single word requests - What is less harsh than "brainwashing"?


The word brainwashing, which has existed in English since circa 1950, may have had its origins in the Chinese Communist Revolution of 1948. It involved the use of extreme methods, the process known as re-education in camps etc.


I think most people would agree, the word is heavily over-used in western society. But there are a lot of organisations, particularly religious ones, which apply a form of subtle pressure, and a well-honed condensed rationale, which is presented, sometimes to young and inexperienced people, offering the possibilities of some form of utopian thinking, or lifestyle.


Sometimes organisations are said, exaggeratedly, to be guilty of brainwashing. But it is a considerable exaggeration.


Is there another word, short of brainwashing which refers to organisational gaining control over people's thinking and belief systems?



Answer



The word "institutionalized" is sometimes used euphemistically to refer to a successful organisational attempt to control people's thinking and belief systems. e.g. They have been institutionalized. Sample articles that use it thus:


https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/corporate-employees-who-have-been-institutionalized-you-mele


https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/791525-humanity-has-been-institutionalized-and-we-are-all-the-products


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