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Founded in 1979, the International
Cultic Studies Association
(ICSA) is a global network
of people concerned about
psychological manipulation
and abuse in cultic groups,
alternative movements, and
other environments.
ICSA is
tax-exempt, supports civil
liberties, and is not
affiliated with any
religious or commercial
organizations.
ICSA's mission is to apply research
and professional
perspectives to the problems
encountered by family
members and former group
members adversely affected
by a cultic involvement and
to forewarn those who might
become involved in
potentially harmful group
situations.
In order to fulfill this mission,
ICSA provides:
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· conferences, typically attended by
200-300 people,
including 50-100
speakers
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·
workshops for former members of
cults or related groups,
families of people
involved in cults or
related groups, mental
health professionals,
and others
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·
an
e-library with more than 19,000
documents on cults, new
religious movements,
sects, spiritual abuse,
and related groups and
topics
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·
an
e-newsletter and a
journal that describe new
developments in the
cultic studies field
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·
an information
phone line
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·
perspectives on how to evaluate and
use information to deal
effectively with
problems related to
cults, new religious
movements, sects,
spiritual abuse, and
related groups and
topics
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· Support
for cultic studies
research
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·
opportunities to
network with families, former
members of cults or
related groups, helping
professionals,
researchers, and others
interested in the cultic
studies field
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·
Peer Consultation
(research, assistance,
education, legal)
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·
Training (clinical,
educational, research)
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·
opportunities to
volunteer and to
contribute to
publications,
conferences, art
exhibits, educational
programs, research, and
other projects.
ICSA consists of and responds to the
needs of people interested
in cults, new religious
movements, sects, spiritual
abuse, and related groups
and topics, including:
ICSA is guided by a
distinguished Board of Directors
and Executive Advisory Board.
Background
In 1978
nearly 1000 people committed suicide or were murdered at the People's Temple
compound in Guyana. In the mid 1980s followers of Bhagwan Sri Rajneesh were
convicted of wiretapping, conspiracy to murder a U.S. Attorney, the deliberate
spreading of salmonella among the local population of Antelope, Oregon, and
other crimes. In 1993 dozens of men, women, and children were burned with their
Branch Davidian leader, David Koresh, at the end of a long siege by U.S. federal
agents. In 1995 members of Aum Shinrikyo released Sarin gas in the Tokyo subway,
killing 12 commuters and injuring over 5000. In 1994-1995 members of the Solar
Temple in Switzerland, Canada, and France were murdered or committed suicide. In
1997 thirty-nine members of Heaven's Gate committed suicide in Rancho Santa Fe,
California. In 2000 more than 1000 members of the Movement for the Restoration
of the Ten Commandments were murdered in Uganda. (1)
And on September 11, 2001 in New York and March 11, 2004 in
Madrid a new kind of fanaticism shook the world and made us aware of the
terrible possibility that small bands of zealots are capable of mass
destruction. (2)
These
horrific events all depended on the extraordinary level of influence and control
certain leaders wielded over their followers. They are extreme examples of
tragedies and abuses that occur every day, involving families and individuals
shattered by the domineering influence of an exploitative leader in a cultic,
authoritarian, or other harmful group or movement.
ICSA seeks to
apply academic and professional research and analyses to the practical problems
of such families and individuals and to the professionals who seek to help them
and/or forewarn those who might become involved in harmful group situations.
Definition
Although
there is no agreed-upon
definition of
cult, one proposed by Rutgers sociologist Benjamin Zablocki seems to
highlight key elements of high-influence group situations: "An ideological
organization held together by charismatic relationships and demanding total
commitment." Charisma refers to a spiritual power or personal quality
that gives leaders considerable influence or authority over large numbers of people. Hence,
a cult is characterized by an ideology, strong demands issuing from that
ideology, and powerful processes of social-psychological influence to induce
group members to meet those demands. This high-demand, leader-centered social
climate places such groups at risk of exploiting and injuring members, although
they may remain benign, if leadership doesn't abuse its power.
The
social-psychological manipulation and control associated with some cultic groups
may sometimes be found in other organizations and movements, including those in
the mainstream. However, unlike new groups focused on a living leader who
answers to nobody, mainstream movements may be restrained or corrected by higher
authorities to whom they are accountable.
Prevalence
Research studies suggest that one to two percent of the U.S. population
(two to five million persons) have been involved in cultic groups and that
several hundred thousand people enter and leave cultic groups each year. Similar
percentages appear to hold true for Western Europe.
ICSA has
information in its files on over 4,000 groups, many of which have been the
object of critical news reports. However, the percentage of these groups that
could be categorized as "cults" is unknown.
ICSA does not
maintain a list of "cults." Each case associated with concern about a
particular group should be evaluated individually.
Harm
ICSA's
research indicates that cultic and other high control groups vary enormously in
their potential for harm. Harm may be physical, psychological, economic,
social, and/or spiritual. Different people will respond in varied ways to the
same intense group environment, some remaining unscathed, while others are
devastated. Although scholars may dispute the level, causes, and effects of
harmful practices in particular groups, a common-sense assumption underlies
ICSA's work: Under some circumstances, some groups can harm some people. ICSA
is interested in the causes, nature, prevalence, and remediation of such
group-related harm. (3)
Resource collections for mental health professionals seeking to help those
adversely affected by group involvements can be found
here and
here. Legal resources can be found
here
and
here (although some in the latter collection are
available in the former, free collection); clergy resources, here and
here. Other collections of note:
Press.
Student.
Children.
Prevention
Of course, the most desirable way to combat cultic
and related manipulations is to forewarn potential victims, especially young
people. Millions of well-meaning youth, as well as adults and even elderly
people going through vulnerable transition periods in their lives, enter the
“cult marketplace” each year. ICSA's research indicates that 43% of cultic
group members were students when they first joined their groups, and 38% of
these persons dropped out of school after joining their groups.
(4) A crucial need,
consequently, is preventive education.
(5)
Education of the general public and professionals can
also result in a decrease in cultic abuses. Vigorous public discussions about
cult-related problems, for example, can sometimes result in fruitful dialogues
that cause controversial groups to change. In his book, Recovery from
Abusive Churches, Dr. Ronald Enroth describes several cases in which
criticism of cultic evangelical groups resulted in public apologies by the group
leaders and clear changes in their practices. ICSA staff and advisors have had
fruitful exchanges with leaders of the Hare Krishna movement, which appears to
be struggling with genuine attempts to reform the organization from
within. (6)
Vigorous public discussion is also necessary before
institutional authorities (including religious, educational, health, and
government) can justify taking actions to curtail certain behaviors of cultic
groups, which often call upon the First Amendment for protection—with some
justification. Institutional authorities in most countries have thus far done
very little, in part because the information base in this area has not yet
reached a sufficiently sophisticated level to motivate institutional leaders to
act, especially given the civil liberties dimension of the problem. ICSA hopes
that in time the research base in this area will reach a level that will enable
institutional authorities to make more informed, balanced, and effective
decisions regarding what to do about the problems cultic groups
pose. (7)
Research Support
On occasion
ICSA has been able to afford, or has received special grants for, supporting
research studies. Among the more notable research developments are:
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The development of the Group
Psychological Abuse Scale (GPA), a measure of perceived psychological abuse
in groups. The GPA has been translated into Spanish and Japanese and has
been used in more than a dozen studies around the world.
(8)
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Dr. Edward Lottick's
survey of Pennsylvania physicians, which provides, among other
findings, valuable data pertinent to prevalence.
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Studies that use standardized
psychological measures, including ICSA's GPA, to assess the level of
psychological distress in former group members.
(9)
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The development of detailed
curricula designed to help people born or raised in cultic groups (a
population with specific needs).
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Beginning in 2004 ICSA instituted
what we hope will become an annual project, the compilation of an annotated
bibliography of the cultic studies literature in
English, French (English
summary;
complete report in French), Spanish (and ultimately other
languages). The first bibliographies (numbering more than 50 pages) review
the literature from 2003.
Future research directions that interest ICSA include:
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Outcome studies of remedial and
preventive interventions, including exit counseling, psychotherapy of former
members, residential treatment, and educational curricula.
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Process studies that examine the
nature of interventions in detail.
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Characteristics of the kinds of
powerful influences associated with cultic groups, zealotry, and
authoritarianism.
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The further development and
refinement of existing measures, such as the Group Psychological Abuse
Scale.
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The development of new measures to
assess family contexts and reactions, group environments, and the
psychological, cognitive, and social status of group members and former
group members.
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The ways in which group and person
variables interact in cultic situations.
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The development of practical
classification systems with regard to groups, families, and individuals.
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Further studies of prevalence of
group membership and harms associated with group membership.
Endnotes
(1)
For a
sociological analysis of cultic violence, see: Kent, Stephen A. (2004).
Scientific evaluation of the dangers posed by religious groups: A partial
model.
Cultic Studies Review, 3(2).
(2)
See: Centner,
Christopher. (2003). Cults and terrorism: Similarities and differences.
Cultic Studies
Review,
2(2).
(3) For a
summary of clinical and research studies pertinent to harm see: (a) Dr.
Michael Langone's paper, "Research
on Destructive Cults," and (b) McKibben, J. A., Lynn, S. J., &
Malinoski, P. (2002). Are cultic environments psychologically harmful?
Cultic Studies Review,
1(3).
(4)
Other survey results from this study.
(5) See the
State of
Maryland Task Force Report, to which ICSA (formerly AFF) advisors
contributed. Also see: Kropveld, Michael. (2004).
Preventive education: A North American perspective. ICSA
E-Newsletter, 3(2).
Pseudoscience Fact Sheets are also a useful educational resource.
(6) See our
special collection on the Hare Krishna movement.
(7) See the
report of a panel discussion at ICSA's (formerly AFF's) 1999 annual
conference in which representatives of 13 cult-educational organizations
from around the world came to a consensus on needed actions: Langone,
Michael. (2001).
What should be done about cults? Cultic Studies Journal, 18,
69-81.
(8) For more
information on the GPA see: Chambers, W. V., Langone, M.D., Dole, A. A., &
Grice, J. W. (1994).
The Group Psychological Abuse Scale: A measure of the varieties
of cultic abuse. Cultic Studies Journal, 11(1), 88-0117.
Almendros, C., Carrobles, J.,
Rodríguez-Carballeira, A., & Jansà, J. (2003).
Psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Group Psychological
Abuse Scale. Cultic Studies Review,
2(3).
(9) Among the empirical studies of
harm in cultic groups published in our periodicals are the following:
Martin, P., Langone, M., Dole, A., & Wiltrout, J. (1992).
Post-cult symptoms as measured by the MCMI before and after
residential treatment. Cultic Studies Journal, 9(2), 219-250.
Weishaupt, K., & Stensland, M. (1997). Wifely subjection:
Mental health issues in Jehovah’s Witness women. Cultic Studies
Journal, 14(1), 106-144. Asser, S., & Swan, R. (2000).
Child fatalities from religion-motivated neglect. Cultic
Studies Journal, 17, 1-14. (Reprinted from Pediatrics, April
1998, 625-629). Aronoff McKibben, J., Lynn, S. J., & Malinoski, P. (2002).
Are cultic environments psychologically harmful?
Cultic Studies Review, 1(3).
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