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most ―salient‖ of the parents‘ behaviors with the unconscious aim of gaining some
predictability in a difficult life.
Zetzel summarizes, ―Character formation … includes the whole range of solutions, adaptive
or maladaptive, to recognized developmental challenges‖ (Zetzel, p. 153).
Character Integration
Character typically continues to be shaped until the end of adolescence. One of the chief
goals of adolescence is ―character synthesis‖ (Gitelson, 1948) or characterological
consolidation. That is, in late adolescence, the young person typically has a stronger sense
of a coherent identity structure. Behavior and attitudes become more routinized and
predictable. Because personality seems to erect its main characterological acquisitions
during adolescence, the significance of this stage of development for future adjustment is
crucial (Giovacchini, 1973).
Cult-Influence on Adolescent Psychological Development
When discussing the individual who enters a cult in late adolescence or in adulthood, many
authors have described the pseudo-personality of the cultist and the fact that the cult leader
becomes a new object for identification. West has written, ―Individuals subjected to
[prolonged stress] may adapt through dissociation by generating an altered persona, or
pseudo-identity‖ (West, 1994). Citing Anna Freud, West notes that this pattern can be seen
as ―identification with the aggressor.‖ West and Martin explain how this ―personality was
superimposed upon the original which, while not completely forgotten, was enveloped within
the shell of the pseudo-identity‖ (West and Martin, 1994).
In contrast to the first-generation cult member, the child who is born or raised in a cult has
neither the previous personality nor a cohesively formed personality on which the new cultic
personality is imposed. Aside from inherent temperament, basic character becomes affected
and shaped by the cult experience. The cult personality is not superimposed, but becomes
an aspect of the original personality.
In the cult, the charismatic leader is seen as extraordinary, all-powerful, and as an ideal
being. The role of the parent often is usurped by the cult leader. Previously, I have written
about the ways in which the cult leader interferes with parental authority over children
(Goldberg, 2003). Rebellious, or even questioning, behavior typically is dealt with harshly,
and this response serves as an example to all the cult members, especially children.
Therefore, to lessen anxiety while in the cult, the growing child (to survive) often learns to
be passive in response to the harsh, controlling nature of the cult leader.
The leader is used first to externalize, and later also to internalize some superego functions.
That is, the developing child copes by taking in the cult leader‘s prohibitions and severe
attitudes, and this incorporation continues to shape the growing child‘s superego functions.
As a result of this adaptation, the child may adopt a submissive, masochistic attitude as a
response to the leader‘s authority and, therefore, develop an internal experience of being
insignificant or bad. This process might lead to the internalization of a harsh, critical
conscience and a tendency toward self-blame. For example, Muster writes, ―Teachers and
gurus told children [growing up in ISKCON] that abuse was their karma because they must
have hurt children in a past life and … that to oppose the abuse would only bring more bad
karma‖ (Muster, p. 11, 2004).
When those who have been raised in cults leave that world in young adulthood, they have
to enter an entirely new sociocultural environment—a wider world with new expectations
and rules. These former cult members3 usually have tremendous difficulty with that
adjustment. I have worked with several individuals who told me that entrance into the world
outside the cult is complicated by the fact that their cultic upbringing has left them deprived

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of many coping skills to adapt to that task. They have difficulty adjusting to the problems
that the external world presents and difficulty dealing with a variety of situations that others
would find to be commonplace.
The lack of mastery of these coping skills is exacerbated by the former cult member‘s
impoverished sense of identity, poor self-esteem, and fear of the outside world. The blurring
of boundaries between the leader and the members and the need for idealization of the
narcissistic leader have led them to a feeling that they are nothing without him or her. They
believe that they need others to guide them. Furthermore, cult members are constantly
exploited and shamed. (Shaw, 2003) This treatment leads many into believing they are
failures because of their lack of success in the cult. This is true even if they left as a result
of their recognition of cult hypocrisy or felt proud of their ability to leave a destructive
environment. They may expect to fail in the outside world and go to some form of hell
because they have left the perceived protection and path to holiness offered by the cult. As
a result of cult suggestion as well as displacement of feelings from the cultic world onto the
wider world, they see the world outside the cult as a dangerous place (Markowitz and
Halperin, 1984).
Case Study: Tim
I will now discuss the situation of Tim, whose case illustrates many of these themes. Tim is
a 38-year-old man who has been seeing me for seven years. He began therapy about five
years after he left his cult, and his presenting problems indicated difficulty dealing with
periods of intense depression and anxiety. He was unable to take pleasure in his life.
Tim‘s parents joined a Bible-based cult when he was about three years old, and he was
raised in his family‘s home in the Midwest until he was 13. Although his parents continued
to live in the family home, their life was controlled by cult edicts, and Tim was sent to
religious schools within the community.
This large cultic group has a charismatic, living leader who establishes doctrine and
demands obedience to himself. The rules of this church were harsh, and Tim was disciplined
severely by both parents. Tim suspects that harsh treatment was consistent with his
parent‘s previous value system. He also believes, however, that their frustrations with the
high demands of the cult intensified their poor treatment of him. He believes that their first
allegiance always was to the cult.
Tim views his mother as more malignant than his father and has memories of her waiting
until his father arrived home to ―tattle‖ on Tim. Tim believes this was done, in part, to
deflect his father‘s anger from his mother because of her negligence in finishing her
household tasks. Actually, Tim was required to help his mother with many of these
household tasks, and he often would fail to live up to her high and demanding expectations.
In response to his mother‘s prodding, his father, exhausted from a long day at work, would
typically explode at Tim and severely beat him with a strap.
Many children in cults experience strict behavior and physical abuse from their parents,
according to anecdotal reports from former cultists and those who have written about this
topic (Singer, 1995 Markowitz and Halperin, 1984 Langone &Eisenberg, 1993 Siskind,
2001). Children are seen as extensions and reflections of their parents, and parents are
pressured to control their children. Because the parental tie to the cult leader needs to
become stronger than the tie to their children, breaking the will of the children becomes
acceptable and, sometimes, obligatory (Goldberg, 2003).
Children raised in cults often grow up feeling hated and hateful because of this harsh
treatment. They usually have experienced little help with regulating the strong affects that
are stimulated by the cultic environment, particularly anxiety, anger, and grief. To survive,
they often have had to suppress their emotions. Sometimes, as in the case of Tim, they