An excellent book on this subject, in case anyone is interested:

CULTS IN OUR MIDST

"...Because of her early work at Walter Reed, Dr. Singer was familiar with the history of coercive persuasion in many settings throughout history. Later, laboratory studies done by social psychologists, field studies of influence done by anthropologists, and propaganda analyses done by political and linguistic analysts all came to be of use as she studied how current cults and other groups using thought reform processes induce attitude and behavior changes in their members, how they use words to persuade, control and even damage people.."