How their weak minds got twisted

The Straits Times (Singapore), Jan 10, 2003

By M. Nirmala

Psychologists say that mind control and peer pressure are used to snare those frustrated about something

Once you are in and the gate clangs shut, there is no way out. The mental make-up of those who enter the terrorist fold is such that they cannot ever back out.

Psychologists and psychiatrists who specialise in group dynamics and mind control told The Straits Times that this was usually the result of a two-way process which leads to an unshakeable trust being built between leader and follower.

The leader often possesses a magnetic personality; he has presence.

To those seeking spiritual answers that no one else can provide, the confidence with which he delivers definitive answers is too seductive to resist.

An intelligent leader is also good at managing people with different temperaments and motivating those whose interest in the cause shows signs of flagging.

Leaders often have good material to work with because their followers are already frustrated about something and convinced that something needs to be done about it.

Followers, of course, expect something in return for taking part in the group's clandestine activities.

In the case of the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terrorists, they were promised a 'no-fuss path to heaven', reported the Government's White Paper on the JI threat which was unveiled yesterday.

Dr Lim Kok Kwang, the 37-year-old president of the Singapore Psychological Society, said that religious cults induce compliance and changes in values by using mind-control methods.

Group conformity is maintained by having a few cells. If one member strays, the rest pressure him to stay on till the bitter end.

'Because members want to gain acceptance, they will follow the leader. The punishment they fear most is humiliation and being expelled from the group,' he said.

Dr C.B. Khare, 52 and a consultant psychiatrist at the National University Hospital, said group dynamics play a significant part in keeping followers of such outfits together.

'The language used is aimed at what hurts the members most,' he said.

'For example, in drug groups, it hurts members when they are told that 'It is not cool' rather than 'I will hit you'.'

The White Paper reported that JI members were told that those who left the group were infidels while those who remained committed were closer to Allah.

Terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna said that the JI controlled the internal and external environments of its members and their thinking.

'That person is sort of put in a box, and he is not allowed to think outside that box or get out of that box,' he said.

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