Educing Information: Interrogation - National Intelligence University

Captivity Dynamics
Biderman, A. D. (1961). Cultural Models of Captivity Relationships. BSSR
Research Report 339-4, DTIC – AD257325. Washington, DC: Bureau
of Social Science Research.
The behavior of captives depends in large measure upon their
conceptions of what social roles are appropriate to the unfamiliar
situations they encounter. These situations are also shaped in important
ways by cultural conceptions of the captor regarding the status of his
captives. This report reviews some of the historical and traditional
elements of the cultures of captor and captives that have important
direct effects on these role conceptions. The report was prepared as part
of a critical review of studies of prisoners of war, concentration camp
prisoners, and political prisoners.
Biderman, A. D., Heller, B. S., and Epstein, P. (1961). A Selected Bibliography
on Captivity Behavior. DTIC – AD253964. Washington, DC: Bureau of
Social Science Research. Distribution authorized to U.S. government
agencies and their contractors.
This bibliography lists over 600 titles focused on the extremely
deprivational captivity experienced by U.S. POWs during the Korean
War. It was prepared to accompany a report titled The relevance for the
social sciences of knowledge derived from studies of stressful captivity,
written by Biderman and Schein.
Farber, I. E., Harlow, H. F., and West, L. J. (1957). “Brainwashing, Conditioning,
and DDD (Debility, Dependency and Dread).” Sociometry 20 (4), 271-
285.
The authors examine the states of debility, dependency, and dread
(DDD) that POWs were subjected to in Korea. Debility was induced by
conditions such as semi-starvation, fatigue, and disease. The captor’s
control of the POW’s basic needs created dependency. Dread was
marked by the POW’s intense fear and anxiety. Some of the behavioral
principles explaining the effects of DDD derive from instrumental
learning and classical conditioning. DDD alters self-concept and
results in the primitivization of thinking. The intermittent nature
of DDD served to keep hope alive. POWs get much-needed social
communication through interrogation and indoctrination sessions. The
authors conclude that resistance to the consequences of DDD is a matter
of degree and may be modified by physical health and initial anxiety,
albeit not indefinitely.
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