Hombre sin nombre tells Boing Boing:
If you were to begin researching interrogation, interviewing, and
brainwashing techniques, you would eventually notice that one
particular interesting-sounding volume appears over and over again in
the relevant bibliographies: something called The Manipulation of
Human Behavior, published in 1961 [by John Wiley & Sons].Based on the compelling title
and the fact that just about every publication in the subject area
cites it, you would then probably try to seek it out for
yourself–only to discover that it has never been reprinted.Then you'd find out a bit more: the book is a compilation of seven
research reports, and funded at least in large part by the United
States government. You can even track down the table of contents
online, and your jaw may drop when you read the chapter titles:
* The Physiological State of the Interrogation Subject as it Affects
Brain Function
* The Effects of Reduced Environmental Stimulation on Human Behavior:
A Review
* The Use of Drugs in Interrogation
* Physiological Responses as a Means of Evaluating Information
* The Potential Uses of Hypnosis in Interrogation
* The Experimental Investigation of Interpersonal Influence
* Countermanipulation through MalingeringThese articles were written by the people who were paid by the US
government, mostly in the 1950s, to research brainwashing and
interrogation techniques by giving people drugs, placing them under
sensory deprivation, hypnotizing them, etc. etc. Many of these
experiments essentially involve torture and are likely to be widely
regarded as highly unethical. This is fundamental research, and if
there was any followup research done, it has not yet been published
for public consumption.This book is of enormous historical importance, and yet is largely
unavailable. If you live in the United States, this is some of what
your government was up to in the fifties. I doubt that their funding
of these ideas stopped with the publication of this volume.
Link to copy of the complete text.
This book was referenced in a popular post from 2006 on the political blog Daily Kos: Link to "Frankenstein's Children: Modern Torture's Scientific Bible."
It's also available in scanned form on Questia.com, but I find that website a total pain in the butt to use.
Amazon shows a few used copies if you're so inclined.
