The Manipulated Mind: Brainwashing, Conditioning and Indoctrination (Paperback)

by Denise Winn (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Ever since American prisoners of war in Korea suddenly switched sides to the Communist cause, the concept of brainwashing has continued to fascinate and confuse.

Is it really possible to force any thinking person to act in a way completely alien to his character? What makes so-called brainwashing so different from the equally insidious effects of indoctrination and conditioning, or even advertising and education?

Research findings from psychology show that brainwashing is not a special subversive technique; it is the clever manipulation of unrealized influences that operate in all our lives.

This book, by breaking down so-called brainwashing to its individual elements, shows how social conditioning, need for approval, emotional dependency and much else that we are unaware of, prevent us from being as self-directed as we think; and, conversely, which human traits make us the least susceptible to subtle influence.

About the Author
Denise Winn is a British journalist specializing in psychology and medicine. She is a former editor of the UK edition of Psychology Today and has written for national newspapers magazines in Britain for over 20 years. She is author of 11 other books on psychological and medical topics and is currently also editor of The Therapist

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Product Details

• Paperback: 217 pages
• Publisher: Malor Books (January 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1883536227
• ISBN-13: 978-1883536220
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #71,798 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good overview, nothing else, April 11, 2003

By	HappyDaze11 - See all my reviews

I am interested in mind control and this came recommended as a good book on the subject. However this book is one long history of research into mind control. The book begins with a general description of the first case of actual mind control as performed on American POW's in Korea, where many were so brainwashed that they openly embraced their captors and communism. It was at this point, the author claims, that it was realized that mind control could occur.

It is from this watershed event, and the data collected therefrom, that all current study of brainwashing and mind control stem. The author then surveys the Pavlov dog experiments, animal research, various large scale experiments involving humans where unbelievable counter intuitive results occur. This book is worth its price just to read about these studies into things like 'the gun effect' where people were actually mroe aggressive to an armed motorist getting stuck on a highway then to an unarmed one.

All in all, this is a general study, somewhat outdated, and is written from English points of view. This is a book you can start with, and then use its extensive bibliography to explore areas that interest you more closely.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Man as a species is creative because `no man is an island', July 3, 2005

By	Tom Gray (Fort-Coulonge, Quebec Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Manipulated Mind: Brainwashing, Conditioning and Indoctrination (Hardcover)

This book is concerned with brainwashing. However instead of concentrating on the specifics of the techniques used, it presents and analyzes why brainwashing and other forms of conversion are possible. The book extensively quotes from Sargent's seminal studies reported in "Battle for the Mind". Sargent showed how brainwashing and conversion can be traced to a physiological strategy used by the brain to cope with stress. Sargent's insights into this are conclusive but he does to address the question of why this strategy was chosen by evolution and to what purposes it is used. Winn presents results from psychology to show the reasons why as she quotes ' man is a rationalizing animal.' Winn shows how man as a social animal is tuned to adapt to the reality as others find it. Man, as opposed to other animals, has the potential to learn from others and so gives great significance to the knowledge that he finds implicit in the behaviors of others.

Winn's book is a distillation of the research of others. She presents Sargent's ideas but deepens them by putting them in a broader psychological and social perspective. She does not explicitly state this but her book presents the reasons why the capacity for conversion or brainwashing is evolutionarily advantageous. It is a trait that provides us with capacity to create society. Man as a species is creative because `no man is an island'.

This is an excellent book that is well worth reading.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Readable and Informative. This is not simply a text book., February 23, 2000

By	Alan Brown (San Francisco, ca United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Manipulated Mind: Brainwashing, Conditioning and Indoctrination (Hardcover)

An extremely engaging book. It is very well written for the layman and on a subject that should interest us all. Experts in psychology that have a genuine talent for writing are rare and I have no hesitation in recommending this book unreservedly.

It takes as its theme, the 'brainwashing' of American soldiers in the korean war, but relates the 'techniques' to influences which operate on us all in our every day life to varying degrees, to influence our thoughts.

An important, but also entertaining book. Two thumbs up! :)