Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2002, Page 8
Initially there was little communication between the Evangelical ministries and the secular
parents‘ groups. Over the years, however, communication between the two groups
increased dramatically. A number of people now serve on boards of both secular and
religious cult educational organizations.
During the 1970s interest in cults increased substantially among sociologists of religion.
These sociologists, however, tended to oppose deprogramming and conservatorship
legislation. They also appeared to focus on the positive aspects of cults and to downplay
the negative. As a result, parents‘ groups did not see them as resources. Because media
reports concerning cults focused on the negative, especially after the Jonestown horror of
1978, sociologists came to prefer the term ―new religious movements‖ over ―cult,‖ which
they had used prior to the 1980s.
Finding little solace among sociologists of religion, parents turned instead to a handful of
mental health professionals who seemed to be sympathetic to the notion that formerly
traditional young people were indeed changing radically as a result of a group‘s
persuasiveness. Most mental health professionals at the time tended to dismiss cult joining
as a transient adolescent rebellion or as an expression of deep-seated emotional or family
conflicts. But some mental health professionals, most notably Dr. Margaret Singer in
California and Dr. John Clark in Massachusetts, believed that cult environments were
characterized by socio-psychological forces powerful enough to radically change the
behavior and attitudes of recruits.
How AFF was Different
Mr. Barney believed in the cause that united the diverse people involved in secular and
religious cult education organizations, namely, the necessity to warn people about and free
people from the destructive controls wielded by certain new groups that were mostly, but
not always, religious. He also believed, however, that it was necessary to take a
professional perspective, that is, to study the field scientifically and to apply these findings
in a balanced, responsible manner. He also wanted to avoid the internal political debates
that took so much time from the parents‘ groups, which were moving toward a national
membership organization.
Therefore, he founded AFF as a nonprofit, tax-exempt research and educational organization
that did NOT have a membership base. The founding board of directors appointed its
successors, thereby ensuring a relatively smooth succession. The founding directors
included Mr. Barney, Rev. Dr. George Swope, a minister, Ed Schnee, a concerned parent,
and David Adler, a publishing executive and former group member.
Initially, AFF focused on publishing The Advisor, a bi-monthly newspaper that reported on
cult-related news. In 1980-81 he expanded AFF‘s activities by formally joining forces with
Dr. John Clark and his colleagues, who included Dr. Michael Langone, current executive
director of AFF, and Dr. Robert E. Schecter, editor of the Cult Observer. Dr. Clark, an
Assistant Clinical Professor at Harvard Medical School and Consulting Psychiatrist at
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), was one of the first prominent mental health
professionals to speak out publicly about cult abuses. He had published a paper, ―Cults,‖ in
the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1979. Dr. Clark‘s team, which had been
meeting informally, brought to AFF the professionalism that Mr. Barney and the founding
directors thought was needed.
Early Years of AFF
In 1981 Dr. Clark‘s team obtained several grants from foundations. These grants enabled
them to write a monograph, Destructive Cult Conversion: Theory, Research, and Treatment,
in which they proposed a person-situation model of cult conversion. This model, based
Initially there was little communication between the Evangelical ministries and the secular
parents‘ groups. Over the years, however, communication between the two groups
increased dramatically. A number of people now serve on boards of both secular and
religious cult educational organizations.
During the 1970s interest in cults increased substantially among sociologists of religion.
These sociologists, however, tended to oppose deprogramming and conservatorship
legislation. They also appeared to focus on the positive aspects of cults and to downplay
the negative. As a result, parents‘ groups did not see them as resources. Because media
reports concerning cults focused on the negative, especially after the Jonestown horror of
1978, sociologists came to prefer the term ―new religious movements‖ over ―cult,‖ which
they had used prior to the 1980s.
Finding little solace among sociologists of religion, parents turned instead to a handful of
mental health professionals who seemed to be sympathetic to the notion that formerly
traditional young people were indeed changing radically as a result of a group‘s
persuasiveness. Most mental health professionals at the time tended to dismiss cult joining
as a transient adolescent rebellion or as an expression of deep-seated emotional or family
conflicts. But some mental health professionals, most notably Dr. Margaret Singer in
California and Dr. John Clark in Massachusetts, believed that cult environments were
characterized by socio-psychological forces powerful enough to radically change the
behavior and attitudes of recruits.
How AFF was Different
Mr. Barney believed in the cause that united the diverse people involved in secular and
religious cult education organizations, namely, the necessity to warn people about and free
people from the destructive controls wielded by certain new groups that were mostly, but
not always, religious. He also believed, however, that it was necessary to take a
professional perspective, that is, to study the field scientifically and to apply these findings
in a balanced, responsible manner. He also wanted to avoid the internal political debates
that took so much time from the parents‘ groups, which were moving toward a national
membership organization.
Therefore, he founded AFF as a nonprofit, tax-exempt research and educational organization
that did NOT have a membership base. The founding board of directors appointed its
successors, thereby ensuring a relatively smooth succession. The founding directors
included Mr. Barney, Rev. Dr. George Swope, a minister, Ed Schnee, a concerned parent,
and David Adler, a publishing executive and former group member.
Initially, AFF focused on publishing The Advisor, a bi-monthly newspaper that reported on
cult-related news. In 1980-81 he expanded AFF‘s activities by formally joining forces with
Dr. John Clark and his colleagues, who included Dr. Michael Langone, current executive
director of AFF, and Dr. Robert E. Schecter, editor of the Cult Observer. Dr. Clark, an
Assistant Clinical Professor at Harvard Medical School and Consulting Psychiatrist at
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), was one of the first prominent mental health
professionals to speak out publicly about cult abuses. He had published a paper, ―Cults,‖ in
the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1979. Dr. Clark‘s team, which had been
meeting informally, brought to AFF the professionalism that Mr. Barney and the founding
directors thought was needed.
Early Years of AFF
In 1981 Dr. Clark‘s team obtained several grants from foundations. These grants enabled
them to write a monograph, Destructive Cult Conversion: Theory, Research, and Treatment,
in which they proposed a person-situation model of cult conversion. This model, based
