Cults Inside Out: How People Get in and Can Get Out

by Rick Alan Ross

  388 Jay Schadler and Elissa Stohler, “Family Brainwashed by Dad Struggles to Heal,” ABC News PrimeTime, July 6, 2010 http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/marcus-wesson-mass-murder-surviving-family-speaks-abuse/story?id=11089648 (accessed May 16, 2014).

  389 Ibid.

  390 Ibid.

  391 Harriet Ryan, “Family Massacre Trial on Question of Brainwashing,” Court TV, May 9, 2005 http://culteducation.com/group/1225-the-wesson-family/21941family-massacre-trial-may-revolve-on-question-of-brainwashing.html (accessed May 16, 2014).

  392 Cyndee Fontana, Barbara Anderson, and Donald E. Coleman, “The Many Portraits of Marcus Wesson,” Fresno Bee, April 18, 2004.

  393 Pablo Lopez, “Jury Deciding Wesson’s Fate Learns about His Family,” Fresno Bee, June 24, 2005.

  394 Fontana, Anderson, and Coleman, “The Many Portraits of Marcus Wesson,” April 18, 2004.

  395 Ibid.

  396 Ibid.

  397 Schadler and Stohler, “Family Brainwashed by Dad Struggles to Heal,” July 6, 2010.

  398 Fontana, Anderson, and Coleman, “The Many Portraits of Marcus Wesson,” April 18, 2004.

  399 Schadler and Stohler, “Family Brainwashed by Dad Struggles to Heal,” July 6, 2010.

  400 Fontana, Anderson, and Coleman, “The Many Portraits of Marcus Wesson.,” April 18, 2004.

  401 Schadler and Stohler, “Family Brainwashed by Dad Struggles to Heal,” July 6, 2010.

  402 Juliana Barbassa, “Prosecution Says Marcus Wesson Carried Out Murder-Suicide Pact,” Associated Press, June 2, 2005.

  403 Ibid.

  404 Elecio Martinez, “Wesson Family Massacre: Children Tell Story of Murder and Sexual Abuse,” CBS 48 Hours, October 22, 2009 http://www.cbsnews.com/news/wesson-family-massacre-children-tell-story-of-murder-and-sexual-abuse/ (accessed May 16, 2014).

  405 “House Where Father Killed Children Is Razed,” Los Angeles Times, July 11, 2006.

  406 Denise Lavoie, “Psychologist Says Mass. Woman Was in Sect,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, January 31, 2004.

  407 John Ellement, “Lawyer Says Mother Controlled by Evil,” Boston Globe, February 3, 2004.

  408 Ibid.

  409 Lavoie, “Psychologist Says Mass. Woman Was in Sect,” January 31, 2004.

  410 Jeff Robinson, “Once in Cult, Student Now Sees Importance of Knowing Theology,” Baptist Press (Nashville), June 29, 2004.

  411 “The Sect: Led by a Father’s Religious Zeal, Family Spurned Society’s rules,” Boston Globe, November 26, 2000.

  412 Ibid.

  413 Ibid.

  414 “Convicted Mother Describes Her Ordeal in Religious Sect,” Boston Globe, March 4, 2004.

  415 David Linton, “New Hearing for Ex-leader of Cult,” Sun Chronicle (Attleboro, MA), June 25, 2009.

  416 Robidoux v. O’Brien United States Court of Appeals, (First Circuit 10–1239 2011) http://www.plainsite.org/dockets/hexlmp4l/court-of-appeals-for-the-firstcircuit/robidoux-v-obrien/ (accessed May 16, 2014).

  417 David Linton, “Sect Founder Robidoux Dies,” Attleboro Sun Chronicle, May 18, 2006.

  418 Ibid.

  419 Sammy Rose Saltzman, “Jaycee Lee Dugard Kidnapped, Impregnated and Forced to Live in a Shed, Say Police,” CBS News, August 27, 2009 http://www.cbsnews.com/news/jaycee-lee-dugard-kidnapped-impregnated-and-forced-to-livein-shed-say-police/ (accessed May 16, 2014).

  420 Sharon Churcher and Peter Sheridan “Jaycee Lee Dugard’s Prison: First of a Filthy Backyard Jail Where Religious Fanatic Held Kidnapped Girl” Daily Mail (London), August 30, 2009.

  421 Saltzman, “Jaycee Lee Dugard Kidnapped, Impregnated and Forced to Live in a Shed, Say Police,” August 27, 2009.

  422 Churcher and Sheridan, “Jaycee Lee Dugard’s Prison: First of a Filthy Backyard Jail Where Religious Fanatic Held Kidnapped Girl,” August 30, 2009.

  423 John Simerman, “Wife Who Police Say Joined in Abduction and Rape of Jaycee Dugard, Worked as Contra Costa Nursing Aide,” Contra Costa Times, September 2, 2009.

  424 “Garrido Bro: ‘He Was Just like Manson,’” The Sun (UK), August 29, 2009.

  425 “Kidnap Victim’s Daughters Lives Seemed Normal, Friend Says,” CNN News, August 31, 2009.

  426 “Profile: Phillip Garrido,” BBC News, September 1, 2009 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13633403 (accessed May 16, 2014).

  427 Ibid.

  428 Saltzman, “Jaycee Lee Dugard Kidnapped, Impregnated and Forced to Live in a Shed, Say Police,” August 27, 2009.

  “Profile: Phillip Garrido,” September 1, 2009.

  429 “Profile: Phillip Garrido,” September 1, 2009.

  430 Saltzman, “Jaycee Lee Dugard Kidnapped, Impregnated and Forced to Live in a Shed, Say Police,” August 27, 2009.

  “Dugard to Remain in Hiding to Protect Daughters,” Associated Press, March 14, 2012.

  431 “Dugard to Remain in Hiding to Protect Daughters,” March 14, 2012.

  432 “Dugard Kidnapper Garrido to Be Held in Same California Prison Unit as Cult Killer Charles Manson.”

  433 “Dugard to Remain in Hiding to Protect Daughters,” March 14, 2012.

  434 “Dugard Kidnapper Garrido to Be Held in Same California Prison Unit as Cult Killer Charles Manson.”

  435 Churcher and Sheridan, “Jaycee Lee Dugard’s Prison: First of a Filthy Backyard Jail Where Religious Fanatic Held Kidnapped Girl,” August 30, 2009.

  436 Erin Allday, “Experts: Kidnap Victim Faces Difficult Recovery,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 30, 2009.

  437 “Dugard to Remain in Hiding to Protect Daughters,” March 14, 2012.

  438 Ruth Eglash, “Welfare Officials Call This the Biggest Cult-Busting Operation Ever in Israel,” The Jerusalem Post, January 14, 2010.

  439 Diane Moy Schaefer, “Israeli Cult Leader Goel Ratzon Arrested for Allegedly Keeping Harem of Women and Fathering Dozens,” New York Daily News, January 15, 2012.

  440 “Jewish Cult Leader Turned a Profit,” Heeb, January 15, 2010 http://heebmagazine.com/jewish-cult-leader-turns-a-profit/5060 (accessed May 16, 2014).

  441 Schaefer, “Israeli Cult Leader Goel Ratzon Arrested for Allegedly Keeping Harem of Women and Fathering Dozens,” January 15, 2012.

  442 Dana Weiler-Pollak, “Experts: Polygamist Ran ‘Family’ as a Cult,” Haaretz (Israel), January 17, 2010.

  443 “Jewish Cult Leader Turned a Profit,” January 15, 2010.

  444 Weiler-Pollak, “Experts: Polygamist Ran ‘Family’ as a Cult,” January 17, 2010.

  445 Matthew Kalman, “In Israel, the Messiah with More Than 30 Wives,” Time, January 18, 2010.

  446 Amy Teibel, “Tel Aviv ‘Savior’ Accused of Enslaving Women,” Associated Press, February 8, 2010.

  447 Yaniv Kubovich, “Woman Who Escaped from Cult Leader Accuses State of Neglecting Her Case,” Haaretz, July 2, 2010.

  448 Yael Bronovsky, “Ratzon’s Wives Begin Lengthy Treatment,” Ynetnews.com, February 16, 2010. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3849914,00.html (accessed May 16, 2014).

  449 Ibid.

  450 “Goel Ratzon Indicted in Tel Aviv,” The Jerusalem Post, February 14, 2010.

  451 Ofra Edelman, “Polygamist Cult Leader to Be Held Until Case Ends,” Haaretz (Israel), April 28, 2010.

  452 Yonah Jeremy Bob, “Head of Polygamist Cult Ratzon Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison,” The Jerusalem Post, October 28, 2014.

  453 Bronovsky, “Ratzon’s Wives Begin Lengthy Treatment,” February 16, 2010.

  454 Teibel, “Tel Aviv ‘Savior’ Accused of Enslaving Women,” February 8, 2010.

  455 Ruth Eglash, “Welfare Ministry Calls for Legislation to Fight Cults,” The Jerusalem Post, May 24, 2011.

  456 Justin Quesinberry, “Seven Charged with Murder,” Herald Sun (Durham), June 13, 2011.

  457 Ibid.

  458 Mitch Weiss and Renee Elder, “Polygamist Sect under Suspicion in Two Killings,” Associated Press, April 6, 2011.

  459 Thomasi McDonald and Mandy Locke, “Additional Remains of Small Child Found at
Durham House,” News Observer (Raleigh), June 9, 2011.

  460 “Cult Leader Killed Boy He Thought Was Gay,” 9 News (Sydney), June 12, 2012 http://culteducation.com/group/1095-peter-lucas-moses-jr/15904-cult-leaderkilled-boy-he-thought-was-gay.html (accessed May 16, 2014).

  461 “Fingerprint Links Accused Durham Sect Leader to Dead Bodies,” WRAL News (Raleigh), February 8, 2012 https://www.google.com/search?q=WRAL+News&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:enUS:official&client=firefox-a&channel=sb (accessed May 16, 2014).

  462 “Cult Leader That Forced His Three Wives and Nine Kids to Call Him ‘Lord’ Pleads Guilty to Murdering Woman, 28, Boy, 4, Because He Thought He Was Gay,” Daily Mail (London), June 11, 2012.

  463 McDonald and Locke, “Additional Remains of Small Child Found at Durham House.”

  464 Weiss and Elder, “Polygamist Sect under Suspicion in Two Killings.”

  465 “Cult Leader That Forced His Three Wives and Nine Kids to Call Him ‘Lord’ Pleads Guilty to Murdering Woman, 28, Boy, 4, Because He Thought He Was Gay,” June 11, 2012.

  466 “Cult Leader Killed Boy He Thought Was Gay,” June 12, 2012.

  467 Justin Quesinberry, “Durham Murder Suspect’s Father Describes Daughter’s Cult Life,” WNCN NBC News 17, (Raleigh) June 11, 2011 http://www.wncn.com/story/20884732/durham-murder-suspects-father-describes-daughters-cult-life (accessed May 16, 2014).

  468 “Cult Leader That Forced His Three Wives and Nine Kids to Call Him ‘Lord’ Pleads Guilty to Murdering Woman, 28, Boy, 4, Because He Thought He Was Gay,” June 11, 2012.

  469 Carol Kuravilla, “Cult Leader Gets Two Life Sentences for the Murders of a Little Boy and One of His Wives,” New York Daly News, July 5, 2013.

  470 Thomas McDonald, “Black Hebrew Cult Members Sentenced for Murders of Woman and Child,” News & Observer (Raleigh), June 28, 2013.

  471 “Woman Pleads Guilty in Durham ‘Cult’ Killings,” WTVD-TV ABC News 11 (Raleigh), February 18, 2013 http://abc11.com/archive/8997075/ (accessed May 16, 2014).

  472 Merriam-Webster (Encyclopedia Britianica Company), “cult,” www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/cult (accessed May 29, 2014).

  473 Hildebrand, Jamie (1994) “The Church of Elvis,” Totem: The University of Western Ontario Journal of Anthropology: Vol. 1: Iss. 1, Article 4 Available at: http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/totem/vol1/iss1/4.

  474 Robert Jay Lifton, Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2012).

  475 Robert Jay Lifton, “Cult Formation,” Harvard Mental Health Letter, February 1981.

  476 Ibid.

  477 Robert Jay Lifton, Destroying the World to Save It: Aum Shinrikyo, Apocalyptic Violence, and the New Global Terrorism (New York: Metropolitan Books, 1999), 11.

  478 Margaret Singer, Cults in Our Midst (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1996), 7.

  479 Thomas Robbins and Benjamin Zablocki, Misunderstanding Cults: Searching for Objectivity in a Controversial Field (Toronto, Ontario, Canada: University of Toronto Press, 2001), 181–193.

  480 Singer, Cults in Our Midst, 8.

  481 Ibid., 9.

  482 Narcissistic Personality Disorder—Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth edition Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR), American Psychiatric Association (2000) as cited on the website BehaveNet http://behavenet.com/node/21653 (accessed May 19, 2014).

  483 Stephen A. Kent and Jodi M. Lane, “Malignant Narcissism, L. Ron Hubbard, and Scientology’s Policies of Narcissistic Rage” (French journal Criminologie 41 No. 2 in 2008), 7.

  484 Wendy Cole and Richard Woodbury, “In the Grip of a Psychopath,” Time, May 3, 1993.

  485 Marc Fisher and Sue Ann Pressley, “Founder Sought to Purge Sexuality via Cult,” Washington Post, March 29, 1997.

  486 Robert D. Hare, Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of Psychopaths Among Us (New York: Guilford Press, 1999).

  487 Robert D. Hare, The Hare Psychopathy Checklist, rev. ed. (New York: Multi-Health Systems, 1991) .

  488 Richard Ofshe, “Coercive Persuasion and Attitude Change,” Encyclopedia of Sociology, vol. 1 (New York: McMillan, 1992), 212–224.

  489 Ibid.

  490 Benjamin D Zablocki, “Exit Cost Analysis: A New Approach to the Scientific Study of Brainwashing,” Nova Religion 2, no. 1 (1998): 216.

  491 Louis Jolyon West and Michael Langone, “Cultism: A Conference for Scholars and Policy Makers. Summary of Proceedings of the Wingspread Conference on Cultism,” (lecture, American Family Foundation, Weston, MA, September 9–11, 1985).

  492 International Cultic Studies Association, Psychological Manipulation, Cultic Groups, and Other Alternative Movements (conference handbook, ICSA Annual International Conference, Denver, CO, June 22–24, 2006), 68.

  493 Janja Lalich and Michael Langone, “Characteristics Associated with Cultic Groups,” rev. ed., International Cultic Association website, 2008, http://www.csj.org/infoserv_cult101/checklis.htm (accessed May 19, 2014).

  494 Ministry of Welfare and Social Services, “An Examination of the Phenomenon of Cults in Israel: Report of the Ministry of Welfare and Social Services Team,” State of Israel 2011, http://www.culteducation.com/reference/general/AnExaminationOfThePhenomenonOfCultsInIsrael.pdf (accessed May 19, 2014).

  495 “The Counter-Cult Movement (CCM),” Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance website 1997–2011, http://www.religioustolerance.org/ccm.htm (accessed May 19, 2014).

  496 Rachel Andres and James R. Lane, eds., Cults and Consequences: The Definite Handbook (Los Angeles: Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, 1990), 14.

  497 Ibid., 12.

  498 Brooks Alexander, “The Rise of Cosmic Humanism,” Spiritual Counterfeits Project Journal 5 (Winter 1981–82): 3–4.

  499 “The Anti-Cult Movement (ACM),” Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance website 1996–2011, http://www.religioustolerance.org/acm.htm (accessed May 19, 2014).

  500 “Factors Commonly Found in Destructive, Doomsday Groups,” Common Signs of Destructive Cults, Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance website 1996–2011, http://www.religioustolerance.org/cultsign.htm (accessed May 19, 2014).

  501 Andres and Lane, Cults and Consequences, 9.

  502 Benjamin Zablocki, The Joyful Community: An Account of the Bruderhof: A Communal Movement Now in Its Third Generation (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971).

  503 Benjamin Zablocki, Alienation and Charisma: A Study of Contemporary American Communes (New York: Free Press, 1980).

  504 Stephen A. Kent, From Slogans to Mantras (Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press, 2001).

  505 Ibid.

  506 Jayanti Tamm, Cartwheels in a Sari: A Memoir of Growing Up Cult (New York: Harmony Books, 2009).

  507 Brendan Brosh, “Child of Chinmoy Ministry Blasts ‘Cult’ in New Book,” New York Daily News, April 24, 2009.

  508 Jayanti Tamm, “Cults Are Harmful and Extreme Religious Groups,” Cults: Opposing Viewpoints (Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2013), 26.

  509 Ibid., 23.

  510 Ibid.

  511 Ibid.

  512 Ibid.

  513 Ibid., 23–24.

  514 Ibid., 23.

  515 Ibid., 23–24.

  516 Ibid., 23.

  517 Ibid., 24.

  518 Ibid., 23.

  519 Brosh, “Child of Chinmoy Ministry Blasts ‘Cult’ in New Book.”

  520 Ibid.

  521 Ibid.

  522 Benjamin Zablocki, “Cults: Theory and Treatment Issues” (lecture, International Cultic Studies Conference, Philadelphia, PA, May 31, 1997).

  523 Eric Hoffer, The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements (New York: Harper and Row, 1951) 142, 145.

  524 Ibid., 145.

  525 Michael D. Langone, “Reflections on the Legion of Christ 2003–2006” (lecture, International Cultic Studies Association, International Conference, Montreal, Canada, July 5-7, 2012).

  526 Michael Langone, “‘By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them’: How G
ood and Bad Works Can Deceive—the Case of the Legion of Christ,” ICSA Today 3 (2012): 5.

  527 Benjamin Zablocki, “The Blacklisting of a Concept: The Strange History of Brainwashing Conjecture in the Sociology of Religion,” Nova Religion 1, no. 1 (October 1, 1997): 91.

  528 Ibid.

  529 John Marks, The Search for the Manchurian Candidate: The CIA and Mind Control (New York: Times Books, 1979), 12–30.

  530 Benjamin Zablocki, “Exit Cost Analysis: A New Approach to the Scientific Study of Brainwashing,” Nova Religion 2, no. 1 (1998): 216.

  531 Thomas Robbins and Benjamin Zablocki, Misunderstanding Cults: Searching for Objectivity in a Controversial Field (University of Toronto Press, 2001), 181–193.

  532 Robert Jay Lifton, Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2012).

  533 Margaret Singer, Cults in Our Midst (San Francisco,CA: Jossey-Bass, 1996), 58–59.

  534 Flo Conway and Jim Siegelman, Snapping: America’s Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change, 2nd ed. (New York: Stillpoint Press, 2005).

  535 Flo Conway and Jim Siegelman, Holy Terror: The Fundamentalist War on America’s Freedoms in Religion, Politics, and Our Private Lives (New York: Doubleday, 1982).

  536 Daphne Bramham, “Warren Jeffs: Prophet or Monster?” Vancouver Sun, September 8, 2007.

  537 Marcelo Mackinnon, “Inside Chile’s Colony of Terror,” Ohmy News International (South Korea), February 1, 2007.

  538 Robert B. Cialdini, Influence: Science and Practice (Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon, 2001).

  539 Melissa Dittman, “Lessons from Jonestown,” Monitor on Psychology 34, no. 10 (2003): 36.

  540 Ibid., 6.

  541 Singer, Cults in Our Midst, 58–59.

  542 Ibid., 59.

  543 Lucy Ballinger and Colin Fernandez, “Rapist ‘Guru’ in a Bentley Cast His Spell on Hundreds of Terrified Young Women,” Daily Mail (London), July 27, 2010.

  544 Ibid.

  545 Steve Herman, “Unification Church founder Dies at 92,” Voice of America, September 2, 2012.

  546 Edgar H. Schein, Coercive Persuasion: A Socio-psychological Analysis of the ‘Brainwashing’ of American Civilian Prisoners by the Chinese Communists (New York: W.W. Norton, 1971).

  547 Richard Ofshe, “Coercive Persuasion and Attitude Change,” Encyclopedia of Sociology, vol. 1 (New York: McMillan, 1992), 212–224.