he Engineering of Consent
The story begins in the middle of the fierce fighting of the second world war. As the fighting intensified the American army was faced by an extraordinary number of mental breakdowns among its troops. Forty-nine percent of all soldiers evacuated from combat were sent back because they suffered from mental problems. In desperation the army turned to the new ideas of psychoanalysis. They made a film record of the experiment using hidden cameras.
Doctor interviewing solider: "It says here on your record that you had headaches and that you had crying spells."
Soldier: "Yes sir, I believe that your profession is calling it nostalgia."
Doctor: "In other words, homesickness."
Soldier: "Yes sir. It was induced when shortly before the war I received a picture of my sweetheart. (begins to cry) I'm sorry I can't continue. (leaves)"
It was the first time that anyone had paid such attention to the feelings and anxieties of ordinary people. AT the heart of the experiment were a number of refugee psychoanalysts from central Europe. They worked with American psychiatrists to guide and shape the project.
Professor Martin Bergmann - Psychoanalyst, US Army 1943-45: When I first came to America I worked in the psychiatric service with soldiers trying to rehabilitate them. And I travelled in the train from the east coast to the west coast I was enormously curious what goes on in all of those little towns that the train is passing. After my years in the army I knew exactly what every one was doing in the little towns. Because I saw so many people who came from there and I understood their aspirations, their disappointments and so forth. So it was as if somebody had invited me to a privileged tour into the inner soul of America.