Cult membership: What factors contribute to joining or leaving?. Jane said she struggled forming deep relationships with other women throughout her life, so when she heard how close-knit NXIVM members were, and that there was a women-only group she could join, she became interested. After different types of manipulation, the creation of a new identity is done step-by-step by formal indoctrination sessions and informally by members, videos, games, movies, publications, and social/digital media. But the main goal is to create more power and wealth for the leader, rather than the benefit of the followers.. Similarly, an article regarding adolescents risks of joining anti-social cults, research has been conducted that young people who suffer from a deep sense of loneliness are vulnerable to being recruited into cults (2018). Cults also offer a very structured lifestyle, with absolute answers about what is right and wrong. 31 0 obj 0000113083 00000 n
1 0 obj endobj Our aim in this paper is to argue that individuals join religious cults as persons, but lose their personhood as their position in the group is solidified, becoming simply humans. About | Additionally, cults target people who are dissatisfied with their current life, spirituality, or personal development (Rousselet, 2017). Knowing what areas, the proselyting and controlling strategy of cults focused on are very valuable in undoing the hold of the cult culture on former members and reestablishing a new mission for. 6 0 obj We assumed that, as in the case of addiction disorders, former cult members exhibit vulnerability and protective factors for cult commitment and membership. From this point, cults employ lots of techniques commonplace to social psychology, such as confirmation bias and cognitive dissonance. Some people, however, join a cult. Social identity. If you are wondering who joins cults and why, the short, but creepy answer is that pretty much anyone can get sucked into them."That is the insidiousness of mind-manipulation," Lisa Kohn, a cult . Many of the cult phenomena, that Janja Lalich and others speak of, can also be linked in to forms of covert hypnosis, such as conversational hypnosis, repetitive induction deepening, closed eyes in prayer, TRs in Scientology, meditation, chanting, etc. maintenance of cult commitment, and that protective factors could help to stop cult involvement. 2000 Jan;20(1):91-111. doi: 10.1016/s0272-7358(98)00093-2. endobj ability and protective factors. I commend your originality! The first goal in educating yourself is prevention, for yourself and others. How do you think this impacts their own social development? 0000003715 00000 n
Psychiatry. endobj The reason I mention this is because studies have been conducted that show youth and adolescents are more susceptible to joining cults (Hunter, 1998). According to therapist Rachel Bernstein, who treats former cult members, there isn't one profile or set of traits that make someone susceptible. 0000113842 00000 n
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Social media has both positive and negative effects on well-being in youth. This helps build trust. . Most people go to great lengths to avoid spoilers about their favourite stories, TV shows, or sports games. 0000029564 00000 n
Apostates Defile The, The Not-So-New Religious Movements: Changes in 'The Cult, The Not-So-New Religious Movements: Changes in The Cult Scene Over the Past Forty Years, Towards a History of Iran's Baha'i Community During the Reign Of, FRANCE: All the World Envies Us for the MIVILUDES. Janis, I. L. (2008). A group should not be considered a cult merely because of its unorthodox beliefs. 0000007887 00000 n
How we communicate helps relationships get off on the right foot, navigate problems, and change over time. Women kill for very different reasons than men. <>stream
Rather, it's a mixture of wanting self-improvement and community, as well as timing. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license. B., & Grall-Bronnec, M. (2017). 0000038874 00000 n
These covertly hypnotic, altered trance state inducing techniques are not restricted to the religious field, politics, corporations, education systems, military all employ these thought forming techniques, from what I can gather, normally to no harm. endobj Cult leaders want people who will be obedient to them and their rules. <> endobj One of the many tactics that cults use to recruit new members is love bombing. This is a technique where members of the group are overly loving and complimentary. Rather than living independently and being responsible for their own finances, housing, health care, and safety, cult leaders promise to take care of all adult responsibility in exchange for obedience. <>410 0 R]/P 544 0 R/Pg 543 0 R/S/Link>> How Cults Work. He . He might also be able to learn the long prayers for the dhikri of a particular sufi group, tariqa, and join in the Friday afternoon recitations, becoming a new member of a young coterie of Sufi students and the pious. 0000004840 00000 n
MeSH 457 0 obj Cult membership: What factors contribute to joining or leaving? 0000112823 00000 n
An older study, possibly too old to be valid, (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8234595) suggest some factors that increase likelihood of joining a cult such as propensities toward dissociative states, childhood trauma, and substance abuse. More and more, I am seeing clients who have been abused by use of hypnosis and NLP (neurolinguistic programming)especially by unqualified "life coaches." However, it got strange quickly. Retrieved July 12, 2019, from https://go-galegroup-com.ezproxy.uleth.ca/ps/i.do?p=HRCA&u=leth89164&id=GALE|A53368534&v=2.1&it=r&sid=summon. The PubMed wordmark and PubMed logo are registered trademarks of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). 0000045499 00000 n
These people are not necessarily Atheists, but they refused to follow their familys traditional beliefs because they felt there must be something better out there. endobj Although there is conflicting evidence in the current literature, some research indicates that factors such as familial dysfunctional patterns (Almendros et al., 2007), preexisting Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. An official website of the United States government. <>386 0 R]/P 528 0 R/Pg 516 0 R/S/Link>> Youths who joined secret cult seize the opportunity to explore their secret desires, like sex, money, and power. I grew up in a cult and I can tell you why normal people join them. Psychiatry . endobj An individual's personality and life goals aren't the only things that make them vulnerable to cults, according to Bernstein. <><>373 0 R]/P 518 0 R/Pg 516 0 R/S/Link>> The modern polygraph test is widely used, but is it accurate? individual. <>78 0 R]/P 568 0 R/Pg 481 0 R/S/Link>> He explains that year after year, the world becomes more a complex place to live. One of the questions you posed at the end of your comment made me think of some reading I did when researching this topic. <>382 0 R]/P 526 0 R/Pg 516 0 R/S/Link>> 844, The Making of Cults: The Factors that Contribute to Membership and the Leaders Influence, Chloe Greenidge, Eastern Kentucky UniversityFollow. Are cultic environments psychologically harmful? Steven Hassan, Ph.D., is a mental health professional, cult and undue influence expert who has been working in the field of relationship, group, and political cults for over 40 years. Perhaps, depending on the cult and the nature of this process, it could be likely that a person experiencing self-doubt and life dissatisfaction could fall prey to cultic influence. As you had mentioned above, some of the characteristics stated about why normal people stay within a cult is because of loneliness and unworthiness. These factors are applied to various case examples in this paper. potential members who are most likely to join and commit to cult ideals (Singer, 2003; Coates, 2011). Acknowledging that joining a cult requires an element of voluntary self-surrender also obliges us to consider whether the very relinquishment of control isn't a significant part of the appeal . Have a structured central bureaucracy. In Lalichs TedTalk, he talks about how leaders are persuasive with authoritarian and narcissism that are motivated by money, sex, power, or all three (2017). Individual vulnerabilities may include high hypnotizability, strong ability for concentration and vivid imagination, learning disorders, or autism spectrum disorders. These characteristics are commonplace of everyone at one point or another, cults simply pry on those who are in these vulnerable positions. Cults usually exhibit a protective commitment and membership that members feel drawn towards. Clipboard, Search History, and several other advanced features are temporarily unavailable. That is why his parents changed their last named to Phoenix because they were able to rise from the ashes of the suppression of that life. They are usually very open, loving, and welcoming. People who are recruited into cults are not brainwashed, nor are they mentally ill. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. Plus, there are many reputable resources available including websites, books, online courses, and cult experts, that can help. Cults utilize this need to pull members in through " love bombing ," initially showering the individual with a great deal of attention and making them feel special. These factors could be individual, en- vironmental and/or linked to the characteristics of the addiction object, 2.3.1. 463 0 obj endobj Raelians Revive Swastika/Star of David Symbol, The History of Credibility Attacks Against Former Cult Members Stephen A, CPR - International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Why Christians Need to Remain on Guard Against the Threat of New Age Spirituality Phil Johnson, Russian Federation State Protection - Satanists Extortion Businesspeople, Introduction a Well Grounded Propaganda System, The Unification Church: a Kaleidoscopic Introduction2. Your email address will not be published. Some individuals who join cults remain lifelong members. 0000005841 00000 n
HBO's new docuseries "The Vow" about NXIVM, a sex cult covered up as a multi-level marketing company that sold self-improvement courses, has brought conversations about cults to the forefront. endobj Cult membership and addictive disorders share some characteristics: persistence despite damage, initial psychological relief, occupation of an exclusive place in the thoughts of members, high psychiatric comorbidity prevalence, high accessibility, leading to social precariousness and the importance of familial support when leaving. 0000010298 00000 n
Posted by 1 year ago. Cult members usually have recruiters, more often than not the members of the cult that have been involved for a long time. I would seriously question the validity of Rudin, and I think especially with the prominence of social media in current society, more research should be conducted on contemporary cults, youth susceptibility, and social media. Being a Scientologist, you look at someone, and you know absolutely that you can help them . <> Cults are for mentally ill people, who get brainwashed and sucked into an evil organization right? 0000007281 00000 n
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