International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 3, 2012 23
loneliness, pain, anxieties, and uncertainties with
visions of grandeur, certainty, and righteousness.
Particularly at a time of crisis, it is common for
an individual under the “protective” and
reassuring influence of a leader to regress and
defend against the more unacceptable or
confusing emotions within oneself, and to
project those feelings onto the wider world.
Therefore, I believe that to view antisocial
behavior in cults simply as a victimized state
explained by a new identification does not give
the entire story: Cult leaders additionally push
and allow members to unleash powerful forces
and unconscious wishes that were present in
early childhood. According to Freud (1933), the
developing superego is the outgrowth of
identifications one has made with parental
figures to defend against and attempt to control
and resolve the sexual and aggressive emotions
of the Oedipal stage.6 Although the superego is
the successor of the parents and their attitudes,
the qualities and contents of the superego are
more related to the child’s own fantasy life—
e.g., his or her sexual and aggressive feelings
and fear of retaliation for those feelings. As
Freud (1921) pointed out,
For us it would be enough to say that in
a group the individual is brought under
conditions which allow him to throw off
the repressions of his unconscious
instinctual impulses. The apparently
new characteristics which he then
displays are in fact the manifestations of
this… (p. 74–75)
Freud adds,
In obedience to the new authority he
may put his former “conscience” out of
action, and so surrender to the attraction
of the increased pleasure that is certainly
obtained from the removal of
inhibitions. On the whole, therefore, it
is not so remarkable that we should see
an individual in a group doing or
approving things which he would have
avoided in the normal conditions of
life… (p. 85)
6 Klein (1933) elaborated on this by describing the sadism of the
pre-Oedipal superego.
Therefore, in the cult, aggressive and sexual
behaviors are unleashed, but they usually remain
expressed solely in accord with the leader’s
predilections and doctrines. Sometimes this
“permission” is not enough to totally encourage
those who are engaging in these practices to feel
comfortable when the behaviors are not in
accord with their own individual desires. For
example, although cult members understood the
expectation to comply with the cult leader’s
directives at the time, some have described how
they dissociated during sexual encounters with
the leaders and others. Furthermore, cult
members are manipulated to turn aggression
against the self or other “delegated” followers
rather than against the exploitive cult leader.
These tendencies often remain after their cult
departure. Former cultists often reveal a cult-
influenced, rigid (split, black and white) and
sadistic superego. Although for some, such as
Katie, this harsh conscience exists to some
degree prior to their cult involvement, the cult
experience greatly intensifies these pre-Oedipal
features and leaves former cult members with
powerful feelings of shame and guilt that they
might not express initially in therapy. These
feelings, in part, stem from the cult leader’s
attitudes as well as from actions the members
have taken in the cult.
In therapy, although the therapist needs to
consider with a client how the therapist’s actions
might have initiated the client’s feelings toward
the therapist, it also is crucial for the therapist to
address the client’s harsh superego as it is
enacted in transference and countertransference
reactions that emerge with the therapist and with
others. Many former cultists have lost sight of
the need for compassion for others, and for
themselves. The therapist most likely will be
pulled into a reenactment of the sadomasochistic
cult relationship and, subsequently, will need to
initiate the investigation of those powerful
impulses just experienced. With all of this, the
therapist is operating from the underlying
framework of treating former cult members with
respect, decency, and compassion. This
approach allows both the therapist and the client
to appreciate the difficulty of holding onto an
ethical, self-reflective, and respectful stance in
the face of powerful emotions. However, the
loneliness, pain, anxieties, and uncertainties with
visions of grandeur, certainty, and righteousness.
Particularly at a time of crisis, it is common for
an individual under the “protective” and
reassuring influence of a leader to regress and
defend against the more unacceptable or
confusing emotions within oneself, and to
project those feelings onto the wider world.
Therefore, I believe that to view antisocial
behavior in cults simply as a victimized state
explained by a new identification does not give
the entire story: Cult leaders additionally push
and allow members to unleash powerful forces
and unconscious wishes that were present in
early childhood. According to Freud (1933), the
developing superego is the outgrowth of
identifications one has made with parental
figures to defend against and attempt to control
and resolve the sexual and aggressive emotions
of the Oedipal stage.6 Although the superego is
the successor of the parents and their attitudes,
the qualities and contents of the superego are
more related to the child’s own fantasy life—
e.g., his or her sexual and aggressive feelings
and fear of retaliation for those feelings. As
Freud (1921) pointed out,
For us it would be enough to say that in
a group the individual is brought under
conditions which allow him to throw off
the repressions of his unconscious
instinctual impulses. The apparently
new characteristics which he then
displays are in fact the manifestations of
this… (p. 74–75)
Freud adds,
In obedience to the new authority he
may put his former “conscience” out of
action, and so surrender to the attraction
of the increased pleasure that is certainly
obtained from the removal of
inhibitions. On the whole, therefore, it
is not so remarkable that we should see
an individual in a group doing or
approving things which he would have
avoided in the normal conditions of
life… (p. 85)
6 Klein (1933) elaborated on this by describing the sadism of the
pre-Oedipal superego.
Therefore, in the cult, aggressive and sexual
behaviors are unleashed, but they usually remain
expressed solely in accord with the leader’s
predilections and doctrines. Sometimes this
“permission” is not enough to totally encourage
those who are engaging in these practices to feel
comfortable when the behaviors are not in
accord with their own individual desires. For
example, although cult members understood the
expectation to comply with the cult leader’s
directives at the time, some have described how
they dissociated during sexual encounters with
the leaders and others. Furthermore, cult
members are manipulated to turn aggression
against the self or other “delegated” followers
rather than against the exploitive cult leader.
These tendencies often remain after their cult
departure. Former cultists often reveal a cult-
influenced, rigid (split, black and white) and
sadistic superego. Although for some, such as
Katie, this harsh conscience exists to some
degree prior to their cult involvement, the cult
experience greatly intensifies these pre-Oedipal
features and leaves former cult members with
powerful feelings of shame and guilt that they
might not express initially in therapy. These
feelings, in part, stem from the cult leader’s
attitudes as well as from actions the members
have taken in the cult.
In therapy, although the therapist needs to
consider with a client how the therapist’s actions
might have initiated the client’s feelings toward
the therapist, it also is crucial for the therapist to
address the client’s harsh superego as it is
enacted in transference and countertransference
reactions that emerge with the therapist and with
others. Many former cultists have lost sight of
the need for compassion for others, and for
themselves. The therapist most likely will be
pulled into a reenactment of the sadomasochistic
cult relationship and, subsequently, will need to
initiate the investigation of those powerful
impulses just experienced. With all of this, the
therapist is operating from the underlying
framework of treating former cult members with
respect, decency, and compassion. This
approach allows both the therapist and the client
to appreciate the difficulty of holding onto an
ethical, self-reflective, and respectful stance in
the face of powerful emotions. However, the
