Mind Control

Mind control is an act of persuasion which may involve aspects of religion. It involves people are put in physical or emotionally distressing situations;

1. Their problems are reduced to one simple explanation, which is repeatedly emphasized;
2. They receive unconditional love, acceptance, and attention from a charismatic leader or group;
3. They get a new identity based on the group;
4. They are subject to entrapment (isolation from friends, relatives and the mainstream culture) and their access to information is severely controlled

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_control

Mind control is also known as brainwashing or persuading, this is linked in with advert sales and computer games.

• From the 1960s an increasing number of American youths started to come into contact with new religious movements and some who converted suddenly adopted beliefs and behaviors that differed greatly from those of their families and friends; in some cases they neglected or even broke contact with their loved ones.
• In the 1970s the anti-cult movement applied mind control theories to explain these sudden and seemingly dramatic religious conversions. The media was quick to follow suit, and social scientists sympathetic to the anti-cult movement, who were usually psychologists, developed more sophisticated models of brainwashing. While some psychologists were receptive to these theories, sociologists were for the most part skeptical of their ability to explain conversion to NRMs. In the years that followed, brainwashing controversies developed between NRM members, various academic researchers, and cult critics.