Title: Cult Persuasion
1Cult Persuasion
- brainwashing, mind control, cult conversion,
and deprogramming
2Roots of cultic research
- POW camps in the Korean war emergence of the
term brainwashing - When Prophecy Fails Festinger, Riecken,
Schacters 1956 analysis of an end-of-the earth
cult - 1960s popularity of Hare Krishnas and
transcendental meditation
3Modern day cults a sad, brief chronology
- 1978 Reverend Jim Jones and 900 followers,
including children, commit suicide in Jonestown
Guyana by drinking cyanide-laced punch. - 1991 a Mexican minister and 29 followers
suffocate after he instructs them to keep praying
and ignore toxic fumes filling the church. - 1993 At least 80 Branch Davidians, followers of
David Coresh, perish in a fire and shoot-out with
the BATF at their compound in Waco, Texas. - 1993 53 Vietnamese tribal villagers commit
suicide with primitive weapons in the belief they
will go straight to heaven. - 1994 67 members of the Order of the Solar
Temple, cult are found burned to death in the
French alps in Switzerland and in Quebec, Canada. - 1995 Shoko Asahara Aum Supreme Truth released
Sarin gas in five Tokyo subway stations killing
12 people (one dying a year after the attack) and
sickening more than 5,500 others.
- 1997 39 members of the Heavens Gate cult, led
by Marshall Applewhite, commit suicide in
California. They die so they can join the Mother
Ship following the Hale-Bopp comet. - 2000 More than 900 members of a reclusive
Christian doomsday cult in Africa were murdered
by their leaders. Many burned to death, others
were buried in mass graves. - 2003 Members of the Raelians, a cult founded by
Claude Vorilhonnow known as "Rael" claimed that
with the assistant of Clonaid, a human cloning
company, they had cloned two or more infants.
Rael and Brigitte Boisselier, Raelian bishop
and CEO of Clonaid
4Omnipresence of cults and cult activities
- Some estimates suggest there are over 5000 cults
in the U.S. alone (including militia groups,
extremist religions, and new age sects) - The new millennium rekindled interest and
membership in cults. - Some estimates suggest upwards of 185,000
converts per year - Not all cults are religious or spiritual in
nature. Modern cults include large
group-awareness trainings, psychotherapy,
business, political, and "New Age" groups
5What is a cult? Definitional considerations
- Difficulty of defining cults precisely
- One persons cult is another persons religion
- Europeans call them sects
- cult is a pejorative term, usually used by one
group to brand another. - Singer Lalich (1995) a cultic relationship is
one in which a person intentionally induces
others to become totally or nearly totally
dependent on him or her for almost all major life
decisions, and inculcates in these followers a
belief that he or she has some special talent,
gift, or knowledge.
6More problems with defining cults
- What is the difference between a cult and a
social movement, or an extremist group or a
club. - Which, if any, of the following are cults?
- Unification Church (moonies)
- Church of Scientology
- Mormonism
- Amish
- the Manson family
- Masons or Shriners
- Militia groups
- Hells angels
- Suicide bombers
- Fraternities
- Amway
- Trekkers and Trekkies
- Boy Scouts of America
7brainwashing, a misnomer
- People cant be brainwashed. There is no
science of brainwashing that allows people to be
programmed, deprogrammed, or reprogrammed like a
computer. - A cult convert has to be a willing participant in
his/her conversion. He or she may not be aware
of a persuasive effort, but he or she has to go
along with the process. - Cults use the same basic techniques of persuasion
as other persuaders, but in addition, they rely
on many unethical strategies - Cults employ many strategies at once physical
isolation, ego-reinforcement, sleep deprivation,
deception, etc. - Cults control the physical environment of members
as well (that is why cults often live away from
the rest of society in a compound, commune, etc. -
8Robert Liftons (1987) 8 marks of mind control
- milieu control control of the environment,
communication, access to information - Mystical manipulation the leader gets to
reinterpret events and history as she/he sees
fit. - demand for purity society is corrupt, members
must be purified. The desire to become mentally
and physically pure makes members susceptible to
guilt, fear, and other moral appeals used by the
leader. - cult of confession control of shame and guilt
members must confess any wrongdoing to the
leader, including mental infractions - sacred science reliance on dogmatic principles
the leader has all the answers. Only the leader
is privileged to know the absolute truth.
Robert Jay Lifton
9Liftons 8 markscontinued
- loading the language reliance on
thought-restraining phrases and language serves
to isolate members from the outside world and
constrict members thinking - doctrine over person the causes doctrine takes
precedence over the individual. Members
character and identity have to be reshaped. - dispensing of existence Outsiders are unworthy
unless they join the group. Members fear being
expelled from the group.
http//www.csj.org/studyindex/studymindctr/study_m
indctr_lifton.htm
Go to the above link for more detail on Liftons
8 marks of mind control
10Recruitment techniques the cult conversion
process
- How it starts
- Windows of vulnerability targets are most
susceptible during an emotional crisis (divorce,
death of loved one, serious illness, etc.) - targets judgment may be confused, impaired
- target is looking for an answer to lifes
problems - Befriending the target
- Ingratiation strategies (compliments, flattery,
especially about sources of insecurity) - Lure of forming a serious or close relationship
- Invitation to attend a meeting or retreat
- isolation from friends, family
- control over environment
- Difficult to leave
- Deception withholding the true identify of the
group, withholding the purpose of befriending
another, etc.
11Psychological techniques of persuasion
- Unconditional positive regard
- love bombing,group hugs, etc.
- Meditation, chanting, and other mind-numbing
techniques - Peer group pressure
- Pressure to conform, be part of the group
- Verbal abuse
- Confession
- Fear, guilt appeals
- Sacrifice personal, financial
- Loyalty tests
- Demonizing (doubts are the Devil at work)
12Physical techniques of persuasion
- Physical isolation
- Sleep deprivation
- Fasting
- Control of the persons time (rigorous schedule,
no free time) - Loss of privacy
- Constant praying or witnessing of beliefs to the
group
- Repetitive motion (chanting, dancing)
- Hallucinations (via hyperventilation,
hallucinogens, chanting, etc.) - Body manipulation
- Extreme dress codes
- Loyalty tests
13Warning Signs Checklist of cult characteristics
- The group is focused on a living leader to whom
members seem to display zealous, unquestioning
loyalty - The group is preoccupied with bringing in new
members - The group is preoccupied with bringing in money
- Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged,
or even punished - Mind-numbing techniques like chanting, speaking
in tongues - denunciation sessions are used to suppress doubts
about the group or its leadership - The leadership dictates in great detail how
members should think, feel, act. (permission to
come and go, where to live, how to discipline
children, etc. - The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted
status. The leader is considered the Messiah - Extra-biblical revelation God communicates
directly to the groups leader.
For more information, see Dr. Margaret Singers
excellent book, Cults in Our Midst (1996).
14More warning signs
- The group exhibits a polarized us-them
mentality. Outsiders are evil and must be
shunned. - The groups leader is not accountable to any
authorities, inside or outside of the group - The group teaches that its ends justify the means
(such as collecting money for phony charities) - The leadership induces guilt, fear, in group
members in order to control them - Members subservience to the group causes them to
cut ties with family and friends, and to give up
personal goals in the interests of the group - Social encapsulation Members are encouraged to
live with, or socialize with the group
exclusively
15A warning and advice
- Beware of the self serving bias
- Most people think they are smarter than average
- Most people think they are better looking than
average - Most people think they are more skilled than
other drivers - Most college students think they will outlive
their peers - People tend to think they are immune to cult
influence - Im too smart to be duped by a cult
- People with low self esteem join cults
- Only 5 to 6 percent of cult members demonstrate
major psychological problems prior to joining a
cult (Singer, 1995). - Once involved, it can be difficult to take ones
exit - psychological commitment
- the need to save face
- the vast majority of cult recruits are normal,
productive people--people confident in their
ability to shrug off cult influence tactics - the single most important defense against cult
influence is the realization that we are all
vulnerable
16Examples of Destructive Cults
- Aum Shinri Kyo
- Branch Davidians
- The Family (Charles Manson)
- Heaven's Gate
- The People's Temple (Jim Jones)
- Order of the Solar Temple