tends to create
5h
developed. It does not take long for the prisoner to realize that the
interrogator is the source of all punishment , all gratification,and all
communication. The interrogator , meanwhile,demonstrates his unpredict-
bility. He is perceived by the prisoner as a creature of whim. At
times, the interrogator can be pleased very easily and at other times
no effort on the part of the prisoner will placate him. The prisoner
may begin to channel so much energy into trying to predict the behaviour
of the unpredictable interrogator that he loses track of what is happen-
ing inside himself.
After the prisoner has developed the above psychological and emotional
reactions to a sufficient degree, the brainwashing begins in earnest.
First, the prisoner's remaining critical faculties must be destroyed.
He undergoes long, fatiguing interrogations while looking at a bright
light. He is called back again and again for interrogations after min-
imal sleep. He may undergo torture that tends to create internal con-
flict. Drugs may be used to accentuate his "mood swings." He develops
depression when the interrogator is being kind and becomes euphoric when
the interrogator is threatening the direst penalties. Then the cycle is
reversed. The prisoner finds himself in a constant state of anxiety
which prevents him from relaxing even when he is permitted to sleep.
Short periods of isolation now bring on visual and auditory
hallucinations.
The prisoner feels himself losing his objectivity. It is in this state
that the prisoner must keep up an endless argument with the interrogator
.
He may be faced with the confessions of other individuals who "collabo-
rated" with him in his crimes. The prisoner seriously begins to doubts
his own memory. This feeling is heightened by his inability to recall
little things like the names of the people he knows very well or the
date
of his birth. The interrogator patiently sharpens this feeling of doubt
by more questioning. This tends to create a serious state of uncertainty
when the individual has lost most of his critical faculties.
9
OA 53-37