RA Info Survey 1 Results

The term used to describe the process in which a person is made to believe, think, or do something by a pereptator or an abusive group.

This survey was conducted in 2009 by ra-info.org.

In summary, perpetrators used more common terms like “teaching” and “training.” About a quarter of the perpetrators were reported to use “programming”, whereas three quarters of the survivors used “programming” when thinking of the abuse and half  used “programming” when talking to others. The perpetrators seemed to be normalizing and minimizing what they were doing.

Very personal responses, or those that could possibly lead to idfentification of the respondent, were not reported.


1. What is your gender?
(answered question: 100)
8%       male           
92%       female       

2. What is your age?
(answered question: 100)
2%             under 20       
8%             20-30       
15%           30-40       
27%           40-50        
28%           50-60       
18%           60-70       
1%             over 70      

3. In which country were you abused?
(answered question: 100 )
6%          Australia/New Zealand       
11%        Canada                   
3%         Germany                   
2%         Netherlands               
9%         United KIngdom           
79%       United States               
9%         Other                   
Spain, France, Italy, Poland, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Scandinavia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece, Tallinn, Estonia, South American countries, including Brazil and Argentina, rest of W Europe, E Europe, China and Japan etc, S Americas, Africa, Israel, Greenland?, More than one country, also taken out of country

4. My abuse included (check all that apply)
(answered question: 100)
42%       ritual abuse in a mainstream religion (sexual abuse involving groups of people acting in a ceremonial or ritualistic way)       
80%     mind control (the use of torture techniques such as electroshock to brain wash/control a child)   
45%       mind control (the use of torture techniques such as electroshock to brainwash/control a child) involving government, military, or academic facilities or agencies             
83%       ritual abuse in a secret cult (sexual abuse involving groups of people acting in a ceremonial or   ritualistic way)      
45%       medical abuse (torture techniques used in a hospital or other facility)       
61%       child prostitution (an adult(s) providing a child to another adult(s) for money)       
67%       child pornography (photographs or films being made of sexual abuse of children)       
77%       organized sadistic abuse (sexual abuse involving groups of people acting in a sadistic way)       
16%       Other       
Government research lab, covert military experiments among S. Am. indigenous people, Drugs, ritual abuse in a secret cult that practised homicide, government abuse tied in with the above, Kinsey Institute, military medical abuse- radiation, snuff, spiritual abuse, trained to hurt others as a child, Threat of death by gunpoint on numerous occasions, repetitive rapes as a child

5. The people who abused me used the term
(answered question: 89 skipped question: 11)
23.6%       programming          
64.0%       training               
16.9%       conditioning           
74.2%       teaching/learning       
11.2%       hypnotism           
3.4%         brainwashing           
12.4%       indoctrination           
24%       Other               
bloodline, “research”,  Not a lot of words, actually – mostly actions, grooming, Setting behavioral goals, control, no terms used: I “wasn’t supposed to remember” it and “shouldn’t tell anyone”, going home, returning home, learning to be good, work, as in being worked on, not sure, treatment, preparation, “For your own good”  “we are going to reason with you”, Earning your keep, discipline, torture, breaking bad habits, we are going to help you learn to do the right thing, tabula rasa to describe why they were ok to do this,, turning you out

6.  In thinking about my own experience, I use the term:
(answered question: 94 skipped question: 6)
72.3%       programming           
20.2%       training               
18.1%       conditioning           
9.6%         teaching/learning       
16.0%       hypnotism           
42.6%       brainwashing           
14.9%       indoctrination           
23%          Other                
Mostly non-verbal images:  mind control, emotional, intellectual, spiritual abuse:  I use “programming” out loud because it’s too hard for me to use the word “training,” which is what they called it:  Multi-generational culture:  induction of trances, e.g., forced to channel spiritual entities:   I always add torture in parenthesis to indicate the severity:  voodoo:  Also use torture and lies:  torture (5):  Earning my keep:  mind control though torture:  mind control (4):  Badly hurt:  I use training but often correct myself to torture:  abuse

7.  I first heard/saw the term I  use to refer to my abuse
(answered question: 94 skipped question: 6)
24.5%       during my abuse           
14.9%       from a therapist           
10.6%       from another survivor       
24.5%       in a book or article           
6.4%         on the Internet               
0%            on television               
33%          not sure                  
11%          other                   
from a friend:  anthropology of consciousness conference:  College lectures and literature:  Could not find what has happened and IS happening to me ANYWHERE, with the exception of CIA-published research/scholarly articles, that helped me to understand it better:  I didnt really get it from elsewhere specifically. Its how I see it:  Amnesty International:  post abuse (years later):  SMART conference for survivors:  Marilyn van Derbur —  also in a sexual abuse survivors talk:  during my own healing. It describes best what was done to me: 

8. In speaking to other survivors or to therapists, I use the term: 
(answered question: 89 skipped question: 11)
54.2%       programming           
13.3%       training               
20.5%       conditioning          
10.8%       teaching/learning       
4.8%         hypnotism          
41.0%       brainwashing           
6.0%         indoctrination           
25%          Other                
cult:  to my therapist–brainwashing:  channeling:  verbal abuse, abuse, torture, ritual abuse, experimentation:  Child-Rape:  rape and other torture:  ritual abuse torture including mind control:  MK Ultra mind control:  mind control (6)don’t speak about it:  tortureSRA:  again training modified to torture.  Training is too soft a term:  It’s very difficult to talk about:  No term used:  I haven’t because no one has yet has heard about the extent or severity of abuse:  abuse:  my darkness:

9. In speaking to people not familiar with this kind of abuse, I use the term:
(answered question: 89 skipped question: 11)
54.2%       programming           
13.3%       training               
20.5%       conditioning           
10.8%       teaching/learning       
4.8%         hypnotism           
41.0%        brainwashing           
6.0%          indoctrination          
  23%         Other              
cult:  Uh… wouldn’t know where to start.:  I don’t:  mind control (6)ritual abuse, experimentation:  child-rape:  rape and other torture:  controlling:  MK Ultra programming:  i do not speak about it: abuse, torture:  torture-induced mind control:  Rape and being beaten up:  Nothing:  language centers:  i don’t speak of it with people unfamiliar with it:  ritualized abuse:  sexual abuse: 

10. Comments:
(answered question: 23 skipped question: 77)
1.This survey felt very hard for me to fill out, especially with the pre-selected words.  I would have preferred to come up with my own words (even though I know that’s harder to process).
2. It’s  funny, I don’t use any of these terms; they seem so clinical and packaged. For me, they are too passive. From extensive study in anthropology, I prefer to see my abuse as historicized in the context of ancient practice as all those before me who became perpetrators. In general, I use anthropological terms to refer to human practiced passed down over time.
3. “Programming” was used as reference to the documentation files of a person’s process by the abusers.
4. If it is people who aren’t at all familiar with ritual abuse I will usually leave it at ‘training’.
5. I appreciate the opportunity to share my experiences to get the message out to others, in an anonymous way so that I feel safe and validated. 
6. I use the term programming with survivors, people who are aware of the abuse, and people not aware as its the most commonly used term for programming. It makes things easier. I would prefer to call it “torturous and deliberately deceptive indoctrination”.
7. I don’t speak to other people about it. They would never believe me
8. I guess I don’t consider what what they did to me as teaching, conditioning, brainwashing, indoctrinating me and i don’t remember them hypnotizing me.  They programmed me masterfully and I can’t get around it to heal.
9. I just call it torturing and mind controlling
10. they rarely referred to what they did as anything other than the way it is.  Worship is closest
11. good survey Thank you for studying  this. Thank you for helping break the silence surrounding all this.
12. not alwasy so clear about what was said to me at the time…even “”getting evil out.”
13. I prefer the term “mind control” over “brainwashing” because it is more specific and precise. However, sometimes I use the term “brainwashing” to explain what I mean by “mind control” to people unfamiliar with the term, as “brainwashing” is more colloquial and more people seems to be familiar with it.
14. I use the word training because the reaction to ‘torture’ is too strong  and I don’t want to lose people because of how I state it.  Torture more  describes what happened.  Training feels like I am letting them off the hook, as if it was some kind of normal training program.   
15. The abuse I endured was systematic, ritualistic and relentless.
16. I filled out this survery for my adopted daughter who will soon be 10. 
17. I use the term language centers to describe where different jobs originate from after teachings
18. abuse is abuse
19. i recently just came to terms with the medical sexual abuse