The Psychodynamics of False Confession
The mind of man is often represented as a complex conflict between reason and emotion, and the border between then is often blurred. We are not as simple as Pavlov's dog, yet there are instances where we seem to act irrationally and completely on impulse. The degree to which we are deliberate or impulsive is highly arguable.
Thought control and other forms of manipulation draw upon our base, emotional, and impulsive nature. We are seldom fooled or taken advantage of by an appeal to our reason, but instead are fooled by those who coax us to act without applying our reason in a deliberate and systematic manner. Our mistakes are the result of doing what seems proper by superficial logic or allowing our actions to be ruled by our emotions.
Therefore the practice of thought control cannot be considered as a function of logic - we must seek to understand how man behaves when he is not being logical. These irrational motivations do not make sense, but it cannot be denied that they have influence and, at times, complete control over our behavior.
It's also noted that brainwashing, menticide, and other forms of thought control that are practiced for political reasons tend to be complex and long-term. The con artist, who exploits a weakness and then quickly exits, leaving his victim to recognize he has been played - he is not seeking to effect a permanent change in the behavior of his victims. The brainwasher seeks to make permanent change in the attitude or behavior of his victims - while in some instances a temporary surrender will suffice (compelling a prisoner to sign a false confession so he may be executed), it is often necessary to create a long-term and permanent surrender (to produce a person who supports a political regime or religious cult).
The Barbed-Wire Disease
The author mentions some of the psychological pressures and common dysfunctions among prisoners, particularly prisoners of war, even when their captors make no attempt to manipulate them. Boredom, dehumanization, and insecurity are common to prisoners of all kinds - but as a prisoner of war there is also a sense of failure, frustration, and a fear of death by neglect.
The "barbed wire disease" begins with a sense of apathy and despair, as the prisoner is in a passive state with little hope of release. His life is literally in the hands of his captors, who are not particularly concerned with his welfare, and want only for him to be docile. Survival means surrender, being compliant, not making trouble or being difficult for his captors to handle.
With few examples, most prisoners return to a state of alertness and activity "rather soon" after their release. Men who have been captive for years are seen to resume normal activities, attitudes, and behavior in as few as two to three days.
The Desire to Surrender
The author mentions that victims of inquisition often find that the moment of surrender occurs suddenly and against their will. They held up under interrogation, refusing to cooperate, until they suddenly lost all nerve and became instantly compliant. It is not necessarily increasing pressure that causes the ictim to break, though it is generally something unexpected
The author relates this to a "need to collapse" that exists within individuals. As social creatures it is our nature to cooperate with others, and our biology is unable to make political distinctions. To displease others, and to fail to help them, is against our nature - which is to be compliant to others of our own species.
It's also suggested that most people dislike attention, which is the reason public speaking is a universal fear: even when we are getting positive attention, it is uncomfortable and there is a desire to return to a state of inconspicuousness and anonymity. It is in the way that an animal, faced with a predator, will freeze in hope of not being noticed. The victim of interrogation is in that sense receiving attention so long as he refuses to comply - and only by giving in to the demands of his interrogators will they then leave him alone.
The Desire for Companionship
Very little attention has been given to the psychology of isolation, but it has been observed that prisoners who are kept in solitary become psychologically dysfunctional. The author speculates that social interaction is "interesting" and a necessary part of our mental health - that people alone undergo completely different processes, and tend to focus on negative emotions and anxieties.
He mentions sensory deprivation experiments, in which people are deprived not only of social interaction, but all sensory stimuli - and it's suggested that that they enter "a kind of hallucinatory hypnotic state ... even a very short time." While prisoners in isolation are not completely deprived of sensory stimulation, their isolation causes their thoughts to turn inward and for their perspective to be dominated by "the hell hounds of the mind" and there is ample observational accounts of the severe mental changes that prisoners undergo.
In terms of manipulation, an isolated prisoner finds that the only social contact he has is with his captors, and he becomes dependent on them and willing to accept them as "substitute father figures" to whom the prisoner is inferior and upon whom he is dependent, and whom he must please in order to avoid further hardship or gain comfort. Relegated to this position for an extended period of time, an individual is easily controlled and manipulated.
It's suggested that the same effects can be seen to a lesser degree even for prisoners who live in the company of others, where discord is sown. If the guards can cause prisoners to distrust one another prisoners will cut themselves off from one another out of suspicion and distrust. They then avoid forming social bonds with other prisoners and become connected to and dependent on the guards. The same can be seen in civilians in society, which is the reason politicians are fond of divisive issues that fracture their people and prevent a sense of a united community - when everyone is an enemy, the politician is their only friend.
It's also noted that this is a common tactic in interrogation - to break down a prisoner's sense of belonging to his own army (or country) by suggesting that they are alone. They do not have any friends among their fellow inmates, their commanders and even their country does not care about them, and the only people who will help them are the guards. A person who feels deserted and alone, betrayed by his old friends, will embrace the offer of friendship from his captors and do what they ask of him.
(EN: In modern society is it observed that religious cults and extremist political groups often seek to recruit "misfits" because they are easily manipulated - being alone and feeling hated by others, their desperation to find a society that accepts and supports them makes them highly susceptible to recruitment and highly loyal once recruited.)
Blackmailing Through Guilt
The use of guilt to manipulate individuals into doing one's bidding is common to many cultures. Mothers leverage the sense of guilt to control their children - the suggestion that they owe obedience in return for the support she has given them in the past, with the implicit threat that her support will be withheld in the future if they fail to do her bidding is very powerful, well into adulthood when a person no longer needs her support. Guilt is used by the clergy to suggest mankind owes him obedience to return divine favor, and by politicians to suggest citizens owe him loyalty for the benefits they have received from society.
In a more general sense, every person has done things that they feel guilty of and would rather not have exposed - whether they will suffer some form of punishment or merely bear the shame of having behaved in an unacceptable manner. Those who can access these feelings of guilt can gain obedience.
In interrogation, a confession is often extracted by arousing feelings of guilt that will lead an individual to admit to what he has done wrong. The interrogator then "forgives" the victim, bringing a sense of relief at not being punished, at which point the victim feels he can speak in greater detail. Confessing is purgative, and relieves a person of the burden of their guilt.
Where a false confession is desired, it is necessary first to convince the victim he has done something that he should feel guilty about. This requires the interrogator to cause the victim to doubt in the veracity of his memory. A person deprived of sleep, suggested to physical duress, and who is told repeatedly and in detail that he has done something will in time become unsure and will accept the account of his interrogator as something that might have happened - and eventually he will accept that it is something that did happen. His mind will fill in the gaps in the story to make a coherent and detailed account of wrongdoings he has never done.
Survival Versus Loyalty
It is generally the propaganda of the state that an individual has a duty to society that supersedes his interests as an individual. A rational individual participates in groups and societies because the benefit they gain is greater than the demands placed upon them - and refuses to participate in groups and societies that demand more than they give in return. The notion that one "owes" society is an example of manipulation by guilt.
The goal of any totalitarian is total submission his victims. His concept of "loyalty" is completely one-sided, and as such it is not loyalty at all, but self-immolation.
The notion of loyalty to society is particularly important to the political ideologies such as communism and fascism, but it is not unheard of even in democratic societies. Pledging allegiance to any political system, regardless of whether that loyalty is rewarded, is routine. Betraying the interests of a group, even when it has become dysfunctional and harmful, is likewise universally treated as a crime - we revile a turncoat or a traitor, even if his decision to discontinue his loyalty is justified.
(EN: This is actually a delicate balance - whether a person is a traitor or a rebel, a terrorist or a revolutionary, often depends on whether we perceive their cause to be just.)
Collectivists also find it difficult to conceive that a person can be an individual at all: they must belong to some collective - and therefore when a prisoner is manipulated into betraying his former nation, this is seen as his first step in developing loyalty to his new nation. In general, this transition is managed gradually: the person must first cease to see his new nation as an enemy, then to recognize that there is "something good" about it in spite of it being otherwise objectionable, and then slowly increasing the positivity of their impression until it is more favorable than unfavorable, until ultimately the balance is tipped and he has a positive impression of his new nation and a negative impression of the old.
Specific reference is made to the Stasi, who became collaborators with the Nazi government against their own people, and who are alleged to have been more cruel and inhuman to their former neighbors than the Gestapo. These individuals had been turned, and the zeal with which they supported their new nation was a demonstration of their fervor - their desire to demonstrate to their new friends that they had no remaining loyalty to their former ones.
It's also observed that in crisis situations, when there is a serious and immediate danger to life, people prioritize self-preservation over the welfare of others. When the prisoner betrays his colleagues to save his own skin, it undermines his connection to them: he realizes his own disloyalty to his group, and others lose trust in him, which damages their loyalty to one another. There are individuals who will "nobly" self-sacrifice for the welfare of others - and manipulators count on this, but they merely wish to change the beneficiary of self-sacrifice.
It is assumed that strength of loyalty renders an individual immune to menticide - but it merely makes them more resistant, and makes their breakdown more dramatic. Anyone can be mentally exhausted, just as anyone can become physically exhausted - it is merely a matter of time before an inquisitor who is patient enough to work on a victim for days, weeks, and months can break the victim down.
There is some mention of the historical use of ordeals, particularly in religious contexts, to re-align an individual's loyalties and beliefs through a combination of deprivation, neglect, and abuse to soften the mind.
Passive Surrender
In pack and herd animals, the practice of passive surrender can readily be seen: animals subordinate themselves to the leader in order to be accepted into the pack. In this sense, debasing oneself is a price paid in exchange for having access to the resources of the group - even if there is no logical connection between the act of debasement and the benefits received.
The same sort of relationship exists between inquisitor and victim, as the inquisitor has the power to punish or reward his victim, who must in turn please the inquisitor to receive the benefits (or avoid punishment), and there is no necessary connection between one and the other.
(EN: This seems like the principle of reciprocity - a small favor is done and the other party feels a need to return the favor in some other way - although the author here seems to be talking about proactive reciprocation: the victim offers the gift on the vague hope his manipulator will reciprocate.)
Culturally, the prisoner is an outsider to the system in which he finds himself - an applicant to become a member of the pack. His submission and surrender of self-interest is a prerequisite to being accepted into the group. This is similar to the way that a number of organizations (military units, churches, fraternal organizations, etc.) expect new members to submit to an initiation in order to gain acceptance. This is a common tactic in behavior modification, even when it is done for positive reasons (to rehabilitate criminals).
It is also assumed in individualistic cultures that people wish to be autonomous and resent any attempt to control them - but this is not true: people can be very dependent, finding it easier to obey others than think for themselves and accepting the blame for the consequences of their decisions. The passive individual exchanges his autonomy for the security of having someone else take care of him - whether physically, intellectually, or psychologically.
The Phases of Menticide
The practice of menticide uses the various techniques discussed thus far, but in a methodical way. The author suggests a four-phase approach:
- Preparation - The victim's loyalty to his existing group and its ideology must first be broken down, or it will remain an obstacle that prevents the victim from accepting a new group and ideology. Preparation may also include stripping him of his individuality so that he ceases to consider his self-interest and accepts domination.
- Acceptance - When the victim has been stripped of his individuality and feels betrayed by his former group/ideology, he is slowly brought to accept the new ideology. At first, it is simply to believe that it is "not all bad," but eventually, it must progress to the point where he sees it is wholly good, and superior to his previous ideology.
- Reconditioning - The victim must not merely accept the ideology, but must be made to practice and advocate for it. He must first wish to become a member of his new group, then be willing to seek acceptance, and eventually must identify.
- Release - The victim must eventually be set free, continuing to support the ideology without direct supervision. A well-conditioned victim may be repatriated to his original group as a covert agent, those less well-conditioned may choose to be maintained within his new nation and culture.
It's suggest that in many instances, victims are not successfully taken through the entire cycle, which is the reason that many of them revert - when released from captivity, it is as if they are released from a hypnotic spell - they recant their confessions, renounce their new ideology, and return to their old ways. But in other instances, their conversion is complete and they become staunch opponents of their former ideology and culture.