International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 8, 2017 79
Kingstons. Cook describes three major
ideological platforms that guide the
organization's policies and procedures:
communal living, polygamy, and intermarriage
(incest).
Comment. Thus the family unit is strengthened
and combined with religion and business
enterprise. Fundamentalist Christianity and
fundamentalist LDS are blended in the official
texts of the Kingston organization.
Within the organization’s hierarchical structure,
each female is assigned a number and must
please the male above her in rank (husband or
father). At the top is the Heavenly Father. Each
member of The Order (the elite) is encouraged
to become a perfect person who is devoted to
family and the organization, who accepts a life
of poverty, and whom the Heavenly Father will
reward with admission to Heaven—a familiar
scheme to make money, and to control and
exploit members.
Chapter 3. Theoretical Perspectives and
Positions
In this chapter, Cook argues for interdisciplinary
theory building, “a tentative framework through
which to view possible linkages and connections
between theories of uncoerced obedience in
rhetoric, sociology, psychology, organizational
communication, and organization science”
(p. 107).
Comment. In this chapter, I found Cook hard to
follow, redundant, and overgeneralized. As I
understand her as she uses five or six different
specialty languages (vernaculars), she addresses
the question, “How does a NRM (The Order)
function?” Cultic theorists and researchers may
be excited by these different, deductive
approaches. Other readers may prefer to skim.
Chapter 4. Methodology
To understand the rhetorical processes used by
the Kingston organization to instill
identification, Cook applied a retrospective
interview technique to 14 members and 14
former members. Participants’ replies were
recorded and transcribed. Cook and another rater
analyzed the transcripts along with relevant
organizational documents: “To analyze these
texts I employed three theoretical methods: ...
extended metaphor analysis classical
Aristotelian analysis and ...Burkean-inspired
analysis of identification strategies” (p. 108).
The author identifies interviewees by participant
numbers and uses samples from the transcripts
to illustrate findings. The appendices present a
variety of tables, including definitions of key
terms. She reports interrater reliability (Cohen’s
Kappa), but does not mention the qualifications
and training of the second rater.
Comment. These methods differ from my
experience with case studies used by
psychologists, sociologists, social workers, and
business specialists. Rather than collecting data
to build theory (inductive reasoning), Cook used
theories to analyze and interpret her findings
(deductive reasoning). She omitted sample
characteristics, and failed to account for the
possible effect of interviewer behavior or
characteristics. Bias?
Cook’s attempt to compare members with
former members is flawed by uncontrolled
variables such as the participants’ age, gender,
and experience with polygamy. Statistics are
limited to frequencies and percentages. On the
positive side, researchers may be challenged by
her work to experiment with deductive
qualitative approaches.
Chapter 5. “Kingdom of God”: The
Organization and Order
When Cook applied extended metaphor analysis
to the Kingston organization, she described it as
a “hybrid organization with three fully
integrated dimensions: normative (church),
utilitarian (business), and family” (p. 141). For
example, Figure 1, “Organizational Rhetoric (by
Or. Dimensions),” includes 19 citations about
spirituality, 15 concerning business, and 13
concerning family.
Cook supplemented her quantitative analysis
with theories, the voices of participants,
observations, interpretations, and scripture. She
noted her attempt to remain neutral in the
dispute between advocates of polygamy and the
Attorney General.
Kingstons. Cook describes three major
ideological platforms that guide the
organization's policies and procedures:
communal living, polygamy, and intermarriage
(incest).
Comment. Thus the family unit is strengthened
and combined with religion and business
enterprise. Fundamentalist Christianity and
fundamentalist LDS are blended in the official
texts of the Kingston organization.
Within the organization’s hierarchical structure,
each female is assigned a number and must
please the male above her in rank (husband or
father). At the top is the Heavenly Father. Each
member of The Order (the elite) is encouraged
to become a perfect person who is devoted to
family and the organization, who accepts a life
of poverty, and whom the Heavenly Father will
reward with admission to Heaven—a familiar
scheme to make money, and to control and
exploit members.
Chapter 3. Theoretical Perspectives and
Positions
In this chapter, Cook argues for interdisciplinary
theory building, “a tentative framework through
which to view possible linkages and connections
between theories of uncoerced obedience in
rhetoric, sociology, psychology, organizational
communication, and organization science”
(p. 107).
Comment. In this chapter, I found Cook hard to
follow, redundant, and overgeneralized. As I
understand her as she uses five or six different
specialty languages (vernaculars), she addresses
the question, “How does a NRM (The Order)
function?” Cultic theorists and researchers may
be excited by these different, deductive
approaches. Other readers may prefer to skim.
Chapter 4. Methodology
To understand the rhetorical processes used by
the Kingston organization to instill
identification, Cook applied a retrospective
interview technique to 14 members and 14
former members. Participants’ replies were
recorded and transcribed. Cook and another rater
analyzed the transcripts along with relevant
organizational documents: “To analyze these
texts I employed three theoretical methods: ...
extended metaphor analysis classical
Aristotelian analysis and ...Burkean-inspired
analysis of identification strategies” (p. 108).
The author identifies interviewees by participant
numbers and uses samples from the transcripts
to illustrate findings. The appendices present a
variety of tables, including definitions of key
terms. She reports interrater reliability (Cohen’s
Kappa), but does not mention the qualifications
and training of the second rater.
Comment. These methods differ from my
experience with case studies used by
psychologists, sociologists, social workers, and
business specialists. Rather than collecting data
to build theory (inductive reasoning), Cook used
theories to analyze and interpret her findings
(deductive reasoning). She omitted sample
characteristics, and failed to account for the
possible effect of interviewer behavior or
characteristics. Bias?
Cook’s attempt to compare members with
former members is flawed by uncontrolled
variables such as the participants’ age, gender,
and experience with polygamy. Statistics are
limited to frequencies and percentages. On the
positive side, researchers may be challenged by
her work to experiment with deductive
qualitative approaches.
Chapter 5. “Kingdom of God”: The
Organization and Order
When Cook applied extended metaphor analysis
to the Kingston organization, she described it as
a “hybrid organization with three fully
integrated dimensions: normative (church),
utilitarian (business), and family” (p. 141). For
example, Figure 1, “Organizational Rhetoric (by
Or. Dimensions),” includes 19 citations about
spirituality, 15 concerning business, and 13
concerning family.
Cook supplemented her quantitative analysis
with theories, the voices of participants,
observations, interpretations, and scripture. She
noted her attempt to remain neutral in the
dispute between advocates of polygamy and the
Attorney General.
