Cults Inside Out: How People Get in and Can Get Out

by Rick Alan Ross

  954 Singer, Cults in Our Midst, 63.

  955 Ibid.

  956 Lifton, Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism, 427–428.

  957 Singer, Cults in Our Midst, 58.

  958 Ibid., 59.

  959 Ibid., 169.

  960 Heidi Ewing, “Inside Scientology,” Investigative Reports, A&E, December 9, 1998.

  961 Ibid.

  962 Ibid.

  963 Ibid.

  964 Nanette Asimov, “Doctors Back Schools Dropping Flawed Antidrug Program,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 27, 2005.

  965 Lawrence Wright, Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief (New York: Random House Audio, unabridged edition, January 17, 2013).

  966 Lifton, Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism, 429.

  967 Ibid., 433.

  968 Margaret Singer, Cults in Our Midst (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1996), 42.

  969 Ibid., 190.

  970 Ibid., 42.

  971 Philip Cushman, The Politics of Transformation: Recruitment—Indoctrination Processes in a Mass Marathon Psychology Organization (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1993), http://www.culteducation.com/brainwashing9.html (accessed May 28, 2014).

  972 Irvin D. Yalom and Morton A. Lieberman, A Study of Encounter Group Causalities (New York: Guilford Press, 1992), 16-30..

  973 Dennis Yusko, “An Espian’s Brief Life,” Albany Times-Union, February 1, 2004.

  974 Ibid.

  975 Ibid.

  976 Ibid.

  977 Ibid.

  978 Ibid.

  979 Dennis Yusko, “New Vision for Mind in Eye of Beholder,” Albany Times-Union, September 28, 2003.

  980 Ibid.

  981 “Self-Help Guru Werner Erhard Selling Empire,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 17, 1991.

  982 Singer, Cults in Our Midst, 42, 192–196, 202, 205.

  983 Amanda Scioscia, “Drive-Thru Deliverance,” Phoenix New Times, October 19, 2000.

  984 Margaret Singer, “Statement per Settlement Agreement with Landmark Education,” May 7, 1997.

  985 Jeffrey D. Fisher et al., Evaluating Large Group Awareness Training: A Longitudinal Study of Psychosocial Effect (New York: Springer-Verlag, 1990).

  986 John Gastil, The Group in Society (Los Angeles: Sage Publications, 2009), 228–229.

  987 Stephen J. Kraus, Psychological Foundations of Success (San Francisco: Next Level Science, 2003), 235.

  988 Gidi Rubinstein, “Characteristics of Participants in the Forum, Psychotherapy Clients, and Control Participants: A Comparative Study,” Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, Leicester: British Psychological Society 78, no. 4 (2003): 481–492, http://www.researchgate.net/publication/7416493_Characteristics_of_participants_in_the_Forum_psychotherapy_clients_and_control_participants_a_comparative_study (accessed May 28, 2014).

  989 Sefi Melchior and Stephen Sharot, “Landmark in Israel: Recruitment and Maintenance of Clients in a Human Potential Organization,” Nova Religion 13, no. 14 (May 2010): 61–83.

  990 Jane Brody, “Reports of Psychosis after Erhard Course,” New York Times, April 24, 1977.

  991 Michael A. Kirsch and Leonard L. Glass, “Psychiatric Disturbances Associated with Erhard Seminar Training: II. Additional Cases and Theoretical Considerations,” American Journal of Psychiatry 134, no. 11 (November 1977): 1254–1258.

  992 Brody, “Reports of Psychosis after Erhard Course.”

  993 Marisa Agha and Mara H. Gottfried, “Not the Woman We Knew,” Pioneer Press (St. Paul, MN), March 1, 2002.

  994 Weed v. Landmark Education Corp, in the District Court of Tulsa County State of Oklahoma Case No. CJ-2003-02541 (May 2004).

  995 Weed v. Landmark Education Corp, in the District Court of Tulsa County State of Oklahoma Case No. CJ-2003-02541 Final Judgment (May 3, 2007).

  996 “Contact Your Local Office,” Landmark Education official website 2013, http:// www.landmarkworldwide.com/when-and-where/office-location-finder (accessed May 28, 2014).

  997 Ibid.

  998 Laura Blumenfeld, “The Nominee’s Soul Mate,” Washington Post, September 10, 1991.

  999 Anne McAndrews, “I Lost My Husband to a Cult,” Redbook Magazine, May 1994.

  1000 Ibid.

  1001 Ruth Mathewson, “Yuppies Happy to Pay for Vision of New Life,” South China Morning Post, September 24, 1994.

  1002 Jason Tedjasuakmana, “Looking for a New Path,” Time, August 21, 2000.

  1003 “Contact AsiaWorks Training,” AsiaWorks website, http://www.asiaworks.com/contact-us/ (accessed May 28, 2014.

  1004 Enzo Di Matteo, “In the Grip of the Therapy Tough-Guys,” Toronto Now Magazine, April 20–26, 2000.

  1005 Ibid.

  1006 Singer, Cults in Our Midst, 196.

  1007 Chris Vogel, “Naked Men: The Mankind Project and Michael Scinto,” Houston Press, October 4, 2007.

  1008 Chris Vogel, “Mankind Project Decides to get Transparent,” Houston Press, August 31, 2009.

  1009 J. Gordon Melton and James R. Lewis, Perspectives on the New Age (Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1992), 129–132.

  1010 Jesse Kornbluth, “The Fuhrer over EST,” New Times (New York), March 19, 1976.

  1011 Megan Rosenfeld, “Encountering Werner Erhard,” Washington Post, April 14, 1979.

  1012 Anthony Gottleib, “Heidegger for Fun and Profit,” New York Times, January 7, 1990.

  1013 Paul Boyer, “Book World: Erhard from EST to Worst,” Washington Post, December 9, 1993.

  1014 Suzanna Andrews, “The Heiresses and the Cult,” Vanity Fair, November 2010.

  1015 James M. Odato and Jennifer Gish, “The Secrets of NXIVM,” Albany Times-Union, February 12, 2012.

  1016 Ibid.

  1017 Odato and Gish, “The Secrets of NXIVM.”

  1018 Ibid.

  1019 Ibid.

  1020 Boyer, “Book World: Erhard from EST to Worst.”

  1021 Rich Behar and Ralph King Jr., “The Winds of Werner,” Forbes, November 18, 1985.

  1022 David Orenstein, “Consumer Buyline of Clifton Park Was Forced to Close after 25 Separate Investigations,” Albany Times-Union, August 24, 1997.

  1023 Odato and Gish, “The Secrets of NXIVM.”

  1024 Michael Freedman, “Cult of Personality,” Forbes, October 13, 2003.

  1025 Andrews, “The Heiresses and the Cult.”

  1026 Lloyd Grove, “Oprah and the Sweat Lodge Guru,” Daily Beast, October 29, 2009.

  1027 Felicia Fonesca, “US Self-Help Guru Convicted in Ceremony Deaths,” Associated Press, June 23, 2011.

  1028 “Weak Defense in Guru Case, Juror Says,” Associated Press, July 3, 2011.

  1029 Ann O’Neill, “Inside the Sweat Lodge: Witnesses Describe a Ritual Gone Wrong,” CNN, March 14, 2011.

  1030 Bob Ortega, “Sweat-Lodge Trial: James Arthur Ray Often Misused Teachings, Critics Say,” Arizona Republic, April 10, 2011.

  1031 Ibid.

  1032 Ibid.

  1033 Ibid.

  1034 Ibid.

  1035 Craig Harris and Dennis Wagner, “Story Unfolds of James Ray, Who Hosted Fatal ‘Sweat Lodge,’” USA Today, October 27, 2009.

  1036 Felicia Fonesca, “3rd Person Dies in Arizona Sweat Lodge Ceremony Case,” Associated Press, October 18, 2009.

  1037 Christopher Goodwin, “At the Temple of James Arthur Ray,” The Guardian (New York), July 8, 2011.

  1038 “Emotional Witness Describes Horror outside Sweat Lodge,” CNN, March 12, 2011.

  1039 Ibid.

  1040 O’Neill, “Inside the Sweat Lodge: Witnesses Describe a Ritual Gone Wrong.”

  1041 Ortega, “Sweat-Lodge Trial: James Arthur Ray Often Misused Teachings, Critics Say.”

  1042 “Former Follower Speaks Out about Enlightenment Tactics,” ABC TV-News 15, (Phoenix, AZ), March 2, 2011.

  1043 Roxanne Patel Shepelavey, “When the Quest for Self-Improvement Kills,” MSNBC News, September 14, 2010.

  1044 Mark Duncan, “Sweat Lodge Survivors Say Ray Did
Little or Nothing to Aid Victims,” Prescott Daily Courier, March 10, 2011.

  1045 O’Neill, “Inside the Sweat Lodge: Witnesses Describe a Ritual Gone Wrong.”

  1046 Ortega, “Sweat-Lodge Trial: James Arthur Ray Often Misused Teachings, Critics Say.”

  1047 “Sweat Lodge Lawsuits Settled for $3M,” Associated Press, December 3, 2011.

  1048 Lauren Beale, “Self-Help Guru James Arthur Ray Sells His Beverly Hills-Area Home for $3.015 Million,” Los Angeles Times, December 2, 2011.

  1049 Bob Ortega, “James Arthur Ray Gets Prison Time in Sweat Lodge Deaths,” Arizona Republic, (Phoenix, AZ) November 19, 2011.

  1050 “Polk Wins State Criminal Justice Award,” Daily Courier (Prescott, AZ), June 18, 2012.

  1051 Goodwin, “At the Temple of James Arthur Ray.”

  1052 Singer, Cults in Our Midst, 190.

  1053 Ibid.

  1054 Ibid., 196.

  1055 “Werner Erhard,” 60 Minutes, CBS, March, 1991.

  1056 Richard Behar and Ralph King Jr., “Winds of Werner,” Forbes, November 18, 1985.

  1057 “Werner Erhard,” 60 Minutes.

  1058 Philip Cushman, The Politics of Transformation: Recruitment—Indoctrination Processes in a Mass Marathon Psychology Organization (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1993), http://www.culteducation.com/brainwashing9.html (accessed May 28, 2014).

  1059 Irvin D. Yalom and Morton A. Lieberman, A Study of Encounter Group Causalities (New York: Guilford Press, 1992), 16-30.

  1060 Ibid.

  1061 Ibid.

  1062 Ibid.

  1063 Elise Lucet, Alain Roth and Jean-Marie Abgrall, “Voyage to the Land of the New Gurus,” Video, directed by Karima Tabti, France 3, May 24, 2004.

  1064 James O’Brien, “Defending Your Life,” GQ, May 2005.

  1065 Roland Howard, “Mindbreakers,” Daily Mail (London), July 23, 2001.

  1066 Yalom and Lieberman, A Study of Encounter Group Causalities.

  1067 Ibid.

  1068 Edgar H. Schein, Coercive Persuasion: A Socio-psychological Analysis of the ‘Brainwashing’ of American Civilian Prisoners by the Chinese Communists (New York: W. W. Norton, 1971).

  1069 Ibid.

  1070 Margaret Singer, Cults in Our Midst (San Francisco, C CA: Jossey-Bass, 1996), 63.

  1071 Ibid.

  1072 Ibid.

  1073 Ibid.

  1074 Louis A. Gottschalk, E. Mansell Pattison, and Donald W. Schafer, “Training Groups, Encounter Groups, Sensitivity Groups and Group Psychotherapy,” California Medicine: The Western Journal of Medicine 115, no. 2 (August 1971): 87–93.

  1075 Ibid.

  1076 Marisa Agha and Mara H. Gottfried, “Not the Woman We Knew,” Pioneer Press (St. Paul, MN), March 1, 2002.

  1077 Jane Brody, “Reports of Psychosis after Erhard Course,” New York Times, April 24, 1977.

  1078 Michael A. Kirsch and Leonard L. Glass, “Psychiatric Disturbances Associated with Erhard Seminar Training: II. Additional Cases and Theoretical Considerations,” American Journal of Psychiatry 134, no. 11 (November 1977): 1254–1258.

  1079 Gottschalk, Pattison, and Schafer, “Training Groups, Encounter Groups, Sensitivity Groups and Group Psychotherapy,” 87–93.

  1080 Ibid.

  1081 Ibid.

  1082 Madeleine Landau Tobias and Janja Lalich, Captive Hears, Captive Minds (Alameda, CA: Hunter House, 1994), 17.

  1083 Ibid., 17.

  1084 Kelly Glasscock, “Speaker Discusses Personal Experiences in Abusive Marriage,” Kansas State Collegian (Manhattan, KS), March 15, 2000.

  1085 Ibid.

  1086 Stinson FS, Dawson DA, Goldstein RB, Chou SP, Huang B, Smith SM, Ruan WJ, Pulay AJ, Saha TD, Pickering RP, Grant BF, “Prevalence, correlates, disability, and comorbidity of DSM-IV narcissistic personality disorder: results from the wave 2 national epidemiologic survey on alcohol and related conditions.,” Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 2008 Jul;69(7):1033-45 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Stinson%20FS[Author]&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=18557663 (accessed May 29, 2014).

  1087 “Narcissistic Personality Disorder,” Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) American Psychiatric Association (2000), http://www.psi.uba.ar/academica/carrerasdegrado/psicologia/sitios_catedras/practicas_profesionales/820_clinica_tr_personalidad_psicosis/material/dsm.pdf (accessed May 29, 2014).

  1088 Ibid.

  1089 Stacie N. Galang, “Reason Why Abuse Victims Return Often Complex, Experts Say,” Salem (MA) News, April 10, 2008.

  1090 Roger E. Mitchell and Christine A. Hodson, “Coping with Domestic Violence: Social Support and Psychological Health among Battered Women,” American Journal of Community Psychology 11 (6) (1983), 629-54.

  1091 Lenore E. Walker, The Battered Woman (New York: William Morrow, 1980).

  1092 Lenore E. Walker, The Battered Woman Syndrome, 3rd ed. (New York: Springer, 2009), 84.

  1093 Hedda Nussbaum, interview by Larry King, Larry King Live, CNN, June 16, 2003.

  1094 Ibid.

  1095 Marianne Garvey, “Hedda: I’ll Flee Once Evil Joel Gets Sprung,” New York Post, May 23, 2004.

  1096 Kelly Glasscock, “Speaker Discusses Personal Experiences in Abusive Marriage,” Kansas State Collegian (Manhattan, KS), March 15, 2000.

  1097 Ibid.

  1098 Ibid.

  1099 “Steinberg Calls Himself ‘a Good Father,’” New York Times, August 7, 2004.

  1100 Garvey, “Hedda: I’ll Flee Once Evil Joel Gets Sprung.”

  1101 Hal Bernton and David Heath, “Nation of Islam Farrakhan Says Muhammad Is a Member,” Seattle Times, October 22, 2002.

  1102 Kevin Johnson, “D.C. Sniper Executed in Virginia,” USA Today, November 11, 2009.

  1103 Ibid.

  1104 “Brainwashed Malvo a Puppet,” Associated Press, November 12, 2003.

  1105 Alex Tizon, “Sniper Suspect John Allen Muhammad’s Meltdown,” Seattle Times, November 10, 2002.

  1106 Rosie Dimanno, “Convicted Murderer Vows to Stay Silent,” Toronto Star, December 2, 2003.

  1107 Andrea F. Siegel, “Defense Pushes Theory of Malvo Brainwashing,” Baltimore Sun, December 2, 2003.

  1108 “Cult Expert Says Malvo May Have Been Vulnerable to Brainwashing,” Associated Press, December 6, 2003.

  1109 Paul Bradley and Kiran Krishnamurthy, “Critical Malvo Witness Grilled,” Richmond Times-Dispatch, December 9, 2003.

  1110 Adam Liptak, “Defense Portrays Sniper Suspect as Indoctrinated,” New York Times, November 21, 2003.

  1111 Dimanno, “Convicted Murderer Vows to Stay Silent.”

  1112 Kiran Krishnamurthy and Bill Geroux, “Jury Chooses Death for Mohammad,” Richmond Times Dispatch, November 24, 2003.

  1113 Adam Liptak, “Younger Sniper Suspect’s Lawyers Press Insanity Defense,” New York Times, December 5, 2003.

  1114 “Malvo Convicted of Sniper Murder,” CNN, December 18, 2003.

  1115 Liptak, “Younger Sniper Suspect’s lawyers Press Insanity Defense.”

  1116 Ibid.

  1117 Ibid.

  1118 “Young Sniper Is Sentenced to 6 Life Terms,” Associated Press, November 8, 2006.

  1119 “Muhammad Questions Malvo about His Sanity,” Associated Press, May 24, 2006.

  1120 “D.C. Sniper’s Execution Met with Grief, Bitterness,” CNN, November 11, 2009, http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/11/virginia.sniper.execution/ (accessed May 29, 2014).

  1121 Josh White, “Lee Boy Malvo, 10 Years after D.C. Area Sniper Shootings: ‘I Was a Monster,’” Washington Post, September 29, 2012.

  1122 Ian Sager and Scott Stump, “D.C. Sniper Lee Boyd Malvo: ‘I Was Sexually Abused by My Accomplice,’” NBC Today News, October 24, 2012.

  1123 Hedda Nussbaum, interviewed by Larry King, Larry King Live, CNN, June 16, 2003.

  1124 William Claiborne, “Testimony Opens in Simpson Trial with account of Physical Abuse,” Washington Post, February 1, 1995.

  1125 Tina Turner and Kurt Loder
, I, Tina: My Life Story (New York: It Books, 2010).

  1126 Kelly Glasscock, “Speaker Discusses Personal Experiences in Abusive Marriage,” Kansas State Collegian (Manhattan, KS), March 15, 2000.

  1127 Madeleine Landau Tobias and Janja Lalich, Captive Hears, Captive Minds (Alameda, CA: Hunter House, 1994), 17.

  1128 Ibid.

  1129 “Narcissistic Personality Disorder,” Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) American Psychiatric Association (2000), http://www.psi.uba.ar/academica/carrerasdegrado/psicologia/sitios_catedras/practicas_profesionales/820_clinica_tr_personalidad_psicosis/material/dsm.pdf (accessed May 29, 2014).

  1130 Robert Jay Lifton, Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2012).

  1131 Richard Ofshe, “Coercive Persuasion and Attitude Change,” Encyclopedia of Sociology, vol. 1 (New York: McMillan, 1992), 212–224.

  1132 Edgar H. Schein, Coercive Persuasion: A Socio-psychological Analysis of the “Brainwashing” of American Civilian Prisoners by the Chinese Communists (New York: W. W. Norton, 1971).

  1133 Margaret Singer, Cults in Our Midst (San Francisco, C CA: Jossey-Bass, 1996), 62.

  1134 Ibid.

  1135 Lifton, Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism, 419–437.

  1136 Ofshe, “Coercive Persuasion and Attitude Change,” 212–224.

  1137 Georg Feuerstein, The Yoga Tradition: Its History, Literature, Philosophy and Practice, 3rd ed. (Chino Valley, AZ: Hohm Press, 2001), 538.

  1138 Robert Jay Lifton, “Cult Formation,” Harvard Mental Health Letter, February 1981.

  1139 Maurice Davis, “You Can Go Home Again.”DVD. Directed by Elliot Bernstein, New York: Union for Reform Judaism, 1982.

  1140 Robert Jay Lifton, Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2012).

  1141 Margaret Singer, Cults in Our Midst (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1996).

  1142 Edgar H. Schein, Coercive Persuasion: A Socio-psychological Analysis of the “Brainwashing” of American Civilian Prisoners by the Chinese Communists (New York: W. W. Norton, 1971).

  1143 Richard Ofshe, “Coercive Persuasion and Attitude Change,” Encyclopedia of Sociology, vol. 1 (New York: McMillan, 1992), 212–224.

  1144 Robert B. Cialdini, Influence, rev. ed. (New York: HarperCollins, July 15, 1993).