I was reading an interview with Saul Rubinek, you may know him as Kevas Vajo from "Star Trek: The Next Generation". On the subject of preparing for a role in a film about the Unification Church, otherwise known as the "Moonies". He went undercover for research for the role to a Unification Seminar.
What was really done in detail was that it showed the indoctrination techniques, which were prisoner-of-war techniques used by North Koreans to recruit people very quickly without using violence or torture: using lack of sleep, no protein, and not being alone, singing together, providing a feeling of community… It was called “snapping,” I believe was the phrase used by psychologists, about what happens to people when there’s a moment where they’re very vulnerable to suggestion. A physiological change can happen to people when they’re vulnerable, and they can actually be recruited and indoctrinated. It’s not an intellectual process alone. You need people who are ready for it. They were always looking for recruits who were educated but directionless and looking for purpose in life. People they could make use of. It was insidious. And the film showed not only how the recruitment could happen to a very bright guy, but it showed in detail what the programming was like, and the deprogramming sequence is extraordinary and will hold up today. It’s really just extraordinarily well done.
Preying upon the vulnerable, you say?