Cults in Our Midst : The Continuing Fight Against Their Hidden Menace
by Singer, Margaret Thaler; Lifton, Robert JayEdition: 1st
Format: Paperback
Pub. Date: 2003-04-11
Publisher(s): Jossey-Bass
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Summary
Cults today are bigger than ever, with broad ramifications for national and international terrorism. In this newly revised edition of her definitive work on cults, Singer reveals what cults really are and how they work, focusing specifically on the coercive persuasion techniques of charismatic leaders seeking money and power. The book contains fascinating updates on Heaven's Gate, Falun Gong, Aum Shinrikyo, Hare Krishna, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, and the connection between cults and terrorism in Al Queda and the PLO.
Author Biography
Margaret Thaler Singer is a clinical psychologist and emeritus adjunct professor at the University of California, Berkeley.
Table of Contents
| Foreword | p. xi |
| Acknowledgments | p. xv |
| Introduction to the Revised Edition | p. xvii |
| Introduction to the First Edition | p. xxi |
| What Are Cults? | p. 1 |
| Defining Cults | p. 3 |
| Definitions and Characteristics | |
| Cult Types | |
| Who Joins Cults? | |
| Why Do They Join? | |
| A Brief History of Cults | p. 29 |
| Cults in the 1800s | |
| The 1960s: Fertile Ground for Cults | |
| The 1970s: Cults to Expand Awareness | |
| The 1980s: Psychological, Occult, and Prosperity Cults | |
| Examples of New Cults | |
| Cause for Concern | |
| The Process of Brainwashing, Psychological Coercion, and Thought Reform | p. 52 |
| Historical Examples of Brainwashing | |
| Packaged Persuasion | |
| Attacking the Self | |
| How Thought Reform Works | |
| Producing a New Identity | |
| Impermissible Experiments | |
| What's Wrong with Cults? | p. 83 |
| Cults Threaten Legitimate Institutions | |
| Cults Harm Our Children and Tear Apart Our Families | |
| Cults Are Violent | |
| Cults Engage in Conspiracy and Fraud | |
| Small Cults Can Be Just as Harmful as Large | |
| Cults Take Away Our Freedom | |
| Cults Take Away Our Possessions | |
| Cults Escape Scrutiny | |
| What Is to Be Done? | |
| How Do They Work? | p. 103 |
| Recruiting New Members | p. 105 |
| First Approach | |
| Invitation | |
| First Cult Contact | |
| Follow-Up: Gaining Greater Commitment | |
| Young and Old Alike Are Vulnerable | |
| The Double Agenda | |
| Physiological Persuasion Techniques | p. 125 |
| Mass Marketing of Experiential Exercises | |
| Techniques Producing Predictable Physiological Responses | |
| Meditation May Not Always Be Good for You | |
| Psychological Persuasion Techniques | p. 150 |
| Trance and Hypnosis | |
| Trickery | |
| Revision of Personal History | |
| Peer Pressure and Modeling | |
| Emotional Manipulation | |
| Psychotherapy Cults | |
| Intruding into the Workplace | p. 182 |
| Clarification of New Age | |
| A Clash in the Workplace | |
| Violation of Civil Rights | |
| What Goes On in an LGAT? | |
| Development of a New Age Training Program: A Case Example | |
| Problems with Being "Transformed" at Work | |
| Psychological Casualties | |
| Buyer Beware: Thought-Reform Processes at Work | |
| The Threat of Intimidation | p. 209 |
| Co-opted Professionals | |
| Intimidation and Harassment of Critics | |
| How Can We Help Survivors to Escape and Recover? | p. 241 |
| Rescuing the Children | p. 243 |
| Children of Jonestown | |
| Children of Waco | |
| Children of Other Cults | |
| Role of the Cult Leader | |
| Role of Cult Parents | |
| What Children Learn in Cults | |
| After the Cult | |
| Children Are Survivors | |
| Leaving the Cult | p. 266 |
| Why It's Hard to Leave | |
| Ways of Leaving the Cult | |
| Deprogramming and Exit Counseling | |
| Recovery: Coming Out of the Pseudopersonality | p. 295 |
| Recovering from Cult Aftereffects | |
| Practical Issues | |
| Psychological and Emotional Difficulties | |
| Cognitive Inefficiencies | |
| Social and Personal Relations | |
| Philosophical and Attitudinal Issues | |
| Helpful Tasks for Individuals Leaving Cults | |
| There Is Life After the Cult | |
| Postscript to the First Edition: The Millennium, Cults, and the End of the Century | p. 335 |
| Postscript to the Revised Edition | p. 339 |
| Chapter Notes | p. 357 |
| Resources and Organizations | p. 379 |
| Further Reading | p. 383 |
| The Author | p. 385 |
| Index | p. 387 |
| Table of Contents provided by Rittenhouse. All Rights Reserved. |
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