Cults in Our Midst

"Foreword xi Acknowledgments xv Introduction to the Revised Edition xvii Introduction to the First Edition xxi Part 1 What Are Cults? 1 1. Defining Cults 3 Definitions and Characteristics Cult Types Who Joins Cults? Why Do They Join? 2. A Brief History of Cults 29 Cults in the 1800s The 1960s: Fertile Ground for Cults The 1970s: Cults to Expand Awareness The 1980s: Psychological, Occult, and Prosperity Cults Examples of New Cults Cause for Concern 3. The Process of Brainwashing, Psychological Coercion, and Thought Reform 52 Historical Examples of Brainwashing Packaged Persuasion Attacking the Self How Thought Reform Works Producing a New Identity Impermissible Experiments 4. What's Wrong with Cults? 83 Cults Threaten Legitimate Institutions Cults Harm Our Children and Tear Apart Our Families Cults Are Violent Cults Engage in Conspiracy and Fraud Small Cults Can Be Just as Harmful as Large Cults Take Away Our Freedom Cults Take Away Our Possessions Cults Escape Scrutiny What Is to Be Done? Part 2 How Do They Work? 103 5. Recruiting New Members 105 First Approach Invitation First Cult Contact Follow-Up: Gaining Greater Commitment Young and Old Alike Are Vulnerable The Double Agenda 6. Physiological Persuasion Techniques 125 Mass Marketing of Experiential Exercises Techniques Producing Predictable Physiological Responses Meditation May Not Always Be Good for You 7. Psychological Persuasion Techniques 150 Trance and Hypnosis Trickery Revision of Personal History Peer Pressure and Modeling Emotional Manipulation Psychotherapy Cults 8. Intruding into the Workplace 182 Clarification of New Age A Clash in the Workplace Violation of Civil Rights What Goes On in an LGAT? Development of a New Age Training Program: A Case Example Problems with Being ""Transformed"" at Work Psychological Casualties Buyer Beware: Thought-Reform Processes at Work 9. The Threat of Intimidation 209 Co-opted Professionals Intimidation and Harassment of Critics Part 3 How Can We Help Survivors to Escape and Recover? 241 10. Rescuing the Children 243 Children of Jonestown Children of Waco Children of Other Cults Role of the Cult Leader Role of Cult Parents What Children Learn in Cults After the Cult Children Are Survivors 11. Leaving the Cult 266 Why It's Hard to Leave Ways of Leaving the Cult Deprogramming and Exit Counseling 12. Recovery: Coming Out of the Pseudopersonality 295 Recovering from Cult Aftereffects Practical Issues Psychological and Emotional Difficulties Cognitive Inefficiencies Social and Personal Relations Philosophical and Attitudinal Issues Helpful Tasks for Individuals Leaving Cults There Is Life After the Cult Postscript to the First Edition: The Millennium, Cults, and the End of the Century 335 Postscript to the Revised Edition 339 Chapter Notes 357 Resources and Organizations 379 Further Reading 383 The Author 385 Index 387"