USA

" Operative Psychology " was a research and teaching subject at the Law School (JHS) of the Ministry for State Security (MfS) of the GDR . This dealt with "the phenomena, conditions, regularities and the psychological experience and the psychological control of the behavior and actions of the people in the political-operative work of the MfS". [1] The knowledge gained in this way was used for the targeted recruitment and “stabilization” of employees as well as for the systematic “ decomposition ” of political opponents of the SED regime.
Initially, psychological knowledge played no role during the training at the law school. The first writing that can be found, which outlines the tasks and main features of psychology within the MfS, dates back to 1960. [3] [4] The chair, founded in 1965, was incorporated into the "political-operative special discipline" section. At the latest when MfS Guideline No. 1/76 on the development and processing of operational processes (OV) [5] came into force, factors influencing the personality development of people gained in importance. [6]Research and teaching in "operational psychology" were practical and application-oriented. “Operative psychology” did not bring fundamentally new psychological findings to light, but dealt primarily analytically with the use of known methods. [7] The students were primarily given basic knowledge of psychology. [8] [9] Research results on the feelings, needs and relationships of people, but also findings from group analysis and interpersonal phenomena such as trust, bonds and leadership should be made available for decomposition measures. [10] "Operative Psychology" was a compulsory subject at the Law School of the State Security. [11]The proportion of the total proportion of the course was 131 of 2,615 teaching hours. [12] A total of around 10,000 MfS officers attended courses in psychology at the JHS. [13] There was the possibility of acquiring a doctoral degree with studies in “operational psychology”. [14] The language style and mode of expression of the doctoral theses was often polemical and propagandistic and sometimes kept so simple that the dictionmore like journalistic accounts than scientific work. There were hardly any concrete instructions for the implementation of operational psychology. The MfS could not meet the scientific standards it had set itself, because apart from vague statements and copied general psychological statements, operational psychology did not produce any scientific achievements of its own. All the important criteria for scientific-psychological work, such as empirical investigations, theoretical foundations, possible falsifiability of hypotheses, openness and value-freedom , were hardly met.
Operative Psychology has dealt most often with the Enemies in relation to its goals , thus showing its anti-human orientation. Four goals that should contribute to the realization of operational psychology within the Stasi were themselves named.