Changes

'''Mind control''' (also known as brainwashing, coercive persuasion, [[thought]] ''control'', or thought reform) 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". The term has been applied to any tactic, [[psychological]] or otherwise, which can be seen as subverting an [[individual]]'s sense of [[control]] over their own [[thinking]], [[behavior]], [[emotions]] or [[decision]] making.

'''Mind control''' (also known as brainwashing, coercive persuasion, [[thought]] ''control'', or thought reform) 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". The term has been applied to any tactic, [[psychological]] or otherwise, which can be seen as subverting an [[individual]]'s sense of [[control]] over their own [[thinking]], [[behavior]], [[emotions]] or [[decision]] making.

 

[[Theories]] of brainwashing and of [[mind]] [[control]] were originally [[developed]] to explain how [[totalitarian]] [[regimes]] appeared to succeed in systematically indoctrinating prisoners of [[war]] through [[propaganda]] and [[torture]] [[techniques]]. These theories were later expanded and [[modified]], by [[psychologists]] including [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Singer Margaret Singer], to explain a wider range of [[phenomena]], especially [[conversions]] to [[new religious movements]] (NRMs). A third-[[generation]] [[theory]] proposed by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Zablocki Ben Zablocki] [[focused]] on the utilization of mind control to retain members of NRMs and [[cults]] to convert them to a new [[religion]]. The suggestion that NRMs use mind control techniques has resulted in [[scientific]] and [[legal]] [[controversy]]. Neither the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Psychological_Association American Psychological Association] nor the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Sociological_Association American Sociological Association] have found any scientific merit in such [[theories]].

[[Theories]] of brainwashing and of [[mind]] [[control]] were originally [[developed]] to explain how [[totalitarian]] [[regimes]] appeared to succeed in systematically indoctrinating prisoners of [[war]] through [[propaganda]] and [[torture]] [[techniques]]. These theories were later expanded and [[modified]], by [[psychologists]] including [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Singer Margaret Singer], to explain a wider range of [[phenomena]], especially [[conversions]] to [[new religious movements]] (NRMs). A third-[[generation]] [[theory]] proposed by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Zablocki Ben Zablocki] [[focused]] on the utilization of mind control to retain members of NRMs and [[cults]] to convert them to a new [[religion]]. The suggestion that NRMs use mind control techniques has resulted in [[scientific]] and [[legal]] [[controversy]]. Neither the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Psychological_Association American Psychological Association] nor the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Sociological_Association American Sociological Association] have found any scientific merit in such [[theories]].

==An expanding concept==

==An expanding concept==