Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 8, No. 3, 2009, Page 41
surely our brains can also be tampered with by others who have influence over us. This new
science serves us in two ways:
First, it will help substantiate our stance that, whatever we may want to call it, the process
of brainwashing does exist. That people can be and are changed through the concerted
efforts of cultic systems of influence and control.
When I wrote in a poem shortly after leaving my cult, ―They took my brain and made me
something other than I wanted to be…,‖39 I didn‘t have the scientific words for it then, but I
knew I‘d been brainwashed—and I knew I had done it to others, as well.
Second, neuroplasticity research gives us new ways to understand and study the recovery
process after someone leaves a cult.
I conclude with a challenge and a hope. Cults come in all sizes and shapes, with a variety of
beliefs and practices. But they aren‘t really mysterious, as the media sometimes implies,
leaving us with bewildering sound bites rather than substantive explorations that would
shed light and bring clarity. We have some long-standing definitions and a set of
characteristics that can be associated with these groups. Let‘s stand by them. Let‘s use
them. Let‘s be the ones to shed light. If a 16-year-old boy in London wasn‘t intimidated by
scare tactics, don‘t you be either.
We can‘t shy away from the new developments, such as in neuroscience, but neither should
we forget the foundational works of Robert Jay Lifton, Edgar Schein, and Margaret Thaler
Singer. The work of Bruce Perry40 is worthy of our attention. And, of course, we must not
ignore the basic social-psychological explanations emanating from Asch, Milgram, Janis,
Goffman, Cialdini, Zablocki, myself, and others.
Cults don‘t really do anything new or different from what‘s been done for eons. They are
just very good at packaging influence and control in a very deliberate way. I believe it is our
responsibility as a movement, and vitally important, to train and nurture the next
generation of scholars and practitioners to meet this challenge.
End Notes
[1] This article is adapted from the paper given as the Keynote Address at the annual meeting of the
International Cultic Studies Association, Philadelphia, PA, June 27, 2008. The article originally
appeared in the Jonestown Report, published by The Jonestown Institute at
http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/. Copyright ã 2008 by Janja Lalich. Do not cite or reproduce without
permission of the author. Contact: Janja Lalich, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology, California State
University, Chico, Chico, CA 95929-0445 jlalich@csuchico.edu
[2] This section of the presentation honoring people in the field of cultic studies has been deleted from
this version of the Keynote Address.
[3] Lalich, Janja. Bounded Choice: True Believers and Charismatic Cults. Berkeley: University of
California Press, 2004.
[4] Isaacson, Barry. ―The secret letters of the Jonestown death cult.‖ The Spectator (UK), May 14,
2008.
[5] Singer, Margaret Thaler, with Janja Lalich. Cults in Our Midst. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass,
1995.
[6] Lalich. Bounded Choice, p. 10.
[7] Mayer, Jean-Francois. ―‗Our Terrestrial Journey Is Coming to an End‘: The Last Voyage of the Solar
Temple,‖ Nova Religio, 1999, 2(2), pp. 172–196
[8] Lalich, Bounded Choice.
[9] Ibid., p. 12.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Associated Press. ―Manson follower Van Houten denied parole for 18th time.‖ Enterprise-Record
(Chico, CA), August 30, 2007.
[12] Taylor, Michael. ―SLA‘s Legacy a Violent Void.‖ San Francisco Chronicle, November 11, 2002, pp.
A1, A12.
surely our brains can also be tampered with by others who have influence over us. This new
science serves us in two ways:
First, it will help substantiate our stance that, whatever we may want to call it, the process
of brainwashing does exist. That people can be and are changed through the concerted
efforts of cultic systems of influence and control.
When I wrote in a poem shortly after leaving my cult, ―They took my brain and made me
something other than I wanted to be…,‖39 I didn‘t have the scientific words for it then, but I
knew I‘d been brainwashed—and I knew I had done it to others, as well.
Second, neuroplasticity research gives us new ways to understand and study the recovery
process after someone leaves a cult.
I conclude with a challenge and a hope. Cults come in all sizes and shapes, with a variety of
beliefs and practices. But they aren‘t really mysterious, as the media sometimes implies,
leaving us with bewildering sound bites rather than substantive explorations that would
shed light and bring clarity. We have some long-standing definitions and a set of
characteristics that can be associated with these groups. Let‘s stand by them. Let‘s use
them. Let‘s be the ones to shed light. If a 16-year-old boy in London wasn‘t intimidated by
scare tactics, don‘t you be either.
We can‘t shy away from the new developments, such as in neuroscience, but neither should
we forget the foundational works of Robert Jay Lifton, Edgar Schein, and Margaret Thaler
Singer. The work of Bruce Perry40 is worthy of our attention. And, of course, we must not
ignore the basic social-psychological explanations emanating from Asch, Milgram, Janis,
Goffman, Cialdini, Zablocki, myself, and others.
Cults don‘t really do anything new or different from what‘s been done for eons. They are
just very good at packaging influence and control in a very deliberate way. I believe it is our
responsibility as a movement, and vitally important, to train and nurture the next
generation of scholars and practitioners to meet this challenge.
End Notes
[1] This article is adapted from the paper given as the Keynote Address at the annual meeting of the
International Cultic Studies Association, Philadelphia, PA, June 27, 2008. The article originally
appeared in the Jonestown Report, published by The Jonestown Institute at
http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/. Copyright ã 2008 by Janja Lalich. Do not cite or reproduce without
permission of the author. Contact: Janja Lalich, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology, California State
University, Chico, Chico, CA 95929-0445 jlalich@csuchico.edu
[2] This section of the presentation honoring people in the field of cultic studies has been deleted from
this version of the Keynote Address.
[3] Lalich, Janja. Bounded Choice: True Believers and Charismatic Cults. Berkeley: University of
California Press, 2004.
[4] Isaacson, Barry. ―The secret letters of the Jonestown death cult.‖ The Spectator (UK), May 14,
2008.
[5] Singer, Margaret Thaler, with Janja Lalich. Cults in Our Midst. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass,
1995.
[6] Lalich. Bounded Choice, p. 10.
[7] Mayer, Jean-Francois. ―‗Our Terrestrial Journey Is Coming to an End‘: The Last Voyage of the Solar
Temple,‖ Nova Religio, 1999, 2(2), pp. 172–196
[8] Lalich, Bounded Choice.
[9] Ibid., p. 12.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Associated Press. ―Manson follower Van Houten denied parole for 18th time.‖ Enterprise-Record
(Chico, CA), August 30, 2007.
[12] Taylor, Michael. ―SLA‘s Legacy a Violent Void.‖ San Francisco Chronicle, November 11, 2002, pp.
A1, A12.
