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exFamily.org > chatboards > genX > archives > post #28889

True Story about Mind Control

Posted by CB on January 17, 2007 at 21:48:46

Has anyone else been following the case of the kidnapped 15-year-old in Missouri (Shawn Hornbeck) who appears to have "voluntarily" stayed with his abductor for four years after he was kidnapped at age 11?

This is one of the first online articles I've read that talks about the psychology of mind control in this kidnapping case:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16673873/site/newsweek/?GT1=8921

What's particularly interesting to me is the notion of "infantilization," where an individual's basic psychological need for nurturance and love are met by a controlling authority figure, such that the infantilized individual to "begins to feel a primitive, primordial gratitude toward the person taking care of them."