<> endobj Cult membership: What factors contribute to joining or leaving? Dr. Margaret Thaler Singer devoted her lifes work to studying the psychology of brainwashing and cults. Not necessarily. Cults are typically marketed as organizations that promote self-betterment, whether that means the promise of enlightenment in the case of tantric sex cults, or the skills to make all of your professional dreams comes true, which NXIVM preaches in the form of self-help courses. 0000007583 00000 n 0000002636 00000 n They want to make a name and be regarded as powerful persons for reasons based on past negative experiences at the family levels. Pulls are features that attract youth. Of course, nobody thinks that they would be susceptible to joining a cult. 0000113219 00000 n Thus, the aim of our study was to identify vulnerability factors that are involved in the commitment and in the retention in the group, as well as protective factors that are involved in the departure. I think it would make sense, given what you said about people who are dissatisfied with their life, spirituality, or personal development, and that they are in an arguably more vulnerable state. Some take place in person, where you may meet someone at work, through a friend or from a community. 0000010434 00000 n "Cults are groups that often exploit members psychologically and/or financially, typically by making members comply with leadership's demands through certain types of psychological manipulation, popularly called mind control, and through the inculcation of deep-seated anxious dependency on the group and its leaders." It is also known as mind control or thought reform. <>108 0 R]/P 496 0 R/Pg 481 0 R/S/Link>> 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. Authors' identification M. Rousseleta,b*, O. Duretetec, J.B Hardouinb, M. Grall-Bronneca,b aClinical Investigation Unit BALANCED "BehaviorAL AddictioNs and ComplEx mood Disorders", Addictology and Psychiatry Department, Nantes University Hospital, Hpital Saint- Why then, do people stay once it is clear what the community is about? Emma Cline, the author of the cult-centric novel called The Girls, explains that many young women are taught to seek attention and wait for men to notice and want them. 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. 60. Dr. Stein, who grew up protesting alongside her parents during the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, goes on to explain that breaking up with her boyfriend was the catalyst for her to unwittingly join a cult in the United States. The types of people who are most susceptible to this sort of manipulation are those who come from broken families and abusive relationships. 2017; 257:27-33 (ISSN: 1872-7123). In the summer of 2010, when I had just turned 18, I took a trip to Vancouver. The use of hypnotic altered trance states, that can covertly make people as suggestable as a fully induced hypnosis patient, are not well understood, researched, peer viewed, etc, as of yet. It is typically authoritarian, headed by a person or group of people with near complete control of followers. Pat Ryan, another former cult member-turned-deprogrammer or exit counselor, says when a family hires him to meet with a loved one, his first step is to do a kind of intervention on the family. We assumed that, as in the case of addiction disorders, former cult members exhibit vulnerability and protective factors for cult commitment and membership. Janis, I.(1989). Close relationships are a human need. These factors are applied to various case examples in this paper. Therefore, the clinical experiences of a panel of experts, including psychiatrists, model of cult membership would be multifactorial, involving vulner- methodologists, sociologists and experts in the eld of cults. Sometimes, if it is a religious cult, members are promised that in addition to receiving love from the human beings in the group, they will also receive a spiritual love and acceptance from a higher being. <> <>96 0 R]/P 486 0 R/Pg 481 0 R/S/Link>> She said her former cult member patients often tell her they would've never joined the cult if they weren't going through a difficult life event at the time they were approached to join. A huge reason there is no clear cut definition is because of this! 5 0 obj endobj If these people have children of their own, their entire family becomes dependent on the cult leader. 0000114760 00000 n <> She was caught red-handed by one of her fellow co-workers Jayna Murray. Most people go to great lengths to avoid spoilers about their favourite stories, TV shows, or sports games. 444 0 obj Three main axes of improvement were highlighted: regulations concerning cults in order to limit their social presence, which appears to be a vulnerability factor for commitment; social and therapeutic follow-up when a member leaves a group so that social precariousness does not become an obstacle to departure; and familial support to maintain a link with the member, as the intervention of a person from outside of the group is an important protective factor for leaving. NOW WATCH: There are serious health reasons you shouldn't eat your boogers, Visit Insider's homepage for more stories, The science-backed psychology techniques NXIVM used to 'fetishize vulnerability' and manipulate members into sex, 4 signs you had a codependent upbringing that affects your adult relationships, according to a therapist, Tantric sex students say gurus have used the promise of enlightenment to sexually abuse their students, How a cult-recovery therapist helps former NXIVM members regain their independence: 'There's a huge amount of fear and loss', HBO's docuseries "The Vow" examines the sex cult NXIVM and asks the central question: "How does someone get wrapped up in a dangerous cult?". 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. 28 0 obj 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. Bookshelf B., & Grall-Bronnec, M. (2017). 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. endobj 0000004840 00000 n (1998) Cults, calamities and psychological consequences, Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 5:1, 1-46, DOI: 10.1080/13218719809524918 https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719809524918  Rousselet, M. (2017) Cult membership: What factors contribute to joining or leaving? 472 0 obj 0000007003 00000 n Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. as well as other partner offers and accept our. Yakovleva suggests that satanic cults use sex as a way of replenishing their ranks with new members, and how some women use their sexuality to recruit new members (2018). 442 0 obj endobj Brainwashing:: Cult leaders are known to repeat various lies and distortions until members find it difficult to distinguish between reality and cult life. 471 0 obj 0000115394 00000 n endobj 10 Ways to Tell if Your Relationship Suffers From Burnout, 24 Dimensions of Compatibility in Long-Term Couples, I Cant Live Without Her: When Grieving Men Die, It Is Now 50 Years Since Gay People Were Cured", Key Tips for Blending Families After a Divorce, Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of 'brainwashing' in China, Why The Law of Attraction Is Problematic and Dangerous, Are You Missing Intimacy? 441 0 obj 456 0 obj Another interesting fact I came across was how sexuality plays into cults. Cult membership: What factors contribute to joining or leaving? An object relations approach to cult membership. 8600 Rockville Pike But according to therapist Rachel Bernstein, who specializes in treating cult survivors from groups including NXIVM and Scientology, it's not that simple. Cult members who find their way out are usually the ones who grow motivated to deprogram themselves. 0000112083 00000 n 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). No one's able to make a fully educated decision before getting involved in a cult.". Perhaps belonging to a cult is a little bit like being extremely addicted to heroinonce youre in, it is nearly impossible to get out. 2 0 obj Design a site like this with WordPress.com. 0000011389 00000 n %%EOF > A cult is an organized group whose purpose is to dominate cult members through psychological manipulation and pressure strategies. endobj The other attribute that makes. Not all influence is bad. Some people, however, join a cult. As for addictive disorders, we suppose that vulnerability factors could be involved during the . sharing sensitive information, make sure youre on a federal https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719809524918 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kB-dJaCXAxA, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8234595, https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1310009618, https://go-galegroup-com.ezproxy.uleth.ca/ps/i.do?p=HRCA&u=leth89164&id=GALE, http://www.searo.who.int/entity/child_adolescent/topics/adolescent_health/en/, https://www.insider.com/i-grew-up-in-a-cult-and-i-can-tell-you-why-normal-people-join-them-2018-3, https://www.ted.com/talks/janja_lalich_why_do_people_join_cults?language=en, https://doi-org.ezproxy.uleth.ca/10.1080/10609393.2018.1451678, https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/nxivm-raniere-cult-1.518179, Terrorism and Culty Vibes Social Cognition. Each one has its own lingo, Bernstein said. <>92 0 R]/P 484 0 R/Pg 481 0 R/S/Link>> In the podcast "Escaping NXIVM," Sarah Edmondson, another former member, said she realized in hindsight that the promise of deep human connection subtly drew her to the organization, despite the fact she considered herself a person with many friends. For me, this topic really stood out from all the others, and I praise you for even thinking of the topic and how it plays a role in social cognition, as something like this would have never crossed my mind. <>104 0 R]/P 492 0 R/Pg 481 0 R/S/Link>> People who have abandoned their studies quit their job or distanced themselves from relatives outside of the cult are even more likely to stay because they feel as though they could never resume life outside of the cult (Rousselet, 2017). Their way out are usually the ones who grow motivated to deprogram.! 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