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== History of the term ==
== History of the term ==
The first modern use of the word was by CIA operative Edgar Hunter. He used it to describe "[[re-education]]" practices used on prisoners of war by the Communist Chinese during the [[Korean War]]<ref name=Hunter>Hunter E, "'Brain-Washing' Tactics Force Chinese into Ranks of Communist Party," ''Miami News'', September 24, 1950. Cited by John Marks, "The Search for the Manchurian Candidate", ch. 8 ("Brainwashing"), in ''The Psychedelic Library''. <http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/lsd/marks8.htm></ref>.
The first modern use of the word was by CIA operative Edgar Hunter. He used it to describe "[[re-education]]" practices used on prisoners of war by the Communist Chinese during the [[Korean War]]<ref name=Hunter>Hunter E, "'Brain-Washing' Tactics Force Chinese into Ranks of Communist Party," ''Miami News'', September 24, 1950. Cited by John Marks, "The Search for the Manchurian Candidate", ch. 8 ("Brainwashing"), in ''The Psychedelic Library''. <http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/lsd/marks8.htm></ref>. The chief concern was that seventy percent of American [[prisoner of war|prisoners of war]] had confessed to various activities, including without limitation the use of biological agents, that fall under the category of "[[war crime]]s." Another fifteen percent collaborated actively with their captors, and only five percent resisted to the end. All prisoners had been subject to often brutal interrogation techniques, including sleep deprivation.
The term later appeared in the context of [[religious conversion]] to the [[Unification Church]], and the controversial services of [[Ted Patrick]], who called himself a "[[Deprogramming|deprogrammer]]." However, an investigation by the American Psychological Associations in the 1980s ended with the conclusion that "mind control" (as applied to [[religious conversion]] of volunteers) was not a [[scientific]]ally viable theory.<ref name=Molko>''Molko and Leal v. Unification Church'', brief ''amicus curiae'' of the American Psychiatric Association, No. SF 25038, Court of Appeal No. A020935, San Francisco Superior Court No. 769-529. Hosted at Center for Studies of New Religions. <http://www.cesnur.org/testi/molko_brief.htm></ref>
Marks reports that the [[CIA]] attempted to develop a brainwashing technique of their own. After years of experimentation, they concluded that no reliable method existed to make anyone do or say anything he would not otherwise want to do, except that months of the brutal regimen in Soviet or Chinese prisons would be sufficient to cause a prisoner to say or do anything to bring the ordeal to an end. Marks also notes that British and other allied prisoners did not confess or collaborate in such large numbers.<ref name=Marks>Marks J, "The Search for the Manchurian Candidate", ch. 8 ("Brainwashing"), in ''The Psychedelic Library''. Accessed April 8, 2009. <http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/lsd/marks8.htm></ref>
The term later appeared in the context of [[religious conversion]] to the [[Unification Church]], and the controversial services of [[Ted Patrick]], who called himself a "[[Deprogramming|deprogrammer]]." However, an investigation by the American Psychological Associations in the 1980s ended with the conclusion that "mind control" (as applied to [[religious conversion]] of volunteers) was not a [[scientific]]ally viable theory.<ref name=Molko>''Molko and Leal v. Unification Church'', brief ''amicus curiae'' of the American Psychiatric Association, No. SF 25038, Court of Appeal No. A020935, San Francisco Superior Court No. 769-529. Hosted at Center for Studies of New Religions. Accessed April 8, 2009. <http://www.cesnur.org/testi/molko_brief.htm></ref>
== The concept in detail ==
Allegations of techniques for impressing an idea or a command on the subconscious mind arguably date back to the [[Crusades]]. Specifically, the Nizari Ismailis, under the leadership of Hassan-e Sabbah, gained a reputation for secret murder against the enemies of Shi'a [[Islam]]. [[Marco Polo]] and others alleged that the operatives of this sect that committed these murders did so while under the influence of [[hashish]], administered to them in a training facility that was part barracks, part bordello. Thus this sect gained the Arabic name ''hashishiyyim'', or ''hashshasheen'', which in Vulgar [[Latin]] became ''asesini'', or Assassins in English.<ref name=looklex>Kjeilen, Tore, "Assassins," ''Encyclopedia of the Orient'', 1996. Accessed April 8, 2009. <http://looklex.com/e.o/assassins.htm></ref><ref name=Zalman>Zalman A, "Assassins (Hashishiyyin) (Persia & Syria, 11th-12th Century)", About.com, n.d. Accessed April 8, 2009. <http://terrorism.about.com/od/groupsleader1/p/Assassins.htm><ref name=britannica>"Assassin", ''The Encyclopedia Britannica'', 1911. Quoted entirely by M. Snell at About.com. Accessed April 8, 2009. <http://historymedren.about.com/od/aentries/a/11_assassin.htm>
==References in popular culture==
==References in popular culture==