J. Anna Looney, Ph.D., works as a qualitative researcher,
analyst and facilitator in the Family Medicine Department of the Robert Wood
Johnson Medical School/UMDNJ. A sociologist, Looney earned her
doctorate from Rutgers University in 2005. Her dissertation was
entitled, "New Perspectives on Past Commitments:
Midlife Reflections on Cult Experiences in Young
Adulthood," and was completed in 2004. The dissertation focused on the
impact of cult membership over the life course. Looney has collected
primary data for a longitudinal panel study of individuals who were living in
religious and secular communes. In addition to her scholarly interests in New
Religious Movements, Social Psychology and the Life Course, she has
taught undergraduate courses in Sociology. (looneyja@UMDNJ.edu)
