ost important a
4h
times during the brainwashing process diverted the individual from
aware-
ness of the deterioration of his value-system. The fact that, in most
cases, the ChiComs did not want or need such intelligence was not known
to the prisoner. His attempts to protect such information was made at
the expense of hastening his own breakdown.
6
OA 53-37
THE EXERCISE OF CONTROL: A "SCHEDULE" FOR BRAINWASHING
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From the many fragmentary accounts reviewed, the following appears
to be the most likely description of what occurs during brainwashing .
In the period immediately following capture, the captors are faced
with the problem of deciding on best ways of exploitation of the
prisoners.
Therefore, early treatment is similar both for those who are to be
exploited
through elicitation and those who are to undergo brainwashing.
concurrently
with being interrogated and required to write a detailed personal
history,
the prisoner undergoes a physical and psychological "softening-up" which
includes: limited unpalatable food rations,withholding of tobacco,possi-
ble work details,severely inadequate use of toilet facilities, no use of
facilities for personal cleanliness,limitation of sleep such as
requiring
a subject to sleep with a bright light in his eyes. Apparently the
inter-
rogation and autobiographical ,material, the reports of the prisoner's
be-
haviour in confinement, and tentative "personality typing" by the
interro-
gators, provide the basis upon which exploitation plans are made.
There is a major difference between preparation for elicitation and
for brainwashing .Prisoners exploited through elicitation must retain
suffi-
cient clarity of thought to be able to give coherent,factual accounts.
In
brainwashing , on the other hand, the first thing attacked is clarity of
thought. To develop a strategy of defense, the controlled individual
must
determine what plans have been made for his exploitation. Perhaps the
best
cues he can get are internal reactions to the pressures he undergoes.
The most important aspect of the brainwashing process is the
interro-
gation. The other pressures are designed primarily to help the
interrogator
achieve his goals. The following states are created systematically
within
the individual . These may vary in order, but all are necessary to the
brainwashing process: