THIS is a report on some theoretical and technical contributions to the investigation of the double bind; they are the product of an ongoing research project on communication in the families of schizophrenic patients. The purposes of the present paper are to describe a researchable elaboration of the double bind theory, specifying the minimum level of complexity deemed necessary for such a communicational study and suggesting a method of breaking the data into units which are neither meaninglessly isolated nor too complex to be handled. Having proposed disqualification as an operational component of the overall double bind pattern, we will identify, define, and illustrate some varieties of what will be called transactional disqualification and emphasize another equally essential component, the response of the "victim." The Double Bind Hypothesis In essence, we will describe disqualification as one, but definitely not the only,