The word “brainwashing” is a colloquialism for the process of changing the way an individual thinks and behaves. In essence, the victim’s value system, beliefs, and goals are “washed away” and replaced by a new set of ideas that are beneficial not to the individual but to a controlling or dominant group such as a cult.
The term “brainwashing” is not a true technical expression in either psychiatry or law; more scientific names for the process include coercion, programming, or simply “breaking a person.”
Steps of Brainwashing or Coercing an Individual
The victim must first be isolated from society, so that the cult or other coercive entity need not compete with outside influences. Access to outside information must be eliminated or at least rigidly controlled; the information is then a reinterpreted according to the precepts of the cult. Questions from the victim are not be tolerated, nor are replies given.
During the early isolation period, certain psychological pressure or even physical torture techniques are usually employed. These measures can include control over diet, hygiene, and bodily functions; sleep deprivation, sexual abuse/humiliation, exposure to extremes of temperature, and constant repetition of indoctrinating ideas.
Repetitive tasks may be assigned to dull the senses and reasoning skills, while also hastening the breakdown of the will. Feelings of fear and guilt provoked by “disloyal” thoughts or actions by the victim are useful tools as well.
Threats of violence, death, or destruction of the victim’s soul if she rebels against the “groupthink” are frequently utilized. A period of punishment followed by the doling out of small rewards or privileges keeps the victim off-balance. Lastly, the victim will be required to commit acts that betray his moral standards or society’s rules of conduct. This step completes the breakdown of the original personality and fuses the victim's revamped personality with the will of the cult.
Reversing the Effects of Brainwashing Techniques
Russian physiologist Pavlov noticed that the dogs he had conditioned to salivate whenever they heard a bell ring did not continue to exhibit the behavior after they were exposed to extreme stress. Likewise, humans have a tendency to lose conditioned behavior patterns when under stress, especially those that were originally created by sensory overload (administration of drugs, flashing lights, intrusive noise, etc.).
Deprogramming techniques have been used to negate the effects of brainwashing. Since these techniques are themselves quite coercive and shocking in nature, they remain controversial. Deprogramming is not simple exit counseling or debriefing, but rather, it's a sort of "reverse brainwashing" that is often started without the cult member's voluntary consent. Some individuals claim to have experienced traumatic flashbacks to the deprogramming procedure.
Certain specific mental illnesses, including PTSD, fugue states, and dissociative disorders like DID (formerly labeled multiple personality disorder), are associated with the process of brainwashing. These are treated with psychotherapy and/or medication once the survivor is free of the cult’s physical presence, if not its insidious psychological influence.
If the cult survivor has been conditioned to respond to certain triggers (think Raymond Shaw in the film The Manchurian Candidate), cognitive behavioral therapy or reconditioning under hypnosis may be helpful.
Cult Versus Religion: What’s the Difference?
The main discrepancy between a cult and a valid religion is that religions should not be designed to challenge or break social mores. Cults encourage their adherents to do so, and allow for little or no freedom of choice in the matter. They demand that a member’s old identity and pastimes be disregarded and replaced with the new existence prescribed by the cult.
Most importantly, all of this takes place under the tutelage of a charismatic, often supposedly omnipotent cult leader; cult members must utterly subjugate their own lives and desires to that of this leader.
There are many shades of gray in such definitions, however. For instance, members of the Church of Scientology argue that their organization represents a bona fide religion that has greatly improved the followers' lives. German law, on the other hand, refuses to recognize it as such; and some former believers insist that it is primarily a moneymaking enterprise that attempts to strictly control its members. The Roman Catholic laypersons group known as Opus Dei has also suffered from such accusations.
Moreover, it is true that most religions use at least a few of the milder techniques listed above; such as stressing feelings of guilt and anxiety to encourage better behavior. Nonetheless, groups that seem to require the total loss of freedom of will from their “good” members are always best avoided, no matter how attractive or intriguing they may initially appear.
Readers of this article may also enjoy “Causes of and Treatments for Complex PTSD” in Suite101’s Mind & Soul section. The Suite101 article “Alternative Religion or Cult?” provides further information on the cult versus religion question.
Sources
Cook, Thomas H., Early Graves, New York: Onyx, 1990.
"Deprogramming," Apologetics Index.
Mayer, Dr. Robert S., Satan’s Children, New York: Avon Books, 1991.
McGuire, Christine and Norton, Carla, Perfect Victim, New York, Dell Publishing, 1988.
Raschke, Carl A., Painted Black, New York: Harper, 1990.
Stengel, Richard, editor, Secret Societies, New York: Time Books, Time, Inc., 2010.
Amy Sillup - I have a B.S. in Chemistry from Delaware Valley College and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania. I have worked as a ...
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