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Martino Fine Books

The Rape of the Mind: The Psychology of Thought Control, Menticide, and Brainwashing

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Format: Paperback


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2015 Reprint of 1961 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition. Not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. In 1933 Meerloo began to study the methods by which systematic mental pressure brings people to abject submission, and by which totalitarians imprint their subjective "truth" on their victims' minds. In "The Rape of the Mind" he goes far beyond the direct military implications of mental torture to describing how our own culture unobtrusively shows symptoms of pressurizing people's minds. He presents a systematic analysis of the methods of brainwashing and mental torture and coercion, and shows how totalitarian strategy, with its use of mass psychology, leads to systematized "rape of the mind." He describes the new age of cold war with its mental terror, verbocracy, and semantic fog, the use of fear as a tool of mass submission and the problem of treason and loyalty, so loaded with dangerous confusion. The "Rape of the Mind" is written for the interested layman, not only for experts and scientists. Contents: Part One: The Techniques of Individual Submission. 1. You Too Would Confess. 2. Pavlov's Students as Circus Tamers. 3. Medication into Submission. 4. Why Do They Yield? The Psychodynamics of False Confession. Part Two: The Techniques of Mass Submission. 5. The Cold War against the Mind. 6. Totalitaria and its Dictatorship. 7. The Intrusion by Totalitarian Thinking. 8. Trial by Trial. 9. Fear as a Tool of Terror. Part Three: Unobtrusive Coercion. 10. The Child is Father to the Man. 11. Mental Contagion and Mass Delusion. 12. Technology Invades Our Minds. 13. Intrusion by the Administrative Mind. 14. The Turncoat in Each of Us. Part Four: In Search of Defenses. 15. Training Against Mental Torture. 16. Education for Discipline or Higher Morale. 17. From Old to New Courage. 18. Freedom -- Our Mental Backbone Read more

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Martino Publishing


Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 25, 2015


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Print length ‏ : ‎ 320 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1614277877


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 73


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.09 pounds


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #29,125 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #16 in Propaganda & Political Psychology #30 in Fascism (Books) #37 in Communism & Socialism (Books)


#16 in Propaganda & Political Psychology:


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Top Amazon Reviews

    • Death of the Mind- Death of the Self- A study guide on Menticide
Format: Paperback
Rape of the Mind will fail to be appreciated by the population of general readers. Those who would appreciate this work are people who possess a specific bandwidth. People with a concern or at minimum a curiosity regarding the mind and its independence in service to the individual and more broadly to the free open democratic societies of the west. These individuals will find Joost Meerloo’s work a serious educational piece. In this work you will be made intimately acquainted with the concept known as “Menticide” – the death of the mind. “Menticide is an old crime, an organized system of psychological intervention with a corresponding judicial perversion”… whereby victims are forced into conformity. The author’s bona fides are apparent. As a trained psychiatrist whose career was shaped by his personal experience during World War 2 where Meerloo himself was at one point briefly incarcerated during the German occupation of the Netherland and was himself subject to Nazi interrogation. In this situation he experienced at least the incipient stages of Nazi psychological manipulation. The full Nazi system of menticide in its worse manifestations included sleep and food deprivation, sensory deprivation as well as physical torture. Escaping from his captors and managing to get to neutral Switzerland Meerloo ultimately made his way to England where he winds up as the “Chief of the Psychological Department of the Netherland Forces in England”. In this official capacity he was able to gather data on what was happening to the innumerable victims of Nazi terror and torture. Knowing the title of the four main sections of The Rape of the Mind will be found helpful. They are: Section 1: “The Techniques of Individual Submission”. Section 2: “The Techniques of Mass Submission”. Section 3: “Unobtrusive Coercion”. Section 4: “In Search for Defenses”. This book starts with the overt brainwashing system perfected by the Nazi regime. Since the other totalitarian state at the time was the Soviet Union, the author provides an extended overview of the well-developed Stalinist communist system of mind control grounded in Pavlov’s scientific study of behavior modification (conditioning) using stimulus and response. In his capacity as Chief of the Psychological Department the author interacted with and interviewed prisoners both during and after the war. It is here where he systematized the methods and means by which these prisoners either survived the menticide or in some cases didn’t survive “the death of the mind”. Not surviving meant the prisoner succumbed to the enemy by mental and often time physical torture where ultimately all hope is taken away. Any anticipation of a future beyond the immediate experience of being a prisoner is extinguished. In the end the prisoner “speaks the voice of his master”. The result was often times some victims capitulated, committing traitorous acts while under incarceration. This might include uttering false statements about his home country- admitting to war crimes which never occurred but could be used for propaganda purposes by his captors. Are there some particular individuals who are more susceptible to the tactics and techniques of menticide? The author answers this question in the affirmative and the cohorts are variable in their psychological makeup, history and cultural-social profile. There is one group the reader will be quite surprised to find falls into this category of susceptibility. It is a group one would expect would be more immune to the techniques of brain washing rather than more prone. The reader will have to read “Rape of the Mind” to learn who this particular group is. In the pure totalitarian state the use of terror is necessary. In “Totalitaria” the state is “constantly on the alert for social sinners, the critics of the system”. “Freedom and independence, compromise and objectivity” are crimes in Totalitaria. Dissenters will be identified and in the worst case the concentration camp becomes a feature of repression in order to not just remove the offenders but provoke terror in the citizenry as rumors of torture and extermination leak out. The Big Lie is used to confuse and ultimately wear down the citizenry. The Loyalty Oath is the true measure of the loss of freedom, free will and individual conscience. Against this background the author points out the invaluable role of the non-conformist, the true contrarian who simply refuses to go along with group or institutional thinking. The loyal opposition is a necessary counterbalance in a healthy society according to the author. Against this war time experience Meerloo extends the subject into the broader landscape of cultural manipulation where average people are mentally coerced by both commercial interests as well as by government. The dangers to open free democratic societies are of particular concern to the author as he witnesses the dangerous effects brought about by the use of mass media- “Where radio and television tend to take away active affectionate relationships between people and to destroy the capacity for personal thought, evaluation and reflection. Mass media catches the mind directly leaving no time for… conversation,…, friends or with books”. Mass media creates the modern version of “Bread and Circuses” allowing the real game of social control to occur silently without causing broad-based oppositional response. The chapters within each section move the concept of mind control systematically from category to category of governmental, social and cultural apparatuses and influences whose purpose is to eliminate critical thinking. The reader must bear in mind that that this book was first published in 1955 before the knowledge of the top-secret program known as MK ULTRA was exposed. It became abundantly clear that the US government the ostensible defender of democracy was itself deeply involved in mind control research with tactics and methods as dark and evil as anything the Nazi’s ever imagined. This fact should indicate the pursuit of power and control of people is perhaps so well advanced within the Western governments, their intelligence services and black projects that the very notion of a free individual may be nothing more than a quaint notion. On page 212 Meerloo makes a remarkable projection in anticipating artificial intelligence. He states: “The devaluation of the human brain, replacing it by mechanical computers…. a system that is a product of technology and dehumanization and what may result in organized brutality and the crushing of any personal morality”. He goes on to describe the effect of atrophy on the mind and the human psyche as the individual loses a connecting purpose to external reality resulting from human’s experiencing cognitive obsolescence. The bleakness of the subject of mind control should not dissuade the reader from wading into this work. In the last chapters the author does provide mitigations to inoculate the individual as well as the broader free democratic society. The techniques of menticide, mind control and the techniques of propaganda are very well understood. Meerloo delineates the counter measures that are available to individuals and society to preserve freedom of thought and with wide dissemination can hopefully push back the darkness of what appears as a growing tendency toward tyranny. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2026 by Carroll Busher
    • Fascinating - there are some typos in Kindle edition
Format: Kindle
Anyone interested in the bizarre and self-destructive trends in Western governments and culture should read this. Draws on Orwell and the World War 2 era. Many patterns detectable today, in 2024, (such as cancel culture) find their explanation in this book, which was originally published in 1960. This book's ideas can also shed light on narcissistic family dynamics: the isolation, control, the mindlessly repeated slogans, the shaming, etc. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2024 by Pink Cat ^-^
    • Haunting
Format: Paperback
Possibly the scariest nonfiction book I know about. Very eloquently written. The ideas here are timeless. He effectively relates his ideas to his challenging life experiences and his work as a psychologist in the Dutch resistance. Recommend!
Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2026 by Evan Desjardins
    • Just like today
Format: Kindle
Joost Meerloo wrote this in 1956 and the principals are still at use today. The end of the book has a good surprise of hopeful encouragement and specific things that combat brain washing.
Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2026 by SHOP OWNER
    • quite dull. There is very little technical date included in ...
This is a highly standardize work written by a DR who suffered through the Nazi mind control experiments and techniques used during WW2. Its these techniques that all intelligence agencies of the world is built upon. When I was in college, it was considered a textbook on the subject. 60 years after its first publication, it is still consider a opus on the subject. The author walks you through his experiences. He does offer keen and sharp insight in the foundations of mind control. Being this volume has been a standard since the 50'5, do not expect to find any new material such as synthetic telepathy, or any of the MK Ultra experiments conducted by the CIA/DIA. It is an inseparable work for understanding the foundation of modern mind control, and Covert Hypnosis For the history buff, it is a compelling work, for the average reader, most will find it fascinating though in some locations in the text, quite dull. There is very little technical date included in this volume. It's more like a autobiography than a series work on the subject. I'm not contradicting myself for his personal 1st hand experiences at the hands of the Nazi mind control machine, there is none better for to the skeptics it shows that even a highly educated mind can be broken. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2015 by R.K. Sprau
    • Psychology is your responsibility
Format: Paperback
Excellent!
Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2026 by Krishna Green
    • If you want to understand today's world, read this book!
Format: Paperback
A must read! Even though published in the 50's, it is essential reading to interpret the current times! Tough to get through because of the seriousness of the material and the deceit and devastation he documents! Every H.S. senior and college-age student should have to read this book! Knowing the content of this book helped me understand the psychological operations that are happening today! ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2024 by John Engberg
    • Best book on brainwashing in my opinion. Brilliant writer.
This book, Lifton’s Thought Reform and Kathleen Taylor’s Brainwashing reveal a system that is hiding in broad daylight and victimizing everyone in the industrialized world.
Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2026 by Jorge Zayas

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