International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 3, 2012 15
Influence of a Charismatic Antisocial Cult Leader: Psychotherapy With an
Ex-Cultist Prosecuted for Criminal Behavior
Lorna Goldberg
Dean of Faculty, Institute for Psychoanalytic Studies
Abstract1
The author describes therapy with a former cult
member who engaged in and was convicted of a
criminal act she performed while in the cult.
When the author examined her client’s behavior
both before and after her cult experience, she
noted that the client’s cult antisocial behavior
was contrary to her precult and postcult moral
code. The author focuses on the processes over
time that influenced this woman’s beliefs to
change dramatically and theorizes that this
example of antisocial behavior was the result of
the group’s influence, which created the
conditions for her client to begin to defensively
identify with her idealized cult leader’s version
of morality. The author thereby demonstrates
that it is inadequate to rely on the diagnosis of
antisocial personality for those who engaged in
antisocial acts while in a cult.
Introduction
This paper describes an aspect of my clinical
work with a woman convicted of a criminal act
while she was a member of a cult. Her values
and ideals were changed during her cult
affiliation. Both before and while she was in the
cult, she displayed a strict and rigid conscience,
and an ego ideal of perfection that was
dependent upon her compulsion throughout her
life to please authority figures. Whereas this
young woman did not appear to display a
conscience with antisocial features before her
group involvement, she revealed an array of
antisocial behaviors while she was in the cult. I
theorize that this personality change was the
result of her defensive identification with her
idealized cult leader’s moral code, an adaptation
1 The author wishes to thank William Goldberg, LCSW, for his
valuable suggestions, encouragement, and support.
that occurred following a prolonged period of
stress that she experienced. To better explain
this process, I will discuss the following: (a) the
charismatic cult leader’s appeal and
manipulation (b) the manner in which the cult
leader interacted with my client’s unique
character features to transform her moral code
and (c) the confluence of individual
vulnerabilities and all-encompassing ideologies
The Charismatic Cult Leader’s Appeal
and Manipulation
Weber (1965) described charisma as “a certain
quality of an individual personality by virtue of
which he is set apart from ordinary men and
treated as endowed with supernatural,
superhuman, or at least specifically exceptional
qualities” (p. 49). The charismatic leader draws
followers into the charismatic sphere of
influence and depends on this influence. There
is something self-perpetuating about charisma.
Those who achieve a special position of power
can continue to rely on the authority granted to
them as a result of their privileged position.
Charisma implies a two-way relationship
between the leader and the followers, and this
relationship can be either authoritarian or
nonauthoritarian in style (Zablocki, 1980).
In attempting to gain insight into the powerful
relationship between the charismatic leader and
the group, Freud (1921) utilized his
understanding of the process of transference.
Freud described how the group begins to
experience the leader as a new father figure with
whom to identify. He theorized that through
identification with the leader, the followers’
superegos could be changed: Mutual
identification of all the followers, stemming
from idealization of the leader, contributes to the
freeing of the followers’ moral responsibility for
their actions, which they take at the behest of the
Influence of a Charismatic Antisocial Cult Leader: Psychotherapy With an
Ex-Cultist Prosecuted for Criminal Behavior
Lorna Goldberg
Dean of Faculty, Institute for Psychoanalytic Studies
Abstract1
The author describes therapy with a former cult
member who engaged in and was convicted of a
criminal act she performed while in the cult.
When the author examined her client’s behavior
both before and after her cult experience, she
noted that the client’s cult antisocial behavior
was contrary to her precult and postcult moral
code. The author focuses on the processes over
time that influenced this woman’s beliefs to
change dramatically and theorizes that this
example of antisocial behavior was the result of
the group’s influence, which created the
conditions for her client to begin to defensively
identify with her idealized cult leader’s version
of morality. The author thereby demonstrates
that it is inadequate to rely on the diagnosis of
antisocial personality for those who engaged in
antisocial acts while in a cult.
Introduction
This paper describes an aspect of my clinical
work with a woman convicted of a criminal act
while she was a member of a cult. Her values
and ideals were changed during her cult
affiliation. Both before and while she was in the
cult, she displayed a strict and rigid conscience,
and an ego ideal of perfection that was
dependent upon her compulsion throughout her
life to please authority figures. Whereas this
young woman did not appear to display a
conscience with antisocial features before her
group involvement, she revealed an array of
antisocial behaviors while she was in the cult. I
theorize that this personality change was the
result of her defensive identification with her
idealized cult leader’s moral code, an adaptation
1 The author wishes to thank William Goldberg, LCSW, for his
valuable suggestions, encouragement, and support.
that occurred following a prolonged period of
stress that she experienced. To better explain
this process, I will discuss the following: (a) the
charismatic cult leader’s appeal and
manipulation (b) the manner in which the cult
leader interacted with my client’s unique
character features to transform her moral code
and (c) the confluence of individual
vulnerabilities and all-encompassing ideologies
The Charismatic Cult Leader’s Appeal
and Manipulation
Weber (1965) described charisma as “a certain
quality of an individual personality by virtue of
which he is set apart from ordinary men and
treated as endowed with supernatural,
superhuman, or at least specifically exceptional
qualities” (p. 49). The charismatic leader draws
followers into the charismatic sphere of
influence and depends on this influence. There
is something self-perpetuating about charisma.
Those who achieve a special position of power
can continue to rely on the authority granted to
them as a result of their privileged position.
Charisma implies a two-way relationship
between the leader and the followers, and this
relationship can be either authoritarian or
nonauthoritarian in style (Zablocki, 1980).
In attempting to gain insight into the powerful
relationship between the charismatic leader and
the group, Freud (1921) utilized his
understanding of the process of transference.
Freud described how the group begins to
experience the leader as a new father figure with
whom to identify. He theorized that through
identification with the leader, the followers’
superegos could be changed: Mutual
identification of all the followers, stemming
from idealization of the leader, contributes to the
freeing of the followers’ moral responsibility for
their actions, which they take at the behest of the
