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''Nobody sets out to
join a cult. No one knowingly wants to give up their
life, their needs, their goals. ''They come to believe
they're improving themselves and improving the world and
it is then they are led into a psychological trap. It
could happen to anybody.”
Steve Hassan – Leading
American Exit-Counselor
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Recovering alcoholics, addicts,
adult children of alcoholics and co-dependents are especially
susceptible to joining cults or sects. Often anxious, fearful,
lonely, shameful, confused and depressed, we emerge from the fog
of addiction vulnerable, naïve and gullible. We lack the inner
resources and abilities to cope with the world around us. We are
lost, seeking help, feeling abandoned and hopeless. Our sense of
self-worth and self-esteem is abysmally low. We have no clear
conception of our selves and a frail and uncertain sense of
self-identity. Very often we are unsure of who we are or what
the purpose of living is. In such a condition our powers of
judgment and decision-making are impaired. Naturally, we follow
the advice of those who seem to have our best interests at heart
or have authority over us. Fearing death from alcohol or drugs,
we voluntarily (or sometimes not) join organizations, which
offer help and relief, but at a price. A price we are not aware
of at the time and that we might not agree to if we new the
consequences.
When anyone mentions the word cult or sect, we usually think
of groups like the Moonies, Branch Davidians or Lifespring.
Many alcoholics and addicts fall for these and lesser known
groups in desperation when trying to rid themselves of a
miserable life of addiction. However, what also we fail to see
is that many officially accepted recovery groups can also be
cults hiding behind a thin facade of social respectability. Some
psychologists and cult specialists have already raised the
question of whether the 12 Step groups are indeed cults,
endangering the long term psychological well-being of their
members. "Groupthink" or thought control, cloning, mystique,
self-confessions, "groupspeak", veneration of texts and leaders,
etc are some of the features of recovery groups typical also of
cults. Indeed, one should also be wary of non-12 Step groups,
psychotherapy groups and even secular organizations.
Your support group does not have
to believe in a Higher Power or follow 12 Steps to be in danger
of being cult. Groups can be secular and scientific and still
qualify as cults.
If we are lucky the groups we join may help us achieve or
maintain some level of sobriety. However, in return, we may pay
with the loss of our individualism, personality, self-identity
and our ability to re-establish our place in the “real world” as
functional, independent, free-thinking individuals. In the name
of recovery members' intrinsic sense of self-identity is
frequently undermined by the methods employed by a group. In
fact, the methods used to keep some of the members
abstinent are often the cause of serious psychological
disorders. Such methods are extreme cult-like pressures to
conform, emotional manipulation, threats and fear, reward and
punishment and systematic deconstruction of the personality and
its replacement by a pseudo-personality consisting of an
artificial Cult Self or Sober Self.
It is probable that the limited success of groups like AA
("curing" around only 1 in 5 addicts) has nothing to do with the
use of a therapeutic method and more to do with brain washing.
Those 12 Step members who stay sober for long periods probably
do so as a result of the cult discipline and mind control, much
in the same way that certain religious cults achieve periods of
enforced celibacy and other acts of abstinence.12 Step sobriety
may be achieved through methods of thought control and identity
destruction, coupled with group coercion, fear, reward and
punishments, isolation, reality distortion, linguistic
programming, indoctrination and threats.
"But don’t be ridiculous”
you’re probably saying. “ My support group can’t be a cult. It
is full of caring, courageous people doing a lot of good for
others and themselves.” That is probably true, but a member of
the Moonies or Branch Davidiians would no doubt say the same
thing. Indeed, all cults deny they are cults and practice
exactly the opposite of what they preach - loving Christians
cults practice violence and destruction; personal growth groups
cause personality destruction; ultra democratic groups practice
internal dictatorships, and so on.
“Ah yes” you say “but cults are religious fanatics, with
charismatic gurus – we don’t have any of that”. In fact, a cult
doesn’t have to have a living guru, be fanatically religious, or
religious at all. That is just one cult variation. Cults can be
secular, are found in the fields of psychotherapy, politics,
science, business training, self help and new age movements. A
cult can form around an idea, a book, a mission, a vision, a
theory, etc. Often cults form through split aways from healthy
organizations under the excuse of it being degenerate,
insufficiently fundamentalist, or badly organized. This is
usually provoked by the need of the breakaway cult members to
find solace in certainty, black and white thinking and set
answers for everything. What Fromm called the "Escape from
Freedom". Moreover, just as nobody decides to join a cult, cult
members never think or admit they are in one. Cult members like
to reassure themselves in collective self-delusion that they are
superior, even denouncing other groups as being cults and/or
congratulating themselves on being the true path, being rational
and objective and even trumpeting their own non-cultism!
Forms of “cultism” can, therefore, vary from group to group and
take on different, special characteristics. Recognizing a cult
is not always easy, especially for the cult member. Alcoholics,
addicts, co-dependents and children of alcoholics in particular
will often defend their groups with the same passion and denial
that they once defended their addiction, their alcoholic family
or partner. Overcoming this is a process of acceptance and
acknowledgement, gathered through increasing awareness.
So, before we start a warning! You will need to have an
independent mind, give honest answers or battle to achieve it,
in order to benefit from this article. Denial is often the first
defense reaction to these issues, especially where you may see
no other alternative and where for recovering alcoholics and
addicts and co-dependents, isolation and relapse can seem to be
the only alternative to continuing cult membership. What to do
if you feel you are in a cult is something we will come to at
the end.
How then can we recognize and classify a cult?
The American Family
Foundation defined cults as:
"A group or movement exhibiting great or excessive devotion or
dedication to some person, idea, or thing, and employing
unethical manipulative or coercive techniques of persuasion and
control (e.g. isolation from former friends and family,
debilitation, use of special methods to heighten suggestibility
and subservience, powerful group pressures, information
management, suspension of individuality or critical judgment,
promotion of total dependency on the group and fear of leaving
it), designed to advance the goals of the group’s leaders, to
the actual or possible detriment of members, their families or
the community."
The sociological definition includes such things as “as
authoritarian leadership patterns, loyalty and commitment
mechanisms, lifestyle characteristics, (and) conformity patterns
(including the use of various sanctions in connection with those
members who deviate)”
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary
definition in regard to cults
in health circles describes them as “a
system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its
promulgator” and in general, as a small group of people
characterized by “great
devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work”
The following characteristics
of cults and sects are based upon the cult classification
systems of the world’s leading cult experts like, Singer,
Langone Lifton and Hassan. An organization doesn’t have to have
all of these characteristics to be a cult, and variations on the
characteristics are many, it just has to have a good number of
them to be a cult or moving in the direction of becoming one.
Recognizing “Groupthink”
Singer stresses that all cults are
based firstly on a thought reform programme. Such
programmes aim to dilute people’s individuality, change their
core belief systems and alter their concept of themselves. This
is done by imposing a “totalistic ideology” which “explains
everything” Such groups will say they are “THE WAY”, the “ONLY
WAY” be it in religion, science, self-help, psychotherapy or
politics. Lifton points out that "included in this mystique is a
sense of ‘higher purpose’, of ‘having directly perceived some
imminent law of social development’, of being themselves the
vanguard of this development" Consequently, all other groups are
charlatans, shams, impostors, degenerate, etc. Normally they
have authoritarian leaders and lieutenants at all levels and/or
they venerate the works of dead leaders to justify their
totalistic ideology and actions. Not choosing the group’s Way
will usually lead to humiliation, damnation or death. To achieve
this they such a phenomenon members undergo what has been called
“brainwashing”, “mind control” in order to achieve
“Groupthink”.
Below are some
key techniques used for achieving this:
Vulnerability
1) The cult relies on the vulnerability and naivety of the
person, who is unaware of the indoctrination process being used.
Most cult members are from the educated middle class, including
lawyers, doctors, psychologists, business people etc. A good
proportion, though not all come from dysfunctional families
and/or suffer alcohol or drug problems. In general, new members
are usually undergoing a personal crisis and are easy prey for
all-embracing solutions. They are then pressurized to gradually
adjust to their environment so subtlety, that they don’t notice
the changes to themselves or, indeed, when they do, they view
those changes as positive ones. From the beginning they are
unwittingly seduced into replacing their own beliefs and values
with those of the group and persuaded that their everything
about their former lives, personality and character before
joining the group was worthless and degenerate.
Powerlessness
2)
A regime exists where the
individual feels a sense of powerlessness and helplessness and
the lack of other alternatives, under an authoritative or
authoritarian system. A member is told they will be destroyed or
corrupted by negative pressures and that they can maintain their
purity within the groups ranks.
Uncertainty
3)
3)
Cults prey on human aversion to uncertainty.
The group supplies ready made
answers for everything, thus helping to reduce insecurity and
fear. Everything is seen in terms of black and white, pure and
the impure, good and evil. There are set answers for everything
and no room for uncertainty, controversy, healthy debate or
doubt. The member is given a complete solution. In return,
members of the group are expected to be unquestioning in their
commitment to the group’s identity, its ideas and leaders (or
past leaders).
Environmental & Time Control
4) The group
asserts increasing control over a member’s time and social and
psychological environment. Members are expected to attend many
meetings and involve themselves in other activities, reducing
their contact with the outside world. Members may be directly
encouraged to break relations and social contact with former
friends, acquaintances and even loved ones. Gradually, it
becomes more and more difficult for members to imagine a life
outside their organization.
Mentoring
5) Other group
members work in meetings and on a private basis to undermine new
members’ confidence in their own perceptions and opinions. A
personal mentor may be appointed to accelerate integration and
mind control.
Bad feelings are always the fault of the person and not the
group. Only "good" and "proper" thoughts are encouraged and
“negative” thinking is jumped on. Members are to report their
thoughts, feelings and activities to the group or their mentor.
They are expected to ask permission when taking any major
decisions in their lives and sometimes minor ones, making them
less and less able to think or decide for themselves or function
without the group. A person’s ego is destroyed, they begin to
doubt their own judgment and soon there is a loss of free will.
Reward & Punishment
6) Within cults
there is immense pressure to conform. They use a combination of
flattery, threats and guilt. A system of punishments and rewards
is used to encourage group learning and reduce unwanted
behavior. Punishments like isolation, shunning, “tut-tuts” and
humiliation are used to cause fear and obedience, while,
alternatively, recognition, praise and “strokes” are sparingly
awarded by older members for obedience and loyalty to
Groupthink by the newer ones.
Self-flagellation
7) Group meetings often include confessional sessions where
members admit to past or present sins against the norms of the
group - doing bad deeds, thinking bad thoughts, etc, and in
return, they receive both admonition, warnings and praise for
their confessions. To help
cultivate emotional control public exhibitions of emotional
highs and lows are often encouraged and applauded as a form of
ritual self-flagellation.
Groupspeak
8) “Groupspeak” is another feature of all cults.
Groups use what Lifton calls "the thought-terminating cliché”.
Repetitive phrases, clichés, sayings, platitudes
and buzz words are
regularly invoked to describe all situations, and prevent
further analysis or discussion. Any disagreements are usually
settled by referring to the sayings or writings of wise leaders
(past or present), rather than by turning to independent
analysis. Members are rewarded for their ability to regurgitate
this “Groupspeak” and for their willingness and talent for
putting down dissenters with cult clichés. Lifton argues that
the effect of is critical to mind control “since language is so
central to all human experience, .. capacities for thinking and
feeling are immensely narrowed" Moreover, the “secret
vocabulary” reinforces the idea of distance from the outside
world.
Cloning
9) Cults "clone" people into smaller versions of the cult
leader(s) and members. Visiting a branch of the same cult in
Toronto or Tokyo will find yourself in the presence of the same
“person” or type. Cults rob people of their individuality,
personality and uniqueness and replaces it with the cult “Self”,
which implants a cult personality in place of the person’s real
self.
Falsification
10) Not content with creating a false conception of the
present, cults are also not adverse to rewriting history also.
Whenever historical fact or the truth doesn’t fit in with the
cult leaders’ designs and aspirations, they simply change it. As
Lifton says “past historical events are retrospectively altered,
wholly rewritten, or ignored, to make them consistent with the
doctrinal logic” The new line “simply replaces the realities of
individual experience..."
Lies &
Deceit
11) The cult leader(s) is prepared is to lie blatantly and
obscenely about other individuals or organizations, with total
disregard for the truth or any sense of moral objectivity. A
frequent tactic by cult leaders is to avert attention from their
own sins by accusing others inside or outside their organization
of crimes for which they themselves are guilty. Only those who
are group members are truly good, sane, wise or sober. Since
members loose the faculty of critical judgment and the ability
to think for themselves, they never question the lies and
distortions of their leader(s). Members feel total loyalty to
those who have “saved them” and follow in blind obedience.
Veneration
12) Leading figures, either alive or dead, are honored and
venerated. Statements are often supported by quotations and
sayings from sacred writings or speeches. Predictions of
catastrophe or damnation are common. This can be anything from
Armageddon, to madness, persecution or alcoholic/drug relapse.
Very frequently those who have come from crisis situations are
warned that leaving the group will bring certain relapse.
Undemocratic Reality
13) The direction of the group comes from a shadowy
leadership, rarely seen and with little or no real democratic
controls. There are assurances about the democratic character of
the group and its strident democratic checks and procedures.
Indeed, on paper the cult may appear to be super democratic, but
in practice everything is run by leader(s) and cliques and
committees, and committees within committees, picked from the
chosen few and frequently made up of the same people.
The cult uses a closed system
of logic, where no feedback is allowed and revisions are only
made by higher authorities.
Leaders often amass personal
power, often including wealth and sexual favors.
Mystique & Mission
14) Cults often have an internal aura of mystique in which
members feel they have “a sense of ‘higher purpose’, of ‘having
directly perceived some imminent law of social development’, of
being themselves the vanguard of this development" (Lifton) This
includes delusions about historical roles, being “chosen ones”,
the “vanguard” “pioneers” and leading new, mass social,
political, religious or scientific movements. This gives a sense
of purpose in life, for members who entered feeling their life
had no meaning or goal.
Disturbed Gurus
15) Cult leaders are often charming, charismatic figures
with above average intelligence. The charismatic charmer is one
their personalities – a pseudo-personality - Many suffer from
borderline, disassociate or multiple personality disorders.
Members feel honored to be with, and be seen, around them. But
their personality can change dramatically in a flash. Cult
leaders are always very disturbed individuals. They are usually
victims turned persecutor, having a
history of involvement in other social, political or religious
cults and/or suffering the effects of a traumatic childhood.
Behind their strong and confident exterior (pseudo-personality)
they need their leader position to compensate for a very fragile
sense of self-worth, self-esteem and self-identity. This is also
shown be the fact that they cannot "hack it" in the real world
and need to live in a cult/sect environment to live out their
problems. Their past histories show social marginality and a
tendency to drift from one cause to another, one cult to
another, one job to another, one marriage to another, etc. They
spend their lives dedicated to their cause (increasing through
the Internet, also now). They are obsessive-compulsive,
fanatical and manipulative. Nothing will stand in the way of
their visions, schemes and self-glorification - not even the
well-being of their partners or children. They manipulate the
minds of vulnerable members, extorting money and sexual favors
and/or abusing them psychologically, physically and/or sexually.
www.refocus.org/
www.freedomofmind.com/
www.cultinformation.org.uk/
www.csj.org/rg/rg_howuse.htm
www.kassiber.de/cults.htm
http://www.aadeprogramming.com
/index_frames.html
http://www.aakills.com/
http://pages.about.com/robertwarner/
http://www.concentric.net/~kenr1
/commonsense/12steps/cult_busting.shtml
http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/
Archive/Article/0,4273,4036900,00.html
http://www.mariannegilliam.com/
http://www.concentric.net/~Kenr1/
commonsense/12steps/index.shtml
http://cti.itc.virginia.edu/~jkh8x
/soc257/nrms/aa.html
www.seesharppress.com
http://members.aol.com/djrtx/c-abuse.htm#Behavioral2
http://www.mysteries-megasite.com/main/bigsearch/cults-1.html
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Psychological damage from cult membership
People who join cult and sects are often normal,
well-educated folks going through an episodic crisis.
Many others may already suffer from problems inherited
from dysfunctional and alcoholic families, as well as
adult psychological, obsessive-compulsive or addictive
disorders. Whatever ones background and condition upon
entering a cult/sect, research shows that most members
(including "normal" people) leave badly damaged
psychologically and face great difficulty coping with
their internal and external lives.
The effect is very similar to PTSD or Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder. This is caused by the overwhelming
unseen, but continuous strain and stress of cult
membership on the psyche and personality. In some cases,
it is also caused or compounded by physical or sexual
abuse. Since cult members' lives focus on the group,
they become divorced from the real world and natural
relationships. This together with the constant pressure
and alertness needed to conform and perform as expected
puts their minds and bodies under a persistent and
unnatural state of stress. The pernicious psychological
abuse suffered in cults is sufficient to create a
feeling of powerlessness and helplessness in the face
of life events and one's own emotions. Ex-members often
feel unable to cope with life on their own and feel
unable to control their own lives. As a human being they
come to feel that they have been humiliated, degraded
and worthless. Those who already suffer from PTSD as a
result of an upbringing in dysfunctional and alcoholic
homes, risk compounding the problems inherited from
their illness and childhood relations. Typical symptoms
of cult membership are : |
Anxiety
Depression
Sleeping disorders
Emotional Volatility
Loss of Identity
Difficulty taking decisions
Guilt
Phobias
Feelings of dread
Negative thinking & imaging cycles
Difficulties in social relations
Family conflicts
Fear of losing sanity
Feeling out of control
Suicide, suicidal thoughts or idealization
Hyper arousal
Emotional and Behavioral constriction
Irritability, excitability & aggressiveness
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Treatment
Cult experience
could be described as
"rape of the personality". Consequently, most
cult members come to suffer from personality disorders
like Dissociative Identity Disorder, Borderline
Personality Disorder and Multiple Personality Disorder.
They can "float" back into their cult personalities as a
result of external or internal stressors and triggers.
They may suffer nightmares, flashbacks,
depersonalization, dissociation and out-of-body
experiences and disorientation.
Recovery from cults takes time and patience, but can be
successful. People need to find their true selves again
and regain self-awareness, self-worth, self-confidence
and a sense of perspective. Despite everything they
experience, research shows that their true self remains
suppressed, but existent, under the pseudo-personality
superimposed by the cult. Healing and growth needs
combined efforts and professional help. Sufferers may
need to enlist the support of the following: |
Medical help
Medication
Individual psychotherapy
Group psychotherapy
Exit counseling
Family therapy
Career counseling
 What
to look for in an Organization
Healthy
organizations are voluntary associations where people
collaborate to work out their ideas with a shared
purpose and specific goal. Everyone is free to criticize
and hold different opinions from that of the group’s
leadership. Differences of opinion are welcomed and
respected. There is no psychological pressure to conform
and no atmosphere of enforced uniformity. Members view
themselves as a part of society in general involved in a
group for practical and limited reasons. Members spend
only a reasonable part of their spare time in group
activities and enjoy a completely separate family,
social and professional life. Healthy groups are
democratic in practice and not just in theory. Members
are free to come and go as they please. They participate
as they wish, without feeling excessive guilt or shame
for not attending meetings, donating time or money.
Nobody fears any physical or psychological reprimand for
missing meetings or refusing tasks. Members put their
personal needs first and are able to differentiate those
from the needs of the group. They decide for themselves
their relations with the group and are able to reassess
their level of commitment and also leave the group
without creating a major personal crisis or conflict
with the group |
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SOS and Cults
SOS prides
itself on its anti-cultist and free-thought approach.
While no human organization is free from the dangers of
cultist degeneration, SOS has been happily free of these
problems. Where it has emerged, this has resulted in
individuals and small groups splitting away to form
their own groupings. These groups all quickly
disappeared or degenerated into small local fads. One
such process is now taking place with the larger
LifeRing group, which we hope does not degenerate into a
secular cult. SOS does not consider itself "the Way",
but only one way to self-help and sobriety. Indeed,
within our ranks we have many different approaches.
SOS has no central apparatus, hierarchical structures or
authoritarian leaderships. Each individual is a leader
in his or her own sobriety. Our philosophy is that each
individual is unique and should therefore find and
fashion their own road to sober living and a full life.
We have no interest in members private beliefs or
lifestyles. All groups are independent and work together
as a voluntary association of free-thought groups. |
BE YOUR OWN JUDGE !
Find out more about SOS
Click below
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“Being
in control of your own mind includes being in touch
with your feelings, having the ability to think
analytically, question, look at issues from multiple
perspectives, having control of your behavior to
take periodic "time-outs" in order to reflect and be
able to have access to information which may be
"negative" to the group leadership.”
Steve Hassan |
Article
Why the 12 Steps
work for some people
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