Tavistock Institute was founded (officially) in 1922 for the purpose of helping shellshocked soldiers from WWI. What they discovered was that extreme trauma rendered people malleable and this became the basis for a mind control experiment that endures to this day. Major John Rawlings Reese was the first director at the Institute that was set up at Oxford University by the Royal Institute of International Affairs. What evolved was one of the first and most profound brainwashing facilities that ever existed.
This became the basis for the British Psychological Warfare Bureau, a psy op institution that was instrumental in the carpet bombing techniques that were designed to beat the German population into a state of submission in WWII. It also became the basis of the American OSS (Office of Strategic Services) that preceded the CIA. OSS was formed under the direction of Dr. Karl Lewin who was also instrumental in the formation of the CIA.
After WWII, Tavistock turned its attention to controlling civilian populations, in both the UK and America. One method of this control is (and has been) the use of propaganda. Although propaganda was used by the Nazis before and during WWII as a political tool to garner support for Hitler's nefarious plans, it really took off after the war under the guise of public relations. Although propaganda has become something of a dirty word, public relations is viewed as an acceptable alternative, although in reality there's no difference at all. The father of modern propaganda is an American named Edward Bernays dubbed "The Father of Public Relations." In an interview with Mark Crispin Miller, professor of Media Studies at NYU, Abby Martin and the professor discuss propaganda and it's effect on society.
The philosophy of Tavistock is from the Frankfurt School and the writings of Theodor Adorno in particular. They draw heavily on Adorno's Authoritarian Personality. The following video explains and details Tavistock's ultimate aims.
Source for Tavistock history: http://www.theforbiddenknowledge.com/hardtruth/tavistochumanrelations.htm