52 International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 8, 2017
and ultimately leading him to denounce his
membership with the group.
141F
142
When a deprogramming is successful, the story
ends. The former member goes back to life
before the group and occasionally to some
continued counseling. However, when the
member resists the deprogramming, he has legal
recourse for being forcibly abducted and
detained against his will.
142F
143 For example, in
Scott v. Ross, infamous deprogrammers Rick
Ross and the Cult Awareness Network were
successfully sued for conspiring to deprive the
deprogrammee of his civil rights for four million
dollars in punitive damages.
143F
144 With such large
damages at stake, cases such as Scott v. Ross
resulted in a large chilling effect on the practice
of removing group members using
deprogramming.
Given the First Amendment issues of
conservatorships and the civil liability of
deprogramming, the last practical option the
family is left with is exit counseling. Exit
counseling is a noncoercive intervention model
that relies solely on the voluntariness of the cult
member.
144F
145 The purpose of exit counseling is to
get the member to reevaluate his membership by
educating him about the particular group, the
manipulative techniques the group uses, and the
142 Id. at 245.
143 See generally Wanda Ellen Wakefield, Civil
Liability for “Deprogramming” Member of Religious
Sect, 11 A.L.R. Fed. 4th 228 (1982).
144 Scott v. Ross, 140 F.3d 1275, 1279–80 (9th Cir.
1998). In this case, Scott was abducted and held
captive for 5 days. Scott feigned acceptance to Ross’s
position and later escaped and filed suit against Ross.
Id. at 1279. Interestingly, Scott later denounced his
membership with the group and employed Ross to
help him adjust to life outside of the group.
145 See Kent &Szimhart, supra note 16, at 261. Exit
counseling typically takes three shapes: (a) the
targeted member agrees to talk openly with the exit
counselor or family (b) exit counselors arrange
surprise meetings where the targeted member meets
the counselor in a public setting (c) a formal
intervention similar to drug counseling occurs if the
member agrees to meet with the family.
thought-reform process.
145F
146 Exit counseling also
provides psychological and emotional support
during the member’s difficult transition out of
the group.
146F
147 Although this model proves to be
very effective in terms of denouncing
membership, the member must voluntarily leave
the group or be involuntarily cast out of it to
trigger exit counseling. Thus, as long as the
member stays faithful to the group and is in
good standing, family members have no
recourse.
With the problems of each existing model
considered, in this paper I seek to propose a new
model, called exit intervention. Exit intervention
not only strengthens exit counseling, but also
avoids impinging on a group member’s civil
liberties or constitutional rights. This model
allows the court to grant the family of the cult
member a 1-month “access period,” for 2 hours
per week, to convince the member to denounce
his membership with the group. Like exit
counseling and deprogramming, exit
intervention seeks to reignite the member’s
critical-thinking ability by educating him about
the thought-reform process and the manipulation
cults often employ.
The Proposed Model
Exit intervention begins with a court hearing at
which the parents present evidence of the harm
their loved one faces by remaining in the group.
If the court determines the member is in danger,
it can grant the family 8 hours over a 4-week
period to have weekly meetings with the
member in a public setting. If after this time the
cult member decides to stay in the group, his
parents have a heavy burden to convince the
court that a traditional conservatorship is
necessary.
146 Id. at 261–62 see also MARGARET THALER
SINGER &JANJA LALICH, CULTS IN OUR MIDST 286–
87 (1995).
147 For a discussion on many of the problems former
members face when they leave a cultic group, see
Patrick Ryan, Post-Cult Problems: An Exit
Counselor’s Perspective, INT’L CULTIC STUDIES
ASS’N, http://www.csj.org/pub_affnews/
affnews12.html (last visited Apr. 14, 2016).
and ultimately leading him to denounce his
membership with the group.
141F
142
When a deprogramming is successful, the story
ends. The former member goes back to life
before the group and occasionally to some
continued counseling. However, when the
member resists the deprogramming, he has legal
recourse for being forcibly abducted and
detained against his will.
142F
143 For example, in
Scott v. Ross, infamous deprogrammers Rick
Ross and the Cult Awareness Network were
successfully sued for conspiring to deprive the
deprogrammee of his civil rights for four million
dollars in punitive damages.
143F
144 With such large
damages at stake, cases such as Scott v. Ross
resulted in a large chilling effect on the practice
of removing group members using
deprogramming.
Given the First Amendment issues of
conservatorships and the civil liability of
deprogramming, the last practical option the
family is left with is exit counseling. Exit
counseling is a noncoercive intervention model
that relies solely on the voluntariness of the cult
member.
144F
145 The purpose of exit counseling is to
get the member to reevaluate his membership by
educating him about the particular group, the
manipulative techniques the group uses, and the
142 Id. at 245.
143 See generally Wanda Ellen Wakefield, Civil
Liability for “Deprogramming” Member of Religious
Sect, 11 A.L.R. Fed. 4th 228 (1982).
144 Scott v. Ross, 140 F.3d 1275, 1279–80 (9th Cir.
1998). In this case, Scott was abducted and held
captive for 5 days. Scott feigned acceptance to Ross’s
position and later escaped and filed suit against Ross.
Id. at 1279. Interestingly, Scott later denounced his
membership with the group and employed Ross to
help him adjust to life outside of the group.
145 See Kent &Szimhart, supra note 16, at 261. Exit
counseling typically takes three shapes: (a) the
targeted member agrees to talk openly with the exit
counselor or family (b) exit counselors arrange
surprise meetings where the targeted member meets
the counselor in a public setting (c) a formal
intervention similar to drug counseling occurs if the
member agrees to meet with the family.
thought-reform process.
145F
146 Exit counseling also
provides psychological and emotional support
during the member’s difficult transition out of
the group.
146F
147 Although this model proves to be
very effective in terms of denouncing
membership, the member must voluntarily leave
the group or be involuntarily cast out of it to
trigger exit counseling. Thus, as long as the
member stays faithful to the group and is in
good standing, family members have no
recourse.
With the problems of each existing model
considered, in this paper I seek to propose a new
model, called exit intervention. Exit intervention
not only strengthens exit counseling, but also
avoids impinging on a group member’s civil
liberties or constitutional rights. This model
allows the court to grant the family of the cult
member a 1-month “access period,” for 2 hours
per week, to convince the member to denounce
his membership with the group. Like exit
counseling and deprogramming, exit
intervention seeks to reignite the member’s
critical-thinking ability by educating him about
the thought-reform process and the manipulation
cults often employ.
The Proposed Model
Exit intervention begins with a court hearing at
which the parents present evidence of the harm
their loved one faces by remaining in the group.
If the court determines the member is in danger,
it can grant the family 8 hours over a 4-week
period to have weekly meetings with the
member in a public setting. If after this time the
cult member decides to stay in the group, his
parents have a heavy burden to convince the
court that a traditional conservatorship is
necessary.
146 Id. at 261–62 see also MARGARET THALER
SINGER &JANJA LALICH, CULTS IN OUR MIDST 286–
87 (1995).
147 For a discussion on many of the problems former
members face when they leave a cultic group, see
Patrick Ryan, Post-Cult Problems: An Exit
Counselor’s Perspective, INT’L CULTIC STUDIES
ASS’N, http://www.csj.org/pub_affnews/
affnews12.html (last visited Apr. 14, 2016).
