International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 1, No. 1, 2010 55
members not being exposed to messages that
question the postulates of the group but it is not
always easy to exercise this control. Because of
this, terrorist groups often have their own
communication bulletins (for example, ETA’s
Zutabe) or send written or audiovisual
communiqués, in part for internal consumption
and for the guidance of their own bases, and in
part to continue to terrorise the general public.
The strategy of prohibiting access to certain
information or discrediting sources is connected
with concealment. In these cults and terrorist
groups, very few people know the real
information about the group and so the vast
majority of members must place their faith in the
information that arrives from the leadership and
must take decisions on the basis of this
information. A similar form of disinformation
often takes place when one joins a cult, when
roles inside the group are often concealed from
new members, who are misled in their first
impressions. In the case of terrorist groups the
type of internal life to be led seems to be more
predictable.
Control over Personal Life
When many of the objectives of the group are
centred on its interior dynamics and on the type
of life that the members of the community must
lead, as occurs in cults, the control over multiple
facets of the personal life of the subjects
becomes a central method to be used in their
submission. Economic aspects, activities, and
the occupation of time, the suitability or not of
behaviour, and even affective and sexual
relations, among other things, are normally
under the tutelage of the group (Rodríguez-
Carballeira et al., 2005).
In the case of terrorist groups, degrees of control
over their members, if they exist, are usually
much less pronounced, more indirect, and
necessarily more related to disciplined behaviour
because of the type of activity involved. In
addition, for the terrorist ideology, for the
objectives sought, it is not as important for day-
to-day life to concur exactly with the cause, as
occurs with religious groups where the life itself
of the members forms part of the desired
objective. On another point, as terrorists do not,
as a rule, live in a community, these tight
controls are more difficult to enforce. However,
in certain circumstances, such as life in prison,
controls can reach very high levels. This was
expressed in a testimony of a GRAPO member,
referring to his leader, “Comrade Arenas,” who
when faced with their economic difficulties:
“blamed us for wasting a bar of soap, while, at
the next table ...every day they drank fifteen or
twenty bottles of beer from cellmates who either
didn’t want them or deprived themselves of
them out of shame” (Novales, 1989, p. 195).
The most profound expression of the ability of a
group to control the individual has been clearly
shown in the so-called “collective suicides”
carried out by a range of cults. In the
information and testimonies collected on the
preparation of these acts, particularly with the
group People’s Temple, it can be clearly seen
how the leader persuades his subjects to take this
step and how he gradually breaks down
resistance on the part of some members, while a
great majority cede to him this capacity to
decide to put an end to their own lives and those
of their young children (Osherow, 1981).
Whether or not each terrorist group chooses a
greater or lesser level of risk for the life of its
members when it carries out attacks, some
groups have incorporated in their fight the
method of the suicide attack, whether this is a
single member or a whole command, as
occurred in the singular case of 11th September
in the United States. The activist who commits
suicide by attacking the enemy attains the apex
of dedication to the cause, taking to its final
conclusion his or her commitment. The option of
suicide in this case seems to be related, not so
much with the specific pressure of the group (as
occurs in cults), but rather with the type of
beliefs of certain groups, such as Islamists, who
incorporate into their religious ideology a strong
sense of transcendence that enables them to
surrender their own life as they seek a better
future life for their community, with, moreover,
the subject himself receiving a generous reward
in the afterlife.
Emotional Abuse
Some of the most well-known strategies of cults,
such as the intensification of positive emotions,
the demand for enthusiastic devotion, or even
members not being exposed to messages that
question the postulates of the group but it is not
always easy to exercise this control. Because of
this, terrorist groups often have their own
communication bulletins (for example, ETA’s
Zutabe) or send written or audiovisual
communiqués, in part for internal consumption
and for the guidance of their own bases, and in
part to continue to terrorise the general public.
The strategy of prohibiting access to certain
information or discrediting sources is connected
with concealment. In these cults and terrorist
groups, very few people know the real
information about the group and so the vast
majority of members must place their faith in the
information that arrives from the leadership and
must take decisions on the basis of this
information. A similar form of disinformation
often takes place when one joins a cult, when
roles inside the group are often concealed from
new members, who are misled in their first
impressions. In the case of terrorist groups the
type of internal life to be led seems to be more
predictable.
Control over Personal Life
When many of the objectives of the group are
centred on its interior dynamics and on the type
of life that the members of the community must
lead, as occurs in cults, the control over multiple
facets of the personal life of the subjects
becomes a central method to be used in their
submission. Economic aspects, activities, and
the occupation of time, the suitability or not of
behaviour, and even affective and sexual
relations, among other things, are normally
under the tutelage of the group (Rodríguez-
Carballeira et al., 2005).
In the case of terrorist groups, degrees of control
over their members, if they exist, are usually
much less pronounced, more indirect, and
necessarily more related to disciplined behaviour
because of the type of activity involved. In
addition, for the terrorist ideology, for the
objectives sought, it is not as important for day-
to-day life to concur exactly with the cause, as
occurs with religious groups where the life itself
of the members forms part of the desired
objective. On another point, as terrorists do not,
as a rule, live in a community, these tight
controls are more difficult to enforce. However,
in certain circumstances, such as life in prison,
controls can reach very high levels. This was
expressed in a testimony of a GRAPO member,
referring to his leader, “Comrade Arenas,” who
when faced with their economic difficulties:
“blamed us for wasting a bar of soap, while, at
the next table ...every day they drank fifteen or
twenty bottles of beer from cellmates who either
didn’t want them or deprived themselves of
them out of shame” (Novales, 1989, p. 195).
The most profound expression of the ability of a
group to control the individual has been clearly
shown in the so-called “collective suicides”
carried out by a range of cults. In the
information and testimonies collected on the
preparation of these acts, particularly with the
group People’s Temple, it can be clearly seen
how the leader persuades his subjects to take this
step and how he gradually breaks down
resistance on the part of some members, while a
great majority cede to him this capacity to
decide to put an end to their own lives and those
of their young children (Osherow, 1981).
Whether or not each terrorist group chooses a
greater or lesser level of risk for the life of its
members when it carries out attacks, some
groups have incorporated in their fight the
method of the suicide attack, whether this is a
single member or a whole command, as
occurred in the singular case of 11th September
in the United States. The activist who commits
suicide by attacking the enemy attains the apex
of dedication to the cause, taking to its final
conclusion his or her commitment. The option of
suicide in this case seems to be related, not so
much with the specific pressure of the group (as
occurs in cults), but rather with the type of
beliefs of certain groups, such as Islamists, who
incorporate into their religious ideology a strong
sense of transcendence that enables them to
surrender their own life as they seek a better
future life for their community, with, moreover,
the subject himself receiving a generous reward
in the afterlife.
Emotional Abuse
Some of the most well-known strategies of cults,
such as the intensification of positive emotions,
the demand for enthusiastic devotion, or even
