The White master insisted on total obedience and created a situation of utter dependence.

He supplied food, clothing, shelter, discipline, and he was in a position to control the slave's friends and mating.

The "Sambo" of literature mirrored reality, this life of dependency created infantile characteristics in many of the slaves and taught them to reject their past while adopting the values of their masters.

The American slave system, besides exploiting the Africans labor, possessed and violated his person.
Three schools of mass behavior have been suggested as explanations: Freudian psychology, the interpersonal theories of Henry Stack Sullivan, and role psychology.

Freudian psychology has put total emphases on early childhood experiences and is the least suited for this purpose.