Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 2, 2008, Page 10
procedures that sixteen-year-old Katherine McNamara experienced in a Mexican program
called Harmony Harbor and concluded:
‗The methods which she describes are substantially the same used to
brainwash prisoners of war: Isolate individuals from anything familiar, strip
them of their personal identity, push them psychologically and physically to
the point of exhaustion, make them submit to all-powerful adult authorities,
and use pure ridicule and punishment to enforce authority‘ (quoted in Arriola,
2001:3).3
Many of the accounts from teens who had been in programs in Oregon, Missouri, Italy, and
Mexico involved ―psychological rapes, physical abuses, [and] sleep and food deprivation ...‖
(Arriola, 2001:1). Despite, if not because of, these probable abuses, attendance in these
programs seems not to deter juvenile crime, with one study finding ―that nearly three out of
every four children who pass through the camps are back in detention within a year‖
(Selcraig, 2000:67).
In 2005, eighteen plaintiffs filed suit against at least a dozen defendants who either owned
or worked at a Christian ―boot-camp‖ facility for troubled teens in Mississippi. The facility—
formerly known as Bethel Children‘s Home, then Bethel Boys Academy (with a girls‘
equivalent in another part of the state), and finally Eagle Point Christian Academy—had
been under investigation several times previously (see Coalition Against Institutionalized
Child Abuse, 2007). During one investigation in 1988, which led to the closure of the facility,
state officials raided the facility amidst ―charges of mental and physical abuse.‖ Some of the
children in the institution, however, ―were loyal, many believed brainwashed, and wanted to
stay‖ (Wade-Dixon, 2002). A court reached a settlement with the facility that was supposed
to eliminate the abuse of children (by such actions as ―allowing restroom and water breaks
during exercise to forbidding the use of electrical devices for discipline‖ [Brown, 2003 see
Chancery Court of George County, Mississippi, 2003]), but allegations of abuse continued.
Consequently, in 2005, numerous parents filed suit against Bethel Boys Academy and its
staff, in which (among a litany of allegations) they assert that the facility brainwashed the
defendants. The specific claim states:
35. Defendants routinely pressure cadets to remain at the Academy as staff.
In some cases, pre-arranged marriages are carried out, with Defendant
performing the marriage ceremony and both cadet and spouse remaining as
Bethel Staff members. Such employees are given a pittance of pay, much less
than minimum wage, and are expected to enforce all the demands of the
Defendants against any cadet in their custody. The employment of such
persons is made possible only by Defendants‘ brainwashing and routine
deprivation of substantial age and intelligence appropriate education which
might thereby render the cadet competent and confident to find employment
in the outside world. (Struble et al v. Fountain, et al, 2005:para. 35)
I am unable to determine what the current status of this action is.
Terrorist Groups
With the escalation of suicide bombing in numerous locations around the world, attention
has turned to the indoctrination and training that these bombers receive. Analysts
sometimes use the brainwashing concept to describe what people go through in order to
detonate bombs that destroy themselves and others. For example, the Director of Global
Research in International Affairs, Barry Rubin, reports, ―Palestinian groups have historically
used after-school activities and youth clubs to spot potential suicide bombers. Promising
recruits have then typically been subject to intensive brainwashing by experienced
terrorists‖ (Rubin, 2004).4
procedures that sixteen-year-old Katherine McNamara experienced in a Mexican program
called Harmony Harbor and concluded:
‗The methods which she describes are substantially the same used to
brainwash prisoners of war: Isolate individuals from anything familiar, strip
them of their personal identity, push them psychologically and physically to
the point of exhaustion, make them submit to all-powerful adult authorities,
and use pure ridicule and punishment to enforce authority‘ (quoted in Arriola,
2001:3).3
Many of the accounts from teens who had been in programs in Oregon, Missouri, Italy, and
Mexico involved ―psychological rapes, physical abuses, [and] sleep and food deprivation ...‖
(Arriola, 2001:1). Despite, if not because of, these probable abuses, attendance in these
programs seems not to deter juvenile crime, with one study finding ―that nearly three out of
every four children who pass through the camps are back in detention within a year‖
(Selcraig, 2000:67).
In 2005, eighteen plaintiffs filed suit against at least a dozen defendants who either owned
or worked at a Christian ―boot-camp‖ facility for troubled teens in Mississippi. The facility—
formerly known as Bethel Children‘s Home, then Bethel Boys Academy (with a girls‘
equivalent in another part of the state), and finally Eagle Point Christian Academy—had
been under investigation several times previously (see Coalition Against Institutionalized
Child Abuse, 2007). During one investigation in 1988, which led to the closure of the facility,
state officials raided the facility amidst ―charges of mental and physical abuse.‖ Some of the
children in the institution, however, ―were loyal, many believed brainwashed, and wanted to
stay‖ (Wade-Dixon, 2002). A court reached a settlement with the facility that was supposed
to eliminate the abuse of children (by such actions as ―allowing restroom and water breaks
during exercise to forbidding the use of electrical devices for discipline‖ [Brown, 2003 see
Chancery Court of George County, Mississippi, 2003]), but allegations of abuse continued.
Consequently, in 2005, numerous parents filed suit against Bethel Boys Academy and its
staff, in which (among a litany of allegations) they assert that the facility brainwashed the
defendants. The specific claim states:
35. Defendants routinely pressure cadets to remain at the Academy as staff.
In some cases, pre-arranged marriages are carried out, with Defendant
performing the marriage ceremony and both cadet and spouse remaining as
Bethel Staff members. Such employees are given a pittance of pay, much less
than minimum wage, and are expected to enforce all the demands of the
Defendants against any cadet in their custody. The employment of such
persons is made possible only by Defendants‘ brainwashing and routine
deprivation of substantial age and intelligence appropriate education which
might thereby render the cadet competent and confident to find employment
in the outside world. (Struble et al v. Fountain, et al, 2005:para. 35)
I am unable to determine what the current status of this action is.
Terrorist Groups
With the escalation of suicide bombing in numerous locations around the world, attention
has turned to the indoctrination and training that these bombers receive. Analysts
sometimes use the brainwashing concept to describe what people go through in order to
detonate bombs that destroy themselves and others. For example, the Director of Global
Research in International Affairs, Barry Rubin, reports, ―Palestinian groups have historically
used after-school activities and youth clubs to spot potential suicide bombers. Promising
recruits have then typically been subject to intensive brainwashing by experienced
terrorists‖ (Rubin, 2004).4
