I've had a bit of a semantic tousle with a member of this board on whether the coercive techniques used by the WTBTS to obtain and retain members is "brainwashing". I say "brainwashing" is not a good description of what goes on, I prefer "mind control", or coercive and deceptive techniques. He argued to call it something less than "brainwashing" is to water down the destructive effects of the WTS on it's members and former members. My argument is that if we overstate the case, we weaken our position, making us look inaccurate at best, like shrieking opposers at worst.
I'll tell a story that hopefully puts some perspective on my position. My children, when they were small, would limp home complaining they'd "broken my ankle", or "broken my leg". After a motherly examination, I declared they were suffering from a sprain. "But mom, it hurts so bad!" I explained to them that a sprain can hurt worse than a break. I'm finding that ever more true as I get older. A broken bone mends on schedule. Shredded tendons and muscles can take years, and intensive physiotherapy, to overcome. Just because it's soft tissue damage, does not diminish at all, the severity of the injury.
"Brainwashing" has a whole bunch of emotive images attached. People think of torture, sleep deprivation, chanting, and a forced conversion against the person's will. There are examples of American Soldiers who briefly converted to Communism, following such "brain-washing" techniques. Much to the American administration's relief, victims of this "brainwashing" quickly reverted to their base beliefs when they left their controller's environment.
I believe the WT conversion technique is much kinder on the surface, takes longer to take hold, and has a much stronger hold on it's members. Even well after they have left the WTS's influence, a former member can be haunted by WTS concepts and "trigger words". Even if it is not "brainwashing" as vividly imagined by the public, the WTS techniques are no less effective. The person's base personality remains while they are undergoing conversion, but it is steadily sublimated by the "put-on" personality the WTS steadily encourages the convert to emulate. I think the WTS is well aware of how long this process takes. Hence, the extended book studies, and the instructions to complete six months or more of study before declaring the person "ready" for baptism sublimation. Eventually, the "put-on" personality dominates. The WTBTS must continually renew it's message to influence the person to maintain this "new" personality. Hence, the frequent meetings to reinforce the new behavior. My guess is that the slower conversion equates to slower recovery afterwards. If the exiting Witness never confronts his base beliefs, he may never recover from the WTS influence.
Even though the WTBTS technique is not brainwashing in the popular sense, is it any less damaging? I think not! Using my domestic example, if "brainwashing" were a "break", then "coercive mind control" is "soft-tissue damage". It's no less damaging, and takes years to recover from.
Some more links and notes to explain my thoughts:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainwashing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Langone
Q. What is Mind Control?
Mind control (also referred to as "brainwashing," "coercive persuasion," "thought reform," and the "systematic manipulation of psychological and social influence") refers to a process in which a group or individual systematically uses unethically manipulative methods to persuade others to conform to the wishes of the manipulator(s), often to the detriment of the person being manipulated.
Such methods include:
extensive control of information in order to limit alternatives from which members may make "choices";
deception;
group pressure;
intense indoctrination into a belief system that denigrates independent critical thinking and considers the world outside the group to be threatening, evil, or gravely in error;
an insistence that members’ distress—much of which may consist of anxiety and guilt subtly induced by the group—can be relieved only by conforming to the group;
physical and/or psychological debilitation through inadequate diet or fatigue;
the induction of dissociative (trance-like) states (via the misuse of meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, and other exercises) in which attention is narrowed, suggestibility heightened, and independent critical thinking weakened;
alternation of harshness/threats and leniency/ love in order to effect compliance with the leadership’s wishes;
isolation from social supports;
and pressured public confessions.
Although the process by which cults come to exercise mind control over members is complex and varies a great deal, there appear to be three overlapping stages:
Deception
Recruits are duped into believing that the group is benevolent and will enrich their lives by, for example, advancing their spirituality or increasing their self-esteem and security. As a result of this deception and the systematic use of highly manipulative techniques of influence, recruits come to commit themselves to the group’s prescribed ways of thinking, feeling, and acting; in other words, they become members or converts.Dependency
By gradually isolating members from outside influences, establishing unrealistically high and guilt-inducing expectations, punishing any expressions of "negativity," and denigrating independent, critical thinking, the group causes members to become extremely dependent on the group’s compliance-oriented expressions of love and support.Dread
Once a state of dependency is firmly established, the group’s control over members’ thoughts, feelings, and behavior is strengthened by the members’ growing dread of losing the group’s psychological support (physical threat also occurs in some groups), however much it may aim at ensuring their compliance with leadership’s often debilitating demands.http://www.csj.org/infoserv_articles/langone_michael_cultsqa.htm
