Brainwashing Essay Research Paper Brainwashing is a

Brainwashing Essay, Research Paper

Brainwashing is a method of manipulating or influencing people’s own personal beliefs, thoughts, attitudes or actions in order to get them to believe what they had previously considered false. The word “brainwashing” originated from the Chinese term his nao, which literally means “to wash the brain.” Many people have different variations of what exactly they think brainwashing is, but all are generally the same, involving a powerful effort to manipulate the human mind. Brainwashing is said to have originated in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, by Chinese Communists. They used it as a way to politically reeducate the vast majority of the population of China, from peasants to intellectuals to soldiers. The technique was also used during the Korean War and in Vietnam on American prisoners. They attempted to convince the soldiers that they were fighting for an unjust cause and that they were wrong in fighting against such nice countries. These techniques were in fact very successful, as it has been found that one out of every three American soldiers was declared guilty of collaboration with Chinese authorities. It did work on many of the prisoners, however once they were back in their old environment for a while they completely forgot about what they were taught to believe in the other foreign countries. There are a variety of situations that brainwashing can occur in: cults, churches or other religious establishments, prisons, factories, political parties, psychiatrists, advertisements, and to prisoners of war camps. There are many different techniques for brainwashing, but all of them, for the most part, have the same basic approach. A physical and social environment that is carefully controlled must first be created in order to destroy any loyalties that the subject has that are not associated with the new organization being formed. They are isolated from all former associates such as their friends and their family. This causes the individual to become more vulnerable to threats and bribes because there is no one for the person to get emotional support from, making it harder to resist indoctrination, the actual implanting of new ideas. It has also been noted that verbal, mathematical, and perceptual abilities are impaired only after a week of confinement. Former sources of information like newspapers, magazines, radio, and television are also cut off. They are also forbidden from receiving letters from friends or family. During this process, it is taught that the previous loyalties that the individual had were wrong, and to develop total loyalty and obedience to the new organization. The subject is then forced to keep a strict daily schedule of eating, sleeping, and bathing, in order to replace any old routines performed in the past. The subject is often deprived of food and sleep and can even, at times, be physically punished for not cooperating with any of the guidelines that are set up. This is done because it has been found that suggestibility increases greatly during times of fatigue and especially illness. This is to display to the individual that it is necessary to cooperate or you will starve, be tortured, or maybe even die. However, he or she may also be rewarded at times, like with extra food, if they are cooperating particularly well. The subject is also taught that the amount of individual freedom attained depends on whether or not you successfully change your attitudes and beliefs. An informer system is also created in camp-type situations, such as prisons, with everybody spying on and informing against everybody else, in order to create a sense of distrust and suspicion amongst one’s peers. After the proper environment is set up, then the actual brainwashing process can take place. It generally consists of four main phases that may vary in order: emotional assault, calculated kindness and leniency, confession, and reeducation. The phases of emotional assault and calculated kindness and leniency often go hand and hand. The subject will be acted very harshly upon one moment and then they could immediately be acted friendly to, the next moment. This alternating treatment puts him in a state of confusion, a state where it is usually rather easy to implant new ideas in. The subject is also taught that if they ever do anything that is against or could cause harm to what they are being taught, then they are a criminal, and that they should always publicly and sincerely confess to these crimes. The subject is also socially pressured, by those who have successfully been brainwashed, into agreeing with what they are being taught. This is done by means of long interrogations in which those who have been successfully brainwashed try to persuade the individual by pleas, humiliation, harassment, or revilement. They are also continuously, publicly humiliated and harassed, which provided a constant state of bewilderment and chronic anxiety. The next area deals with confession. The subject is asked to partake in self-criticism sessions in order for them to explain how his past opinions and the opinions of others are totally wrong. They are forced to write and rewrite lengthy autobiographical essays describing in great detail all of the ways that they were wrong and how everybody else is wrong. They are also ordered to confess all of their past crimes and errors. This often results in feelings of guilt in the person. The subject is then finally reeducate