For previous sections of this series go to: Captive Hearts, Captive Minds/Take Back Your Life
A NOTE regarding the book. The book is being revised and updated and will get a new title; Take Back Your Life: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships (previously titled Captive Hearts, Captive Minds and this is the title I am working with) by Janja Lalich and Madeleine Tobias"
Chapter 3: Understanding Thought Reform Part 1
Sometimes people believe that teachers, religion, parents, all use forms of thought reform. But do they? Is there a difference?
Legitimate methods of education gpeople do not use deception or manipulation to inform/educate people. If I take a course in human relations I expect that by the end I will have learned something about Human Relations. I don’t expect to be signed up the Scientology. I expect to get what they are saying is up front and honest.
Cults on the other hand use "manipulation, compliance, rigid obedience, stunted thinking, and childlike behavior’ to control their members (p. 34).
One of the things that is clearly recognized by cult researchers is the change that new cultists exhibit after their conversion. The reality is that people change drastically after joining a cult. The cult states this is a postive thing; that they have left their old bad parts behind so they can embrace the new beliefs. Granted, to some extent, some changes are to be expected. But the cult’s "new personality," drastic changes occur in beliefs, values, and behavior that make reaching the real person very difficult.
Thought Reform, Mind Control, Brainwashing—Which is it? What is it?
Over the years that I have been interacting with ex-cult members, I have repeatedly seen them deny that they were controlled by the cult. In fact, they insist they made thie own decisions. I think it is very difficult for most people to accept the idea that other people were controlling them. However, if we fail to acknowledge the possibility that we were controlled then it will be harder to unlock the controls that were placed upon us.
The book states:
Deceptice psychology and social manipulation are part and parcel of the cult experience. Over the years different lables have been used to describe the systematic process. Robert J. Lifton first used the term thought reform in the 1950s to describe the behavioral change processes he observed and stidied in students at revolutionary universties in Communist China and in prisoners of war during the Korean War. Like many others in this field we dislike the word brainwashing because it is a buzzword, often associated with Communism or torture. A prison cell or a torture chamber is a far cry from the subtlety and sophistication of the techniques of manipulation and control found in today’s cults. Therefore, we prefer the terms thought reform and mind control, and use them interchangeably throughout this book.
Lifton describes eight characteristics of thought reform commonly used by cults. Although we might see some of these characteristics in other groups, they would not be used to the extent they are used by cults to indoctrinate people. Each step in the process is built upon the previous step as follows:
The theme sets the stage,
- The rationale for the theme is based onan absolute belief or philosophy
- Because of the extreme belief system, a person within this settinghas a conflicting and polarized reaction, and is forced to make a choice. (p.36)
So let’s examine the eight themes that contribute to the new personality. On pages 36 & 37 the eight themes are cited.
- Milieu control, or the control of all communication and information, which includes the individual’s communication with himself.This sets up what Liftin calls "personal closure," meaning that the personno longer has to carry on inner struggles about what is true or real. Essentially, this prevents any time being spent on doubts.
- Mystical manipulation, or the claim of authority (divine, supernatural, or otherwise), which allows for the rationale that the ends justify the means since the "end" is directed by the higher purpose. Certain experiences are orchestrated to make it seem that they occur spontaneously. The person is required to subordinate himself to the group or cause and stops all questioning-—or who can question "higher purpose"? Self-expression and independent action wither away.
- Demand for purity, which is essentially a black-and-white worldview with the leader as the ultimate moral arbiter. This creates a world of guilt and shame, where punishment and humiliation are expected. It also sets up an environment of spying and reporting on one another. Through submission to the powerful lever guilt, the individual loses his or her own moral sense.
- The cult of confession, which is an act of surrender, of total exposure. The individual is now owned by the group. The person no longer has a sense of balance between worth and humility, and there is a loss of boundaries between what is secret (known only to the inner self) and what is known by the group.
- The "sacred science," whereby the group’s doctrineis seen as the Ultimate Truth. Here no questions are allowed. This reinforces personal closure and inhibits individual thought, creative self-expression, and personal development. Experience can only be perceived through the filter of the dogmatic belief.
- Loading the language, or use of jargon internal to—and only understandable by—the group.Constricting language constricts the person. Capacities for thinking and feeling are significantly reduced. Imagination is no longer a part of one’s actual life experiences; the mind atophies from disuse.
- Doctrine over person, which is denial of self and any perspective other than the group’s. There is no longer such a thing as personal reality. The past—society’s and the individual’s—is altered to fit the needs of the doctrine. Thus the individaul is remolded, the cult persona emerges, and the person’s sense of integrity is lost.
- Dispensing of existence, whereby the group is the ultimate arbiter and all nonbelievers are considered "evil" or nonpeople. If nonpeople cannot be recruited they can be punished, even killed. This creates the "us-versus-them" mentality and breeds fear in the individual, who sees that one’s own life depends on a willingness to obey. Here is found the merger of the individual with the belief.
This has got to be the best explanation of Lifton’s criteria I have ever read. Tobias and Lalich state that since the 1950’s when Lifton studied thought reform, has become more sophisticated. Recent groups attack the core self. This has the effect of making the person feels "defective" and the only hope lies with connection to the group. (p. 37) This might explain the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder that people experience after leaving the group.
End of Part 1