The term "thought reform" was used originally in China in the early
part of this century. The Chinese ideographic characters were
originally mis-translated as "wash brain," and hence the term often
used, "brainwashing." Dr. Margaret Singer, an American psychologist,
refers to thought reform programs as those programs developed in the
earlier part of this century by such persons as Mao Tse Tung, who
developed the programs used in "thought reform universities and camps"
in order to effect a change in the individual's political beliefs.
These she speaks of as "first generation" thought reform programs.
Subsequently, other people have used the same techniques in a more
refined way in order to go beyond the intents of the political
reformers. The aim of these "second generation" thought reform programs
is to change the personality functioning of the individuals brought
under the program of thought reform.
Dr. Singer has listed six characteristics of thought reform programs
that are applied by cults to their members:
1. Gain social control over the person.
Get them to come to more and more events given by the group, to
attend long seminars, to begin doing mental exercises that allow for
little or no quiet time, or time to think by one's self, or place them
in a controlled environment that does these things consistently.
The aim is to get control of the time one spends inside one's mind.
2. Reduce the person's self-esteem.
People begin to see their own lives as less valuable, less
meaningful, to see their own life experiences and lessons they have
learned as less valuable, to doubt the truth of what they have learned
in the past, to feel that the new group knows them better than anyone
else, that the leadership of the group is very powerful, knows a lot,
or everything. Recruits think of themselves as being inadequate,
become less able to clearly understand what they are in the face of
constant pressure to conform, to be socially acceptable, to accept the
warmth of others in the group.
3. Reduce old ways of functioning, choosing, behaving.
The individual begins to think of the group as very powerful,
themselves as powerless. Older ways of acting are discouraged.
Individuals come to believe that they are not as good as the group in
which they find themselves.
4. Induce new ways of functioning, choosing, behaving.
Models of behaving are shown by older members, rewards are given for
new behaviors, punishments for failure to conform are meted out.
5. A closed system of logic is used to keep the person from
questioning the group's beliefs, or its particular behaviors. If the
premises are wrong, so too are the conclusions.
6. A special, non-informed state exists in the mind of the
prospective recruit. Specific information which they would otherwise
require to decide whether or not to affiliate with a group is
deliberately withheld from prospective recruits. They may belong to the
group for an extended period of time before such information is given
to them, if at all.
The Great and Powerful Oz:
pay no attention to the man behind the curtain