biblical phrases. There is a danger that people with this driver end up doing everything 91 themselves because they do not trust others to do it right (Hay, 2013). Marley opened his own recording studio. Once Marley and the Wailers could afford it, they were in charge of their own label. High expectations are constantly applied, and there is failure to recognise when a lower standard would be appropriate and acceptable (Hay, 2013).
Be strong driver.
People who have a Be Strong driver can work steadily even at unpleasant tasks (Hay,
2013). As a young boy Marley performed a lot of duties on the farm for his grandfather.
Because it implied hard labour, it could not have been pleasant but he did the tasks nonetheless. As supervisors, people with this driver are likely to handle staff firmly and fairly (Hay, 2013). In the beginning of his music career Marley was in charge of the I-threes and according to Rita Marley, he tolerated no silliness and was always very serious about getting the work done. One problem with this style is that these people do not like admitting weaknesses, and regard any failure to cope as a weakness. So they get overloaded rather than asking others for help (Hay, 2013). This might explain why Marley did not want to face the fact that he needed to pay attention to his toe because he saw being sick as a sign of weakness.
Program.
The program deals with how to follow instructions. Marley was taught by his grandfather how to work hard and do things on the farm. He was also taught by Joe Higgs how to write music.
Injunctions and permissions.
The script is made up of messages sent from the parents’ Child to the child’s Child.
The script messages are normally more powerful in determining behaviour than the driver 92 messages (Steiner, 1974). Injunctions and permissions come from the parents’ Child. The main injunctions and attributions tend to come from one of the parents.Injunctions are not given in direct words, but are given to children in the form of veiled communication, which at times might be very crude but is often extremely subtle (Steiner, 1974).
Taking into consideration Marley’s genetic heritage, events in childhood, adolescence and adulthood, he might have carried a don’t exist and a don’t belong injunction.
Don’t be (don’t exist): Children decide that they must not exist when they perceive their parent(s) as wishing them dead (Stewart, 1989). When Marley was born his mother had to raise him by herself with no financial support. Cedella Malcolm also had to deal with the fact that her child had a lighter skin than other Jamaicans and that she had a husband on paper only. It is possible that during a time of feeling stressed about her situation, that she could have unknowingly made her only son feel that it was somehow his fault, and that if he had not been born she would not be in that situation. This message was reinforced later in
Marley’s life, when she left him to fend for himself on more than one occasion.The don’t be injunction could then possibly have been conveyed to Marley. The exact messages given and received at the time of making the script decision can however not be determined with a great deal of certainty and the speculative nature of this conclusion is duly noted.
Other events leading to him carrying this injunction was the way he died. Although once again only speculative, one would assume that if Marley had treated the cancer earlier and paid more attention to his health he might not have died. The question arises as to why he did not do this, seeing that he had the financial means to see the specialists he needed. An answer is that he possibly did not value his life that much, and that unknowingly he was obeying an injunction of don’t exist. Marley also made a few statements in interviews verbalising that his own life meant nothing if he could not serve or be there for others. 93
Don’t belong: This injunction is a message conveyed by parents as an attribution by continually telling their child that he or she is different from other children or that he or she is difficult (Joines & Stewart, 2002). Since before Marley was born there was controversy around his existence because of society’s restrictive code about racial integration. His lighter skin was the cause of much distress to the young Marley. He was considered different and also felt different. It is therefore possible that he carried a don’t belong injunction.
At about the age of eighteen Marley started to embrace Rastafarianism. He aligned himself with a group of people that followed a certain diet, set of beliefs, had dreadlocks and considered smoking marijuana to be something that brings you closer to your creator.
Through this alignment, Marley achieved the sense of belonging that he longed for. At the same time, this choice led to a lot of critique, and his receiving of bad publicity from the media. It would appear as if he had overcome his sense of not belonging by aligning with a group that was still seen as different.
Injunctions can be disobeyed or covered by drivers (Steiner, 1974). Marley’s drivers and other counterinjunctions provided him with a means of covering up his injunctions and lead to a conditional sense of OKness. As long as he could work hard and help inspire people through his music, it was ok for him to be alive. One can also disobey the more serious injunction with the less serious one. By obeying the don’t belong injunction he did not have to listen to the don’t exist injunction. So by being a Rasta and seen as different from the rest of the world he did not have to die. The injunctions and drivers were kept in balance because
Marley kept on working hard and singing about his religion and in doing so could keep the destructive injunction at bay.
Marley covered his don’t exist injunction with the driver work hard. This kind of script set-up sometimes has a paradoxical and particularly unpleasant outcome. In keeping on 94 working hard he followed a little professor strategy for staying alive. But after years of overwork he died from cancer. The very set-up was designed to defend him against a negative payoff resulted in the payoff being reached.
Script Process
The script process tries to explain how we live out our script over time. There are six patterns of script process: Until, After, Never, Always, Almost and Open-minded (Joines &
Stewart, 2002). There are two script patterns that are evident in Marley’s script. The first is
Always, which often asks the question, ‘why does this always happen to me?’ (Joines &
Stewart, 2002). Some of the people Marley worked with in the music industry let him down by doing him in with money, and this happened over and over. One can imagine that Marley must have asked, why does this always happen to me?
The Almost type 2 pattern emerges in an individual who reaches their goal but Marley seemed to follow this pattern with his music. He had an exceptional song writing ability and was able to produce one album after the other. He was always busy writing new songs, and had an unrelenting drive.
Strokes and Time Structuring
Berne (1971) (cited in Spenceley, 2016) describes a stroke as a unit of recognition.
Our need for physical and mental stimulation is called stimulus hunger. We need strokes to survive and we interact with people for the purpose of getting strokes (Kambly, 1975).
Individuals have their own preference of giving and taking strokes called stroke quotient.
When someone gets a stroke that doesn’t fit in with his preferred stroke quotient, he is likely to ignore or belittle it (Joines & Stewart, 2002). 95
As a young child Marley’s teacher reported he was shy and needed a lot of attention
(positive strokes) to be heard in class. As an adult he might still have needed a high level of strokes which might be the reason why he had so many extramarital affairs and the driving force behind the live performances, where thousands of people would be watching and cheering. Listening to Marley’s responses in interviews gives an indication of his stroke filter. Gil Noble (1980) asked the following questions when interviewing Marley. Question 1:
“How do you handle fame?” A: “ I handle fame by not being famous”. From this example it is clear that Marley did not want to be stroked for being famous but rather for his contribution he was making in the lives of the oppressed. He wanted to be stroked for being a helper.
Berne (1978) asserted that individuals become uncomfortable with unstructured time.
He identified ways in which people structure their time, including withdrawal, rituals, activities, pastimes, game and intimacy. Within Marley’s life, he often engaged in
Withdrawal. This is when someone within a group withdraws and carries on a monologue in their head (Joines & Stewart, 2002). Although not doing so in a group, Marley spent a lot of time by himself writing his music. There are a variety of Pastimes that were prevalent in
Marley’s life. Pastimes proceed in a way that are familiar but the content of a pastime is not programmed so strictly as that of a ritual(Joines & Stewart, 2002). According to Esther,
(Lambert, 2012) Marley and the Wailers often discussed religion, politics and news.
Activities are action based, and individuals direct their energy towards some material outcome (Joines & Stewart, 2002). Marley often engaged in group activities such as playing football (Joines & Stewart, 2002). Another activity Marley spent a lot of time on was studio rehearsing and recording. Games Marley was involved in will be discussed in the section below. In intimacy strokes are freely given and spontaneous, with material from all three ego states being available. There are no ulterior transactions or motivations (Spenceley, 2016).
Marley had several extramarital affairs and fathered eleven children from these affairs. He 96 was often badly criticised for it but when asked about it, had a very unique perception about it. According to him, western rules did not apply to him because he was a Rasta. And being a
Rasta did not restrict him to havingonlyone woman in his life. He felt that he was not breaking any rules and that he could make his own rules regarding the matter (Red,
2010).The seemingly Free Child behaviour on his part may be regarded as instances when
Marley was using Intimacy as a way of structuring his time.
Games Analysis
Games contain hidden messages (Noriega, 2010) and reinforce the player’s life script
(Spenceley, 2016). It is played form the Child and Parent ego-states and are dysfunctional strategies of having our needs met (Joines & Stewart, 2002). Depending on the payoff of a game it can be classified as a 1st, 2nd or 3rd degree game (Spenceley, 2016). Berne defined a first-degree game as ‘‘one which is socially acceptable in the agent’s circle,’’ a second- degree game as one ‘‘from which no permanent, irremediable damage arises but which the players would rather conceal from the public,’’ and a third-degree game as ‘‘one which is played for keeps, and which ends in the surgery, the courtroom or the morgue’’ (Stuthridge,
2015, p. 64).
Example of a 2nd degree game Marley played was his relationships with people in the music industry. A 3rddegree game could be the fact that he denied his health issues which eventually resulted in his death.
Marley grew up without a father and it appeared as if he was always looking for someone to fill that role. He would then seek out men that could help him record his music.
In the case of Don Taylor, he was the one who approached Marley to manage the Wailers but offered Marley the same type of ‘looking after’ as Dodd, Sims, Nash and Planno. On a social 97 level it seemed as if Marley was making a business deal with a business associate but on a psychological level he wanted a father figure in his life. The music producers had ulterior motives of why they were being helpful, instead of just wanting to help they also want to gain from Marley’s fame. In the end Marley’s game involved money being mismanaged. This led toMarley feeling angry and disappointed because he was once again let down by a male figure in his life, thus reinforcing his existential life position of I’m OK you’re not OK.
The drama triangle is associated with the playing of games; this triangle has three script roles: Persecutor, Rescuer and Victim.All three roles contain a discount and are inauthentic (Joines & Stewart, 2002). In the abovementioned game Marley switched from
Victim to Persecutor. When listening to the lyrics of Marley’s songs, it is evident that he took on the role as Persecutor by condemning governments for oppressing individuals and those who are against the Rastafarians beliefs.
Rackets.
A racket feeling, is defined as a familiar emotion, learned and encouraged in childhood, and experienced in many different stressful situations. Rackets are a maladaptive means of problem solving. Whenever someone experiences a racket feeling they are in script.
Marley had a racket of becoming withdrawn. As a child in class his teacher described him as timid and shy and he would only blossom once he was given a lot of attention. As a teenager, he was also described as someone who would just walk away from people to be alone and as someone who seemed to have a lot on his mind. As an adult when he was faced with all the pressure of superstardom, he also tended to avoid talking when feeling stressed. It is not very clear what Marley’s authentic emotion was when engaging in this type of behaviour but seeing that it is something he repeatedly did since childhood. 98
Marley also had an anger racket. He was known for being tough on the streets and was known for being able to defend himself when he needed to. His lyrics do not hide how contemptuous he was of oppressive governments. He did not shy away from using physical violence to get his way or express how he felt. Because Marley saw his father’s ethnicity as being part of Babylon, it could be speculated that it was because of his anger towards his father’s lack of interest in him that he became so angry at the world. Because he never received any form of approval from his father his authentic feeling could have been sadness that he covered up with his anger racket. This may have been reinforced by the lack of perceived interest from his mother, which also led to him feeling sad, which he covered up with anger.
Conclusion
In this chapter Bob Marley’s ego-states were discussed. It would appear as is Marley spent a lot of his time in his Child ego-state. He would shift from being in Negative Adapted
Child to Positive Adapted Child. When transacting with individuals, he would engage in complimentary and very often ulterior transactions. Marley had both elements of a winning as well as a losing script. Various elements contributed to his script decisions and affected the course of his life. Different ways of how Marley structured his time was also discussed and was linked to his need for obtaining strokes.Finally, games that he played and movement from victim to persecutor is explored.
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CHAPTER 6
CONCLUSIONS, LIMITATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Chapter Overview
This final chapter revisits the aim of the study and provides a summary of the research findings. The possible limitations are described. The value of the study is also discussed and recommendations for further research are suggested.
The Aims of the Study Revisited
The primary aim of this study was to explore and describe the life of Bob Marley from the theoretical perspective of Eric Berne’s theory of Transactional Analysis. The findings of the study were generalised to the framework of Transactional Analysis and not to the broader population.
Summary of Research Findings
In this section the main findings of the study are provided. Marley’s ego-states, transaction types, life positions, script, time structuring games and rackets are presented.
An ego-state diagnosis was made based on Eric Berne’s four diagnostic criteria:behaviourally, socially, historically and phenomenologically. Behaviourally Marley seemed to habitually come from a Positive Adapted Child position, even though at times it seemed like his Adult. Marley’s nonverbal communication seemed to be more consistent with that of a Positive Adapted Child, and socially he hooked the Parent of various others (the researcher, interviewer, and various women in his life). An historical diagnosis could not be made due to the fact that questions that would illicit answers diagnosing an ego-state were 100 not asked to him during the interview. Phenomenologically, the researcher found Marley to also be in his Child ego-state, although the speculative nature of the diagnostic criterion used is duly noted.
In his second order structure Parent, Marley stored information coming from all the parental figures in his life which included his grandfather’s hardworking and disciplined way of raising him, and his uncle’s encouragement of his love for music. In Marley’s second order structure Adult he was able to write music, play his guitar and do farm chores. His second order structure Child is based merely on inferences. Taken into account the circumstances around his birth it would appear as if his mother at the time was very stressed and Marley could have interpreted it as being a burden and feeling unwanted.
The I’m OK you’re not OK position is most suited for Marley. It is speculated that because his mother was facing many challenges at the time of his birth she might have deprived him of strokes, hence he stroked himself and developed the I’m OK you’re not OK position. Other factors guiding the researcher’s belief that Marley had this existential life position were the following: he was described as someone who could stand up for himself, his lyrics condemned corrupt governments, and the fact that he viewed himself as being OK because he is a Rasta.
The following could be seen as the elements of Marley’s script. It is directional because he made the script decision himself. It was reinforced by significant others in his life through his father’s absence, his aunt’s rejection, grandfather’s upbringingand his mother’s abandonment. Script decisions were made outside of Marley’s awareness. The last element of his script was Marley’s frame of reference justifying his script belief. He aligned himself with Rastafarianism, was seen by the world as different; because of this difference hejustified his script belief of not belonging. 101
There are various influences to the script decision. Possible influences that affected
Marley’s script decision are: feeling good when singing, as a child, being separated from his mother, his father’s uninvolvement in his life, his grandfather’s work ethic on the farm and his name, Nesta, which means messenger and him being mixed race.
With regards to the different types of scripts, Marley had elements of both a winning and a losing script. The winning elements are the fact that he inspired so many oppressed people in the world therefore leaving the world a better place, and losing elements because his failure to look after his health resulted in a death that could otherwise have been prevented.
Marley was most likely in script when he became quiet and withdrawn, with a serious expression on his face. Another likelihood for being in script is the several disappointments with people in the music industry.
The two drivers Marley were most likely to have are the be perfect and be strong driver. His be perfect driver is evident in his work ethic because he left no room for mistakes and did not tolerate mistakes from others either. His be strong driver can be seen in the fact that he did not want to acknowledge the fact that he was ill because people with this driver do not like admitting weaknesses.
Injunctions are given before children learn command of language. Possible injunctions for Marley may include; don’t exist and don’t belong. The don’t exist injunction was inferred from the fact that Marley was reluctant to take care of his health which led to his death. His don’t belong injunction can be inferred from the fact that he was mixed race and faced resistance because of this as a child, and later in life when becoming a Rasta, was once again seen as being different by the rest of the world. 102
The script process explains how we live out our script over time. The script process most suitable for Marley is an Always and Almost type 2. The thing that always seemed to happen to him was the fact that he would be done in by people in the music industry. Marley never took a break from writing music, and would do so even while supposed to be resting.
He was able to produce one album after the other never stopping to appreciate the success of that which was completed.
As a young child Marley needed a lot of strokes to feel confident, and as an adult and musician the crowds attending his shows became larger and larger. He preferred unconditional to conditional strokes. He structured his time through activities which included playing soccer, writing music and performances on stage.
A second degree game that Marley often got involved in was his failed relationships with music producers. His need for help was the con, their willingness to assist the gimmick, transactions back and forth between the different parties the response stage. When they got caught mishandling money, it was the switch leading to the cross up and then the payoff which was an anger racket for Marley. The game role Marley mostly engaged in was the persecutor role which is evident in how his games always ended, and in the lyrics of his songs.
Limitations of this Study
In Chapter 4 the methodological challenges associated with conducting a qualitative psychobiographical research was discussed as well as the processes ofminimizing them. The methodological challenges included; researcher bias, reductionism, cross-cultural differences, analyzing an absent subject, inflated expectations, infinite amount of biographical data and validity and reliability. From a retrospective viewpoint the researcher was able to reflect on 103 the experience of conducting a psychobiographical study and the impact these methodological considerations had. The researcher experienced limitations in the following areas. The researcher started the research study with a preconceived idea of the life of
Marley. The researcher was familiar with his music and was intrigued by the influences of his lyrics and was fascinated by its staying power so long after he had died. During the literature review the researcher became aware of parts of his life that could be described as troublesome and flawed. In Chapter 4 the researcher explained ways in which to reduce researcher bias to ensure an increase in reliability of data and its interpretation.
One form of reductionism is that psychobiographies tend to focus on pathological processes rather than normality or health, and that the later formative influences are neglected for early childhood experiences (Anderson, 1981a). Marley’s life was described through the lens of Transactional Analysis (TA). According to TA the script which is the person’s life- plan is decided in the first two years of life and this is not consciously remembered by the individual. The researcher is also aware that the findings of this study are speculative and cannot be generalised.
In terms of analyzing an absent subject the researcher experienced the following difficulties. In an attempt to make an ego-state diagnosis of Marley using Berne’s four diagnostic criteria, it would have been ideal to transact with the actual person to elicit information that would guide such a diagnosis. The researcher had to make do with non- therapeutic interviews with the subject that did not illicit the specific information needed to make an ego-state diagnosis. There was also little information about how Marley himself described and felt about his childhood making a script diagnosis difficult. The researcher tried to overcome this problem by using the opinion of significant others’ in Marley’s life. 104
Regarding the methodological consideration of inflated expectations the researcher is fully aware of the speculative nature of the study. Script decisions are made outside of awareness which makes it difficult to say with certainty what exactly it entailed. The researcher did however base her decisions on an extensive data collection on both TA and
Marley.
Specific limitations to the study included the following. A lot has been written about
Marley, especially his music. He was a world famous reggae superstar who captured the hearts of millions around the world. He described his music as a message of freedom, truth and advocated peace and equality for all. In the eyes of the world he was the symbol of freedom. The political leaders at the time saw his powerful influence over the Jamaican population and were forever trying to capitalise on it. The researcher felt that because people of all races and social standing put Marley in such high esteem, it resulted in his flaws being overlooked. Written published material on his life seemed to minimise how his lifestyle, regarding the smoking and extramarital affairs, affected not only his family at the time, but also the impact it would have on many young minds wanting to be like the famous Bob
Marley. The researcher is also of the opinion that, should she have gathered information about him at the time while he was still alive, it might be different to the information gathered after his death. Another difficulty the researcher experienced was that a lot of the information written about him centered around his music and lacked details about his relationship with his children and the women in his life.
Value of the Study
This study has provided the first psychobiography on the life of Bob Marley as viewed through the lens through Eric Berne’s theory of Transactional Analysis. The focus of the current study was on Marley’s ego-states, script, life position, how he structured his time 105 and games, focusing on the psychological driving force behind his behaviour therefore providing new insights into his life. The study contributes to the number of psychobiographies therefore adding to the body of knowledge in psychobiographical research. TA was used as the theoretical framework for exploring and describing Marley’s life and is built on the premise that people are social beings, who manifest patterns of behaviour in social interactions (Berne, 1978). Applying TA to Marley’s lived life allowed the researcher to explore Marley’s psychological development in a holistic manner as well as test the useof TA in psychobiography
Recommendations for Future Research
The researcher proposes that the findings of this study could be taken as a starting point to further the psychological analysis of Marley. Future research can also be guided by additional theoretical approaches thereby providing alternative views, thus adding to the understanding of Marley’s personality. A more in-depth study such as a doctoral thesis would be beneficial in capturing the extraordinary life of the world famous reggae star. The depth and reliability of future studies could also be enhanced by interviewing living relatives of
Marley. It is also recommended that a similar study be undertaken on a larger scale. These future findings could be compared with the current findings to either enhance the reliability of the data or to provide discrepancies, which will provide more opportunities for future research.
Final Conclusion
This final chapter outlined the conclusions of the study. The limitations of the study as well as recommendations for possible future research in relation to Marley’s development were presented. The primary aim of the research study was to explore and describe the life of 106
Marley by applying Eric Berne’s theory of Transactional Analysis to the context of his lived life. The researcher is of the opinion that while there were limitations to the research study, the aims of this study were achieved.
107
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Appendix A
Timeline Representing Marley’s Musical Career: From Humble Beginnings To Super
Stardom
YEAR
Bob made his first guitar. 1960 Started practising how to sing with Joe Higgs.
Started singing for producer Leslie Kong. First recordings were; ‘judge 1962 not’, ‘one cup of coffee’ and ‘terror’
Started recording for producer Clement ‘Coxsone’ Dodd. Releasedthe 1963 single ‘Simmer down’ under the name, The Wailing Wailers.
1965 The Wailing Wailers have success with few singles.
Recorded successful singles for Johnny Nash and Danny Sims’s JAD 1969 label.
1970 Wailers recording for Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry.
1971 Working in London for Nash and Sims on a record deal for CBS records.
The Wailers released album ‘Catch a Fire’. Was universally recognized as 1972 the first reggae album in history.
Released their second album, ‘Burnin’. The Wailers launched their first 1973 official tour.
The Wailers reached international exposure due to ‘I shot the sheriff’ 1974 The Wailers disbanded. Marley released the Natty Dread album.
The Wailers disbanded officially and Natty Dread was released in 1975 February.
1976 Bob Marley and the Wailers released the album, ‘Rastaman Vibration’
1977 Album ‘Exodus’ was released.
1978 Album ‘Kaya’ was released.
1979 Album ‘Survival’ was released. 115
YEAR
Album’ Uprising’ was released. Stevie Wonder released a tribute to the 1980 cancer-stricken Bob Marley, ‘Master Blaster’
1983 Album Confrontation was released.
1984 ‘Legend’ the most popular collection of Marley’s hits was released.
The album ‘Legend’ received its 10th platinum certification, signifying that 1999 it had sold over a million copies.
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Appendix B
My thoughts and feelings about ‘Bob Marley’
My initial interest in Bob Marley stemmed from the fact that his music is still so popular many years after he had died. I was curious about how he died and what the driving force was behind his powerful lyrics. It was as if his memory would not die and his music seemed to create a feel good feeling wherever it was played. His religion was also of great interest to me as well as the fact that he was loved by so many. What was it about him that people loved so much?
My initial feeling toward him was not very objective because it started with him being on a pedestal. After all, he was the great reggae superstar from Jamaica. When I started reading about his upbringing I was struck by the hardships he had to endure and felt an overwhelming sense of empathy for him. With his lighter skin, absent father and young mother I found myself thinking how bad things must have been for him. It seemed as if life gave him a raw deal. He was described by his teacher and others as shy and timid and someone who liked spending time by himself. I found it very frustrating that Marley himself had very little to say about those moments that he always liked spending by himself. It therefore will forever remain a mystery what was brewing in the young Marley’s mind. He also had this habit of using metaphors when speaking and almost never said how things really made him feel. He had a unique way of looking at things and his thoughts were deep as if he was always searching for the meaning of life. At times he gave the impression that he was very lonely and felt misunderstood and that he only trusted himself with his inner most thoughts. He gave the impression of a boy who was always searching for the love of his mother. As if he was always looking for it but never found it, irrespective of how his mother really felt about him. His relationships with women was as if he was looking for playmates, 117 just living freely and having fun, unaware of the impact it might have on those involved.
Patricia, one of the women reported that anyone who knew Marley loved him.
I felt myself being drawn into the struggles of the Wailers as they were climbing their way to success. It appeared as if Marley and the Wailers did not shy away from using threats and at times violence to fight their way to the top but very little focus was placed on such instances in the written published material. I found myself wondering in just how many of these fights he got involved and what exactly did he do to earn the name Tuff Gong?
It was difficult not to wonder what it was that the authors were not saying about him.
So the detective in me wanted more answers and in the end just created more questions.
Luckily psychobiographies are written using a theoretical approach. Transactional Analysis and Marley then became the mystery that needed to be solved together. Instead of wanting my personal questions to be answered the TA constructs started to guide my thinking in order to marry the subject with the theory. It made everything more objective and less about what I thought about it and how I felt about it. It separated me from the process and made everything sound more scientific in a sense. There was however times when I realised that even during this process subjectivity could also sneak in especially because of the speculative nature of the theory. It also dawned on me, that I was using what felt like second hand information about Marley, stories that were told and retold about things that other people thought was important. Applying TA to Marley also came with its own set of challenges; especially with things such as the type of script he had. It felt unreal that I identified aspects of his script which indicated losing and not just winning which I initially thought it would not be the case.
This made me realise that no one was ever going to have the perfect script and that everyone’s decision they made during infancy to have their needs met will always be unique to the individual. It also made me realise that ethnicity, money, circumstances around one’s 118 birth might have an influence on our script but the individual ultimately decides how the script plays out in the end. I also had to make peace of the fact that even the TA questions would not be answered with certainty and that the only sure thing at the end was that Marley was born in poor socio economic circumstances, became famous, had children and died at the age of thirty six. And even though a sound psychological theory was used to explain the psychological makeup of the third world superstar it did not feel as if all the stones were unturned. I realised that the complexities of a human life is very difficult to compress into a specific theory and that there are so many ways to explain the same observed behaviour because there is no exact answer.
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Appendix C
Data Collection Matrix
Factors influencing Marley’s personality Childhood Adolescence Adulthood
Functional Model
*Parent, Adult, Child
Structural Model
Analysis
Structural Structural *Parent2, Adult2, Child2
Complementary
Analysis Analysis Crossed
Proper Ulterior
Transactional Transactional
Life Positions
Elements of Script
Influences to the script decision
Different Scripts
Detecting Script Behaviour
Script Analysis Script The script Matrix
Script Process
Withdrawal
Ritual
Positive
Activity
Games
Strokes and and Time Structuring Strokes Intimacy