Article Summary: The Slave Case

The article that I want to discuss today is the slave case that was published on January 29th, 2016 on The Daily Telegraph where a 75 year old communist cult leader, Aravindan Balakrishnan is sentenced to 23 years in prison for physically and mentally abusing his followers, one of which is his own daughter, for the last three decades. Over the past 30 years, Balakrishnan has been the leader of an underground communist group in Brixton, London. After being expelled of the Communist Group of Britain, he established his own in 1975 in which he gained a substantial amount of followers. Although a police raid in 1978 drove away many members, at least six women stayed in which a string of horrifying assaults were to follow. The repeated rapes, brutal violence and mind controlling games have led the victims to strip away family ties, their independent thought and freedom. He told them that he could overthrow governments and control natural disasters. His brainwashing scheme led the women to believe that he had the …show more content…
In the textbook, Jones mentioned that influence happen in the classroom when the student is fearful of or respects the teacher, or simply because the final grade for the course is perceived to be in the teacher’s hands. Similarly in the article, indoctrination happened when the follower is fearful of or respects the leader, or primarily because the follower believed that their fate of life and death is dependent on the leader. In the two settings, both the student and victim are vulnerable to adopting beliefs and values that are not necessarily theirs. Although there may be an opportunity for the student or victim to voice their opposite opinions, it is unlikely that they would do so in fear of the perceived consequences. Therefore, when given the setting and the position to promote values, the enforcement of beliefs can be a likely occurrence whether it is intentional or