Indoctrination

Indoctrination is the process of inculcating ideas, attitudes, cognitive strategies or a professional methodology. It is often distinguished from education by the fact that the indoctrinated person is expected not to question or critically examine the doctrine they have learned. As such it is often used pejoratively. However, instruction in the basic principles of a science, or the methodology of a profession, can also be called indoctrination; in these contexts the word does not necessarily have negative connotations.

Definitions

Indoctrination refers to a wide range of different activities, and finding a single definition is problematic. In the fields of psychology, sociology and educational research, more precise terms are often preferred, including (but not limited to): socialization, propaganda, manipulation, and brainwashing.

In education, distinguishing (undesirable) "indoctrination" from the (acceptable) teaching of values is particularly problematic.

Religious indoctrination

Religious indoctrination refers to customary rites of passage for the indoctrination of persons into a particular religion and its extended community.

Most religious groups instruct new members in the principles of the religion; this is usually not referred to as indoctrination, because of the negative connotations the word has acquired. Mystery religions require a period of indoctrination before granting access to esoteric knowledge. (c.f. Information security)

Military indoctrination

The initial psychological preparation of soldiers during training is referred to (non-pejoratively) as indoctrination. See Recruit training.

Information security

In the field of information security, indoctrination is the initial briefing and instructions given before a person is granted access to secret information. ^[1]

Criticism

Noam Chomsky remarks, "For those who stubbornly seek freedom, there can be no more urgent task than to come to understand the mechanisms and practices of indoctrination. These are easy to perceive in the totalitarian societies, much less so in the system of 'brainwashing under freedom' to which we are subjected and which all too often we serve as willing or unwitting instruments."^[2]

Robert Jay Lifton argues^[3] that the objective of phrases or slogans like "blood for oil," or "cut and run," is not to continue reflective conversations but to replace them with emotionally appealing phrases. This technique is called the thought-terminating cliché.

References

1. ^ The National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual defines indoctrination as "the initial security instructions/briefing given a person prior to granting access to classified information."
2. ^ Chomsky, Noam. Propdaganda, American Style. Retrieved on 2007-06-29.
3. ^ Lifton, Robert Jay (1989). Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of "Brainwashing" in China. University of North Carolina Press, 524. ISBN 0-8078-4253-2. 

See also

• Behavior modification
• Brainwashing
• Manipulation
• Propaganda
• Recruit training
• Religious indoctrination
• Self-deception
• Socialization

External links

• Students for Academic Freedom

• Overcoming Religious Indoctrination Atheist Foundation of Australia Inc

• Habermas and the Problem of Indoctrination Encyclopedia of Philosophy of Education

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