Tajāvoz be zehn: ravān-shenāsī-ye kontrol-e fekr, zehn-koshī va shostosho-ye maghzī Persian 2024

The book The Rape of the Mind by Dutch psychiatrist Joost A. M. Meerloo is a pioneering and classic study of psychological manipulation, brainwashing, and thought control in totalitarian systems. Drawing on his personal experiences during the Second World War as well as his extensive research on propaganda and psychological coercion, Meerloo demonstrates how authoritarian regimes, cults, and propaganda apparatuses weaken mental resistance and suppress independent thinking through fear, repetition, isolation, and social pressure.

Through historical examples—including Nazi German propaganda, brainwashing practices in the Soviet Union, and psychological operations during the Cold War—the author explains how control of information and the construction of an official narrative can shape public perception and drive mass conformity. A central theme of the book is the danger of losing individuality and intellectual autonomy in societies where official ideology replaces free thought.

The Rape of the Mind offers a cautionary analysis of the power of psychological coercion and the societal impact of propaganda. Despite the decades since its publication, it remains strikingly relevant in the age of mass media, misinformation, and narrative warfare. The book calls readers to vigilance, the preservation of critical thinking, and the defense of freedom and human dignity.