What
is Thought Reform?
Any
ideology -- that is, any set of emotionally-charged convictions
about man and his relationship to the natural or supernatural
world -- may be carried by its adherents in a totalistic direction.
But this is most likely to occur with those ideologies which
are most sweeping in their content and most ambitious or messianic
in their claim, whether a religious or political organization.
And where totalism exists, a religion, or a political movement
becomes little more than an exclusive cult.
Here
you will find a set of criteria, six conditions (Singer) and
eight psychological themes (Lifton) against which any environment
may be judged. In combination, they create an atmosphere which
may temporarily energize or exhilarate, but which at the same
time pose the gravest of human threats.
When
defining thought reform, we look to two experts in the field:
Margaret Thaler Singer, Ph.D. and Robert Jay Lifton, M.D.:
Six
Conditions for Thought Reform
Margaret Thaler
Singer, Ph. D.
1. Keep
the person unaware of what is going on and how she or he is
being changed a step at a time. Potential new members are
led, step by step, through a behavioral-change program without
being aware of the final agenda or full content of the group.
The goal may be to make them deployable agents for the leadership,
to get them to buy more courses, or get them to make a deeper
commitment, depending on the leader's aim and desires.
2. Control
the person's social and/or physical environment; especially
control the person's time. Through various methods, newer
members are kept busy and led to think about the group and its
content during as much of their waking time as possible.
3. Systematically
create a sense of powerlessness in the person. This is accomplished
by getting members away from the normal social support group
for a period of time and into an environment where the majority
of people are already group members. The members serve as models
of the attitudes and behaviors of the group and speak an in-group
language.
4. Manipulate
a system of rewards, punishments and experiences in such a way
as to inhibit behavior that reflects the person's former social
identity. Manipulation of experiences can be accomplished
through various methods of trance induction, including leaders
using such techniques as paced speaking patterns, guided imagery,
chanting, long prayer sessions or lectures, and lengthy meditation
sessions.
5. Manipulate
a system of rewards, punishments, and experiences in order to
promote learning the group's ideology or belief system and group-approved
behaviors. Good behavior, demonstrating an understanding
and acceptance of the group's beliefs, and compliance are rewarded
while questioning, expressing doubts or criticizing are met
with disapproval, redress and possible rejection. If one expresses
a question, he or she is made to feel that there is something
inherently wrong with them to be questioning.
6. Put
forth a closed system of logic and an authoritarian structure
that permits no feedback and refuses to be modified except by
leadership approval or executive order. The group has a
top-down, pyramid structure. The leaders must have verbal ways
of never losing. (Singer, 1995)
Eight
Psychological Themes of a Thought Reform Program
Robert Jay Lifton,
M.D.
1. Milieu
Control. This involves the control of information and communication
both within the environment and, ultimately, within the individual,
resulting in a significant degree of isolation from society
at large.
2. Mystical
Manipulation. There is manipulation of experiences that
appear spontaneous but in fact were planned and orchestrated
by the group or its leaders in order to demonstrate divine authority
or spiritual advancement or some special gift or talent that
will then allow the leader to reinterpret events, scripture,
and experiences as he or she wishes.
3. Demand
for Purity. The world is viewed as black and white and the
members are constantly exhorted to conform to the ideology of
the group and strive for perfection. The induction of guilt
and/or shame is a powerful control device used here.
4. Confession.
Sins, as defined by the group, are to be confessed either to
a personal monitor or publicly to the group. There is no confidentiality;
members' "sins," "attitudes," and "faults"
are discussed and exploited by the leaders.
5. Sacred
Science. The group's doctrine or ideology is considered
to be the ultimate Truth, beyond all questioning or dispute.
Truth is not to be found outside the group. The leader, as the
spokesperson for God or for all humanity, is likewise above
criticism.
6. Loading
the Language. The group interprets or uses words and phrases
in new ways so that often the outside world does not understand.
This jargon consists of thought-terminating clichés which
serve to alter members' thought processes to conform to the
group's way of thinking.
7. Doctrine
over person. Member's personal experiences are subordinated
to the sacred science and any contrary experiences must be denied
or reinterpreted to fit the ideology of the group.
8. Dispensing
of existence. The group has the prerogative to decide who
has the right to exist and who does not. This is usually not
literal but means that those in the outside world are not saved,
unenlightened, unconscious and they must be converted to the
group's ideology. If they do not join the group or are critical
of the group, then they must be rejected by the members. Thus,
the outside world loses all credibility. In conjunction, should
any member leave the group, he or she must be rejected also.
(Lifton, 1989)
More on Lifton's Criteria
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