Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2003, Page 94
(1961), set always within a model of thinking reformation, is nonetheless full of
psychoanalytical references. One of the most important observations within this research is
that, within each individual, parts exist that can be totalized.
At a group level, the ―cult-group‖ is the result of a process, largely unconscious, in which all
members participate. Psychoanalytical work with groups shows how the entire group carries
the bud of what would be a ―cult-group.‖ The work by Anzieu (1998) on groups shows, for
example, the description of the state of ―group illusion,‖ understood as the group majority‘s
shared fantasy of believing one is doing very well and lacking problems, along with the
conviction of having a good leader. At another level, the group as a dream triggers a triple
regression (topic, formal, and chronological), to a large extent due to the cultural isolation
(in the same way that a dream takes place isolated from external reality).
From this perspective of group, we can understand ―mental manipulation‖ as an indicator of
group evolution in a process that we know to be continuous, though we do not yet have a
scale available to establish degrees. This state is characterized by the emergence and
imposition of the dogmatic voice of the group leader upon a group member, later extended
upon other people. In this sense, it is interesting to observe that the majority of ―cult-
groups‖ reveal a founding couple at the start. (We will leave for a later publication,
however, a clinical description of the configuration of such a process in a group we had the
opportunity to study.)
―Mental manipulation‖ rests also upon a very intense transferential bond exploited for
personal purposes. Contrary to the objective of an analysis, what happens in these
situations is that the regression of the follower is favored and increased to maintain him in a
greater state of dependency. The imaginary relationship, established at a fantasy level in
transference, is taken as real by the leader, who presents himself as the sole object capable
of satisfying the follower.
As seen from a relational point of view, cult involvement can be understood as a mutual
dependence: on the one hand, a leader who esteems himself as chosen, and on the other, a
follower who ends up yearning to be chosen by the leader. Inasmuch as the leader needs
the grandiosity, he looks for followers to enlarge himself, and if he is without these
followers, he tends to feel a lack of structure. On their part, the followers come to confide in
the leader, expecting him to offer the certainty of absolute conviction. Underneath this
mutual dependence, we find a perverse relationship that affects a great part of the
narcissistic links of the follower. In a sense, we could consider the leader as the first
follower in this case, a follower of his own omnipotent fantasies.
From this relational framework, and from the fruit of the work carried out with ―cult-groups‖
in Barcelona between 1990 and 1992, the psychopathologists Atotxegi &Font (1995)
isolated certain characteristics, based on psychoanalytical nosology, that merit our
attention:
Perverse psychopathology that would be expressed through relationships based on
deceit, domination, and abuse of someone, and where personal benefits are obtained at
the expense of suffering or destruction. Within these manifestations, narcissistic
personality traits and sadomasochistic traits stand out.
Paranoid psychopathology, expressed through a doctrine, which places the subject in
partial object functioning, where that inside the group is good and that external to the
group is negative. Fanatical manifestations may appear in this line.
Obsessive psychopathology, which is expressed through individual and group control
aspects, such as information restriction, imposition of certain rituals, rigidity when
complying with group norms, harsh discipline, and so on.
(1961), set always within a model of thinking reformation, is nonetheless full of
psychoanalytical references. One of the most important observations within this research is
that, within each individual, parts exist that can be totalized.
At a group level, the ―cult-group‖ is the result of a process, largely unconscious, in which all
members participate. Psychoanalytical work with groups shows how the entire group carries
the bud of what would be a ―cult-group.‖ The work by Anzieu (1998) on groups shows, for
example, the description of the state of ―group illusion,‖ understood as the group majority‘s
shared fantasy of believing one is doing very well and lacking problems, along with the
conviction of having a good leader. At another level, the group as a dream triggers a triple
regression (topic, formal, and chronological), to a large extent due to the cultural isolation
(in the same way that a dream takes place isolated from external reality).
From this perspective of group, we can understand ―mental manipulation‖ as an indicator of
group evolution in a process that we know to be continuous, though we do not yet have a
scale available to establish degrees. This state is characterized by the emergence and
imposition of the dogmatic voice of the group leader upon a group member, later extended
upon other people. In this sense, it is interesting to observe that the majority of ―cult-
groups‖ reveal a founding couple at the start. (We will leave for a later publication,
however, a clinical description of the configuration of such a process in a group we had the
opportunity to study.)
―Mental manipulation‖ rests also upon a very intense transferential bond exploited for
personal purposes. Contrary to the objective of an analysis, what happens in these
situations is that the regression of the follower is favored and increased to maintain him in a
greater state of dependency. The imaginary relationship, established at a fantasy level in
transference, is taken as real by the leader, who presents himself as the sole object capable
of satisfying the follower.
As seen from a relational point of view, cult involvement can be understood as a mutual
dependence: on the one hand, a leader who esteems himself as chosen, and on the other, a
follower who ends up yearning to be chosen by the leader. Inasmuch as the leader needs
the grandiosity, he looks for followers to enlarge himself, and if he is without these
followers, he tends to feel a lack of structure. On their part, the followers come to confide in
the leader, expecting him to offer the certainty of absolute conviction. Underneath this
mutual dependence, we find a perverse relationship that affects a great part of the
narcissistic links of the follower. In a sense, we could consider the leader as the first
follower in this case, a follower of his own omnipotent fantasies.
From this relational framework, and from the fruit of the work carried out with ―cult-groups‖
in Barcelona between 1990 and 1992, the psychopathologists Atotxegi &Font (1995)
isolated certain characteristics, based on psychoanalytical nosology, that merit our
attention:
Perverse psychopathology that would be expressed through relationships based on
deceit, domination, and abuse of someone, and where personal benefits are obtained at
the expense of suffering or destruction. Within these manifestations, narcissistic
personality traits and sadomasochistic traits stand out.
Paranoid psychopathology, expressed through a doctrine, which places the subject in
partial object functioning, where that inside the group is good and that external to the
group is negative. Fanatical manifestations may appear in this line.
Obsessive psychopathology, which is expressed through individual and group control
aspects, such as information restriction, imposition of certain rituals, rigidity when
complying with group norms, harsh discipline, and so on.
