BRAINWASHING Edgar H Schein

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30.based on cooperation with the enemy.Lectures and Group DiscussionTo present the Communist point of view and to provide the POs with suitablereasons for why they should cooperate with the Chinese, the political sectionsof the Red Army units presented daily lectures to be followed by group discussionsof the conclusions presented in the lecture. Attendance at both functions wasmandatory and the group discussions were monitored by cadres or by "progressives."The content of the lectures was usually crude propaganda around topics like"Who Really Started the Korean War?" and was so full of blatant inaccuracies asto vitiate whatever appeal it might have had (e.g., the statement by the lecturerthat "we know that in America very few of you own your own cars").Certainspecific themes like the plea for "peace" inevitably had appeal, however, andPCWs found themselves supporting peace activities like signing petitions, insertingpeace propaganda into their letters home (they, were delivered only ifsuchpropaganda were inserted), and serving on peace committees which were formed ineach camp.ResultsWhat were the results of these various activities? The most important resultwas the social disorganization of the POW group which resulted in the bulk of themen withdrawing into an emotional shell and adapting as best they could by cooperatingwith the Chinese as much as they had to to survive but trying to avoidgiving any aid to their propaganda efforts. The extent of this psychologicalwithdrawal showed up clearly in studies of the repatriates. In their observablebehavior and on psychological tests they showed marked emotional constriction,inability and unwillingness to get involved with others, and even some impairmentof intellectual functioning (Strassman, Thaler & Schein, 1956; Schein, Hill,Williams & Lubin, 1957; Singer & Schein, 1958). It took a period of weeks or
31.months in some cases for the men once again to feel comfortable in close emotionalrelationships with others.An important corollary result was the impairment of judgment which resultedfrom the social-emotional isolation. If a POW could not comfortably discusshis daily affairs with others, seek advice, or consider the consequences ofactions he was contemplating, he was cut off from the most important source ofvalidation available to man --the opinions, beliefs, and knowledge of others.Much of the collaborative behavior of the POWs was unwitting or was based on verypoor foresight. They often were unaware how skilled the Communists were in usingpropaganda and were equally unaware how their behavior might be construed asdisloyal. The important point, however, is that collaborative behavior wasusually not motivated by disloyalty or opportunitism, but rather was the complexresultant of attempts to survive in an environment where standards for behaviorwere extrem'ely difficult to discern.Statistics on the amount of collaboration among captured Americans havevaried with the criterion that was applied all the way from 70 percent to 10percent of the POWs committing one or more acts of collaboration. These statisticsbecome meaningless if one considers the ambiguity of the criterion and thedifficulty the men had judging what was actually collaboration. What they doindicate,however, is that from the Chinese Communist point of view their effortsto produce propaganda must have seemed quite successful. On the other hand,the very small percentage of men who were to any degree swayed by the ideologicalmessage of the Communists must be considered a dramatic failure of their indoctrinationprogram.In managing the prison camps with a minimum of guards, the Communists werehighly successful. The isolation of the camps, the ready identifiability ofWesterners among the North Koreans, the social disorganization of the PCW group,
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Page 5 and 6: 3.message and reliance on practical
Page 7 and 8: 5.these operations required extensi
Page 9 and 10: T,4) systematic reward by group lea
Page 11 and 12: 9.Such widespread campaigns as "Lan
Page 13 and 14: 11.ties to the past and a rebuildin
Page 15 and 16: political prisons (as estimated by
Page 17 and 18: to him that he was considered to be
Page 19 and 20: The prisoner's image of himself and
Page 21 and 22: 19.constantly having his failures p
Page 23 and 24: 21.matter what kind of a defensive
Page 25 and 26: 23.of the confession following thei
Page 27 and 28: 25.Capture by the ChineseIf a man w
Page 29 and 30: 27.prisoners without formal authori
Page 31: 29.shortly after their arrival at a
Page 35 and 36: scientist for whom they represent s
Page 37: Lindsay, M. (1950) Notes on educati

BRAINWASHING Edgar H Schein

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