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Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of Brainwashing in China (Paperback)

~ (Author) "When confronted with the endless discussion on the general subject of "brainwashing," I am sometimes reminded of the Zen Buddhist maxim: "The more we talk..." (more)
Key Phrases: apparent resisters, totalist environment, thought reform experience, Hong Kong, Father Luca, Miss Darrow (more...)

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Brainwashing: The Science of Thought Control by Kathleen Taylor
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Product Details

Paperback: 528 pages
Publisher: University of N. Carolina Press (July 1, 1989)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0807842532
ISBN-13: 978-0807842539
Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #249,610 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in this category: (What's this?)
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Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
When confronted with the endless discussion on the general subject of "brainwashing," I am sometimes reminded of the Zen Buddhist maxim: "The more we talk about it, the less we understand it." Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
apparent resisters, totalist environment, thought reform experience, ideological totalism, totalist milieu, revolutionary university, apparent converts, thought reform process, final thought summary, milieu control, thought reform program, wild confession, cell chief, confession material, materialistic dialectics, personal closure, ideological reform, filial son, reform influences, existential guilt, negative identity

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Hong Kong, Father Luca, Miss Darrow, Bishop Barker, Chinese Communist, Father Vechten, Communist China, George Chen, Father Simon, Professor Castorp, Catholic Church, Chinese Communism, Legion of Mary, Youth Corps, New Tide, Mao Tse-tung, Russian Communist, United States, Peking University, Chinese Catholic, Robert Chao, Westernized Chinese, Soviet Union, Charles Vincent, French Jesuit

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 59 books:

Young Man Luther by Erik H. Erikson on 4 pages
How to Be a Good Communist by Liu Shao-Chi on page 386, page 390, and Back Matter
The Hero with a Thousand Faces (Bollingen Series, No. 17) by Joseph Campbell in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
Escape from Freedom by Erich Fromm in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
Rape of the Mind by J. Meerloo in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)

See all 59 books this book cites

12 books cite this book:

Coercion in Mental Health Services - International Perspectives, Volume 10 (Research in Community and Mental Health) by J.P. Morrissey on page 182, and page 187
A Question of Torture: CIA Interrogation, from the Cold War to the War on Terror (American Empire Project) by Alfred McCoy in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
Falun Gong's Challenge to China by Danny Schechter on page 186
Homosexuality: Good and Right in the Eyes of God? by F. Earle Fox on page 123
Cults, Religion, and Violence by David G. Bromley on page 187

See all 12 books citing this book

Books on Related Topics (learn more)

Mao's China and After by Maurice Meisner

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	71% buy the item featured on this page: Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of Brainwashing in China 4.2 out of 5 stars (10) $26.95
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	7% buy Take Back Your Life: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships 5.0 out of 5 stars (10) $13.26
	6% buy Cults in Our Midst: The Continuing Fight Against Their Hidden Menace 3.9 out of 5 stars (29) $12.89

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Customer Reviews

10 Reviews

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4.2 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)

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49 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Seminal Work on Mind Control., July 30, 1999

By A Customer

This book may date from 1961, but it continues to be an essential work for understanding the techniques of mind control that continue to be utilized by authoritarian governments as well as by destructive cults. Those who have been watching with horror the crackdown by the Communist Chinese government on the peaceful falun gong religious sect will recognize in Lifton's book the same tyrannical mindset as it operated at its origins. Obviously, not much has changed in 40 years. Especially worthwhile in this book is the description of the eight conditions underlying any thought reform program. "Milieu control", for example, is the imposition of an entire controlling environment that permits a person no unapproved interactions, no free time, and no access to unapproved information. "Doctrine over person" is a state of affairs where, in any situation where ideology is contradicted by real experience, the ideology, not the experience, is believed. This can lead to a situation where a fictitious construct -- "the People" -- is defined differently from that of real people, who are not considered to be "real" people if their experience differs from ideology. Lifton calls this viewpoint "dispensing of existence." Cult survivors such as myself (a former 10-year member of Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church) will recognize these and the other conditions Lifton enumerates.

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50 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Refutation of Prior Review - This Is An Excellent Book, May 29, 2000

By	Nicolas P. DiCiaccio (Greater Boston) - See all my reviews

Upon seeing the review below, from the reader in Rio de Janeiro, I had to write my own thoughts and share them. As a former cult member myself and current volunteer in anti-cult activism, I can personally attest that what Dr. Lifton wrote about concerning destructive groups and mind control absolutely exists. The famous chapter 22, where Dr. Lifton lays out the famous "eight criteria", to me isn't a chapter in a book but how my adolescense was in this particular group. It's true; it exists. The reader from Rio said that mind control was a failure; well, ultimately, yes it is, total control over a person's mind isn't 100%, and won't last forever. However, individuals and destructive groups (cults) know how to exploit mind control techniques to allow them control over a person's thoughts and actions long enough to get that person to do what they want, and often when people leave cults they suffer psychological damages for years afterward. This is also not about West superior over East; Dr. Lifton also chronicled how many Chinese were hurt by the mind control imposed by the Communists. All in all, this is a terrific book about mind control and its damaging effects; I highly recommend it.

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31 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An important book, June 6, 2000

By A Customer

This book has created a lot of controversies envolving new religious movements. Although it describes a research made with POWs e somes Chinese intellectuals, it has been frequently used attacks against some new religious movements.

The concept "brainwashing" first came into public use during the Korean War in the 1950s as an explanation for why a few American GIs defected to the Communists. The two most authoritative studies of the Korean War defections (and this book was one of them) concluded that "brainwashing" was an inappropriate concept to account for this renunciation of U.S. citizenship. When several new religious came into high profile during the youth counter-culture of the 1960s and 70s the concept "brainwashing" was again employed as a culturally acceptable explanation to account for the fact that some idealistic "flower children" came under the influence of "cult" leaders. A quarter-of-a-century of scholarly research on why people join new religions has come to essentially the same conclusion as the Korean War studies -- "brainwashing" is not a viable concept to describe the dynamics of affiliation with new religions. Defenders of "brainwashing" have used other concepts like "mind control" and "thought reform," but they have failed to produce a scholarly literature to support their claims. Thus, whatever euphemisms may be employed, the basic conclusion against the brainwashing thesis is not altered. Still, the mass media continues to report claims of "brainwashing" as if the alleged phenomenon were real. And, as a result, the concept "brainwashing" sustains considerable currency in popular culture. It is, to be sure, a powerful metaphor. "Brainwashing" communicates disapproval of influence by persons, or groups, the user of the term considers to be illegitimate. If you want to understand the origins of the concept, read Lifton's work. Just take care to not get caught by the "cult mind control" rhetoric.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Speaks About Some our Politicians
This book explains how President Obama became the man he is today. He was primed by the methods in this book.

Published 1 month ago by Steven L. Haack

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting
This book divides the population studied into western and eastern groups and then creates subgroups based upon personal history and reactions to thought reform. Read more

Published 19 months ago by hiddenInClouds

4.0 out of 5 stars Thorough book!
I had to read this book for a class. It was really thorough and I learned a lot from it. It was an interesting topic but sometimes it got slow or dull. Read more

Published on July 7, 2007 by Heather

5.0 out of 5 stars Chinese brainwashing is real and the battle still continues
Lifton's work here is an excellent effort to understand the ideological manipulation of the Chinese Communists. Read more

Published on March 19, 2004 by Hiromi

4.0 out of 5 stars Totalism and Psychotherapy
Lifton provides content and commentary regarding attempts by the People's Republic of China to 're-educate' Westerners and citizens according to Communist ideology. Read more

Published on January 25, 2002 by Kelly Graham

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a refutation at all...
As I said before, this book is very misunderstood. People likes to use it to support their own ideas about "brainwashing" and "mind control", and sometimes... Read more

Published on June 6, 2000

3.0 out of 5 stars A very misunderstood book
Many people related to the "Anti-Cult Movement" loves to quote chapter 22 of this book, where Lifton describes what he calls a "totalist environment" based on... Read more

Published on May 13, 2000

› See all 10 customer reviews...

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