Can a Person Be Brainwashed?

In psychological terms, brainwashing is often referred to as thought reform, falling into the category of social influence. The objective behind brainwashing a person is to make that person believe in something specific, which they would ordinarily not believe. There are different methods used to do this, namely, compliance, persuasion, and education.

The compliance method is used to change a persons behavior, as opposed to changing their attitude or belief. When the persuasion method is used the person brainwashing tries to change the subjects attitude. They do this by means of persuasion, with reasoning behind their methods, such as, it will make you feel good, happy, or healthy. The education method is just that, educating a person on a topic they don't believe in.

There have been many stories of people being brainwashed, a lot of this type of activity goes on in prison camps, or a cult situation. In order for brainwashing to be successful, there must be total solitude between the subject and the person they hope to brainwash. The person who is brainwashing has to have influence over everything the person does, such as everyday tasks, they do this to break down the persons identity.

Some psychologist and expert's in the field believe that brainwashing is not possible, while others are under the impression that it is a possibility, under certain circumstances. Most expert's who believe say that the process doesn't last for a long period of time, and the persons identity is not gone forever. Robert Jay Lifton, a psychologist, studied brainwashing during the 1950's. He chose subjects from the Chinese war camps and prisoners of the Korean War, who were said to have this method used on them.

His findings told that there are various stages to the process, these being, assault on identity, making the person feel guilty, self-betrayal, and the breaking point. The first stage is to attack the persons identity, convincing the person that they are not who they really are, this can go on for day's or months. The guilt comes when the person is made to feel what he has done is wrong, even if it is something small, the brainwasher will be relentless in making the person believe everything they do is wrong. Once the person is convinced they are guilty, they are then forced by means of physical or mental abuse to believe everyone else in their lives are also wrong. Lastly, the breaking point is when the person finally has symptoms similar to a nervous breakdown. They may show signs of depression, sob uncontrollably, and be generally disorientated.

When the victim is at breaking point, the brainwasher then sets about getting them to believe in a totally different belief than they had previously thought of. It is said that a person needs to have certain characteristics in order for brainwashing to work successfully. People with a weak sense of who they are, have tremendous self doubt, and have a tendency towards feeling guilty, are more prone to being brainwashed. Brainwashing has been practiced since the early 1900's, whether you believe it can be done, or not, it's still an intriguing subject.

Source: http://health.howstuffworks.com/brainwashing.htm