12 International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 8, 2017
and those generally accepted in mainstream New
Zealand society.
Some narratives alluded to the idea of
brainwashing at Centrepoint. Several
participants described how they felt their view of
the world had been skewed by the ideas they
were exposed to at the community using words
such as manipulation, indoctrination, or
propaganda to describe their experience. One
participant explained how she had only become
aware of how profoundly she had been
influenced by Centrepoint’s ideas sometime
after she had left the community:
But it wasn’t until, probably, that I had
kids, that I realised the extent of the
brainwashing ...I think when you grow
up there you learn stuff you just take as
face value and you think that’s how
everybody’s lived, and it’s not until you
get out into the real world and you think,
“Oh my God, this is not what everybody
else does.”
Some narratives described a slow process in
which participants had realised that what they
had been taught to believe at Centrepoint was
not necessarily so. One participant spoke about
her growing awareness of the way in which she
had been taught to view the world:
I knew some things were wrong and I
didn’t agree with them, but it was the
things I didn’t question that were kind of
in there, about relationships and people
being happy and all that and I guess it
just took me time to figure out that it
could be different.
In some cases, participants reflected some
uncertainty about where they stood in relation to
the beliefs of Centrepoint. One participant seems
to acknowledge her somewhat mixed feelings
about whether or not Centrepoint was a good
place to grow up:
When I was younger I would’ve said,
“Oh, I’m really glad I lived there,” but
now I’d say “I wished I’d had a normal
family” ...as we sort of lose touch with
it. ...But you still feel, like when you
go back, you feel very fond of it, yeah.
Accounts also expressed some difficulty in
making sense of the combination of good
memories of Centrepoint and an awareness of
some of the abuses:
Which is something you can’t really get
away from. Even though my memories
were fine it’s just knowing what actually
happened there, it’s difficult.
In some cases, participant’s accounts also
reflected doubtfulness about the validity of
participants’ perceptions and opinions about
Centrepoint. Participants often prefaced their
claims with caveats such as “I’m a bit hazy on
the details,” or “I can’t be sure.” One participant
explicitly said that she sometimes felt confused
when talking about Centrepoint because there
were so many different views that she found
herself becoming less certain of her own
opinion. Although she knew what had happened
to her and others there, she explained that she
sometimes felt that she was “making it up.”
But not all narratives adopted this cautious tone.
Some participants seemed to respond to the
possibility of doubt with a strident defence of
the community. One participant explained how
she refused to engage with what she saw as
misguided and biased representations of
Centrepoint:
Yeah, just because I can’t be bothered
dealing with the shit that people spin
about the place. And they only see the
bad stuff, they think of it as a big,
everyone thinks it’s a cult, and a place
where you know, people actually say,
“Were you, did you get raped?” and
stuff. And it’s like, you know, people
are kind of so far from the reality of it.
Participants’ narratives described, and also at
times reflected, a process of adjusting to a
different reality on leaving Centrepoint and
rejoining the outside world. When they were at
Centrepoint, they had accepted its practices as
normal, but having left it they struggled to
reconcile these beliefs with those outside. Some
narratives spoke of brainwashing while others
reflected more ambivalence about the values of
Centrepoint versus those of the broader society.
In general, participants accounts reflected
and those generally accepted in mainstream New
Zealand society.
Some narratives alluded to the idea of
brainwashing at Centrepoint. Several
participants described how they felt their view of
the world had been skewed by the ideas they
were exposed to at the community using words
such as manipulation, indoctrination, or
propaganda to describe their experience. One
participant explained how she had only become
aware of how profoundly she had been
influenced by Centrepoint’s ideas sometime
after she had left the community:
But it wasn’t until, probably, that I had
kids, that I realised the extent of the
brainwashing ...I think when you grow
up there you learn stuff you just take as
face value and you think that’s how
everybody’s lived, and it’s not until you
get out into the real world and you think,
“Oh my God, this is not what everybody
else does.”
Some narratives described a slow process in
which participants had realised that what they
had been taught to believe at Centrepoint was
not necessarily so. One participant spoke about
her growing awareness of the way in which she
had been taught to view the world:
I knew some things were wrong and I
didn’t agree with them, but it was the
things I didn’t question that were kind of
in there, about relationships and people
being happy and all that and I guess it
just took me time to figure out that it
could be different.
In some cases, participants reflected some
uncertainty about where they stood in relation to
the beliefs of Centrepoint. One participant seems
to acknowledge her somewhat mixed feelings
about whether or not Centrepoint was a good
place to grow up:
When I was younger I would’ve said,
“Oh, I’m really glad I lived there,” but
now I’d say “I wished I’d had a normal
family” ...as we sort of lose touch with
it. ...But you still feel, like when you
go back, you feel very fond of it, yeah.
Accounts also expressed some difficulty in
making sense of the combination of good
memories of Centrepoint and an awareness of
some of the abuses:
Which is something you can’t really get
away from. Even though my memories
were fine it’s just knowing what actually
happened there, it’s difficult.
In some cases, participant’s accounts also
reflected doubtfulness about the validity of
participants’ perceptions and opinions about
Centrepoint. Participants often prefaced their
claims with caveats such as “I’m a bit hazy on
the details,” or “I can’t be sure.” One participant
explicitly said that she sometimes felt confused
when talking about Centrepoint because there
were so many different views that she found
herself becoming less certain of her own
opinion. Although she knew what had happened
to her and others there, she explained that she
sometimes felt that she was “making it up.”
But not all narratives adopted this cautious tone.
Some participants seemed to respond to the
possibility of doubt with a strident defence of
the community. One participant explained how
she refused to engage with what she saw as
misguided and biased representations of
Centrepoint:
Yeah, just because I can’t be bothered
dealing with the shit that people spin
about the place. And they only see the
bad stuff, they think of it as a big,
everyone thinks it’s a cult, and a place
where you know, people actually say,
“Were you, did you get raped?” and
stuff. And it’s like, you know, people
are kind of so far from the reality of it.
Participants’ narratives described, and also at
times reflected, a process of adjusting to a
different reality on leaving Centrepoint and
rejoining the outside world. When they were at
Centrepoint, they had accepted its practices as
normal, but having left it they struggled to
reconcile these beliefs with those outside. Some
narratives spoke of brainwashing while others
reflected more ambivalence about the values of
Centrepoint versus those of the broader society.
In general, participants accounts reflected
