Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 3, Nos. 2 &3, 2004, Page 71
deprogrammer, Galen Kelly. Prosecutors arrested him after a failed deprogramming
attempt. The image appears when the question of what to do to help someone leave a cult
came up. Narrator Kurt Loder immediately points to deprogrammers and their potentially
illegal tactics, but he never mentions the then more prevalent, non-coercive ―exit
counseling‖ style of intervention. In that same show, MTV mentions another failed abduction
case that involved deprogrammer Rick Ross. The show discusses many groups including
Scientology, Church Universal and Triumphant, the Räelians, and the International Church
of Christ (the Boston Movement), giving each a fair if critical representation.18 The viewer is
left to ponder that intervention means coercive deprogramming.
Sisters
Around 1995 I caught an episode of the television series Sisters that featured the ―cult‖
involvement of an adult daughter of one of the series‘ lead characters. This mother
manages to deeply affect her entranced daughter after one, intense discussion that leads to
her eventual choice to leave the cult. This interaction with a successful ―exit‖ from a cultic
group probably happens in most cases of defection from such involvement, but it is rarely
depicted or observed on television. Many studies show that the majority of cult members
defect without professional intervention.19 The show reinforces a view that some form of
intervention is potentially valuable for those loyal to destructive or manipulative groups.
The Today Show “Moonie”
On November 8, 1993 the morning television Today Show provided film footage of a family
trying to reconnect with their daughter who ―joined‖ the Unification Church. NBC TV‘s film
crew followed the family of a new recruit, Catherine, whose mother, brother and step-father
were anxious to find her. She was mysteriously unavailable to her mother for the first time
after she left for college in New York. Once the mother, Cynthia, discovered that her
daughter was in the Moonies, she searched fitfully for help. Through this discovery process,
an NBC producer offered her services. The family chose non-coercive, legal means to
reconnect with Catherine. Through days of difficult, on-site communication with evasive UC
representatives and subsequent legal pressure, Catherine‘s family convinced the UC to send
her home for a visit. There she met with exit counselors who convinced her to stay away
from the group. Catherine also needed therapy for symptoms of depression.
NBC later aired (February 17, 1994) an interview with Catherine after she had recovered
from Unification Church influence. On the Today Show Catherine explains how she was
conditioned by ―cult‖ influence to loath her family and anyone who criticized the group, thus
her initial numb reaction when her mother first reconnected with her at a UC household.
She also stated how she was deceived into joining the group. She accused the UC of using
―mind control‖ techniques on her. On the first program, a UC representative claims that the
family had hired ―deprogrammers‖ to advise them, when, in fact, the advice was to
approach the situation legally and to avoid coercive deprogramming.
It is interesting to note that a UC female leader accuses the NBC crew of being with the
―Cult Awareness Network‖ in one scene. There was no connection. That same Cult
Awareness Network was taken over in 1996 by Scientology after a series of lawsuits. The
old CAN carried a stigma of being a referral avenue for deprogrammers.
Deprogramming on Lou Grant and Saturday Night Live
We digress here to describe two television broadcasts about deprogramming that amount to
parodies--one serious, the other not. The Lou Grant television series included one episode
with deprogrammers around 1978. It happened that Lou Grant‘s colleagues had a son who
joined the Hare Krishna sect. In the episode the young man is highly devoted to the group
and alienated from his family. The young man‘s father meets and hires deprogrammers who
promise to get his son out. ―As the show progresses, the deprogrammers are revealed as
deprogrammer, Galen Kelly. Prosecutors arrested him after a failed deprogramming
attempt. The image appears when the question of what to do to help someone leave a cult
came up. Narrator Kurt Loder immediately points to deprogrammers and their potentially
illegal tactics, but he never mentions the then more prevalent, non-coercive ―exit
counseling‖ style of intervention. In that same show, MTV mentions another failed abduction
case that involved deprogrammer Rick Ross. The show discusses many groups including
Scientology, Church Universal and Triumphant, the Räelians, and the International Church
of Christ (the Boston Movement), giving each a fair if critical representation.18 The viewer is
left to ponder that intervention means coercive deprogramming.
Sisters
Around 1995 I caught an episode of the television series Sisters that featured the ―cult‖
involvement of an adult daughter of one of the series‘ lead characters. This mother
manages to deeply affect her entranced daughter after one, intense discussion that leads to
her eventual choice to leave the cult. This interaction with a successful ―exit‖ from a cultic
group probably happens in most cases of defection from such involvement, but it is rarely
depicted or observed on television. Many studies show that the majority of cult members
defect without professional intervention.19 The show reinforces a view that some form of
intervention is potentially valuable for those loyal to destructive or manipulative groups.
The Today Show “Moonie”
On November 8, 1993 the morning television Today Show provided film footage of a family
trying to reconnect with their daughter who ―joined‖ the Unification Church. NBC TV‘s film
crew followed the family of a new recruit, Catherine, whose mother, brother and step-father
were anxious to find her. She was mysteriously unavailable to her mother for the first time
after she left for college in New York. Once the mother, Cynthia, discovered that her
daughter was in the Moonies, she searched fitfully for help. Through this discovery process,
an NBC producer offered her services. The family chose non-coercive, legal means to
reconnect with Catherine. Through days of difficult, on-site communication with evasive UC
representatives and subsequent legal pressure, Catherine‘s family convinced the UC to send
her home for a visit. There she met with exit counselors who convinced her to stay away
from the group. Catherine also needed therapy for symptoms of depression.
NBC later aired (February 17, 1994) an interview with Catherine after she had recovered
from Unification Church influence. On the Today Show Catherine explains how she was
conditioned by ―cult‖ influence to loath her family and anyone who criticized the group, thus
her initial numb reaction when her mother first reconnected with her at a UC household.
She also stated how she was deceived into joining the group. She accused the UC of using
―mind control‖ techniques on her. On the first program, a UC representative claims that the
family had hired ―deprogrammers‖ to advise them, when, in fact, the advice was to
approach the situation legally and to avoid coercive deprogramming.
It is interesting to note that a UC female leader accuses the NBC crew of being with the
―Cult Awareness Network‖ in one scene. There was no connection. That same Cult
Awareness Network was taken over in 1996 by Scientology after a series of lawsuits. The
old CAN carried a stigma of being a referral avenue for deprogrammers.
Deprogramming on Lou Grant and Saturday Night Live
We digress here to describe two television broadcasts about deprogramming that amount to
parodies--one serious, the other not. The Lou Grant television series included one episode
with deprogrammers around 1978. It happened that Lou Grant‘s colleagues had a son who
joined the Hare Krishna sect. In the episode the young man is highly devoted to the group
and alienated from his family. The young man‘s father meets and hires deprogrammers who
promise to get his son out. ―As the show progresses, the deprogrammers are revealed as
