Escaping Utopia

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Escaping Utopia Page 26

by Lalich, Janja; McLaren, Karla;


  grieving 137, 139

  group, needs of 7, 43–45, 54, 84

  group therapy 128–129

  Haas, Anne 54

  Hare Krishnas 70–71, 131

  healing process 127, 132–134

  healthcare see also medical issues; mental health

  healthy groups 6, 31; charismatic authority 56, 58; family bonding 7, 46–47; signs of 39–40; systems of control 62, 81

  healthy relationships 42

  heart rates 68

  Heaven’s Gate 9n4, 51, 52

  helping professionals 1, 106, 127–128; group therapy 128–129

  hero worship 6, 7, 42

  hierarchy 6, 39, 62

  higher power 6

  hippies 20

  Holiness Movement 91

  homelessness 3, 22, 105, 140

  home-schooling 18, 65

  hope 43, 137

  HOPE Organization 13, 123

  Hubbard, L. Ron 47–48

  human nature 2, 8

  humiliation 38, 57, 69, 74, 76, 93, 100, 158

  hyper-compliance 7, 9n10, 96

  hyper-credulity 96

  hyper-responsibility 37

  identity, after escaping cult 114–117

  ideological totalism 93

  imaginary history 45

  imagination/daydreams 37, 78

  immediate environment, manipulation of 63

  inadequacy, feeling of 33

  inbreeding 13

  individuality suppressed 31, 53, 56, 95

  individuation 50, 85–86, 137, 138

  indoctrination: mind-numbing effects of 64–68; negative 62; sessions 11, 33–35, 38, 47–48

  infant and child mortality rate 13

  influence see systems of influence

  Influence: How and Why People Agree to Things (Cialdini) 86–87

  inner circle 6, 15, 25–26, 39, 56; charisma by proxy 54–55; different rules for 80, 100; in healthy groups 101

  Inside Edition 26

  instincts, trusting 137, 138

  intense focus 3, 5, 6

  interests, cultivating 136–137

  internal conflict 97

  internalization 64, 100

  internal life 37

  International Churches of Christ 89

  interrogation 63, 73

  Iowa, TM community 15

  Ireland, Exclusive Brethren 22–24

  isolation 32, 63, 105; by helping professionals 127; systems of control and 7

  jargon 94, 100, 119

  jealousy 49

  Jeffs, Lyle 27n3, 123n1

  Jeffs, Warren 27n3, 123n1

  Jehovah’s Witnesses 72–73

  “Jesus babies” 20

  Jesus Movement 17, 20

  job skills/life skills 16, 111, 114

  Jones, Jim 51, 52

  Jonestown 51, 52

  Jung SuWon martial arts see also College of Learning (Jung SuWon)

  Keillor, Garrison 1, 28n12

  ki, chi (life energy) 25

  Kutz, Paddy 68

  Lake Wobegon Days (Keillor) 28n12

  language, loading 94, 100, 119

  Law of Love (The Family) 20, 21, 75

  leaders/leadership teams 6, 31, 39

  Lifton, Robert Jay 93, 126

  liking 87

  The Living Word 67, 73

  loading the language 94, 100, 119

  London, Exclusive Brethren 23

  love relationships 6–7, 45

  loyalty to leader 51, 100; defense of leader 52; families defer to 68

  madly-in-love feelings 6

  Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (Mahesh Prasad Varma) 14, 15, 48, 54

  Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment (Transcendental Meditation) 15–16

  “malignant narcissists” 52

  Manson Family 52

  Mao Zedong 93, 103n7

  marriage 56; after escape from cult 113, 116; arranged, for young girls 13, 21–22; divorce 69; Fundamentalist Mormons 11–12

  martial arts cults 4, 25–27, 65 see also College of Learning (Jung SuWon martial arts)

  Marxist political cult 3, 4

  McGowan, Rose 1, 9n1, 28n10

  media approaches 2, 3

  medical issues 16, 17, 46, 128; corporal punishment for 19, 21, 33, 35; disability 19–20; heart rates 68; prayer-or meditation-based healthcare 18, 29, 35; as satanic 21, 33, 35, 38, 79

  meditation 14–15, 27–28n7 see also Transcendental Meditation (TM)

  mental health 13, 19; dissociation 37; Fundamentalist Mormons 13, 89–90; Transcendental Meditation 15, 105

  Mental Health America 68

  Mexico, Mormons in 27n2

  middle management 54

  milieu control 93

  “Mo Letters” (Berg) 65

  moral imperative 40n6

  Mormons see Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS); Fundamentalist Mormons (Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, FLDS)

  Morningland 48–49

  mother-child bond 47

  multinational groups: Children of God 20–22; Exclusive Brethren 22–24

  murder 51

  mystical manipulation 93

  names/nicknames 100, 116

  narcissism 51–54

  Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) 52

  Nazi Germany 52

  neglect 10, 47; children of cult leaders 48–50

  never-ending cycle 40

  New Age cults 3, 27, 54, 105; Brotherhood of the Spirit/Renaissance Community 45, 53

  New Early Christian Church 130, 138

  new religious movement (NRM) 4, 24

  New York, Twelve Tribes see Twelve Tribes

  North Korea 52

  nutrition, inadequate 27n3, 63, 77; eating disorders as result of 96

  obligation, sense of 32

  “Open Heart Reports” (OHR) 95

  open-mindedness 139

  outsiders 6, 9n9; as corrective 90–91; within cult 38; escapees as 114; kindness of 109–110; restrictions on social life with 71–73, 100; as worldly evil influences 23, 24, 26, 32, 39, 72, 114, 138

  outside world see escape from cults

  pain, emotional 68

  parents 59–60n21; bonding not permitted with 10, 19, 21, 25, 34–35, 34–35n10, 46, 55–56, 68; children of cult leaders 48–50; devotion to cult rather than children 32, 68; former cult members as 136; healthy 104–105; idolization of as requirement 50; neglect by 26, 95–96, 108 see also family life

  past lives, belief in 45

  patience with self 125, 136–137

  peer involvement not allowed 77

  peer pressure 7–8, 84, 88–89, 91

  Pentecostal churches 36

  perfection 16, 38, 52; corporal punishment and 19; expected of children 29–30, 35

  Perry, Bruce 68

  personal bill of rights 140–141

  personal closure 93

  philosophically-based cults 4, 54–55; Aesthetic Realism 35–36

  Phoenix, River 1, 9n1, 28n10

  plural marriage (Celestial Marriage) 12

  police departments, cult 123

  political cults 3, 4, 44, 92; leaving 105

  polygamist families 11–13, 30

  post-traumatic growth 127

  Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) 112, 127–128, 132

  pregnancies 13

  Presley, Lisa Marie 1, 9n1

  prisoners of war, American 93

  privacy, learning about after escape 110

  protean self 126

  protection, need for 46–47

  psychoeducation 134–135

  psychological development 37, 50, 68, 71, 72, 126

  public self-reporting rituals 89

  purity, demand for 93–94 see also dedication/devotion

  purpose, higher 6, 38

  raids on cults 68, 75

  “Rank & Yank” performance review 63

  rapture 9n2

  Raven/Taylor/Hales group (Exclusive Brethren) 23

  rebellion 7
8–80, 138–139

  rebuke 51, 88, 89

  reciprocity 87

  reincarnation 14, 15

  relational psychotherapy 127

  religions 4–5

  Remini, Leah 1, 9n1

  repetitive activities 63

  reporting of self and others 80, 88, 89, 93–94, 100

  resilience 8, 37, 55, 123; emotions 129–130, 135–136; integration and 132–136; stages of healing 132–134; trauma and 126–128

  Resilience: The Science of Mastering Life’s Greatest Challenges (Southwick and Charney) 127

  resistance 19, 55; literature and art 90; turned against people 78

  resocialization 64, 96

  resources: print and multi-media 147–152; recovery 157; treatment center 157; websites and online resources 153–156

  return to cults 18, 19, 22

  “right” ideas, approaches, and people 6, 30–31, 38, 47

  Rodriguez, Ricky 112, 124n6

  Romney, Gaskell 27n2

  Romney, George 27n2

  Romney, Miles Park 27n2

  Romney, Mitt 27n2

  Rosen, Shelley 60n30, 78, 127, 134–135

  Russia, Stalinist 52

  Ryder, Winona 1, 9n1

  sacred science 94

  Safe Passages 22

  Sanctified Brethren 28n12

  scarcity 87

  schisms in cults 23

  school counselors 131, 135–136

  Scientology 47–48, 64, 130–131, 142n20; escape from 137, 138; systems of influence 88–89

  secrecy 71, 118, 122

  self: core self 95; protean 126; as socially constructed 85

  self-and other-policing 7–8

  self-communication 93

  self-condemning behaviors 33

  self-criticism 40n6, 88, 89

  self-deception 96–97

  self-denial 43, 84, 92

  self-esteem 114

  self-exposure 94

  “Separation from Evil” 23

  Seventh Day Adventists 86

  sexual abuse of children 53; Children of God 20, 21, 22, 46, 124n6; Fundamentalist Mormons 13

  shame about past 106, 114–115, 125, 126

  shaming 70, 80, 114–115

  Shaw, Daniel 52

  Short Creek 123n1

  Siegel, Eli 54

  silence restriction 67, 75–76

  “Silence Restriction” signs 67

  Singer, Margaret 63

  Smart, Elizabeth 13–14

  Smith, Joseph 12, 43

  social and cultural life, control of 63

  social proof 87

  social-psychological influence techniques 93–95

  Southeast Asia, Children of God 20–22

  Southern Baptist churches 92

  Southwick, Steven 127

  “spiritual but not religious” cults 4

  Starting Out in Mainstream America (Bardin) 121

  Stein, Alexandra 46–47

  stigma about cults 106, 107, 108, 109, 115–116; damaging to former members 127

  stress response 78

  suicide, mass 9n4, 15, 51

  suicide attempts/suicides 19, 21–22, 105, 131; after escape 105, 112–113

  support needs 1–2, 105

  support organizations 106; HOPE Organization 13; online groups 27, 117, 119; Safe Passages 22

  surveillance 100, 101, 122; reporting of others 80, 88, 89

  surviving and thriving 125–42; advice from narrators 125; helping professionals and 127–128; impediments to healing 128–132; personal bill of rights 140–141; resilience and integration 132–136 see also coping mechanisms for survival; escape from cults

  systems of control 5, 7, 23, 31, 43, 61–82; avoidance of scrutiny 2; coping mechanisms for surviving 78–79; daily rules 73–78; defined 62–63; escape from cult and 106; evaluating in your own life 79; family-damaging 70–71; family life, restrictions on 68–71; four areas 63–64; healthy 80; indoctrination, mind-numbing 64–68; influence methods that support behavioral control system 158–59; social life, restrictions on 71–73; Transcendental Meditation 15; unique features 63–78; women’s reproduction 10–11

  systems of influence 5, 7–8, 31, 63, 83–103; bounded choice 84–85; coping mechanisms for surviving 98–99; criticism, perfectionism, and constant monitoring 88–92; defined 84–85; entrapment by 93–96; evaluating in your own life 99–101; healthy 86–87, 99, 101–103; how followers learn to entrap themselves 96–97; influence tactics 87; social-psychological influence techniques 93–95; unique features 85–88

  Taylor, Jim 41

  terrorist groups 9n9

  therapy 139; group 128–129; helping professionals 127–128

  threats 34; of expulsion 15, 16, 53, 57, 77–78, 80

  Tolle, Eckhart 123

  “total institutions” 63

  Tradition, Family, and Property 138

  Transcendental Meditation (TM) 4, 14–16, 29, 32, 41, 46, 48, 56; escape from 122–123; escape from group 105, 107; social restrictions 72, 77–78

  transcendent belief system 5, 6, 29–40, 45, 94; capturing and retaining followers 33–37; coping mechanisms for survival 37–38; defined 30–31; evaluating in your own life 38–39; healthy 39–40; internalization of 33; narcissism and 52; perfection required 30, 32; systems of influence and 100; unique features 31–33

  trauma 68; resilience and 126–128

  trauma psychologists 117–118

  “traumatizing narcissists” 52, 53

  trust 113

  Truth 32

  Turkey, Family compound 69–70

  Turner, Bishop Nelson 51, 53–54

  Twelve Tribes 16–20, 29–30, 35, 42, 46, 56, 65–66, 128; child labor 76; corporal punishment 74; escape from 106, 108, 110, 111, 113, 115–116, 119, 120–121, 122; families, limits on 68–69; social restrictions 71–72; support networks 119; system of influence 88

  Under the Banner of Heaven (Krakauer) 134

  unhealthy relationships 6–7, 45, 79–80

  urgency, sense of 52

  us-versus-them polarization 6

  Utah 12

  utopias 3, 8, 42, 136

  Vermont, martial arts cult 25

  Vietnam War 17

  Weber, Max 42–44

  welfare 12, 27n3

  West, Louis 63

  wisdom 126

  women: in Exclusive Brethren 23; mental health 13

  women’s reproduction 10–11, 11–12, 23, 76

  Woodstock Festival 17, 88

  Word of Life Fellowship 44, 74–75

  working conditions 80

  Worldwide Church of God 78, 91–92

  Zablocki, Benjamin 96–97

  Zerby, Karen 124n6

 

 

 


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