2 International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 9, 2018
committing “Helter Skelter,” a cold-blooded
killing spree.
4F
5 Cult activity continued to exist,
out of sight and unobserved, until culminating in
tragedy when it would, again, become the topic
of a news story. Even when cults did not achieve
“front-page” status in the news, they continued
to recruit adults and raise children born into the
group.
Because cults are undocumented and are not
calculated by the U.S. census, it is difficult to
estimate how many are in the United States
today.
5F
6 Estimates range from 2,500 to 8,000
cults with membership ranging from a few
individuals to tens of thousands in any given
cult.
6F
7 According to the International Cultic
Studies Association (“ICSA”), an organization
that monitors cults and provides education and
counseling, approximately 2,500,000 Americans
have joined cultic groups since the 1970s.
7F
8
Some cults are benign, others destructive cults
may change over time, sometimes from benign
to destructive, sometimes vice versa.
8F
9 Benign
5 Id. at 129.
6 See generally Michael D. Langone, Ph.D., Prevalence, INT’L
CULTIC STUD. ASS’N, http://www.icsahome.com/articles/
prevalence (last visited May 10, 2016) (“an unknown, but not
insignificant, number of people have been born and raised in cultic
groups”).
7 Susan Landa, Children and Cults: A Practical Guide, 29 J. FAM.
L. 591, 591 n.1 (1991).
8 See Herbert L. Rosedale& Michael D. Langone, On Using the
Term “Cult,” INT’L CULTIC STUD. ASS’N,
http://www.icsahome.com/articles/onusingtermcult (last visited
May 10, 2016) Langone, supra note 4 (reporting 3% of San
Francisco Bay area high school students being members of cults
(1985) and 1.5%−3% of high school students in two Boston
suburbs (1984). ICSA’s website describes the organization,
founded in 1979, as “a global network of people concerned about
psychological manipulation and abuse in cultic or high-demand
groups, alternative movements, and other environments.” INT’L
CULTIC STUD. ASS’N, http://www.icsahome.com/aboutus (last
visited May 10, 2016). ICSA provides guidance, counseling, and
support to former cultic members and their families. Id. Through
extensive programming at workshops and conferences held around
the world annually, it provides education in fora where researchers,
lawyers, doctors, counselors, academics, former cult members, and
families come together to educate themselves and the public about
cults and healing.
9 See Landa, supra note 5, at 591. See generally INT’L CULTIC
STUD. ASS’N, http://www.icsahome.com/elibrary/studyguides/
research (last visited May 10, 2016) (Harm to cult members is real
and not merely a subjective judgment.) Michael D. Langone,
Academic Disputes and Dialogue Collection: Preface. ICSA E-
NEWSLETTER, 4(3) (2005) Jodi Aronoff McKibben et al., Are
cults appear not to inflict physical or emotional
trauma to their members.
9F
10 In contrast,
destructive cults do harm their members and are
characterized by exploitative, manipulative, and
controlling interpersonal dynamics.
10F
11
Destructive cults are the focus of this paper.
Cults continue to evade our justice system here
in the United States and abroad. This paper
seeks to offer a fresh legal framework which, I
posit, could aid in the capture and prosecution of
cult leaders. In Part I, I describe how cults
function. In Subpart (A), I describe a young
girl’s (Elissa Wall) tragic marriage into a
lifetime, and expected eternity, with a relative
whom she initially resisted. In Subpart (B), I
explain the four processes of control employed
by cults, which involve the mind, behavior,
emotion and information. In Subpart (C), cults
are categorized as religious, political, terrorist,
psychotherapy, and commercial. The U.S. legal
system’s inability to provide sufficient remedies
to those harmed by cult activity is set forth in
Subpart (D). In Part II, international and
American efforts to prevent and combat
trafficking are presented. In Part III, I posit that
law enforcement and the international
community use anti-trafficking laws and
resources to capture cult leaders, prosecute them
for the harm that they inflict on their adherents,
and provide services to former cult members. In
this way, the religious or political dogma of
cults—often an obstacle to holding them
accountable for their criminal behavior—is no
longer a barrier to prosecution.
Cultic Environments Psychologically Harmful?, CULTIC STUD.
REV., 1(3) (2002) Carmen Almendros et al., Assessment of
Psychological Abuse in Manipulative Groups, 2 INT’L J. CULTIC
STUD. 61−76 (2011) Seth M. Asser &Rita Swan, Child Fatalities
from Religion-Motivated Neglect, 17 CULTIC STUD. J. 1−14
(2000) Carmen Almendros et al., Former Members’ Perceptions
of Cult Involvement 6 CULTIC STUD. REV. 1−20 (2007) Stephen A.
Kent, House of Judah, the Northeast Kingdom Community, and the
Jonestown Problem: Downplaying Child Physical Abuses and
Ignoring Serious Evidence 1 INT’L J. CULTIC STUD. 27−48 (2010)
Carmen Almendros et al., Reasons for Leaving: Psychological
Abuse and Distress Reported by Former Members of Cultic
Groups 8 CULTIC STUD. REV. 111−38 (2009).
10 Landa, supra note 5, at 591.
11 See generally id.
committing “Helter Skelter,” a cold-blooded
killing spree.
4F
5 Cult activity continued to exist,
out of sight and unobserved, until culminating in
tragedy when it would, again, become the topic
of a news story. Even when cults did not achieve
“front-page” status in the news, they continued
to recruit adults and raise children born into the
group.
Because cults are undocumented and are not
calculated by the U.S. census, it is difficult to
estimate how many are in the United States
today.
5F
6 Estimates range from 2,500 to 8,000
cults with membership ranging from a few
individuals to tens of thousands in any given
cult.
6F
7 According to the International Cultic
Studies Association (“ICSA”), an organization
that monitors cults and provides education and
counseling, approximately 2,500,000 Americans
have joined cultic groups since the 1970s.
7F
8
Some cults are benign, others destructive cults
may change over time, sometimes from benign
to destructive, sometimes vice versa.
8F
9 Benign
5 Id. at 129.
6 See generally Michael D. Langone, Ph.D., Prevalence, INT’L
CULTIC STUD. ASS’N, http://www.icsahome.com/articles/
prevalence (last visited May 10, 2016) (“an unknown, but not
insignificant, number of people have been born and raised in cultic
groups”).
7 Susan Landa, Children and Cults: A Practical Guide, 29 J. FAM.
L. 591, 591 n.1 (1991).
8 See Herbert L. Rosedale& Michael D. Langone, On Using the
Term “Cult,” INT’L CULTIC STUD. ASS’N,
http://www.icsahome.com/articles/onusingtermcult (last visited
May 10, 2016) Langone, supra note 4 (reporting 3% of San
Francisco Bay area high school students being members of cults
(1985) and 1.5%−3% of high school students in two Boston
suburbs (1984). ICSA’s website describes the organization,
founded in 1979, as “a global network of people concerned about
psychological manipulation and abuse in cultic or high-demand
groups, alternative movements, and other environments.” INT’L
CULTIC STUD. ASS’N, http://www.icsahome.com/aboutus (last
visited May 10, 2016). ICSA provides guidance, counseling, and
support to former cultic members and their families. Id. Through
extensive programming at workshops and conferences held around
the world annually, it provides education in fora where researchers,
lawyers, doctors, counselors, academics, former cult members, and
families come together to educate themselves and the public about
cults and healing.
9 See Landa, supra note 5, at 591. See generally INT’L CULTIC
STUD. ASS’N, http://www.icsahome.com/elibrary/studyguides/
research (last visited May 10, 2016) (Harm to cult members is real
and not merely a subjective judgment.) Michael D. Langone,
Academic Disputes and Dialogue Collection: Preface. ICSA E-
NEWSLETTER, 4(3) (2005) Jodi Aronoff McKibben et al., Are
cults appear not to inflict physical or emotional
trauma to their members.
9F
10 In contrast,
destructive cults do harm their members and are
characterized by exploitative, manipulative, and
controlling interpersonal dynamics.
10F
11
Destructive cults are the focus of this paper.
Cults continue to evade our justice system here
in the United States and abroad. This paper
seeks to offer a fresh legal framework which, I
posit, could aid in the capture and prosecution of
cult leaders. In Part I, I describe how cults
function. In Subpart (A), I describe a young
girl’s (Elissa Wall) tragic marriage into a
lifetime, and expected eternity, with a relative
whom she initially resisted. In Subpart (B), I
explain the four processes of control employed
by cults, which involve the mind, behavior,
emotion and information. In Subpart (C), cults
are categorized as religious, political, terrorist,
psychotherapy, and commercial. The U.S. legal
system’s inability to provide sufficient remedies
to those harmed by cult activity is set forth in
Subpart (D). In Part II, international and
American efforts to prevent and combat
trafficking are presented. In Part III, I posit that
law enforcement and the international
community use anti-trafficking laws and
resources to capture cult leaders, prosecute them
for the harm that they inflict on their adherents,
and provide services to former cult members. In
this way, the religious or political dogma of
cults—often an obstacle to holding them
accountable for their criminal behavior—is no
longer a barrier to prosecution.
Cultic Environments Psychologically Harmful?, CULTIC STUD.
REV., 1(3) (2002) Carmen Almendros et al., Assessment of
Psychological Abuse in Manipulative Groups, 2 INT’L J. CULTIC
STUD. 61−76 (2011) Seth M. Asser &Rita Swan, Child Fatalities
from Religion-Motivated Neglect, 17 CULTIC STUD. J. 1−14
(2000) Carmen Almendros et al., Former Members’ Perceptions
of Cult Involvement 6 CULTIC STUD. REV. 1−20 (2007) Stephen A.
Kent, House of Judah, the Northeast Kingdom Community, and the
Jonestown Problem: Downplaying Child Physical Abuses and
Ignoring Serious Evidence 1 INT’L J. CULTIC STUD. 27−48 (2010)
Carmen Almendros et al., Reasons for Leaving: Psychological
Abuse and Distress Reported by Former Members of Cultic
Groups 8 CULTIC STUD. REV. 111−38 (2009).
10 Landa, supra note 5, at 591.
11 See generally id.
