Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 8, No. 2, 2009, Page 19
Carmen Almendros, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor in the Biological and Health Psychology
Department at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Her doctoral dissertation included four
theoretical and four empirical sections devoted to: psychological abuse in group contexts,
cult involvement leaving cults and psychological consequences of abusive group
membership. She is currently principal researcher of a project entitled: ―Psychological
abuse, influence and adaptation to violence in partner relationships‖ financed by the
Comunidad de Madrid and Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (CCG07-UAM/HUM-1942). She
was the 2005 recipient of ICSA's Margaret Singer Award, given in honor of her research into
the development of measures relevant to cultic studies.
José Antonio Carrobles, Ph.D., is Full Professor of Clinical and Health Psychology and
past Head of the Department of Biological and Health Psychology at the Autonomous
University of Madrid. His work focuses in the areas of Psychopathology and Clinical and
Health Psychology. He is Past President of the European Association for Behavioural &
Cognitive Therapies (EABCT). He has directed numerous Doctoral Theses and is author of an
important number and variety of articles and books in his areas of specialization. He has
organized and participated in numerous national and international psychology congresses,
among which stands out his participation as President of the Scientific Committee at the
"23rd International Congress of Applied Psychology" held in Madrid in 1994. He is member
of the Editorial Boards of several national and international journals.
Álvaro Rodríguez-Carballeira, Ph.D., is Professor of Social Psychology, Social
Movements, and Legal Psychology at the University of Barcelona (Spain). From 1999 to
2008 he was Director of the Social Psychology Department. During the 1980s, before and
after a 1985 internship at ICSA, he worked with families and victims affected by cult
membership. He then worked as a professor at the University of Barcelona, where he
completed a doctoral dissertation in 1991 on psychology of coercive persuasion. During
recent years he has extended this line of research, linking it to other contexts (e.g.,
domestic, work, school) where manipulation and psychological violence may occur. His
publications include the book, El Lavado de Cerebro: Psicología de la Persuasión Coercitiva.
(Brainwashing: Psychology of Coercive Persuasion).
Manuel Gámez-Guadix, M.S., is a Doctoral student in the Clinical and Health Psychology
Department at the Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain. His research interests include
parenting, marital conflict, and psychological abuse in intimate relationships and cultic
groups.
Correspondence: Carmen Almendros, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de
Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria de Cantoblanco – 28049 Madrid (Spain). E-mail:
carmen.almendros@uam.es.
This article is an electronic version of an article originally published in Cultic Studies Review 2009, Volume 8,
Number 2, pages 111-138. Please keep in mind that the pagination of this electronic reprint differs from that of the
bound volume. This fact could affect how you enter bibliographic information in papers that you may write.
Carmen Almendros, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor in the Biological and Health Psychology
Department at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Her doctoral dissertation included four
theoretical and four empirical sections devoted to: psychological abuse in group contexts,
cult involvement leaving cults and psychological consequences of abusive group
membership. She is currently principal researcher of a project entitled: ―Psychological
abuse, influence and adaptation to violence in partner relationships‖ financed by the
Comunidad de Madrid and Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (CCG07-UAM/HUM-1942). She
was the 2005 recipient of ICSA's Margaret Singer Award, given in honor of her research into
the development of measures relevant to cultic studies.
José Antonio Carrobles, Ph.D., is Full Professor of Clinical and Health Psychology and
past Head of the Department of Biological and Health Psychology at the Autonomous
University of Madrid. His work focuses in the areas of Psychopathology and Clinical and
Health Psychology. He is Past President of the European Association for Behavioural &
Cognitive Therapies (EABCT). He has directed numerous Doctoral Theses and is author of an
important number and variety of articles and books in his areas of specialization. He has
organized and participated in numerous national and international psychology congresses,
among which stands out his participation as President of the Scientific Committee at the
"23rd International Congress of Applied Psychology" held in Madrid in 1994. He is member
of the Editorial Boards of several national and international journals.
Álvaro Rodríguez-Carballeira, Ph.D., is Professor of Social Psychology, Social
Movements, and Legal Psychology at the University of Barcelona (Spain). From 1999 to
2008 he was Director of the Social Psychology Department. During the 1980s, before and
after a 1985 internship at ICSA, he worked with families and victims affected by cult
membership. He then worked as a professor at the University of Barcelona, where he
completed a doctoral dissertation in 1991 on psychology of coercive persuasion. During
recent years he has extended this line of research, linking it to other contexts (e.g.,
domestic, work, school) where manipulation and psychological violence may occur. His
publications include the book, El Lavado de Cerebro: Psicología de la Persuasión Coercitiva.
(Brainwashing: Psychology of Coercive Persuasion).
Manuel Gámez-Guadix, M.S., is a Doctoral student in the Clinical and Health Psychology
Department at the Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain. His research interests include
parenting, marital conflict, and psychological abuse in intimate relationships and cultic
groups.
Correspondence: Carmen Almendros, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de
Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria de Cantoblanco – 28049 Madrid (Spain). E-mail:
carmen.almendros@uam.es.
This article is an electronic version of an article originally published in Cultic Studies Review 2009, Volume 8,
Number 2, pages 111-138. Please keep in mind that the pagination of this electronic reprint differs from that of the
bound volume. This fact could affect how you enter bibliographic information in papers that you may write.
