Oh, great topic! It reminded me of my recent work with Eric Berne’s 12 restrictions.
The twelve parental injunctions are a concept often discussed in psychology, related to the influence parents have on shaping their children’s personality and behavior. These injunctions are subconscious messages and instructions that parents pass on to their children.
Here’s a list of the main injunctions:
Don’t exist: The child feels unwanted or that their existence is a problem for the parents.
Don’t be yourself: The child is expected to meet certain expectations, often related to gender or social roles.
Don’t be a child: The expectation that the child behaves more maturely and responsibly than is natural for their age.
Don’t grow up: Encouraging dependence and infantilism, keeping the child in a small and dependent role.
Don’t succeed: The idea that the child should not achieve success to avoid envy or threat to others.
Don’t be important: Telling the child that their opinions and needs are insignificant.
Don’t lead: Suppression of leadership qualities and initiative.
Don’t be healthy: Consciously or subconsciously cultivating the notion that illness brings benefits or attention.
Don’t be sexual: Suppression of sexuality and related aspects of personality.
Don’t think: Suppression of analytical abilities and critical thinking.
Don’t feel: Suppression of emotional openness and expression of feelings.
Don’t belong: The idea that the child should be lonely, isolated, or not belong to any group.
These injunctions can be conveyed explicitly through words and actions, or implicitly through subconscious signals and the emotional atmosphere in the family. They can significantly impact a person’s personality development and behavior in adulthood, creating many problems for people.