Terminology note: 
Today Mind control or brainwashing in  academia is commonly referred to as coercive persuasion, coercive  psychological systems or coercive influence. The short description below  comes from Dr. Margaret Singer professor emeritus at the  University of California at Berkeley the acknowledged leading authority  in the world on mind control and cults.

a short overview

Coercion is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as:

1. To force to act or think in a certain manner
2. To dominate, restrain, or control by force
3. To bring about by force.

Coercive psychological systems are behavioral change programs which use  psychological force in a coercive way to cause the learning and adoption  of an ideology or designated set of beliefs, ideas, attitudes, or  behaviors. The essential strategy used by the operators of these  programs is to systematically select, sequence and coordinate many  different types of coercive influence, anxiety and stress-producing  tactics over continuous periods of time. In such a program the subject  is forced to adapt in a series of tiny "invisible" steps. Each tiny step  is designed to be sufficiently small so the subjects will not notice the  changes in themselves or identify the coercive nature of the processes  being used. The subjects of these tactics do not become aware of the  hidden organizational purpose of the coercive psychological program  until much later, if ever. These tactics are usually applied in a group  setting by well intentioned but deceived "friends and allies" of the  victim. This keeps the victim from putting up the ego defenses we  normally maintain in known adversarial situations. The coercive  psychological influence of these programs aim to overcome the  individual's critical thinking abilities and free will - apart from any  appeal to informed judgment. Victims gradually lose their ability to  make independent decisions and exercise informed consent. Their critical  thinking, defenses, cognitive processes, values, ideas, attitudes,  conduct and ability to reason are undermined by a technological process  rather than by meaningful free choice, rationality, or the inherent  merit or value of the ideas or propositions being presented. How Do They  Work?

The tactics used to create undue psychological and social influence,  often by means involving anxiety and stress, fall into seven main  categories.

TACTIC 1

Increase suggestibility and "soften up" the individual through  specific hypnotic or other suggestibility-increasing techniques such as:  Extended audio, visual, verbal, or tactile fixation drills, Excessive  exact repetition of routine activities, Sleep restriction and/or  Nutritional restriction.

TACTIC 2

Establish control over the person's social environment, time and  sources of social support by a system of often-excessive rewards and  punishments. Social isolation is promoted. Contact with family and  friends is abridged, as is contact with persons who do not share  group-approved attitudes. Economic and other dependence on the group is  fostered.

TACTIC 3

Prohibit disconfirming information and non supporting opinions in  group communication. Rules exist about permissible topics to discuss  with outsiders. Communication is highly controlled. An "in-group"  language is usually constructed.

TACTIC 4

Make the person re-evaluate the most central aspects of his or her  experience of self and prior conduct in negative ways. Efforts are  designed to destabilize and undermine the subject's basic consciousness,  reality awareness, world view, emotional control and defense mechanisms.  The subject is guided to reinterpret his or her life's history and adopt  a new version of causality.

TACTIC 5

Create a sense of powerlessness by subjecting the person to  intense and frequent actions and situations which undermine the person's  confidence in himself and his judgment.

TACTIC 6      

Create strong aversive emotional  arousals in the subject by use of nonphysical punishments such as  intense humiliation, loss of privilege, social isolation, social status  changes, intense guilt, anxiety, manipulation and other techniques.

TACTIC 7      

Intimidate the person with the  force of group-sanctioned secular psychological threats. For example, it  may be suggested or implied that failure to adopt the approved attitude,  belief or consequent behavior will lead to severe punishment or dire  consequences such as physical or mental illness, the reappearance of a  prior physical illness, drug dependence, economic collapse, social  failure, divorce, disintegration, failure to find a mate, etc.

These tactics of psychological force are applied to such a severe degree  that the individual's capacity to make informed or free choices becomes  inhibited. The victims become unable to make the normal, wise or  balanced decisions which they most likely or normally would have made,  had they not been unknowingly manipulated by these coordinated technical  processes. The cumulative effect of these processes can be an even more  effective form of undue influence than pain, torture, drugs or the use  of physical force and physical and legal threats.

How does Coercive Psychological  Persuasion Differ from Other Kinds of Influence? Coercive psychological systems are  distinguished from benign social learning or peaceful persuasion by the  specific conditions under which they are conducted. These conditions  include the type and number of coercive psychological tactics used, the  severity of environmental and interpersonal manipulation, and the amount  of psychological force employed to suppress particular unwanted  behaviors and to train desired behaviors.

Coercive force is traditionally visualized in physical terms. In this  form it is easily definable, clear-cut and unambiguous. Coercive  psychological force unfortunately has not been so easy to see and  define. The law has been ahead of the physical sciences in that it has  allowed that coercion need not involve physical force. It has recognized  that an individual can be threatened and coerced psychologically by what  he or she perceives to be dangerous, not necessarily by that which is  dangerous.

Law has recognized that even the  threatened action need not be physical. Threats of economic loss, social  ostracism and ridicule, among other things, are all recognized by law,  in varying contexts, as coercive psychological forces.

Why are Coercive Psychological Systems  Harmful? Coercive psychological systems violate our  most fundamental concepts of basic human rights. They violate rights of  individuals that are guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United  States Constitution and affirmed by many declarations of principle  worldwide.

By confusing, intimidating and silencing  their victims, those who profit from these systems evade exposure and  prosecution for actions recognized as harmful and which are illegal in  most countries such as: fraud, false imprisonment, undue influence,  involuntary servitude, intentional infliction of emotional distress,  outrageous conduct and other tortuous acts.

www.factnet.org - Margaret Thaler Singer, Ph.D

www.factnet.org - F.A.C.T.net          

Margaret Thaler Singer, Ph.D. Biography

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CNN IREPORT
Coercive Mind Control Tactics - Margaret Thaler Singer, Ph.D
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-361103