Search

Reintegration of former pseudo-Christian cult members into society is a multi-layered endeavour. This article utilizes research conducted on cults, their dynamics and impact on members, and the findings of psychologists concerning the behaviour of cult members. It draws on personal research in dealing with former cult members for many years in an attempt to provide guidelines on how former pseudo-Christian cult members can be reintegrated into society. Different aspects are considered, especially the twisted Bible message that forms the basis of such cults. Also, how personality and value systems used to entrap members can be rightfully used to break the hold of the cult and assist in the reintegration process. The article points out that membership in a cult can result in disorders similar to addictive disorders. Knowing what areas the proselyting and controlling strategy of cults focused on is very valuable in undoing the hold of the cult culture on former members and re-establishing the Christian faith as part of reintegrating former members back into society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

El articulo discute sobre las lenguas Cultos y legos con el enfoque de la aptitud comunicativa del lenguaje. El articulo también se centra en la característica de las lenguas, la capacidad de significación del sistema de signos

A steady decline in voter turnout has been noticed in general elections in Nigeria. Past studies have focused on rural dwellers' voting behaviour but there is still a dearth of research on the voting behaviour of host communities of higher institutions. This paper therefore examines the turnout of residents in host communities of higher institutions between 1999 and 2015 general elections in Osun state, Nigeria. Social disorganisation theory provides the analytical framework for the study. Twelve host communities and twelve neighbouring communities were selected from twelve higher institutions. Questionnaires were administered to 2,520 respondents; 63 respondents were interviewed and records were sought. Majority of the respondents were very passive voters. There was a significant association between the respondents' turnout (χ²=19.3) and students' relationship, disturbance from student cultists and thugs (χ²=22.1) and their voters' turnout. Constant attack by aggressive students prior to elections created fear in residents. The paper concludes that students' negative behaviour affects residents' turnout. There is a need to educate students to shun cultism and thuggery and to obey constituted authority of the host communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We assumed that, as in the case of addiction disorders, former cult members exhibit vulnerability and protective factors for cult commitment and membership. Thus, the aim of our study was to identify vulnerability factors that are involved in the commitment and in the retention in the group, as well as protective factors that are involved in the departure. We interviewed 31 former cult members, using semi-structured interviews to evaluate their clinical profile, characteristics of the cultic group and their experience in the group. Cult membership and addictive disorders share some characteristics: persistence despite damage, initial psychological relief, occupation of an exclusive place in the thoughts of members, high psychiatric comorbidity prevalence, high accessibility, leading to social precariousness and the importance of familial support when leaving. Three main axes of improvement were highlighted: regulations concerning cults in order to limit their social presence, which appears to be a vulnerability factor for commitment; social and therapeutic follow-up when a member leaves a group so that social precariousness does not become an obstacle to departure; and familial support to maintain a link with the member, as the intervention of a person from outside of the group is an important protective factor for leaving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our research is devoted to analysis of neototalitarianism. We base our study on the new non-classic culturological methodology. When we say about "new totalitarianism" we mean radicalization of postmodern society through wars and ideologies. Classic totalitarianism is a phenomenon that is sufficiently studied in classical humanities. The main features of totalitarianism are already defined. These are: cult leader and one-party political system. These features are not inherent in the new totalitarianism. Researchers difficult to diagnose it because of its diffuse nature. The new totalitarianism investigates specific to global culture and processes of informatization. We interpret it as cultural sense that formed the collective unconscious. We refer discourse Real, which is protected under the Symbolic - a system of ideological narratives. We need a new methodology to study the new totalitarianism. This methodology must be differed from classical social philosophy and psychology. This methodology can provide Cultural science. We mean: cultural studies (Birmingham and the Montreal school), structural and cultural psychoanalysis of the pathography of movie by J. Lacan and S. Zizek, post-structuralism, media theory and postindustrial society, known as the "alter-globalization", "glokalizm" "antiglobalization". These concepts help to show: a new totalitarian mentality formed in a conflict of cultures as virtual manipulation strategy. The aim of our study is the semantic diagnosing of classical and non-classical philosophical symptoms of a new totalitarianism (neototalitarianism) in interdisciplinary cultural discourse, which includes non-classical ideas of psychoanalysis and social philosophy. Implementation objective defines the following research objectives: to identify the classic signs of a new totalitarianism, which brings him to the totalitarian tendencies of past eras based on previous cultural reflection of the totalitarian regimes of the twentieth century; to identify and disclose non-classical features of the neototalitarianism through our own experience based on postmodern culture; to demonstrate, how the semantic identifying aspects of classical and non-classical features of neo-totalitarian ideology do in the radical rightwing version of the new totalitarianism (nationalist, chauvinist, Nazi). Based on the synthesis of these concepts, we have solved the traditional and new ideological lines of new totalitarianism as an expression of the desire for domination. Traditional characteristics: integrity, binary, xenophobia, Quasi-religiosity, humor negation / knowledge and paternalism. The newest features: fetishization of power as spectacle within the absolute transparency of private life (Synoptykon); terrorism virtual global village, and selfcensorship "internal topics"; ideological kitsch and elitist populism. A clear manifestation of right radical nationalism is based on the romantic concept of gestalt. Inherent to it reduction identities, homogenization and isolationism contrary semiosfery global society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When a family member becomes involved with a destructive group, the courses of action available to families are limited. This article provides a new approach, know as an exit intervention, that enables the family courtgranted access to their loved one for a limited time. This model provides a necessary balance between the family member's First Amendment and Due Process rights and the family's interest in the safety of their loved one. If the exit intervention works properly, the family member's critical-thinking ability will be returned to her and she can make an informed decision about whether she wants to remain in the destructive group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deuteronomy 16.21–17.1 articulates three cultic laws establishing norms for worship. Interacting with recent Pentateuchal scholarship, this study examines Deut. 16.21–17.1 with an eye to issues in the text. An initial observation is that the literary unit does not cohere well with the surrounding laws in Deuteronomy. To address the problem of context, the study extends to comparable cultic laws elsewhere in Deuteronomy and in Exodus (Exod. 34.13; Deut. 7.5; 12.2–3). The comparison sheds greater light on Deut. 16.21–17.1 and suggests a dating of the text to the middle of the Second Temple period. Such dating, in turn, explains why this literary unit fits uneasily into its context of Deut. 16.18–18.22. The conclusion focuses on the altar in Deut. 16.21 as a reflection of changing perspectives on cultic worship expressed within the book of Deuteronomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Journal of Cultic Studies is the property of Cultic Studies Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The section presents abstracts on topics related to cult studies including traumatizing narcissism, cults and cult members.

Copyright of International Journal of Cultic Studies is the property of Cultic Studies Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of International Journal of Cultic Studies is the property of Cultic Studies Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of International Journal of Cultic Studies is the property of Cultic Studies Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In Africa, as elsewhere, religion has played a role in triggering and sustaining conflict. There are many instances where cultist religion has been employed to promote an ethnic or political agenda. In the majority of such civil wars, political emancipation and spiritual redemption have operated hand in hand, with religious symbols and ritual practices manipulated, often mingled with extraordinary myths and creative practices, to recruit spiritually induced foot soldiers ready to wage a cosmic war for political ends. Despite this, cultist religion is often peripheral in analysing conflict as well as peacemaking. Drawing its methodological perspectives from constructivism and instrumentalism, this article contextually examines how religion and cults have affected the Ugandan civil wars waged under the banners of the Holy Spirit Movement and the Lord's Resistance Army. It presents a generic conceptual framework for the socio-religious and political triggers of the wars, assesses how religion played an instrumental role in sustaining them, and makes suggestions for averting similar future conflicts while ensuring reintegration, recovery, and the execution of justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Challenging the popular belief that people who join new religious movements ( NRMs) become 'entrapped,' this study describes the way in which 23 former members of 11 different 'cults' personally negotiated disaffiliation. The current findings support previous studies that posit exit as a resolution to unresolved doubts and dissonances, and contribute to this literature by suggesting that the nature of these dissonances, and the way in which exit constitutes a 'solution' to these dissonances may vary. It is suggested that for approximately half of the participants in this study, the dissonances that precipitated exit, were relatively minor, primarily caused by organizational changes and inconsistencies in the teachings. While generally doubts were resolved privately and commitment sustained, exit occurred when alternate discourses or other identity resources became available through which doubts could become resolved. The remaining participants describe the conflicts that precipitated disaffiliation as pertaining to tensions between the groups' expectation of conformity and their sense of autonomy. These participants describe exit as a solution to the stress and emotional exhaustion of membership. To make sense of these different disaffiliation narratives, symbolic interactionist notions of the self as constructed in both the realm of 'Self' and 'Others' are applied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the name implies, this article aims to capture the existing cults in the Japanese archipelago, crystallized over the ages. We will discuss the four cults that we consider essential, namely: the cult of the Emperor (Tenno), the cult of labour, the family cult (ie) and the cult of harmony (wa), which still manifests itself today almost at the same intensity and which determines the Japanese way of thinking and organization. We will address the cult of the Emperor both constitutionally (analyzing the fundamental Japanese laws since 604 AD until 1946) and ideologically, for a better capturing of this two thousand years old institution. In what the labour cult is concerned, we will try to show one of the reasons due to which the human factor managed on the long-term to compensate for natural vicissitudes and shortage of Japanese soil. We will try to explain the fact that the Japanese work harder than other advanced countries' populations and therefore we will use the number of strike days, of overtime (declared and undeclared), of working days per year, etc., compared with the values found in the United States, Great Britain and France. We will then draw attention, as previously mentioned, to the family cult and the cult of harmony, trying to catch their manifestation from ancient times to the present day, especially their shaping of the Japanese spirit. We will also attempt a comparative analysis of the Japanese and the Western spirit. As conclusions, we will try to show how all these cults influenced the Japanese development model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Journal of Cultic Studies is the property of Cultic Studies Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Research on the characteristics of the personality of young people who have joined the Hare Krishna cult in Russia shows that this affiliation deepens their sense of separation from the surrounding culture, and leads them to see membership in the cult as their primary loyalty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been widely observed over the last several years that atheists are not well liked in the United States. Yet there is one group in the United States with whom atheists have not been compared: "cultists." Using data from four surveys of three different populations, this article compares attitudes toward atheists with attitudes toward people who are labeled as cultists. The data indicate that people who are labeled as cultists are viewed even more negatively than are atheists. Furthermore, whereas a number of variables predict attitudes toward atheists, none of the independent variables in the present study are statistically significant predictors of attitudes toward cultists, who were universally disliked across respondents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses involvement in a new religious movement (religious cult) from a sociological perspective developed from a qualitative study of individuals' involvement in Swami Muktananda's Siddha Yoga. The study explored individuals' attractions, affiliation, and disenchantment in a new religious movement. The significance of exploring individuals' involvement was to inform an alternative discourse that challenges the conceptualization held by many helping professionals and cult awareness groups in the brainwashing thesis. Although brainwashing as an empirical concept has been discredited among most researchers of new religious movements, it continues to be used as an explanatory model for cult awareness groups and helping professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Journal of Cultic Studies is the property of Cultic Studies Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper, I attempt to show that there is a difference between an act of terrorism and a terrorist organization. Therefore each should be dealt with differently. I further argue that a terrorist organization is a cult or must change into a cult in order to survive. Therefore, to deal with terrorist organizations we must understand how to deal with cults. The most important action is to take cult members, including radicals and potential recruits of terrorist groups, out of isolation, psychological or physical, rather than push them even more into isolation from wider society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This single case study used a repeated-measures design with an ex-Jehovah's Witness who was treated with EMDR over a two-month period. A follow-up session was conducted one year later, which indicated that all targeted gains remained. A brief background relevant to a 37-year-old female who was "disfellowshipped" by her entire support network and family after 28 years served as a backdrop for treatment. A limited review of criteria related to cult-like behaviors and attitudes commonly exhibited by Jehovah's Witnesses (JWs) is included. Symptoms relevant to Post-Cult Trauma Syndrome (PCTS), as defined by Singer (1979), are addressed via the Validity of Cognitions Scale (VOC) and the Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUDS) used by practitioners of EMDR. In addition, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Impact of Event Scale (IES) were implemented to further assess intervention results. All measures revealed significant improvement in targeted symptoms following this brief, short-term treatment. Follow-up results indicated symptoms did not reoccur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This exploratory study aims to examine the perceptions that 101 self-identified Spanish former members of diverse abusive groups have of their past group and their reasons for leaving it, as well as the psychological distress they experienced following their exit. In addition, we compare the participants' responses according to their methods of exiting the group and according to whether or not they received any assistance from cult-awareness organizations. Most of our participants walked away from the group following a period of personal reflection, without any external intervention, and they considered their own disillusionment as the main factor that led to their disaffiliation. Our results showed no differences between those participants who received support from cult-awareness associations and those who did not; nor did they show any differences, in terms of their motives for leaving, their perceptions of psychological abuse in their former groups, or their reported level of psychological distress, between those participants who walked away from the group and those who left after an outside intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultism has remained a problem for tertiary institutions in Nigeria and the Larger Nigerian society since the first decade of the existence of university education in Nigeria. It has been worrisome to have children on campuses and several measures had been adopted to curb cultism some of such measures were the expulsion of the cultists caught and out right ban of cultism on campuses. The problem here is not the killings in our campuses but why the measures employed to curb cultism have failed. This paper employs the analysis approach as its research method in explaining why previous measures failed and suggested the involvement of parents in the bid to curb cultism on our campuses in Nigeria among other measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I investigate some possible explanations for the development of the cult pseudo-personality and how it forms. I investigate whether the cult pseudo-personality is doubling (Lifton, 2000), false self (Winnicott, 1965), simply adaptation, or dissociation. I argue that it is none of these and propose that the concept of introjection is the most satisfying explanation. The paper also briefly addresses some recovery issues in light of the proposed view of pseudo-personality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The menace of cultism in Nigerian society in general and our educational institutions in particular has reached an alarming stage that requires affirmative actions from all stakeholders. The scourge of cultism has claimed many lives of our youths and no serious authority can fold its arms and allow it to continue. It appears that the various efforts at curbing the menace have yielded no result. The corruption in most facets of our national life has finally subdued the educational institutions, which in the past took pride of place. Most families are astonished to find out that children sent to school to learn and become better human beings in society have initiated themselves into cult groups. The emergency of secret cultism has been characterized by some violent activities which include, physical torture of new recruits, maiming and killing of rival cult members and elimination of real and perceived enemies. Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, is composed of more than 250 ethnic groups with 36 states and one federal territory (Abuja). There are three major religions, namely Islam (50%), Christianity (40%), and Africa Indigenous Religions (10%). The effect of globalization is also allowing other new religious movements to make inroads into Nigeria. Nigeria has a population of about 141 million people (2006 census). The counttry is rich in both human and material resources but is facing a lot of developmental challenges in almost all sectors due to poor leadership. The menace of cultism especially among Nigerian youths and some influential people represents one of the challenges facing the popular "giant" of Africa. The aim of this paper is to bring to the fore the menace of cultism as a brand of terrorism and to adopt an Islamic lens to provide an analysis of the terror of cultism in contemporary Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Cultic Studies Review is the property of Cultic Studies Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In order to assess psychology professionals' experience with, knowledge of, and opinions about cults, we mailed a detailed questionnaire to 2,980 members of the Pennsylvania Psychological Association. Our interest was specified as being about cult behavior rather than belief, and about cults that were harmful rather than benign. In the directions, "destructive cult" was briefly characterized as one that utilizes manipulation and constraint to accomplish the objectives of the organization or leader to the detriment of the recruit or adherent. A total of 695 psychology professionals completed the questionnaire. Half of the respondents indicated direct experience with cults—rofessional, personal, or both. Detailed results are presented and discussed, and some recommendations for psychology professionals and other interested readers are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cults of Demeter Eleusinia, and cults claimed to have been established from Eleusis, are found quite widely spread across central and southern Greece and Asia Minor. Earlier explanations of how they acquired this particular cult title have started from accounts of their supposed origins early in the archaic period. This paper suggests that titles of this kind did not necessarily date back to the cults' foundations. It argues that visiting religious experts familiar with mystery cults from across the Greek world (including, amongst others, Herodotos and Pausanias) might have influenced the way local officiants understood their own cults, and hence how they came to describe them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several factors have been described in the literature as influencing an individual's susceptibility to cult recruitment and/or remaining within the cult. Some of these factors have been widely and repeatedly asserted, although the scarce data available from empirical research in this subject and other cult-related topics (Aronoff, Lynn &Malinoski,200),as well as the usual difficulties encountered when one tries to investigate this issue in particular, make it hard to investigate cult members before they join these groups. The aim of the present study was to examine the perceptions of a Spanish sample of 101 self-identified former members of diverse cultic groups, who were interviewed face to face or who responded by postal mail to several questions regarding their process of cult involvement and perceived psychological abuse within their groups. Their responses were compared to those of 38 former members of diverse non-cultic groups and 24 Psychology students. The psychology students were asked to respond to the same set of questions given to the other groups, but as the students thought a former cult member would respond. Results showed that the former cult members perceived the manipulative behaviors of the group as the most important factor in their involvements. There were no significant differences between former cult members and former members of non-cultic groups in their reports of problems in significant others' relationships as a factor of involvement. The students who were asked to simulate their responses however, rated this factor as well as the one related to personal maladjustment significantly above the ratings of former cult members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are terrorists cultists? Or, are cultists terrorists? To open exploration of these questions within a speculative framework, I begin by examining the definitions of basic terms, relying heavily on previous analyses by Dole and by Langone, Stout, Lifton, Zimbardo, and others. After a review of extremely harmful acts by terrorists and cultists since 2001, I discuss how often, for what purposes, and under what circumstances such groups use violence. As examples I select two terrorist groups and two cultic groups and compare them on selected abusive and beneficial characteristics, using a modified version of the Group Psychological Abuse Scale as a rough yardstick. I then discuss possible counter actions appropriate to some of the similarities and differences among cultists and terrorists. What research is needed to support prevention and control? Can aspects of exit consultation or other methods of behavioral control be applied to members of terrorist groups? When, if at all, might soft power or constructive action in the spirit of Martin Luther King be effective? I conclude that some but not all terrorists are similar in their dynamics to cultists and that many cultists are not similar to terrorists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wie es einem hethitischen Orakeltext zu entnehmen ist, galt im Fall mehrerer Kultbilder eines Gottes jedes von ihnen als gesonderte Gottheit. Auch hethitische historische Dokumente und ein Gebet beweisen den Glauben der Hethiter an eine unabhängige Existenz jedes infolge der Herstellung einer neuen Statue geschaffenen Gottes. Dank einem in hethitischer Sprache erhaltenen Ritual ist auch die Weise bekannt, in welcher eine göttliche Hypostase gebildet wurde. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Offers a sociological perspective on the rise of and crackdown on the falun gong (FLG) in relation to the social, cultural, and political context in China. Sociological nature of the FLG based on the NRM literature; Suggestion that the FLG can be understood as an NRM with characteristics comparable to those in Euro-American contexts in the 1950s to 1970s; Effect of the interaction among the political implication of Chinese history of NRM, the social canon of social stability since 1989, the organizational nature andmobilization power of the FLG, the strong ideological commitment of FLG followers and the overseas support of the FLG leader on the strong-handed crackdown of the group.

In recent years an increasing number of therapists have come into contact with ex-cult members. Consequently there has been a renewed interest in various facets of intervention with this population. However, the effects of cult affiliation and disaffiliation on the cult member's family are not as well documented, particularly in Australia. This paper offers an overview of cult dynamics as well as some of the difficulties experienced by families whose loved one has had cult involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides an overview of the concept of anti-cult terrorism on the internet. Internet anti-cultists' activities dealt with the discussions on civil disruption and cult dehumanization. In 1996, as the Cult Awareness Network in the U.S. ended due to its involvement in illegal activities, most of the country's anti-cult groups pursued with their interests on arguing with the position compared with the movement group in Europe. Cult wars were also described to be relative to information terrorism in the internet as this incorporated offensive contents of issues on the minds of a population.

Previous studies of failed prophecies have typically been framed as replications of Festinger, Riecken, and Schachter's (1956) famous study of a flying saucer cult. The current research uses both previous cases studies of disconfirmation and the author's personal observations of a modern failed prophecy to suggest new theoretical propositions that explains the effects of failed prophecies in different types of religious groups. These theoretical propositions draw upon current research on religious commitment, the tension of religious groups, and the cost of religious participation. It is argued that the effect of a failed prophecy upon membership will show a curvilinear relationship with the average level of member commitment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]