Systematic effort to destroy an individual's former loyalties and beliefs and to substitute loyalty to a new ideology or power.
It has been used by religious cults as well as by radical political groups such as the Chinese Communists in 1949. The techniques of brainwashing usually involve isolation from former associates and sources of information; an exacting regimen calling for absolute obedience and humility; strong social pressures and rewards for cooperation; physical and psychological punishments for noncooperation, including social ostracism and criticism, deprivation of food, sleep, and social contacts, bondage, and torture; and constant reinforcement. Its effects are sometimes reversed through deprogramming, which combines confrontation and intensive psychotherapy.