Cult Members Research Articles

Dominance and Submission

SUMMARY The author describes the prevalence of the sexual exploitation of women in cults. This may take the form of daily controls of sexuality and sex lives or more overt abuses such as arranged marriages, forced sexual activity with the leader, and rape. Sexual control is seen as the final step in objectification of the cult member by the authoritarian leader who is able to satisfy his needs through psychological manipulation leading to sexual exploitation. Key to recovering from cultic sexual abuse is psychoeducation - that is, aiding the former cult member to understand the nature of the overall system of deception and manipulation that was used to exploit her. Through an examination of the social and psychological influence techniques employed by the cult, former cult members will be able to productively confront the issues related to their sexual abuse.

Recovery from Cults: Help for Victims of Psychological and Spiritual Abuse

Stressing the capacity of powerful cults to harm members and cause a variety of post-cult problems, including depression, dissociative disturbances and dependency, this book provides background information and practical guidelines to enable mental health professionals to help former cult members.

Investigations of child abuse/neglect allegations in religious cults: A case study in Vermont

AbstractState investigations into allegations of child abuse and/or neglect are made particularly difficult when the adults involved refuse to cooperate with the investigation. Attempts by state agencies to investigate allegations of child abus/neglect made against noncooperative religious cults have proved particularly challenging, since the nature of these groups makes identification of and access to child and adult members problematic. Such cases prove especially difficult when religious beliefs held by cult members justify and even endorse physical discipline of children that many states would define as abusive. An illustration of these problems is provided by an in‐depth description of a recent case in which state officials in Vermont attempted to investigate child abuse allegations against members of a religious cult. Social policy issues are discussed, and suggested statutory revisions are presented.

Death penalty mitigation and cult membership: The case of the Kirtland killings

When cult activities precipitate violence against others, the interface of religious belief and practice, and law becomes complex. Personal and group psychological factors can assume importance not only to explain the crimes, but also in the processing of cases, particularly where a death penalty/mitigation trial is involved. While destructive cult membership has not been accepted in the legal system as a basis for an insanity plea, mitigation from the death penalty or other reduced responsibility outcomes can be justified and was effective in defence of Kirtland cult members. Outcomes in the Kirtland case reflected statutory requirements and procedural operations in complex constellations with roughly proportionate results. The paper details specifics of the case, defense strategies, prosecutorial functions, and religious and psychological underpinnings which led into acts for which neither religious freedom nor psychological disturbance could exempt from Penalty.

Cults and New Religious Movements: A Report of the American Psychiatric Association

Cults and New Religious Movements culminates a three-year project by the Committee on Psychiatry and Religion of the American Psychiatric Association. Its editor, Marc Galanter, is a household name to psychiatrists interested in religious, cultic, and secular charismatic healing groups. The contributors are not limited to Committee members, and several are laypersons— psychologists, social scientists, and attorneys. Perspectives, interpretations, and attitudes are diverse. As Galanter (p xiv) says, this allows readers to weigh, sift, and form their own conclusions. The book treats a number of topics in 16 chapters. The social context is discussed by Galanter (Cults and New Religious Movements), E. M. Pattison and R. C. Ness (New Religious Movements in Historical Perspective), and H. Work (Contemporary Youth: Their Psychological Needs and Beliefs). The impact of membership is covered by S. V. Levine (Life in the Cults), D. A. Halperin (Families of Cult Members: Consultation and Treatment), and B.

The Pleasures of Spiritualism

Deprivation theories about why people become cult members fail to take sufficient account of the specific enjoyments that cult movements offer to their participants. In the case of Spiritualism, these pleasures range from opportunities for sociability to brain- teasing attempts to decipher the worldly signs of Spirit. Beyond these, Spiritualism also offers the gnostic prospect of potentially infinite understanding and power.

The self-help group: The mental health professional's role

The self-help group has become an increasingly important vehicle for providing mental health services for populations that have been otherwise therapeutically disenfranchised. The article discusses the role of the mental health professional in organizing self-help groups and in facilitating their fulfilling their goals. Transference, countertransference, and group dynamic issues are discussed in detail. These issues are illustrated with particular reference to a self-help group for the parents of cult members.

Iatrogenic Symptoms Associated with a Therapy Cult: Examination of an Extinct “New Psychotherapy” with Respect to Psychiatric Deterioration and “Brainwashing”

In 1982, the first and only discussion of psychotherapy cults appeared in the literature. Temerlin and Temerlin (1982) studied five "bizarre" groups which were formed when five practitioners of psychotherapy simultaneously served as friends, lovers, relatives, employers, colleagues, and teachers, all to patients who were themselves mental health professionals. In choosing the term "psychotherapy cult," the authors have noted similarities of the groups they reviewed to some religious cults, citing the three definitions of the "cult" in Webster's 1966 Third New International Dictionary: (1) a system for the cure of disease based on the dogma, tenets or principles set forth by its promulgator to the exclusion of scientific experience or demonstration, (2) great or excessive dedication to some person, idea or organization, (3) a religion or mystic regarded as mysterious or unorthodox. The psychotherapy cults studied by Temerlin and Temerlin varied from 15 to 75 mental health professionals held together by their idealization of a shared therapist and the activities which they conducted jointly: workshops, seminars, courses, businesses, professional ventures, and social life. As patients became more involved in the social and personal life of their therapists, they gradually withdrew from all friends and family, becoming increasingly dependent on the therapist and their new "siblings." Upon joining the group, many patients felt a sense of being loved and belongingness. The authors described the "cognitive pathology" of idiosyncratic group jargon which served to maintain an illusion of knowledge, sophistication, and personal growth, while removing all ambivalence and uncertainty. The authors concluded that psychotherapy cult membership is an iatrogenically determined negative effect of psychotherapy. Of the former cult members they interviewed, most had perceived themselves as deteriorating or at an impasse, or had experienced disillusionment with their therapists; however, they were unable to terminate unilaterally because of a pathological symbiosis with the group. This paper focuses on a now defunct school of psychotherapy which had both much in common with these psychotherapy cults and several contrasting qualities. First, the school was officially led by a junta of psychotherapists, in a deliberate attempt to avoid any taint of a personality cult. Second, the group of patients and therapists was far larger than any referred to in the original study. Third, most patients were not mental health professionals. Fourth, liberal usage was made of many novel techniques identified with the California psychotherapy scene.

Counseling Cult Members: Fighting Fire With Fire

Counseling Cult Members: Fighting Fire With Fire

Family therapists and families of cult members

One to three million bright young adults have been or are presently involved with “deviant religions,” also known as cults. They, or their families, frequently seek therapeutic aid during or after the involvement, but too few psychologists or other therapists in private practice are adequately prepared to help them. To remedy the situation, information is presented on cults in general, cult members, and families of cult members.

The Christian Church and the New Religious Movements: Towards Theological Understanding

FOR MORE than a decade Western society, in particular the United States of America, has seen the rise and proliferation of religious and spiritual groups which the public has undiscerningly and indiscriminately labeled cults. Many of the adherents of these new groups have come from the background of the traditional Christian churches. Most of them, by abandoning the beliefs and practices of their forefathers, have passed a negative judgment on the Christian Church and its relevance to contemporary life. The so-called cults have often been in the public eye because of the legal actions and Congressional investigations instigated by anticult organizations. Anguished parents, whose children have become cult members, have turned to self-styled deprogrammera who have at times operated outside both civil and moral law. Yet the mainline Christian response to the new religions can, with few exceptions, be categorized as one of neglect and apathy. Though the churches have made extensive efforts to come to grips with the cultural upheavals of the mid-1960's, their attempts to meet the challenge of the cults have, on the whole, been slow, sporadic, and superficial. Many Christians, theologians included, have failed to grasp the significance of the new religious movements, which are already leaving an impact on society at large and on Christianity itself. It is unfortunate that we still lack a systematic treatment of the theological implications of these movements. The only concerted Christian response has come from evangelical Christianity, which has directed a considerable amount of literature to

Psychological Malpractice and the Anti‐Cult Battle—A Response

The operation of some cults and the ‘deprogramming’ of cult members are both held to be suspect. An examination of the broad characteristics, motivations and backgrounds of cult members reveals links with the authoritarian justifications of their ‘rescuers‘.—Ed.

Role of psychiatry in the phenomenon of cults.

Religious cults and particularly their attraction for young people are receiving increased attention. There is currently considerable controversy about the role of governmental bodies in understanding and regulating cults and their effect on members. Regardless of their effect on the members of the cult or movement, particularly new members who are often adolescents, membership in a cult produces severe familial tensions. The cult members often develop opinions and modes of behaviour so diametrically different from their families of origin that psychiatrists are often consulted with the view to understand, treat and correct what is seen as behavioural aberration by the families. The phenomenon of religious cults does not seem to be of a passing nature and it is therefore imperative that psychiatrists have a comprehensive and clear a knowledge of the concepts and activities of cults, their seeming effects on young people and their families, and some of the reactions they have caused in society.

Coercive persuasion (brainwashing), religious cults, and deprogramming

Psychiatric interviews and psychological testing were conducted with 50 members of former members of a variety of religious cults who contacted the authors about the issue of deprogramming. The subjects were divided into four groups: cult members who feared deprogramming, those who had returned to the cult after deprogramming, ex-cult members who had left after deprogramming, and those who had left without deprogramming. There were significant differences between these groups on length of time in the cult, perception of and resistance toward the deprogramming experience, status of parental marriage, and who became a deprogrammer. No evidence of insanity or mental illness in the legal sense was found.

Why Amhara get kureynya: sickness and possession in an Ethiopian zar cult1

Most accounts of spirit possession cults treat illnesses caused by spirits as an ancillary concern, interesting mainly as events through which people join such cults. However, in the Amhara zar cult, sicknesses caused by spirits remain an important focus for relations between cult members and cult spirits even after initiation. Further, it is by participating in recurrent sickness episodes that members gain access to the adaptive strategies offered by the cult.

Psychosocial profile of cultists in a Nigerian university: a preliminary report

To help stem cult activities on campuses by identifying motives for joining cult groups and highlighting psychosocial attributes/profile of a potential or already initiated cult member. Using snow-balling method, 25 consecutive consenting cult members of University of Ilorin were interviewed over a six month period using a semi-structured questionnaire. Those who had symptoms suggestive of psychiatric disorders were further assessed based on ICD-10 criteria. All patients with previous psychiatric illness were excluded. A significant proportion of the respondents were first year, male, previously shy students from high socioeconomic background. There was a significant increase in the proportion of respondents who had palpitation, sweated more, felt bolder, and became current users of alcohol and tobacco after initiation. Also, there was a significant decrease in the proportion of respondents who slept well, felt accepted by friends and performed well in academic activities after initiation. In spite of the small sample size and method of data collection, the preliminary findings in this study, could be useful in stemming the increasing menace of cultism among students in tertiary institutions. It was suggested that control of cult activities should be multidimensional with students, parents and university administration taking active parts. Establishment of 'Help Centres' on campuses was suggested.

Personality and the psychosexual adjustment of Afro-Brazilian cult members

Personality and the psychosexual adjustment of Afro-Brazilian cult members

The Focus of Cuban Santeria

Previous articleNext article No AccessThe Focus of Cuban SanteriaWilliam R. BascomWilliam R. Bascom Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Volume 6, Number 1Spring, 1950 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/soutjanth.6.1.3628691 Views: 110Total views on this site Citations: 24Citations are reported from Crossref Journal History This article was published in the Southwestern Journal of Anthropology (1945-1972), which is continued by the Journal of Anthropological Research (1973-present). PDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Amanda Villepastour The legacy of Ortiz’s Yorubization of Lucumí: Translation as transculturation, HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory 11, no.11 (Jun 2021): 153–173.https://doi.org/10.1086/714380Amanda Villepastour The Cuban Lexicon Lucumí and African Language Yorùbá: Musical and Historical Connections, (Oct 2019): 2575–2602.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02438-3_183Manfred Kremser »Shango is a Powerful Fellow!«. Repräsentation spiritueller Macht in afrokaribischen Kulturen, (Apr 2019): 189–202.https://doi.org/10.14220/9783737005142.189Amanda Villepastour The Cuban Lexicon Lucumí and African Language Yorùbá: Musical and Historical Connections, (Mar 2019): 1–28.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73400-2_183-1Amanda Villepastour The Cuban Lexicon Lucumí and African Language Yorùbá: Musical and Historical Connections, (Jul 2019): 1–28.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73400-2_183-2Stephan Palmié When Is a Thing? Transduction and Immediacy in Afro-Cuban Ritual; or, ANT in Matanzas, Cuba, Summer of 1948, Comparative Studies in Society and History 60, no.44 (Oct 2018): 786–809.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0010417518000294Rex Nettleford Caribbean Culture: Paradoxes of the 1990s, (Feb 2018): 73–89.https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429501821-10Pablo F. Gómez Caribbean stones and the creation of early-modern worlds, History and Technology 34, no.11 (Sep 2018): 11–20.https://doi.org/10.1080/07341512.2018.1516849 Bibliography, (Oct 2017): 577–676.https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405166607.biblioHENRY B. LOVEJOY, OLATUNJI OJO ‘LUCUMÍ’, ‘TERRANOVA’, AND THE ORIGINS OF THE YORUBA NATION, The Journal of African History 56, no.33 (Oct 2015): 353–372.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021853715000328Erica S. Moret Trans-Atlantic Diaspora Ethnobotany: Legacies of West African and Iberian Mediterranean Migration in Central Cuba, (Jul 2012): 217–245.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-0836-9_9Martin HOLBRAAD Truth beyond doubt, HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory 2, no.11 (Mar 2012): 81–109.https://doi.org/10.14318/hau2.1.006Joseph M. Murphy Yoruba Religions in Diaspora, Religion Compass 4, no.77 (Jun 2010): 400–409.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-8171.2010.00223.xChristine Ayorinde Writing Out Africa? Racial Politics and the Cuban regla de ocha, (Jan 2007): 151–166.https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230609938_9 Elizabeth Pérez David H. Brown, Santería Enthroned: Art, Ritual, and Innovation in an Afro‐Cuban Religion Pérez, History of Religions 45, no.22 (Jul 2015): 185–188.https://doi.org/10.1086/502701Martin Holbraad EXPENDING MULTIPLICITY: MONEY IN CUBAN IFA CULTS, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 11, no.22 (Jun 2005): 231–254.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9655.2005.00234.xMartin Holbraad, Estimando a necessidade: os oráculos de ifá e a verdade em Havana, Mana 9, no.22 (Oct 2003): 39–77.https://doi.org/10.1590/S0104-93132003000200002Andrew Apter On African Origins: Creolization and Connaissance in Haitian Vodou, American Ethnologist 29, no.22 (Jan 2008): 233–260.https://doi.org/10.1525/ae.2002.29.2.233Katherine J. Hagedorn Long day's journey to Rincón: From suffering to resistance in the procession of San Lázaro/Babalú Ayé 1, British Journal of Ethnomusicology 11, no.11 (Jan 2002): 43–69.https://doi.org/10.1080/09681220208567328George Brandon The Uses of Plants in Healing in an Afro-Cuban Religion, Santeria, Journal of Black Studies 22, no.11 (Jul 2016): 55–76.https://doi.org/10.1177/002193479102200106Jorge Duany After the Revolution: The Search for Roots in Afro-Cuban Culture, Latin American Research Review 23, no.11 (Oct 2022): 244–255.https://doi.org/10.1017/S002387910003483XDavid Kowalewski The catholic church and the Cuban regime, Religion in Communist Lands 11, no.11 (Jan 2008): 67–72.https://doi.org/10.1080/09637498308431059 References, (): 323–345.https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822375319-013 Melville J. Herskovits The Present Status and Needs of Afroamerican Research, The Journal of Negro History 36, no.22 (Dec 2017): 123–147.https://doi.org/10.2307/2715415