Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 8, No. 2, 2009, Page 7
exit-counseling would tend to adopt these ―anti-cult‖ organizations, or coalitions of
opposition (Bromley, 1998 Wright, 1998), as their groups of reference, which would in turn
pressurize former members to verify their victimization so that they manifested greater
difficulties or psychopathology than those who abandoned the group by their own choice
(Lewis &Bromley, 1987). The former members would be encouraged to follow a ―social
script‖ defined by the anti-cult organization, which would highlight their role as ―victim‖ or
―survivor‖ in the context of a ―captivity narrative‖ (Wright, 1998). Finally, it has been
argued that these negative testimonies and evidence of victimization of the former
members, above all those who have been deprogrammed, constitute the main evidence that
shapes or influences public opinion regarding these groups (Bromley, 1998).
In this exploratory study, based on an examination of the perceptions of the former
members of these manipulative groups, we aim to investigate the motives and the
circumstances that led subjects to leave their groups. We also examine the extent to which
the perceptions of the former members regarding their reasons for leaving the group vary,
the degree of psychological abuse they experienced, and the level of psychological distress
shown by the participants, as a function of their method of exiting and the assistance they
might have received from CAAs.
Methods
Participants
Our study sample was composed of 101 Spanish individuals, self-identified as former
members of one of a total of 27 different abusive groups. The groups that they informed us
about differed in nature and included new age, religious, political, and commercial groups,
and so on. We contacted the subjects using data provided by associations that provide
information, education, or assistance in relation to psychologically manipulative groups
(32.7%) by professionals, primarily from the field of mental health although not necessarily
familiar with the subject in question (33.7%) and by former members—participants or
otherwise in our study—who put us in contact with other former members (33.6%). In
addition, 50 of these former members responded on a second occasion to one of the
instruments included in this study: the Spanish version of the Group Psychological Abuse
Scale.
Instruments
We prepared a background questionnaire ad hoc (Almendros, 2006), which collects
information about some of the subjects‘ socio-demographic data. We also recorded the
subjects‘ perceptions of various matters related to their former membership of the group:
method and reasons for leaving, contact with any CAA, search for psychological advice, and
positive or negative aspects of their experience. To determine their reasons for leaving, we
included the Cult Disaffiliation Factors Scale (CDF), based on the literature (Chambers et al.,
1994 Wright, 1983, 1984), which comprises 10 brief items with a range of response
choices from ―0 =Not at all‖ to ―5 =Completely‖.
We employed the Spanish version of the Group Psychological Abuse Scale (GPA-S
Almendros, Carrobles, Rodríguez-Carballeira &Jansà, 2004 Almendros, 2006). The original
GPA Scale (Chambers et al., 1994) is a standardized measure developed to evaluate
perceived psychological abuse in group settings. The Spanish version comprises 28 items
distributed in three subscales: Compliance (10 items), Mind Control (10 items), and
Exploitation (8 items). Each item is rated on a 5-point Likert scale (from ―1= not at all
characteristic‖ to ―5 =very characteristic‖), with a possible range of scores for the
Compliance and Mind Control subscales from 10 to 50 and from 8 to 40 for that of
Exploitation, with a range for the GPA overall scale from 28 to 140. Scores above 81 on the
global scale are considered positive, indicating that the subject perceived the group to be
exit-counseling would tend to adopt these ―anti-cult‖ organizations, or coalitions of
opposition (Bromley, 1998 Wright, 1998), as their groups of reference, which would in turn
pressurize former members to verify their victimization so that they manifested greater
difficulties or psychopathology than those who abandoned the group by their own choice
(Lewis &Bromley, 1987). The former members would be encouraged to follow a ―social
script‖ defined by the anti-cult organization, which would highlight their role as ―victim‖ or
―survivor‖ in the context of a ―captivity narrative‖ (Wright, 1998). Finally, it has been
argued that these negative testimonies and evidence of victimization of the former
members, above all those who have been deprogrammed, constitute the main evidence that
shapes or influences public opinion regarding these groups (Bromley, 1998).
In this exploratory study, based on an examination of the perceptions of the former
members of these manipulative groups, we aim to investigate the motives and the
circumstances that led subjects to leave their groups. We also examine the extent to which
the perceptions of the former members regarding their reasons for leaving the group vary,
the degree of psychological abuse they experienced, and the level of psychological distress
shown by the participants, as a function of their method of exiting and the assistance they
might have received from CAAs.
Methods
Participants
Our study sample was composed of 101 Spanish individuals, self-identified as former
members of one of a total of 27 different abusive groups. The groups that they informed us
about differed in nature and included new age, religious, political, and commercial groups,
and so on. We contacted the subjects using data provided by associations that provide
information, education, or assistance in relation to psychologically manipulative groups
(32.7%) by professionals, primarily from the field of mental health although not necessarily
familiar with the subject in question (33.7%) and by former members—participants or
otherwise in our study—who put us in contact with other former members (33.6%). In
addition, 50 of these former members responded on a second occasion to one of the
instruments included in this study: the Spanish version of the Group Psychological Abuse
Scale.
Instruments
We prepared a background questionnaire ad hoc (Almendros, 2006), which collects
information about some of the subjects‘ socio-demographic data. We also recorded the
subjects‘ perceptions of various matters related to their former membership of the group:
method and reasons for leaving, contact with any CAA, search for psychological advice, and
positive or negative aspects of their experience. To determine their reasons for leaving, we
included the Cult Disaffiliation Factors Scale (CDF), based on the literature (Chambers et al.,
1994 Wright, 1983, 1984), which comprises 10 brief items with a range of response
choices from ―0 =Not at all‖ to ―5 =Completely‖.
We employed the Spanish version of the Group Psychological Abuse Scale (GPA-S
Almendros, Carrobles, Rodríguez-Carballeira &Jansà, 2004 Almendros, 2006). The original
GPA Scale (Chambers et al., 1994) is a standardized measure developed to evaluate
perceived psychological abuse in group settings. The Spanish version comprises 28 items
distributed in three subscales: Compliance (10 items), Mind Control (10 items), and
Exploitation (8 items). Each item is rated on a 5-point Likert scale (from ―1= not at all
characteristic‖ to ―5 =very characteristic‖), with a possible range of scores for the
Compliance and Mind Control subscales from 10 to 50 and from 8 to 40 for that of
Exploitation, with a range for the GPA overall scale from 28 to 140. Scores above 81 on the
global scale are considered positive, indicating that the subject perceived the group to be
