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inner circles they should neither expect nor demand this right. If they can succeed in
establishing a deep communication, they can understand how the youngster sees the world
and might then be able to engage him or her in a dialogue that results in positive change.
Like the therapist, the helpers must oscillate between methodological self-doubt and quiet
deliberation as they move ever closer to deep communication and informed, authentic
dialogue with the youth about whom they are concerned. Some exit counselors, for
example, put much effort into helping families with a cult-involved loved one learn how to
understand and appreciate their loved one‘s worldview. One team even requires families to
list 50 positive things about their child‘s group and his or her relationship to it (Patrick Ryan
and Joseph Kelly, personal communication, October 6, 2006), so as to help families learn
how to suspend their worldview‘s judgmental evaluations of their loved one‘s situation.
Unfortunately, such ―cross worldview communication‖ is difficult and not common. Work in
the cult arena reveals that helpers in contexts that are not overtly psychotherapeutic tend
to be so focused on changing a young person that they unwittingly sabotage their ability to
find out what the young person really thinks, knowledge of which, ironically, would make
the helpers more effective change agents. Clergy, who are well versed in theology, tend to
challenge the youth‘s overtly expressed belief system in terms of the clergy‘s belief system
(e.g., a priest who responds to a youngster‘s atheism with quotations from the Bible, when
the Bible has no more credibility with the young atheist than does Homer‘s Iliad). Teachers,
if they have experience with Socratic Method, might be a bit more inquisitive than clergy,
but still tend to have a predetermined destination toward which their educational endeavors
point. Parents‘ alarm tends to thrust them into a caretaker mode that exacerbates the
normal separation conflicts young people have with their parents. Law enforcement
professionals tend to have a narrow area of concern (Were rules broken?) and think in
terms of rewards and punishments to motivate the youngster to do what adults desire.
These criticisms are not meant to suggest that theological argument, education, emotional
entreaty, or motivational analysis have no role in the goal of helping a youngster (or an
adult) involved in or flirting with a cultic or extremist group. I do believe, however, that
such actions have a better chance of success if they are based on an informed
understanding of how the person in question sees the world. Such understanding requires a
deep communication within a shared worldview or across different worldviews, which in turn
requires the patient courtesy, the methodological self-doubt, the ongoing respect of the
therapeutic process, even though the context of the communication is not overtly
psychotherapeutic.
Recommendation Three
Parents, teachers, clergy, law enforcement personnel and others who seek to
prevent young people or adults from following a path that leads toward cultic
entanglements or extremist violence should learn and cultivate the skills of deep,
respectful communication, which are so central to the process of behavioral and
belief change and communication across worldviews.
Recommendation Four
Cultic studies experts should develop resources and training programs designed to
teach helpers how to achieve the deep communication that underlies any attempt to
understand how others see the world.
Prevention
Kropveld (2004) emphasizes the importance of considering cultural, social, legal, and
political differences among countries in evaluating and designing preventive education
programs concerning cultic groups. Among the factors that must be considered are the
following:

Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 5, No. 2, 2006, Page 77
 The historical context (i.e., whether cult-related tragedies have occurred in the
country)
 The relationship between state and religion
 The privileges (if applicable) given to certain religious groups
 The presence or not of a state religion
 The state financing of certain religions
 The government‘s position regarding the cult phenomenon
 The impact of public and/or political pressure.
Cultural differences will influence governmental actions or inaction regarding the control or
suppression of cultic groups, the illegality of certain actions, the penalties for violations, and
the vigor with which a government may address the issue.
There are, however, certain areas in which cultural differences will play less of a role, given
that the society in question respects the basic human rights that are taken for granted in
most democracies. The primary area of such action is the education—inoculation, if you
will—of young people so as to make them less likely to be interested in, need, examine,
convert to, commit to, or become subservient to a cultic or extremist group.
There are several areas along the pathway to violence where the vulnerability of young
people to cultic or extremist groups could be decreased through preventive action.
Recommendation 5
Counseling and educational services designed to help young people develop more
effective coping skills to manage life challenges should receive greater attention and
support from governments and private foundations.
Comment: At 16 years old, a person is still considered a minor, a child, whose life is
regimented and directed by parents and other authorities. Only six years later (fewer
if the person does not attend college), that person will have graduated college and
may be expected to participate as an equal in the adult world of work, find a mate
and get married, and begin raising a family. That so many young people suffer from
feelings of inadequacy and depression is not surprising, given the stress they
experience moving so quickly from childhood to adulthood. During no time in life do
human beings assume so much increase in responsibility in so short a time span.
And yet, society pays relatively scant attention to the psychological needs of its
youth. An offering of more guidance and assistance to youth would not only reduce
their vulnerability to cultic and extremist groups, but would contribute to the
amelioration of many other social problems, as well.
Recommendation 6
Schools, religious institutions, and community organizations should support cultic
studies experts in the development of educational programs that make young people
in high school and college aware of the different types of cultic and extremist groups
they will encounter in the ideological marketplace.
Comment: So many groups present themselves as the ―only‖ pathway to God, the
―only‖ group led by a true prophet, the ―only‖ group that is truly doing God‘s work,
the ―only‖ group that can bring social justice to the world, the ―only‖ group that can
lead you to enlightenment in this lifetime. An educational program that discusses the
wide variety of groups in the marketplace and demonstrates how many of them
claim to be unique in virtually the same way and how many are not what they claim