Indoctrination
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Indoctrination is the process of inculcating (teaching by repeated instruction) a person with ideas, attitudes, cognitive strategies or professional methodologies (see doctrine).[1] Broadly speaking, indoctrination can refer to a general process of socialization.[2] In common discourse, the term often has a pejorative valence to refer to forms of brainwashing or for disagreeable forms of socialization.[2]
The precise boundary between education and indoctrination is contested. The concept originally referred to education, but after World War I, the term took on a pejorative meaning akin to brainwashing or propaganda. convictions.
Common vectors of indoctrination include the state, educational institutions, the arts, culture, and the media. Understood as a process of socialization into “ideal-type” citizens, indoctrination takes place in both democratic and authoritarian systems of government.[2]
Political context
In the political context, indoctrination is often analyzed as a tool of class warfare, where institutions of the state are identified as "conspiring" to maintain the status quo. Specifically the public educational system, the police, and mental health establishment are a commonly cited modus operandi of public pacification. In the extreme, an entire state can be implicated. George Orwell's book Nineteen Eighty-Four famously singled out explicit, state-mandated propaganda initiatives of totalitarian regimes. Opinions differ on whether other forms of government are less doctrinaire, or merely achieve the same ends through less obvious methods.
Religious context
Religious indoctrination, the original sense of indoctrination, refers to a process of imparting
However, indoctrination can occur, and often does occur with great frequency, in non-religious or anti-religious contexts. For example, in the 20th century, the former
Similarly, in the former Soviet Union, "science education [in] Soviet schools [was] used as a vehicle for atheistic indoctrination", with teachers being instructed to prepare their course "so as to conduct anti-religious educations at all times," in order to comport with state-sanctioned Marxist–Leninist values.[11] However, in 1997, several years after the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian government passed a law recognizing religion as being important to Russian history with Orthodox Christianity (Russian: Православие Pravoslaviye), Russia's traditional and largest religion, declared a part of Russia's "historical heritage."
Military
The initial psychological preparation of soldiers during training is referred to (non-pejoratively) as indoctrination.[12]
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.[13]
See also
- Acculturation
- Behavior modification
- Brainwashing
- Ideology
- Pensée unique
- Radicalization
- Recruitment
- Groupthink
References
- ^ Funk and Wagnalls: "To instruct in doctrines; esp., to teach partisan or sectarian dogmas"; I.A. Snook, ed. 1972. Concepts of Indoctrination (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul).
- ^ ISSN 1537-5927.
- ^ Douglas Harper, "indoctrinate (v.)", Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed April 20, 2019.
- ^ Wilson, J., 1964. "Education and indoctrination", in T.H.B. Hollins, ed. Aims in Education: the philosophic approach (Manchester University Press).
- OED, indoctrination.
- ^ Harris, Sam (2011). The moral landscape. Simon and Schuster.
- ^ See Scientology beliefs and practices.
- ^ Dawkins, Richard. The God Delusion. New York: Bantam Books, 2006. pp. 25, 28, 206, 367.
- ^ Franzmann, Manuel (2006). Religiosität in der säkularisierten Welt. Springer-Verlag. p. 89.
However, another conspicuous result of our comparison is that some Eastern European countries, in spite of decades of atheist indoctrination, have a considerable percentage of believers in God - Albania for instance, whose Communist rulers once claimed it was the world's first totally atheist country, or Russia, where the percentage of believers surged in the late eighties and rose dramatically once again in the course of the nineties.
- ISBN 978-0822310471.
From kindergarten onward children are indoctrinated with an aggressive form of atheism and trained to hate and distrust foreigners and to denounce parents who follow religious practices at home.
- ^ Witt, Nicholas De (1961). Education and Professional Employment in the U.S.S.R. National Academies. p. 121.
- ^ Philips, Peter. Military Indoctrinators and the Psychology of Control. p. 9.
- National Industrial Security Program Operating Manualdefines indoctrination as "the initial security instructions/briefing given a person prior to granting access to classified information."
External links
- Habermas and the Problem of Indoctrination Encyclopedia of Philosophy of Education