The Process of Brainwashing, Psychological Coercion, and Thought Reform
Jossey-Bass Publishers San Franciso
By Margaret Thaler Singer (with Janja Lalich)
Cults in our Midst, Chapter 3
| Education | Advertising | Propaganda | Indoctrination | Thought
Reform |
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Focus of body of knowledge |
Many bodies of knowledge, based on scientific findings in various fields. |
Body of knowledge concerns product, competitors, how to sell and influence via legal persuasion. |
Body of knowledge centers on political persuasion of masses of people. |
Body of knowledge is explicitly designed to inculcate organizational values. |
Body of knowledge centers on changing people without their knowledge. |
Direction & degree of exchange |
Two way pupil-teacher exchange encouraged. |
Exchange can occur, but communication generally one-sided. |
Some exchange occurs, but communication generally one-sided. |
Limited exchange occurs; communication is one-sided. |
No exchange occurs, communication is one-sided. |
Ability to change |
Change occurs as science advances; as students & other scholars offer criticism; as students & citizens evaluate programs. |
Change made by those who pay for it, based upon the success of ad programs; by consumer law; & in response to consumer complaints. |
Change based on changing tides in world politics and on political need to promote the group, nation, or international organization. |
Change made through formal channels, via written suggestions to higher-ups. |
Change occurs rarely; organization remains fairly rigid; change occurs primarily to improve thought reform effectiveness. |
Structure of persuasion |
Uses teacher-pupil structure; logical thinking encouraged. |
Uses an instructional mode to persuade consumer/buyer. |
Takes authoritarian stance to persuade masses. |
Takes authoritarian & hierarchical stance. |
Takes authoritarian & hierarchical stance; no full awareness on part of learner. |
Type of relationship |
Instruction is time-limited; consensual. |
Consumer/buyer can accept or ignore communication. |
Learner support & engrossment expected. |
Instruction is contractual; consensual. |
Group attempts to retain people forever. |
Deceptiveness |
Is not deceptive. |
Can be deceptive, selecting only positive views. |
Can be deceptive; often exagerated. |
Is not deceptive. |
Is deceptive. |
Breadth of learning |
Focuses on learning to learn & learning about reality; broad goal is rounded knowledge for development of the individual. |
Has a narrow goal of swaying opinion to promote and sell an idea, object, or program; another goal is to enhance seller & possibly buyer. |
Targets large political masses to make them believe a specific view or circumstance is good. |
Stress narrow learning for a specific goal; to become something or to train for performance of duties. |
Individualized target; hidden agenda (you will be changed one step at a time to become deployable to serve leaders). |
Tolerance |
Respects differences. |
Puts down competition. |
Wants to lessen opposition. |
Aware of Differences. |
No respect for differences. |
Methods |
Instructional techniques. |
Mild to heavy persuasion. |
Overt persuasion; sometimes unethical. |
Disciplinary techniques. |
Improper and unethical techniques. |
The tactics of a thought-reform program are organized to:
- Destabilize a person's sense of self,
- Get the person to drastically reinterpret his or her life's history and radically alter his or her worldview and accept a new version of reality and causality,
- Develop in the person a dependence on the organization, and thereby turn the person into a deployable agent of the organization.
Table 3.3. Criteria for Thought Reform.
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Condition (Singer)
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Themes (Lifton)
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Stages (Schein)
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