What are the laws on brainwashing?  What are the victims rights?
Minnesota or elsewhere.

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 22 Dec 2005 12:26 PST

It would help to know precisely what you mean by "brainwashing." This
word is used in describing everything from persuasive advertising to
abduction and torture. If you could describe in detail how you're
defining the term, I'm sure we can provide some info about applicable
laws.

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 27 Dec 2005 06:29 PST

mamamiamoe-ga,

There does not appear to be very much in the way of laws against
brainswashing, despite some very prominent cases on this topic,
including Patty Hearst, the Jim Jones' mass suicides, and Elizabeth
Smart's abduction.

This article may be of interest to you:


http://writ.corporate.findlaw.com/hamilton/20030327.html
The Elizabeth Smart Case:
Why We Need Specific Laws Against Brainwashing


"...Despite the high value placed on free will in the United States,
the harm caused by the brainwashing of children and disabled adults
has rarely been addressed by any specific legislation. The criminal
law ignores this unique crime, and civil claims do not directly
address it either..."


In the absence of both criminal law or civil remedies, it's hard to
know how to proceed.  Can you give us some guidance about what
additional information you would like at this point, to make for a
complete answer to your question?

Thanks,

pafalafa-ga

Hello and thank you for your question.

Before you can brainwash someone, you need to have them under your
control.  So unless they are old enough to consent and they willingly
submit, you must be controlling them physically or by threat.

In Minnesota, the crimes in question would be
609.27 Coercion 
http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/stats/609/27.html
Which includes among other things making a threat to unlawfully
inflict bodily harm upon, or hold in confinement, the person
threatened that causes them to act against their will.

609.275 Attempt to coerce.  
http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/stats/609/275.html
Which means making a threat within the meaning of section 609.27 that
fails to cause the intended act or forbearance.

609.255 False imprisonment/Intentional restraint.
http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/stats/609/255.html
Which includes confining or restraining a person without the person's consent.

If these statutes don't fit the circumstances (for example an adult
voluntarily joins a cult), then the other possibility is that the cult
is commiting theft by false representation,
http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/stats/609/52.html
Which includes obtaining possession, custody, or title to property of
or performance of services by a third person by intentionally
deceiving the third person with a false representation which is known
to be false, made with intent to defraud, and which does defraud the
person to whom it is made.

Victim's rights in these cases would be to file a criminal complaint
(or if they're not mentally competent, a guardian could do so on their
behalf), and to seek restitution for their damages.

Search terms used:
Minnesota statutes
Minnesota statutes restraint

Thanks again for bringing us your question.  If you find any of the
above unclear, please request clarification (and let me know more
about the particular facts you have in mind).  I would appreciate it
if you would hold off on rating my answer until I have a chance to
respond.

Sincerely,
Google Answers Researcher
Richard-ga

who are you trying to brainwash? and about what?

It depends on what you mean "brainwashing":
1.Intensive, forcible indoctrination, usually political or religious,
aimed at destroying a person's basic convictions and attitudes and
replacing them with an alternative set of fixed beliefs.
or,
2.The application of a concentrated means of persuasion, such as an
advertising campaign or repeated suggestion, in order to develop a
specific belief or motivation.

In my opinion,brainwashing is antihuman.It deprive people's mind
freedom or,at least,cause troubles.Victims have the right to appeal
for mentally compensation.

Is rearing kids a form of brainwashing?  Seems to fit the above second
definition, though when I was doing it, my advertising campaign wasn't
very good.  ;)

mamamiamoe-ga,

There does not appear to be very much in the way of laws against
brainswashing, despite some very prominent cases on this topic,
including Patty Hearst, the Jim Jones' mass suicides, and Elizabeth
Smart's abduction.

This article may be of interest to you:


http://writ.corporate.findlaw.com/hamilton/20030327.html
The Elizabeth Smart Case:
Why We Need Specific Laws Against Brainwashing


"...Despite the high value placed on free will in the United States,
the harm caused by the brainwashing of children and disabled adults
has rarely been addressed by any specific legislation. The criminal
law ignores this unique crime, and civil claims do not directly
address it either..."


In the absence of both criminal law or civil remedies, it's hard to
know how to proceed.  Can you give us some guidance about what
additional information you would like at this point, to make for a
complete answer to your question?

Thanks,

pafalafa-ga

In effect, there are no laws on brainwashing. It is the most common
offence there is. My website www.parentalalienation lists the nature
of this offence and many sites dealing with it.
It is by far the most common way for a custodial parent to gain
custody of a child. It is so common that the Family Court Officers in
the UK who write reports on custody proceedings use: Coaching,
Prejudicing, reinforcing, alienating, and other synonyms of
brainwashing regularly.
The nature of the brainwashing for children is to remove all items
that remind the child of the non-resident parent, and to be
unresponsive to any questions the child might make about that parent.
The child is also separated from any contact with the non-residents
parents relatives, friends, and life-style.
Athough it is medically listed as 'emotional abuse' it has no legal
standing as the courts state that such a child is not
physically/sexually abused or neglected.
As the 'Brainwashers' are predominentaly mothers, and as Family Courts
are mainly operated by women, it is unlikely that the courts will act
on brain washing as an offence. Some Family Lawyers actually suggest
to the custodial parent that alienating a child is the best means of
getting custody, as once the child states it 'hates' the non-resident
parent then the courts will stop  access to that parent.
It is worth noting that many studies have shown that the increase in
crime, divorce, suicides, drug/alcohol/chemical abuse, truancy, and
emotional illness is far higher in children who have lost a parent
this way, and that such children have great difficulty in having
stable relationships later in their own life.
The feminists who are aware of brainwashing as a way of gaining
custody, have websites that deny it exists. Family court statistics on
appeals for custody will tell you differently.

In academic circles, the polically correct term for brainwashing is
"Coercive Persuasion"

In the USA there are laws against physical abuse, sexual abuse and
financial abuse.  There are no laws against psychological abuse. 
France and Germany have laws against Large Group Awareness Trainings
(LGAT).. ala EST.. and the Italian government was discussing such
laws.   There lock-down indoctrination sessions are known to be
effective to alter a person's psyche.  We humans have different set
points for susceptibility under such circumstances.

"Cults in our Midst" by Margaret Singer, while somewhat dated is still
respected source of information.
Philip Zimbardo, Stanford faculty and former president of the American
Psychological Association, has also written of the phenomenon. 
Zimbardo held Singer in high regard.

http://www.zimbardo.com/

A new book on this topic was written this year by a scientist at Oxford.
"Brainwashing" by Kathleen Taylor did an excellent job of blending the
fields of neuroscience and social psychology to explain how the social
setting, and manipulation of a subjective experience causes permanent
changes in the way the physical brain functions.

There are other excellent books for those recovering from brainwashing
programs.  Popular authors would be Langone, Lalich, Ciladini, Tobias.
 Their writings can be found on amazon.com

More information about this topic can be gained from the International
Cultic Studies Association (ICSA)

http://www.csj.org

This link provides a brief overview of common brainwashing methods:

http://www.rickross.com/brainwashing.html

There are a number of attorneys who specialize in law suits against
cults, or regarding psychological abuse.
Again,  ICSA can be a good starting place for such contacts.

There are nasty websites about the attorneys who sue cults. I was told
that those webistes are largely
sponsored by Scientology.

The President of International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA),
formerly American Family
Foundation (AFF) is a Law professor at Santa Clara University:

http://www.csj.org/aff/board_aff.htm

The following link lists some legal articles from ICSA.
You can click on the authors' names for their bio, and professional expertise.

http://www.csj.org/infoserv_indexes/index_tpcol_legal.htm

These attorneys have won large settlements for damages from cults:

Ford Greene,
http://www.gerryarmstrong.org/50grand/media/ford-greene.html

Philip Elberg:
http://csj.org/infoserv_profile/elberg_philip.htm

I hope these leads to brainwashing experts are helpful.
The phenomonenon is real and more common than we like to acknowledge. 
Most psychologists and therapists did not learn much about this in their education.
Therapy for psycholgoical abuse is a specialty.