Cults
Cults are close-knit and often secretive organizations that may recruit members through false premises, such as the promise of religious salvation. Although not all cults are religious, most subscribe to a particular belief system unique to their organization and do not permit members to deviate from their strictures. Members who wish to break free of a cult often have difficulty doing so and may experience psychological effects after leaving.
Understanding Cults
People who join cults often do so from a basic desire to belong to something, to feel protected and secure, and to live a life that has meaning. Cults that are based on tenets of Christianity can fulfill this longing in some people, as the promise of eternal salvation is the primary draw for many adults who join cults.
When recruiting new members, cults often discern a need in a person and promise to satisfy it, whether the need is religious fulfillment, political activism, self-actualization, or simply a sense of belonging. Those who are most likely to be recruited by a cult tend to come from an economically sound background, be educated and idealistic, and exhibit above-average intelligence.
Cults tend to be led by a charismatic and compelling leader who demands loyalty. Because cults require absolute commitment to their leader and discourage questioning of the belief system set forth, often using manipulative, exploitative, or abusive tactics to prevent and punish dissent, they are generally considered to be destructive and controlling by outsiders. In fact, cult members may adhere to the doctrine to the point of cutting off family and friends who are not also part of the cult.Potential members are usually not aware of the extent of the cult’s beliefs before entering and only realize the totalitarian structure, abuse of members, and other harmful practices after joining. However, by that point, a person may be so committed to the cult’s promises that he or she becomes able to accept beliefs and practices he or she would have rejected before joining the cult, especially upon seeing other members obey without question.
What Constitutes a Cult?
The criteria that determine a cult are not definitive, and some organizations are classified as cults by some definitions and not by others. This incongruity can especially be seen with the classification of certain religious organizations, which are only considered to be cults by some.
Organizations that are recognized as cults typically have a charismatic leader who is self-appointed and whom members obey without question. They often form a totalitarian society and also tend to exhibit most, if not all, of the following traits:
- The use of manipulation or coercion to recruit and teach new members.
- A dislike, distrust, or general devaluation of outsiders.
- A claim to offer the only path to salvation or possess unique powers.
- An involvement in illegal and harmful practices, such as child abuse, physical or sexual abuse, and illegal drug use.
- The discouragement and punishment of doubt or dissent.
- The discouragement or prevention of members from leaving.
How Are Cults Harmful?
Not all cults are considered to be harmful, which is partially due to the fact that the defining factors of a cult are not always clear. For example, organizations such as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and Jehovah’s Witnesses are considered to be cults by some, while others think of them as simply a strict religious organization. Their members typically live peacefully among the greater community, but some who have left these organizations report lasting psychological effects resulting from abusive and/or exploitative practices.
In general, cults are thought of as being dangerous and harmful, as their practices can be manipulative and can have a detrimental effect on the mental and physical well-being of members. Many people who have left cults report practices of physical and sexual abuse, both of adults and children. Other tactics used to control members within cults include starvation, humiliation, and verbal and emotional abuse. Cults also can have a negative effect on society, as some cults have been shown to evade taxes, violate immigration laws, participate in fraud, and deny the children of cult members an appropriate education.
Sometimes cults may also harm outsiders by committing acts of terror or murder: The Aum Shinrikyo cult, for example, murdered nearly 30 people in Tokyo with sarin gas in 1995, injuring 5,000 others. There have also been several publicized instances of group murder/suicides within cults, such as the People’s Temple suicides in Jonestown in 1978 and the Heaven’s Gate suicides that occurred in 1997 when the Hale-Bopp comet neared the earth.
Harmful effects of cults can also be seen in individuals who have left cults. Even those who have willingly left a destructive cult may experience withdrawal. After leaving a cult, a person may feel guilt, anxiety, or depression; fear large groups; have emotional outbursts; and experience insomnia, amnesia, or sexual dysfunction. Children who were raised in a cult may find it difficult to integrate into society, and those who were sexually abused may become hypersexualized.
Deprogramming and Exit Counseling
Many cults urge their members to cut ties with family members and other loved ones who are “outside” the cult, and these family members may turn to strategies such as exit counseling or deprogramming in an attempt to break the cult’s influence on the cult member. Deprogramming involves kidnapping the cult member and forcing the individual to undergo therapy with the goal of encouraging re-evaluation of involvement in the cult. Because this technique is extremely expensive and involves both the capture and imprisonment of an individual, it has largely fallen out of practice and has been mostly replaced by exit counseling.
In exit counseling, counselors help the cult member’s loved ones find the most effective way to reach the member, who may not willingly communicate with people outside the cult. If they can reach the member, they attempt to convince the individual to participate in therapy sessions similar to those taking place in deprogramming. The main difference between exit counseling and deprogramming is that in exit counseling, individuals are not held against their will.
References:
- Haworth, I. (1994). Cult concerns: An overview of cults and their harmful methods in the UK. Assignation, 11(4).
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Fortenbury, J. (2014, September 28). The health effects of leaving religion. The Atlantic. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/09/the-health-effects-of-leaving-religion/379651
- Lalich, J., & Langone, M. (n.d.). Characteristics associated with cultic groups – revised. Retrieved from http://www.csj.org/infoserv_cult101/checklis.htm
- Langone, M. (n.d.). How do cults harm society? Retrieved from http://www.csj.org/studyindex/studycult/cultqa5.htm
- Layton, J. (n.d.). Cult deprogramming. Retrieved from http://people.howstuffworks.com/cult7.htm
- Tyrrell, I. (2006). Exploring the cult in culture. Retrieved from http://www.hgi.org.uk/archive/cults.htm#.VQGvuOHLCM8
- Wessinger, C. (1998, January 13). How the millennium comes violently. Retrieved from http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=16602
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Stories of former Mormons. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.exmormon.org/stories.htm
Last Updated: 06-6-2016
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Jeni L
June 3rd, 2016 at 11:42 AMHello,
I’d like to start off by thanking your for including cults on your site. They are a real issue that is often trivialized or made a mockery of by mainstream media.That being said, I would like to let you know that I do disagree with this paragraph,
“Not all cults are considered to be harmful, which is partially due to the fact that the defining factors of a cult are not always clear. For example, some people consider certain religious organizations such as Jehovah’s Witnesses and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to be cults, but the members of these organizations live peacefully among the greater community and do not appear to practice what are generally considered to be abusive or exploitative tactics.”As a former Jehovah’s Witness, I assure you that this group is a very harmful organization. Watchtower and its followers encourage a belief system that belittles women, hides pedophilia by leaving it unreported to authorities, encourages shunning, shames victims of sexual and domestic violence, instructs members (even children) to refuse blood transfusions even when death is imminent, and discourages higher education.
Many have suffered at the hands of this cult and many are currently suffering.Additionally, I would like to say that that all cults use undue influence to indoctrinate their members. Even if a cult does nothing but charitable acts, the fact that the mind is being manipulated makes it harmful.
I would respectfully ask that your entry be amended to reflect the fact that ALL cults are harmful even those who “blend” with the community.
The GoodTherapy.org Team
June 7th, 2016 at 10:13 AMHi Jeni,
Thank you for your comment! We have revised the paragraph you pointed out in order to better express the fact that religious organizations such as The Church of Latter-Day Saints and Jehovah’s Witnesses can have harmful effects on some individuals. However, this page is only meant to provide brief information about all cults, so we are unable to go into specific detail about the harmful psychological effects of the Jehovah’s Witness church you mentioned in your comment.We do offer a “Share Your Story” feature on our website, and we think your story may be a good fit! If you would like to submit a piece that goes into more depth about the harmful effects you experienced, we welcome you to do so. Share Your Story submissions are evaluated on a case-by-case basis and, if chosen for publication, are generally published in the order they are received. You can find more information about submitting a Share Your Story piece here: https://www.goodtherapy.org/submit-your-story.html.
Thank you again for bringing this to our attention. We appreciate your input and look forward to reading your Share Your Story submission!
Kind regards,
The Editorial Team
GoodTherapy.orgSteven
October 10th, 2023 at 1:57 PMYour comments need to be in book form. Thanks
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