Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2006, Page 17
inner life, and her need to write in a journal to feel more stabilized. The comfort of the
journal has led to and continues with Sue‘s chosen career of journalism.6
One day, Sue was very distraught as she entered my office. She had forgotten to take care
of something at work that resulted in a missed deadline. She relentlessly kept berating
herself. I told her that we weren‘t angels walking on earth, and we are bound to make
mistakes in our lives. My reaction surprised her. Later, she again was surprised when her
supervisor did not condemn her for her mistake. In the cult, she had been taught that she
was a sinner who must constantly repent and ask for forgiveness. But the paradox is that
the goal in the cult is perfection: to be angels on earth. The cult left her with an anxious
feeling that she could never catch up to perfection. As Sue felt less of a need to project a
perfect image, her anxiety decreased. And as Sue‘s superego became less harsh and
uncompromising, she became less depressed. With less anxiety and depression, she became
less involved in a whole range of potentially self-destructive behaviors to discharge her
anxiety. And she became more able to feel pleasure in life.
Conclusion
I believe these cases illustrate how cult life can have an impact upon and influence
character development and particularly adolescent development. Although each of these
individuals came into their cult environments with a pre-existing temperament, the cultic
environments influenced each of their characters in harmful ways. In the authoritarian world
of the cult, a conscience often is developed based on the need to please the cult leader.
Initiative is discouraged because it might put the follower at risk. Therefore, passivity is
enhanced. The followers also typically take in the harsh attitudes of the cult leader and
attempt to meet a standard of perfection. However, concurrently, they sometimes develop a
secret rebellious life.
Nevertheless, these cases also reveal how those raised in cults can thrive once they have
the opportunity to live richer and fuller lives. I am amazed by the perseverance these
individuals and other former members have shown to improve their lives. Their demanding
cult environments have encouraged them to be conscientious and hardworking individuals,
and this pattern is reflected in the way they approach therapy. The cult leader has used the
demand for perfection as a vehicle for exploiting members. It is important for them to
become aware of how impossible and self-destructive the wish to attain perfection can be.
The goal is to appreciate the hardworking aspects of their characters, but to lessen the
anxiety and self-reproach attached to the need to do well. Therapy with these individuals
needs to focus on helping them incorporate a more compassionate and loving attitude
toward themselves. Accomplishing this task also will enhance their relationships with others.
As they soften the harshness of their attitudes, they can begin to integrate the split-off
parts of themselves that often lead to self-destructive behavior and depression.
Notes
[1] Temperament refers to the child‘s basic genetic endowment that underlies personality.
Moore and Fine define it as the ―constitutionally determined affectomotor and cognitive
tendencies‖ (Moore and Fine, p. 141, 1990).
[2] Schore notes that the experience of a negative early relationship can lead to a limited ability to
regulate the frequency, intensity, and duration of primitive negative states—i.e., rage, shame, and
terror (Schore, 1994).
[3] I wish to be sensitive to the negative emotional reactions that second-generation individuals
might have to the term ―cult members.‖ It is important to remember that these second-generation
individuals were placed in cults via their parents, and they had no choice in that decision. I believe
that, in part, their feelings about this fact are reflected in a desire to be seen as different from, and
distinguished from, first-generation former cultists.
[4] In contrast to Sue, many second-generation cultists whom I have gotten to know begin leaving
their cults, sometimes without their families, during their adolescence or in their twenties.
inner life, and her need to write in a journal to feel more stabilized. The comfort of the
journal has led to and continues with Sue‘s chosen career of journalism.6
One day, Sue was very distraught as she entered my office. She had forgotten to take care
of something at work that resulted in a missed deadline. She relentlessly kept berating
herself. I told her that we weren‘t angels walking on earth, and we are bound to make
mistakes in our lives. My reaction surprised her. Later, she again was surprised when her
supervisor did not condemn her for her mistake. In the cult, she had been taught that she
was a sinner who must constantly repent and ask for forgiveness. But the paradox is that
the goal in the cult is perfection: to be angels on earth. The cult left her with an anxious
feeling that she could never catch up to perfection. As Sue felt less of a need to project a
perfect image, her anxiety decreased. And as Sue‘s superego became less harsh and
uncompromising, she became less depressed. With less anxiety and depression, she became
less involved in a whole range of potentially self-destructive behaviors to discharge her
anxiety. And she became more able to feel pleasure in life.
Conclusion
I believe these cases illustrate how cult life can have an impact upon and influence
character development and particularly adolescent development. Although each of these
individuals came into their cult environments with a pre-existing temperament, the cultic
environments influenced each of their characters in harmful ways. In the authoritarian world
of the cult, a conscience often is developed based on the need to please the cult leader.
Initiative is discouraged because it might put the follower at risk. Therefore, passivity is
enhanced. The followers also typically take in the harsh attitudes of the cult leader and
attempt to meet a standard of perfection. However, concurrently, they sometimes develop a
secret rebellious life.
Nevertheless, these cases also reveal how those raised in cults can thrive once they have
the opportunity to live richer and fuller lives. I am amazed by the perseverance these
individuals and other former members have shown to improve their lives. Their demanding
cult environments have encouraged them to be conscientious and hardworking individuals,
and this pattern is reflected in the way they approach therapy. The cult leader has used the
demand for perfection as a vehicle for exploiting members. It is important for them to
become aware of how impossible and self-destructive the wish to attain perfection can be.
The goal is to appreciate the hardworking aspects of their characters, but to lessen the
anxiety and self-reproach attached to the need to do well. Therapy with these individuals
needs to focus on helping them incorporate a more compassionate and loving attitude
toward themselves. Accomplishing this task also will enhance their relationships with others.
As they soften the harshness of their attitudes, they can begin to integrate the split-off
parts of themselves that often lead to self-destructive behavior and depression.
Notes
[1] Temperament refers to the child‘s basic genetic endowment that underlies personality.
Moore and Fine define it as the ―constitutionally determined affectomotor and cognitive
tendencies‖ (Moore and Fine, p. 141, 1990).
[2] Schore notes that the experience of a negative early relationship can lead to a limited ability to
regulate the frequency, intensity, and duration of primitive negative states—i.e., rage, shame, and
terror (Schore, 1994).
[3] I wish to be sensitive to the negative emotional reactions that second-generation individuals
might have to the term ―cult members.‖ It is important to remember that these second-generation
individuals were placed in cults via their parents, and they had no choice in that decision. I believe
that, in part, their feelings about this fact are reflected in a desire to be seen as different from, and
distinguished from, first-generation former cultists.
[4] In contrast to Sue, many second-generation cultists whom I have gotten to know begin leaving
their cults, sometimes without their families, during their adolescence or in their twenties.
