Thus many therapies are essentially editorial. Their purpose is review and revision until ordering is achieved. The process of creating such order, however, may involve acquiescence in authoritarian paradigms and demands. In some therapies, for instance, determination is transferred from paternal to medical authority. Psychiatrists and, with the recent recognition of innumerable psychogenic dis-eases, doctors in general, easily become front line troops in defence of authoritarian cultural constructions.
Double binds are the normal experience for women within a patriarchal social organization.
Double binds effectively reinforce the authoritarian hierarchy and social construction. They are related to double standards. Like double binds, double standards often are not actually double but, like a layer cake, may be defined in multiple, variable, and negotiable levels. More than one standard can be applied concurrently in the same situation. Which standards are applied depend on a person's rank in a range of hierarchies.