International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 1, No. 1, 2010 75
The Identity of Cult Members in the Narrative Aspect
Dariusz Kuncewicz, Ph.D.
Institute of Clinical Psychology
Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities
Abstract
This paper provides an explanation of the
process by which a cult member’s identity is
formed, employing the narrative psychology
notional categories as a framework. The
narrative paradigm is the theory that people
interpret and make sense of their own
experiences through the use of narrative
schemes. Failure to construct a cohesive
autobiographical narration may cause the
person to borrow “a ready-made narrative plot”
from a cult environment. As a result, some
difficult life experiences are quickly
incorporated into a logical, happy-ending story
that is constructed on the basis of “liberation by
the cult.” Psychic costs of external editions
(i.e., not internal—not based on personal
reflection or therapeutic process) of “texts about
oneself” are significant and include limitation of
the possibility of internal dialogue, rigidity in
the interpretation of complex experiences, and
the exclusion of experiences that contradict the
leading “one-plot” story from autonarration.
The purpose of this article is to attempt to
provide an explanation of the processes by
which the cult member’s identity is formed,
using the narrative psychology notional
categories as a framework.
The Conception of Cult Identity
Among others, spectacular and proportionally
stable changes in the psychic sphere of function
are observed in cult members. In psychological
literature, explanations of these kinds of changes
appeal to the personality/identity cult patterns
that co-exist with the original
personality/identity, restraining its development
and contributing to the appearance of
psychopathological symptoms. E. G. Yeakley
(1988) writes about “cloned personality,” Singer
and Lalich (1994) about “pseudo-personality,”
and Hassan (1998, 2000) about “dual identity”
West and Martin (1996) use the notion “pseudo-
identity.” These authors emphasize the role of
cultic milieu pressure that creates, strengthens,
and supports a group personality/identity pattern
among its members.
But West and Martin (1996) take their
explanation a step further. They assert that a
“pseudo-identity” can be created by prolonged
environmental stress and/or life situations
profoundly different from everyday situations.
Psychic integration mechanisms are weakened,
along with the activation of dissociation
mechanisms, as a result of long-term stress or
unusual life situations. This process enables
adaptation to the cult’s environment by
generating a “pseudo-identity,” which is
maintained after leaving a group. According to
the authors, a cult’s “pseudo-identity” develops
analogously to the “Stockholm Syndrome”—an
adaptable reaction (to an experience of physical
or psychological violence) that is characterized
by fascination with an aggressor and
identification with his world.
It should be noted that West and Martin (1996)
explain trauma as a possible consequence of a
stay in a cult. Yet Rohmann (2000), in his
Three-Step-Model assistance for former cult
members, does not seem to share this view. He
asserts that an experience in a cult does not have
to be traumatic in its own right. Accordingly, it
is possible to cope with the experience on an
educational level (broadening the knowledge
about the cult’s religious and philosophical
context), as well as on a psychoeducational level
(analyzing the experience of a person’s stay in a
cult as a result of psychological means of
influence). Rohmann believes that therapeutic
interventions are reasonable primarily through
addressing previous psychological problems that
were “put on the shelf” during one’s stay in a
cult—but reactivated once the individual has left
it. So the thesis (in contrast to West and Martin’s
The Identity of Cult Members in the Narrative Aspect
Dariusz Kuncewicz, Ph.D.
Institute of Clinical Psychology
Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities
Abstract
This paper provides an explanation of the
process by which a cult member’s identity is
formed, employing the narrative psychology
notional categories as a framework. The
narrative paradigm is the theory that people
interpret and make sense of their own
experiences through the use of narrative
schemes. Failure to construct a cohesive
autobiographical narration may cause the
person to borrow “a ready-made narrative plot”
from a cult environment. As a result, some
difficult life experiences are quickly
incorporated into a logical, happy-ending story
that is constructed on the basis of “liberation by
the cult.” Psychic costs of external editions
(i.e., not internal—not based on personal
reflection or therapeutic process) of “texts about
oneself” are significant and include limitation of
the possibility of internal dialogue, rigidity in
the interpretation of complex experiences, and
the exclusion of experiences that contradict the
leading “one-plot” story from autonarration.
The purpose of this article is to attempt to
provide an explanation of the processes by
which the cult member’s identity is formed,
using the narrative psychology notional
categories as a framework.
The Conception of Cult Identity
Among others, spectacular and proportionally
stable changes in the psychic sphere of function
are observed in cult members. In psychological
literature, explanations of these kinds of changes
appeal to the personality/identity cult patterns
that co-exist with the original
personality/identity, restraining its development
and contributing to the appearance of
psychopathological symptoms. E. G. Yeakley
(1988) writes about “cloned personality,” Singer
and Lalich (1994) about “pseudo-personality,”
and Hassan (1998, 2000) about “dual identity”
West and Martin (1996) use the notion “pseudo-
identity.” These authors emphasize the role of
cultic milieu pressure that creates, strengthens,
and supports a group personality/identity pattern
among its members.
But West and Martin (1996) take their
explanation a step further. They assert that a
“pseudo-identity” can be created by prolonged
environmental stress and/or life situations
profoundly different from everyday situations.
Psychic integration mechanisms are weakened,
along with the activation of dissociation
mechanisms, as a result of long-term stress or
unusual life situations. This process enables
adaptation to the cult’s environment by
generating a “pseudo-identity,” which is
maintained after leaving a group. According to
the authors, a cult’s “pseudo-identity” develops
analogously to the “Stockholm Syndrome”—an
adaptable reaction (to an experience of physical
or psychological violence) that is characterized
by fascination with an aggressor and
identification with his world.
It should be noted that West and Martin (1996)
explain trauma as a possible consequence of a
stay in a cult. Yet Rohmann (2000), in his
Three-Step-Model assistance for former cult
members, does not seem to share this view. He
asserts that an experience in a cult does not have
to be traumatic in its own right. Accordingly, it
is possible to cope with the experience on an
educational level (broadening the knowledge
about the cult’s religious and philosophical
context), as well as on a psychoeducational level
(analyzing the experience of a person’s stay in a
cult as a result of psychological means of
influence). Rohmann believes that therapeutic
interventions are reasonable primarily through
addressing previous psychological problems that
were “put on the shelf” during one’s stay in a
cult—but reactivated once the individual has left
it. So the thesis (in contrast to West and Martin’s
