To do this they have to make you feel unsure about who you are. How cults manipulate a persons thinking and behavior. In the next section, well learn about cult recruiting techniques. Aug 30, 2015 alexandra stein, phd, is a writer and educator specializing in the social psychology of extreme ideologies and other dangerous social relationships. The individual within the group 2 costs and benefits of war dissent in times of war flawed decision making in war time propaganda and dehumanization psychoanalytic perspectives on war promoting peace terrorism last week. Richardson massimo introvigne this study examines the recent rash of official reports done by governmental agencies in western europe to guide. Cult recruitment you may have an idea of a cult recruit as an.
Nov 07, 2012 for some, the kool aid from their cults never goes sour a fascinating look at the five of the most utterly insane cults still active today. The recruitment processes can vary, but the mechanisms of isolation, engulfment, and fear arousal are universal, and explain how groups hang on to and brainwash followers. The cults that make the news and drive fear through the hearts of parents sending their kids to college are the exception, not the rule. Leaving a cult disability arising from cult involvement. This book provided me with excellent information for my research paper on brainwashing and cult like mentality associated with the hare krishna movement. Effects of brainwashing and cults essay example graduateway.
A small religious group that is not part of a larger and more accepted religion and that has beliefs regarded as extreme or dangerous 3. Many people who have been subjected to psychological manipulation and control selectively deny aspects of their experience. Brainwashing is said to reduce its subjects ability to think critically or independently, to allow the introduction of new, unwanted thoughts and ideas into their minds. Generally, it is a group that is unorthodox, esoteric, and has a devotion to a person, object, or a set of new ideas. The brainwashing methods of isolation, engulfment and fear can lead anyone to a cult. Written by a cult survivor and renowned expert on cults and totalitarianism, terror, love and brainwashing draws on the authors 25 years of study and research to explain how almost anyone, given the right set of circumstances, can be radically manipulated to engage in otherwise incomprehensible and.
Brainwashing also known as mind control, menticide, coercive persuasion, thought control, thought reform, and reeducation is the concept that the human mind can be altered or controlled by certain psychological techniques. Jun 29, 2012 eight ways to identify religious brainwashing. Brainwashing theories in european parliamentary and administrative reports on cults and sects james t. Wellischcoercive persuasion brainwashing, religious cults, and deprogramming. A disproportionate amount of this research and related theorizing has concerned the assertion that recruitment to certain cults has been essentially involuntary in the sense that powerful techniques of brainwashing, mind control. In modern english, a cult is a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs, or by its common interest in a particular personality, object or goal. Over the next few decades, through hippie culture and new age, cults began popping up more visibly than ever before, and a lot of young people experimented with them. The recruitment processes can vary, but the mechanisms of isolation.
Brainwashing theories in european parliamentary and administrative reports on cults and sects june 2001 journal for the scientific study of religion 402. Youth, brainwashing, and the extremist cults by ronald m. Apr 06, 2016 here are a few techniques that are used by cults to brainwash people. Pdf brainwashing young people into violent extremist cults. Once the person is indoctrinated, their thinking processes are reconstructed to be consistent with the cult and to be submissive to its leaders. Cults and brainwashing the ideology of cults, brainwashing, and mind control. Schein brainwashing is a colloquial term which has been used in reference to the systematic efforts of the chinese communists and by implication the soviets to persuade nonbelievers to accept communist allegiance, commands, andor doctrine by coercive means.
Social scientists seeking to debunk the brainwashing conjecture have often spoken as if extensive research has already been done on the behavior of cult participants and as if definitive conclusions could now be formed. Cults really do come in all forms, ive seen everything from yoga to therapy to commercial to political and religious cults. Nevertheless, in spite of the obstacles to recruitment, we have been able to interview more than 30 former cult members from all over the country. Debunking the myth of religious brainwashing a significant area of misinformation perpetuated by antireligious social scientists and others is the subject of socalled religious brainwashing. There is no meaningful difference between a cult and a religion in terms of faith, morality or spirituality. During the 1980s and early 1990s, groups in the anti cult movement acm promoted the belief that cults were engaged in advanced forms of psychological manipulation of their members. These are not magic techniques, they are ordinary techniques of marketing and persuasion, but applied more. How cult leaders brainwash followers for total control.
Two 1980s cases highlight the importance of the brainwashing theory. Eight ways to identify religious brainwashing part 1 of 8 posted by steve smith on june 24, 2012 in uncategorized aki ray, a former childsoldier in cambodia, is now one of the worlds foremost mineclearing experts. The cult and cult leaders often take the place of mother, father, priest, teacher, and healer. Nov 03, 2016 written by a cult survivor and renowned expert on cults and totalitarianism, terror, love and brainwashing draws on the authors 25 years of study and research to explain how almost anyone, given the right set of circumstances, can be radically manipulated to engage in otherwise incomprehensible and often dangerous acts. Cults use socalled brainwashing or mind control techniques to indoctrinate their members. Conversion and brainwashing in new religious movements.
What are the brain washing techniques used by cults. A substantial amount of research has transpired regarding patterns of conversion to alternative religions or new religious movements nrms. Surely my sweet, reasonable, and intelligent daughter would never join such a group in her right mind. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. There is a large literature on cults, but it is sharply divided along ideological grounds with those who are opposed to cults often, but not always, on religious grounds obviously finding fault with the ideologies of cults as well as their practices and recruiting devices. How cults seduce our investigation of the marketing tactics of cult organizations the scientologists, jehovahs witnesses, moonies, maharishis and others relied on eye witness testimonies from past cult members, as well as reports by cult watchers. Attachment in cults and totalitarian systems condenses that vast body of knowledge around the backbone and beating heart of a powerful integrating theory. Nov 05, 2014 cults, religion, and brainwashing lecture 2014 1. The term brainwashing was first used in the 1950s by american journalist edward hunter, reporting on the treatment of american soldiers in chinese prison camps during the korean.
On the brainwashing controversy by janja lalich, ph. Brainwashing and mind control in religious cults and elsewhere. How cults seduce how cults seduce and what marketing can learn from them he rotation ensures that, when you finally visit kingdom hall for the first time, you will see quite a few familiar faces in the crowd. Cambridge university press 0521660645 cults, religion. Alexandra stein, phd, is a writer and educator specializing in the social psychology of extreme ideologies and other dangerous social relationships.
After the war, knowledge of this brainwashing process reached the pop culture consciousness. This campaign has resulted in a distortion of the original meaning of the concept so that it is generally looked at as having to do with manipulation in recruitment of new members to religious groups. Cult membership has been likened to a marriage, with the initial seduction, increasing commitment, falling in love, and fully committing. I should know i was in one how cult leaders brainwash followers for total control aeon essays. Cults, religion, and brainwashing 1k20 chris stiff c.
Brainwashing theories in european parliamentary and. Janja lalich on brainwashing controversy cult research. Their techniques were called brainwashing, thought reform, coercive persuasion, totalism, and mind control. At its most basic, a cult is simply a small, unestablished, nonmainstream religious group that typically revolves around a single leader. Written by a cult survivor and renowned expert on cults and totalitarianism, terror, love and brainwashing draws on the authors 25 years of study and research to explain how almost anyone, given the right set of circumstances, can be radically manipulated to engage in otherwise incomprehensible and often dangerous acts. Some become angry and resistant at the mention of mind control, thought reform, or brainwashing, thinking these things could not possibly have been done to them. Moon dismissed these criticisms, stating in 1976 that he had received many thankyou letters from. And, indeed, there has been a great deal published concerning cults in the past ten years. Used of cults, brainwashing or mind control refers to the unethical use of persuasion methods with the aim of recruiting people into joining or remaining involved with a group, movement, or cause. Jun 20, 2017 the brainwashing methods of isolation, engulfment and fear can lead anyone to a cult. Cambridge university press 0521660645 cults, religion, and violence edited by david g. Are persons considered likely prospects by religious leaders for cult recruitment because they are available and their religious beliefs and values are sufficiently intense to produce the necessary conversion to the cult groups ideology. Are cults constitutionally protected under religious liberty laws.
Here we have a look at the recruitment process and the mind control techniques used to deceive and trick members into joining the group. In 1989, robin george and her mother brought suit against various groups and individuals associated with the international society for krishna. Recruitment techniques of cults on the web a comparative study of persuasion and recruitment techniques exhibited by organized groups on the internet maria kjaerland, m. Many former members of the kashi movement have criticized the group for brainwashing the members of. The belief stems from american panic over communism postkorean war combined with fear of new religions and sensationalized incidents. Terror, love and brainwashing attachment in cults and. The evidence reveals a high degree of consistency between cults in their overall. Debunking the myth of religious brainwashing stand. Thanks to the disinformation being spread far and wide, and now most especially on the internet, many professionals and laypersons interested in issues related to psychological influence, extremism, new religious movements, and cultic groups are being confused by several assertions put. Now the exciting news is that dr alexandra steins new book terror, love and brainwashing. The psychologist margaret singer argued that at any given time around 2.
Mystical manipulation part 2 of 8 posted by steve smith on june 29, 2012 in uncategorized this is the second in an eightpart series on how to identify brainwashing in a destructive group or cult. Brainwashing, as popularly understood, does not exist or is of almost zero effectiveness. Here are a few techniques that are used by cults to brainwash people. This sense of the term is controversial and it has divergent definitions both in popular culture and academia and it has also been an ongoing source of contention among scholars across several fields of. For some, the kool aid from their cults never goes sour a fascinating look at the five of the most utterly insane cults still active today. The term has since become associated with cults, which often use a combination of psychological methods to render their members compliant.
Cult recruitment you may have an idea of a cult recruit as an obviously troubled young person, maybe mentally ill. By educating the public about how cults recruit and indoctrinate and by giving them ways to identify and protect themselves, we can ce rtainly slow the growth of destructive cult re cruitment. During the 1980s and early 1990s, groups in the anticult movement acm promoted the belief that cults were engaged in advanced forms of psychological manipulation of their members. New religious movements are typically seen as cults by traditional religious groups, and brainwashing is often used as a way to describe the only possible reason that somebody would join one. Reputation for highpressure recruitment and corruption of youth moon and wife banned from entry into germany because of this.
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