grieving 137, 139
group, needs of 7, 43–45, 54, 84
group therapy 128–129
Haas, Anne 54
Hare Krishnas 70–71, 131
healing process 127, 132–134
healthcare see also medical issues; mental health
healthy groups 6, 31; charismatic authority 56, 58; family bonding 7, 46–47; signs of 39–40; systems of control 62, 81
healthy relationships 42
heart rates 68
Heaven’s Gate 9n4, 51, 52
helping professionals 1, 106, 127–128; group therapy 128–129
hero worship 6, 7, 42
hierarchy 6, 39, 62
higher power 6
hippies 20
Holiness Movement 91
homelessness 3, 22, 105, 140
home-schooling 18, 65
hope 43, 137
HOPE Organization 13, 123
Hubbard, L. Ron 47–48
human nature 2, 8
humiliation 38, 57, 69, 74, 76, 93, 100, 158
hyper-compliance 7, 9n10, 96
hyper-credulity 96
hyper-responsibility 37
identity, after escaping cult 114–117
ideological totalism 93
imaginary history 45
imagination/daydreams 37, 78
immediate environment, manipulation of 63
inadequacy, feeling of 33
inbreeding 13
individuality suppressed 31, 53, 56, 95
individuation 50, 85–86, 137, 138
indoctrination: mind-numbing effects of 64–68; negative 62; sessions 11, 33–35, 38, 47–48
infant and child mortality rate 13
influence see systems of influence
Influence: How and Why People Agree to Things (Cialdini) 86–87
inner circle 6, 15, 25–26, 39, 56; charisma by proxy 54–55; different rules for 80, 100; in healthy groups 101
Inside Edition 26
instincts, trusting 137, 138
intense focus 3, 5, 6
interests, cultivating 136–137
internal conflict 97
internalization 64, 100
internal life 37
International Churches of Christ 89
interrogation 63, 73
Iowa, TM community 15
Ireland, Exclusive Brethren 22–24
isolation 32, 63, 105; by helping professionals 127; systems of control and 7
jargon 94, 100, 119
jealousy 49
Jeffs, Lyle 27n3, 123n1
Jeffs, Warren 27n3, 123n1
Jehovah’s Witnesses 72–73
“Jesus babies” 20
Jesus Movement 17, 20
job skills/life skills 16, 111, 114
Jones, Jim 51, 52
Jonestown 51, 52
Jung SuWon martial arts see also College of Learning (Jung SuWon)
Keillor, Garrison 1, 28n12
ki, chi (life energy) 25
Kutz, Paddy 68
Lake Wobegon Days (Keillor) 28n12
language, loading 94, 100, 119
Law of Love (The Family) 20, 21, 75
leaders/leadership teams 6, 31, 39
Lifton, Robert Jay 93, 126
liking 87
The Living Word 67, 73
loading the language 94, 100, 119
London, Exclusive Brethren 23
love relationships 6–7, 45
loyalty to leader 51, 100; defense of leader 52; families defer to 68
madly-in-love feelings 6
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (Mahesh Prasad Varma) 14, 15, 48, 54
Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment (Transcendental Meditation) 15–16
“malignant narcissists” 52
Manson Family 52
Mao Zedong 93, 103n7
marriage 56; after escape from cult 113, 116; arranged, for young girls 13, 21–22; divorce 69; Fundamentalist Mormons 11–12
martial arts cults 4, 25–27, 65 see also College of Learning (Jung SuWon martial arts)
Marxist political cult 3, 4
McGowan, Rose 1, 9n1, 28n10
media approaches 2, 3
medical issues 16, 17, 46, 128; corporal punishment for 19, 21, 33, 35; disability 19–20; heart rates 68; prayer-or meditation-based healthcare 18, 29, 35; as satanic 21, 33, 35, 38, 79
meditation 14–15, 27–28n7 see also Transcendental Meditation (TM)
mental health 13, 19; dissociation 37; Fundamentalist Mormons 13, 89–90; Transcendental Meditation 15, 105
Mental Health America 68
Mexico, Mormons in 27n2
middle management 54
milieu control 93
“Mo Letters” (Berg) 65
moral imperative 40n6
Mormons see Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS); Fundamentalist Mormons (Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, FLDS)
Morningland 48–49
mother-child bond 47
multinational groups: Children of God 20–22; Exclusive Brethren 22–24
murder 51
mystical manipulation 93
names/nicknames 100, 116
narcissism 51–54
Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) 52
Nazi Germany 52
neglect 10, 47; children of cult leaders 48–50
never-ending cycle 40
New Age cults 3, 27, 54, 105; Brotherhood of the Spirit/Renaissance Community 45, 53
New Early Christian Church 130, 138
new religious movement (NRM) 4, 24
New York, Twelve Tribes see Twelve Tribes
North Korea 52
nutrition, inadequate 27n3, 63, 77; eating disorders as result of 96
obligation, sense of 32
“Open Heart Reports” (OHR) 95
open-mindedness 139
outsiders 6, 9n9; as corrective 90–91; within cult 38; escapees as 114; kindness of 109–110; restrictions on social life with 71–73, 100; as worldly evil influences 23, 24, 26, 32, 39, 72, 114, 138
outside world see escape from cults
pain, emotional 68
parents 59–60n21; bonding not permitted with 10, 19, 21, 25, 34–35, 34–35n10, 46, 55–56, 68; children of cult leaders 48–50; devotion to cult rather than children 32, 68; former cult members as 136; healthy 104–105; idolization of as requirement 50; neglect by 26, 95–96, 108 see also family life
past lives, belief in 45
patience with self 125, 136–137
peer involvement not allowed 77
peer pressure 7–8, 84, 88–89, 91
Pentecostal churches 36
perfection 16, 38, 52; corporal punishment and 19; expected of children 29–30, 35
Perry, Bruce 68
personal bill of rights 140–141
personal closure 93
philosophically-based cults 4, 54–55; Aesthetic Realism 35–36
Phoenix, River 1, 9n1, 28n10
plural marriage (Celestial Marriage) 12
police departments, cult 123
political cults 3, 4, 44, 92; leaving 105
polygamist families 11–13, 30
post-traumatic growth 127
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) 112, 127–128, 132
pregnancies 13
Presley, Lisa Marie 1, 9n1
prisoners of war, American 93
privacy, learning about after escape 110
protean self 126
protection, need for 46–47
psychoeducation 134–135
psychological development 37, 50, 68, 71, 72, 126
public self-reporting rituals 89
purity, demand for 93–94 see also dedication/devotion
purpose, higher 6, 38
raids on cults 68, 75
“Rank & Yank” performance review 63
rapture 9n2
Raven/Taylor/Hales group (Exclusive Brethren) 23
rebellion 7
8–80, 138–139
rebuke 51, 88, 89
reciprocity 87
reincarnation 14, 15
relational psychotherapy 127
religions 4–5
Remini, Leah 1, 9n1
repetitive activities 63
reporting of self and others 80, 88, 89, 93–94, 100
resilience 8, 37, 55, 123; emotions 129–130, 135–136; integration and 132–136; stages of healing 132–134; trauma and 126–128
Resilience: The Science of Mastering Life’s Greatest Challenges (Southwick and Charney) 127
resistance 19, 55; literature and art 90; turned against people 78
resocialization 64, 96
resources: print and multi-media 147–152; recovery 157; treatment center 157; websites and online resources 153–156
return to cults 18, 19, 22
“right” ideas, approaches, and people 6, 30–31, 38, 47
Rodriguez, Ricky 112, 124n6
Romney, Gaskell 27n2
Romney, George 27n2
Romney, Miles Park 27n2
Romney, Mitt 27n2
Rosen, Shelley 60n30, 78, 127, 134–135
Russia, Stalinist 52
Ryder, Winona 1, 9n1
sacred science 94
Safe Passages 22
Sanctified Brethren 28n12
scarcity 87
schisms in cults 23
school counselors 131, 135–136
Scientology 47–48, 64, 130–131, 142n20; escape from 137, 138; systems of influence 88–89
secrecy 71, 118, 122
self: core self 95; protean 126; as socially constructed 85
self-and other-policing 7–8
self-communication 93
self-condemning behaviors 33
self-criticism 40n6, 88, 89
self-deception 96–97
self-denial 43, 84, 92
self-esteem 114
self-exposure 94
“Separation from Evil” 23
Seventh Day Adventists 86
sexual abuse of children 53; Children of God 20, 21, 22, 46, 124n6; Fundamentalist Mormons 13
shame about past 106, 114–115, 125, 126
shaming 70, 80, 114–115
Shaw, Daniel 52
Short Creek 123n1
Siegel, Eli 54
silence restriction 67, 75–76
“Silence Restriction” signs 67
Singer, Margaret 63
Smart, Elizabeth 13–14
Smith, Joseph 12, 43
social and cultural life, control of 63
social proof 87
social-psychological influence techniques 93–95
Southeast Asia, Children of God 20–22
Southern Baptist churches 92
Southwick, Steven 127
“spiritual but not religious” cults 4
Starting Out in Mainstream America (Bardin) 121
Stein, Alexandra 46–47
stigma about cults 106, 107, 108, 109, 115–116; damaging to former members 127
stress response 78
suicide, mass 9n4, 15, 51
suicide attempts/suicides 19, 21–22, 105, 131; after escape 105, 112–113
support needs 1–2, 105
support organizations 106; HOPE Organization 13; online groups 27, 117, 119; Safe Passages 22
surveillance 100, 101, 122; reporting of others 80, 88, 89
surviving and thriving 125–42; advice from narrators 125; helping professionals and 127–128; impediments to healing 128–132; personal bill of rights 140–141; resilience and integration 132–136 see also coping mechanisms for survival; escape from cults
systems of control 5, 7, 23, 31, 43, 61–82; avoidance of scrutiny 2; coping mechanisms for surviving 78–79; daily rules 73–78; defined 62–63; escape from cult and 106; evaluating in your own life 79; family-damaging 70–71; family life, restrictions on 68–71; four areas 63–64; healthy 80; indoctrination, mind-numbing 64–68; influence methods that support behavioral control system 158–59; social life, restrictions on 71–73; Transcendental Meditation 15; unique features 63–78; women’s reproduction 10–11
systems of influence 5, 7–8, 31, 63, 83–103; bounded choice 84–85; coping mechanisms for surviving 98–99; criticism, perfectionism, and constant monitoring 88–92; defined 84–85; entrapment by 93–96; evaluating in your own life 99–101; healthy 86–87, 99, 101–103; how followers learn to entrap themselves 96–97; influence tactics 87; social-psychological influence techniques 93–95; unique features 85–88
Taylor, Jim 41
terrorist groups 9n9
therapy 139; group 128–129; helping professionals 127–128
threats 34; of expulsion 15, 16, 53, 57, 77–78, 80
Tolle, Eckhart 123
“total institutions” 63
Tradition, Family, and Property 138
Transcendental Meditation (TM) 4, 14–16, 29, 32, 41, 46, 48, 56; escape from 122–123; escape from group 105, 107; social restrictions 72, 77–78
transcendent belief system 5, 6, 29–40, 45, 94; capturing and retaining followers 33–37; coping mechanisms for survival 37–38; defined 30–31; evaluating in your own life 38–39; healthy 39–40; internalization of 33; narcissism and 52; perfection required 30, 32; systems of influence and 100; unique features 31–33
trauma 68; resilience and 126–128
trauma psychologists 117–118
“traumatizing narcissists” 52, 53
trust 113
Truth 32
Turkey, Family compound 69–70
Turner, Bishop Nelson 51, 53–54
Twelve Tribes 16–20, 29–30, 35, 42, 46, 56, 65–66, 128; child labor 76; corporal punishment 74; escape from 106, 108, 110, 111, 113, 115–116, 119, 120–121, 122; families, limits on 68–69; social restrictions 71–72; support networks 119; system of influence 88
Under the Banner of Heaven (Krakauer) 134
unhealthy relationships 6–7, 45, 79–80
urgency, sense of 52
us-versus-them polarization 6
Utah 12
utopias 3, 8, 42, 136
Vermont, martial arts cult 25
Vietnam War 17
Weber, Max 42–44
welfare 12, 27n3
West, Louis 63
wisdom 126
women: in Exclusive Brethren 23; mental health 13
women’s reproduction 10–11, 11–12, 23, 76
Woodstock Festival 17, 88
Word of Life Fellowship 44, 74–75
working conditions 80
Worldwide Church of God 78, 91–92
Zablocki, Benjamin 96–97
Zerby, Karen 124n6
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