An Object Relations Approach to Cult Membership

The author describes therapy with a former cult member who engaged in and was convicted of a criminal act she performed while in the cult. When the author examined her client's behavior both before and after her cult experience, she noted that the client's cult antisocial behavior was contrary to her precult and postcult moral code. The author focuses on the processes over time that influenced this woman's beliefs to change dramatically and theorizes that this example of antisocial behavior was the result of the group's influence, which created the conditions for her client to begin to defensively identify with her idealized cult leader's version of morality. The author thereby demonstrates that it is inadequate to rely on the diagnosis of antisocial personality for those who engaged in antisocial acts while in a cult.

The Cult Phenomenon: How Groups Function, 2006

This book was made possible through the financial support of the Ministère des Relations avec les citoyens et de l'Immigration. However, the opinions expressed herein are those of the authors. The translation from the French version (Le phénomène des sectes: L'étude du fonctionnement des groupes ©2003) into English was made possible through the financial support of Canadian Heritage.

Involvement with a cultic group can result in lasting psychological harm for individuals and families alike. Regrettably, the experiences of individuals who have been recruited into abusive or exploitative cultic groups, and the means by which such groups operate, tend to be poorly understood by mental health clinicians in general. The number of cultic groups operating in the U.S., and the number of people who are affected by them, are also broadly underestimated by both professionals and laypersons. For the benefit of clinicians unfamiliar with the topic, this project explains the specifics of cult recruitment and indoctrination, describes the mechanisms of unethical psychological persuasion, and offers a framework for objectively distinguishing an abusive or cultic group from a more benign group. This project also describes various professional roles and intervention strategies for helping cult victims and their families, and explores the ethical imperative that mental health professionals have to be competent with regard to the topic of cults.

JL & Health, 1996

The Journal of Humanistic Education and Development, 1998

Because in viduals experiencing transitions seem to be particularly susceptible to cult membership, adaptation to transition provides a framework for understanding susceptibility to cult membership. Developing insight and resources to cope with transition must be an integral part of strategies to prevent cult membership. Interventions focusing on treatment of former cult members are also discussed. There is a growing awareness, especially among human service providers, of increased cult membership in the United States. Although absolute statistics are unavailable, current estimates indicate that at least two million-and more likely five million-adults in the United States are involved in cults

American Journal of Psychiatry, 1979

Sociology Study, 2016

The breeding and communication of cult are all realized on the base of psychological activities, psychological factors play an important role in preventing and resisting breeding and communication of cult, and in this paper, it demonstrates respectively at this point, and starts from forming the long-term mechanism of the Chinese cult governance and proposes the conception and specific suggestions accordingly of establishing the national psychological assistance system to prevent and resist breeding and communication of cult.

Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 2003

This article provides an overview of cult-related issues that may reveal themselves in therapeutic situations. These issues include: families in cults; parental (especially mothers') roles in cults; the impact that cult leaders have on families; the destruction of family intimacy; child abuse; issues encountered by noncustodial parents; the impact on cognitive, psychological, and moral development; and health issues. The authors borrow from numerous theoretical perspectives to illustrate their points, including self psychology, developmental theory, and the sociology of religion. They conclude with a discussion of the therapeutic challenges that therapists face when working with cult-involved clients and make preliminary recommendations for treatment.

Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 1979

Relatively little attention has been paid in the professional literature to the cult phenomenon: what it is, how it attracts converts, what differentiates the vulnerable youth from the mn-vulnerable; the effects of cult membership on the convert's family, and, particularly, in what ways the family can be aided during and after involvement with the cult. The authors have drawn on clinical observations, interviews, and extant literature from a variety of disciplines in constructing a portrait of the vulnerable youth; the techniques used by cults to attract, recruit, and convert members; the dynamics of the recruit's family; and the most effective modes of therapy for intervening. The intent of the article is to stimulate: 1

Jesus was undoubtedly a problemas were the early Christians, Mohammed and the early Muslims, and Wesley and the early Methodists. Today, L. Ron Hubbard and the Church of Scientology, Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam, Li Hongzhi and Falun Gong; Osama bin Laden and Al Qaida have all been considered a threat not only to their individual followers but also to the very fabric of society. Indeed, throughout history, religious leaders and the movements to which they have given rise have been perceived to be social problems by those who are sure that they know another, truer Truth, and a different, better way of life than that proposed by the new religion.