BRAINWASHING Edgar H Schein

23.of the confession following their release by the Communists). Finally, a numberof Western prisoners have been given longer sentences which they are stillserving.ResultsThe description of coercive persuasion given above applies only to a smallnumber of Western prisoners (the number is difficult to estimate for obviousreasons but is perhaps no larger than 50, taking Americans and Europeans together).The majority of Westerners who were imprisoned either encountered inefficientprisons or were not considered important enough to be reformed. Manyof them encountered reform in a superficial fashion --study sessions and criticismperformed as a necessary daily ritual rather than an important psychologicalactivity. Many were never placed into group cells of more reformed prisoners,but were either kept in solitary confinement or placed with other "reactionary"prisoners with whom they were forbidden to communicate in any way whatsoever.Successful brainwashing, in the sense of the repatriate espousing Communist attitudesand reiterating his crimes following release from Communist China, was arare outcome.Genuine attitude change could only occur if there were already apredisposition in the prisoner and if he encountered a highly effective prisonregimen built around the use of the group cell.Those Americans who exhibited Communist influence at the time of their releaseinto Hong Kong have had varied histories since their release.Several ofthem have re-evaluated their experiences once again after their return home andhave ended up wondering how they could ever have believed what they had professedto believe toward the end of their imprisonment. Several others have vacillatedbetween sympathy for the Communist position and sympathy for the Western positionand are continuing to search for some resolution to their value and attitude conflicts;several have had genuine personality changes built around ethical principles