This article is an electronic version of an article originally published in Cultic Studies Journal, 1986, Volume 3, Number 2, pages 173-189. Please keep in mind that the pagination of this electronic reprint differs from that of the bound volume. This fact could affect how you enter bibliographic information in papers that you may write.

The Rabbi and the Sex Cult: Power Expansion in the Formation of a Cult

Richard Ofshe, Ph.D..

Abstract

Two central problems in the study of the development and operation of both religious and secular high-control organizations (cults) are how such groups become established initially and how individuals are induced to cede substantial personal autonomy to the leader or to the group's normative order. Little is known about the early period in the formation of most cults or about the tactics leaders use to establish sufficient authority to build their organizations. Often, this early history is rewritten as the organization develops and the historical record is lost. Similarly, there are few studies that report on the induction process when the target is recruited directly by the leader. The typical study of cult induction practices follows a recruit through a system that processes large numbers of people and treats the leader as a nearly, if not completely, superhuman figure, rarely glimpsed and distant. This paper reports on the study of a small organization in which the leader was directly involved in the recruitment of new members. It concentrates on techniques used by the leader to get potential followers to cede their decision-making autonomy to him, and on the tactics he developed to effect dominance over them.
 

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