Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 5, No. 2, 2006, Page 78
to be will make youth more informed consumers, more ―street-smart,‖ about the
―idealism‖ market. Such an educational program should NOT develop and discuss a
compendium of ―bad‖ groups. A ―black-list‖ approach is difficult to sustain because
groups change, and they exist on a wide spectrum from benign to highly destructive.
Moreover, any ―list‖ is sure to omit the majority of the thousands of groups that exist
and will become quickly out of date as new groups enter the marketplace. Instead,
the focus should be on a nonjudgmental presentation of the variety of groups,
movements, and organizations that young people will encounter in the ―ideological
marketplace.‖ The approach should be one of consumer education in which young
consumers are given advice on how to research and evaluate groups that might
capture their interest or attention. Conceptualizing the phenomenon as an
―ideological marketplace‖ will avoid religious freedom issues, for many of the groups
in this marketplace are political, educational, psychotherapeutic, or commercial.
Recommendation 7
Cultic studies experts need to further develop educational programs that help young
people in high school and college understand the subtle techniques of manipulative
socio-psychological influence employed by cultic and extremist groups and the
normal psychological processes, such as confirmatory bias, which can hinder their
capacity to make truly informed decisions.
Comment: Although some useful resources exist (e.g., Fellows, 2000), much more
needs to be done. It is especially important to place manipulative influence within a
broader cultural context and to link the educational efforts to social psychology
research (e.g., Cialdini, 1984). Young people need to better understand the ways in
which advertisers, for example, use influence techniques. They also need to better
understand how certain processes, such as confirmatory bias and rhetoric (in the
sense of persuasive communication), can interfere with the evaluation of
information.
Recommendation 8
Mainstream religions need to develop educational programs that improve spiritual
discernment among their members, particularly in regard to (a) the evaluation of
powerful inner experiences and how these can sometimes be engineered (b) the
processes of religious conversion and commitment building and how unscrupulous
leaders can mislead and exploit people who are experiencing religious change (c)
the recognition of arguments and appeals based on sophistry and (d) the
misinterpretation or misuse of scripture (e.g., the Bible, the Koran).
Comment: Programs that address issues of spiritual discernment will probably have
to be developed and implemented within religious organizations in countries that
have a sharp separation of church and state. In countries where this separation is
not so stark, governmental educational institutions may be able to take on this task.
Assistance
Usually the people who are most directly harmed as a result of an involvement with a cultic
or extremist group are the group members and their families. Helping professionals—
including mental health professionals, clergy, lawyers, and law enforcement personnel—are
sometimes indirectly distressed because they don‘t know what to do when families, former
group members, or current group members seek their assistance. The issue is complicated
by the fact that involved persons often do not conceptualize their problem as a ―cult‖ issue,
and they or their helpers may, as a consequence, neglect important dimensions of the
problem. Only a small percentage of former group members come to cult experts for
assistance, in part because there are so few cult experts. Therefore, the most efficient
to be will make youth more informed consumers, more ―street-smart,‖ about the
―idealism‖ market. Such an educational program should NOT develop and discuss a
compendium of ―bad‖ groups. A ―black-list‖ approach is difficult to sustain because
groups change, and they exist on a wide spectrum from benign to highly destructive.
Moreover, any ―list‖ is sure to omit the majority of the thousands of groups that exist
and will become quickly out of date as new groups enter the marketplace. Instead,
the focus should be on a nonjudgmental presentation of the variety of groups,
movements, and organizations that young people will encounter in the ―ideological
marketplace.‖ The approach should be one of consumer education in which young
consumers are given advice on how to research and evaluate groups that might
capture their interest or attention. Conceptualizing the phenomenon as an
―ideological marketplace‖ will avoid religious freedom issues, for many of the groups
in this marketplace are political, educational, psychotherapeutic, or commercial.
Recommendation 7
Cultic studies experts need to further develop educational programs that help young
people in high school and college understand the subtle techniques of manipulative
socio-psychological influence employed by cultic and extremist groups and the
normal psychological processes, such as confirmatory bias, which can hinder their
capacity to make truly informed decisions.
Comment: Although some useful resources exist (e.g., Fellows, 2000), much more
needs to be done. It is especially important to place manipulative influence within a
broader cultural context and to link the educational efforts to social psychology
research (e.g., Cialdini, 1984). Young people need to better understand the ways in
which advertisers, for example, use influence techniques. They also need to better
understand how certain processes, such as confirmatory bias and rhetoric (in the
sense of persuasive communication), can interfere with the evaluation of
information.
Recommendation 8
Mainstream religions need to develop educational programs that improve spiritual
discernment among their members, particularly in regard to (a) the evaluation of
powerful inner experiences and how these can sometimes be engineered (b) the
processes of religious conversion and commitment building and how unscrupulous
leaders can mislead and exploit people who are experiencing religious change (c)
the recognition of arguments and appeals based on sophistry and (d) the
misinterpretation or misuse of scripture (e.g., the Bible, the Koran).
Comment: Programs that address issues of spiritual discernment will probably have
to be developed and implemented within religious organizations in countries that
have a sharp separation of church and state. In countries where this separation is
not so stark, governmental educational institutions may be able to take on this task.
Assistance
Usually the people who are most directly harmed as a result of an involvement with a cultic
or extremist group are the group members and their families. Helping professionals—
including mental health professionals, clergy, lawyers, and law enforcement personnel—are
sometimes indirectly distressed because they don‘t know what to do when families, former
group members, or current group members seek their assistance. The issue is complicated
by the fact that involved persons often do not conceptualize their problem as a ―cult‖ issue,
and they or their helpers may, as a consequence, neglect important dimensions of the
problem. Only a small percentage of former group members come to cult experts for
assistance, in part because there are so few cult experts. Therefore, the most efficient
