The Membership of a Cult: The Spiritualists National Union

Abstract

It is hypothesized that the membership of a cult will consist of those who are (a) disillusioned with the traditional religion of their society, (b) suffer from "psychic deprivation" and are consequently engaged in a "search for meaning," and (c) are particularly concerned with the problem of understanding mystical, psychic, or ecstatic experiences. These hypotheses have been found useful as the basis for the analysis of the membership of the Spiritualist National Union in Britain. The significance of the cult as a type of religious social movement in urban-industrial society is gradually becoming recognized by sociologists (Yinger, 1970: 27980; Nelson, 1968). In the past twenty years a number of sociological studies of particular cults have been made. Cults which have been studied include the "Divine Precepts" Movement (Lofland, 1966), Scientology and the Flying Saucer Movement (Jackson, 1966; Jackson and Jobling, 1968), and Spiritualism (Nelson, 1969 a). Festinger and Riecken (1956) contributed an important study of the effects of the failure of prophecy on the growth of a millennialist cult, while Klapp (1969) has made a valuable contribution to the discussion of the social and psychological sources of cults. The author (Nelson, 1969b:152-160) has attempted to define more rigorously the concept of cult on the basis of the work of Becker, Yinger, Glock and Stark, and Martin. I have defined the cult as a "religious movement which makes a fundamental break with the religious tradition of the culture" and which is (a) "composed of individuals who have had or seek mystical, psychic or ecstatic experiences" and (b) "is concerned with the problems of individuals." CULTS AND THE SEARCH FOR MEANING Cults tend to proliferate when rapid social change has produced a breakdown of the religious and cultural tradition. For example, when, as Berger (1969:89) has expressed it, the "plausibility struc-