This paper describes a contextualist theory of the schizophrenic process. Schizophrenia is conceptualized as the result of failure to develop sufficiently elaborated personal identity resources to withstand the stress of loss or negation of important social roles. Genetic predisposition, familial environment, and exposure to life stressors may all play a role in this process, but none of these factors is by itself necessary or sufficient to account for schizophrenic symptomatology and its accompanying life trajectory. Rather, these factors contribute to the development of a relatively undifferentiated sense of self in the individual who becomes schizophrenic.