Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 9, No. 1, 2010, Page 121
development. Are these only individuals who already have a healthy sense of creative self
before they join a group with dominant hegemony? Why do some cult members never give
birth to an sCS but instead merge with the cult leader‘s views about creativity or obscure
their own creative selves? Does obscuring the creative self result in a weak and
underdeveloped creative self when one leaves the cult? Do all cult members who birth an
sCS in the cult emerge with an SCS? This emerging idea also raises the question of how
individuals who birth an sCS under socially restricted situations not only develop greater
creativity and resilience to hegemonic forces when freed from social restrictions but also are
less influenced by powerful people and repressive situations they encounter later in life.
How influential is the birth of an sCS on the decision to leave a cult and/or the success of
leaving? This study also points to the need for further study about cult members who use
only the peripheral route of response and choose to remain in a group. What happens to
their creative expression? We open the discussion for more in-depth exploration of the birth
and development of the sCS in different social environments and the expressions of the SCS
after one achieves freedom from oppressive environments.
Endnote
1 Acknowledgements: We want to thank the editors for their thoughtful and helpful comments, which
greatly contributed to the clarity of the conceptual model described in this paper.
References
Ajemian, S. (2005). The Children of God cult aka The Family. Self-publication.
Bainbridge, W. S. (2002). The endtime family: Children of God. Albany, NY: State University of New
York Press.
Becker, H. S. (1963). Outsiders: Studies in the sociology of deviance. New York: The Free Press.
Berger, A. A. (1995). Cultural criticism: A primer of key concepts. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Publications.
Berger, P., and T. Luckmann. (1966). The social construction of reality: A treatise in the sociology of
knowledge. New York: Doubleday.
Berlin, J. (1988). Rhetoric and ideology in the writing class, in Susan Miller (Ed.), The Norton book of
composition studies. New York: W. W. Norton &Company.
Blumer, H. (1969). Symbolic interactionism. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Boeri, M. W. (2005). The Children of God/The Family, in C. Manning and P. Zuckerman (Eds.), Sex
and Religion (pp. 160–180). Belmont, CA: Thomson-Wadsworth.
Chancellor, J. D. (2000). Life in The Family: An oral history of the Children of God. Syracuse, NY:
Syracuse University Press.
Charmaz, K. (2006). The power of names. Journal of Ethnography 34, 396–399.
Cooley, C. H. (1902). Human nature and the social order. New York: Scribner's.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996). Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention. New
York: Harper Perennial.
Dictionary.com. Accessed online at http://dictionary.reference.com/
Elshtain, J. B. (2008). Sovereignty: God, state, and self. New York: Basic Books.
Foucault, M. (1980). Power/Knowledge. Brighton: Harvester.
Goffman, E. (1959). Presentation of self in everyday life. Garden City, New York: Anchor.
Goffman, E. (1961). Asylums: Essays on the social situation of mental patients and other inmates.
Chicago: Aldine.
Goode, Erich. (2001). Drugs in American society (66th edition). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Gramsci, A. (1935, 1971). Selections from the prison notebooks. International Publishers.
Griffin, E. (2006). A first look at communication theory. New York: McGraw Hill.
Hall, S. (1996). The problem of ideology: Marxism without guarantees, in D. Morley and K. Chen
(Eds.), Critical dialogues in cultural studies. London: Routledge.
Hall, S. (1997). Representation: Cultural representations and signifying practices. London: Sage.
International Conference on AIDS. Jul 9–14 13: abstract no. TuPeE3972.
Hubbard, L. R. (2001). Science of survival. Los Angeles: Bridge Publications.
James, W. (1950). The principles of psychology. Mineola, NY: Dover.
Kent, S. A. 1994. Misattribution and social control in the Children of God. Journal of Religion and
Health, 33:29–43.
development. Are these only individuals who already have a healthy sense of creative self
before they join a group with dominant hegemony? Why do some cult members never give
birth to an sCS but instead merge with the cult leader‘s views about creativity or obscure
their own creative selves? Does obscuring the creative self result in a weak and
underdeveloped creative self when one leaves the cult? Do all cult members who birth an
sCS in the cult emerge with an SCS? This emerging idea also raises the question of how
individuals who birth an sCS under socially restricted situations not only develop greater
creativity and resilience to hegemonic forces when freed from social restrictions but also are
less influenced by powerful people and repressive situations they encounter later in life.
How influential is the birth of an sCS on the decision to leave a cult and/or the success of
leaving? This study also points to the need for further study about cult members who use
only the peripheral route of response and choose to remain in a group. What happens to
their creative expression? We open the discussion for more in-depth exploration of the birth
and development of the sCS in different social environments and the expressions of the SCS
after one achieves freedom from oppressive environments.
Endnote
1 Acknowledgements: We want to thank the editors for their thoughtful and helpful comments, which
greatly contributed to the clarity of the conceptual model described in this paper.
References
Ajemian, S. (2005). The Children of God cult aka The Family. Self-publication.
Bainbridge, W. S. (2002). The endtime family: Children of God. Albany, NY: State University of New
York Press.
Becker, H. S. (1963). Outsiders: Studies in the sociology of deviance. New York: The Free Press.
Berger, A. A. (1995). Cultural criticism: A primer of key concepts. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Publications.
Berger, P., and T. Luckmann. (1966). The social construction of reality: A treatise in the sociology of
knowledge. New York: Doubleday.
Berlin, J. (1988). Rhetoric and ideology in the writing class, in Susan Miller (Ed.), The Norton book of
composition studies. New York: W. W. Norton &Company.
Blumer, H. (1969). Symbolic interactionism. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Boeri, M. W. (2005). The Children of God/The Family, in C. Manning and P. Zuckerman (Eds.), Sex
and Religion (pp. 160–180). Belmont, CA: Thomson-Wadsworth.
Chancellor, J. D. (2000). Life in The Family: An oral history of the Children of God. Syracuse, NY:
Syracuse University Press.
Charmaz, K. (2006). The power of names. Journal of Ethnography 34, 396–399.
Cooley, C. H. (1902). Human nature and the social order. New York: Scribner's.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996). Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention. New
York: Harper Perennial.
Dictionary.com. Accessed online at http://dictionary.reference.com/
Elshtain, J. B. (2008). Sovereignty: God, state, and self. New York: Basic Books.
Foucault, M. (1980). Power/Knowledge. Brighton: Harvester.
Goffman, E. (1959). Presentation of self in everyday life. Garden City, New York: Anchor.
Goffman, E. (1961). Asylums: Essays on the social situation of mental patients and other inmates.
Chicago: Aldine.
Goode, Erich. (2001). Drugs in American society (66th edition). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Gramsci, A. (1935, 1971). Selections from the prison notebooks. International Publishers.
Griffin, E. (2006). A first look at communication theory. New York: McGraw Hill.
Hall, S. (1996). The problem of ideology: Marxism without guarantees, in D. Morley and K. Chen
(Eds.), Critical dialogues in cultural studies. London: Routledge.
Hall, S. (1997). Representation: Cultural representations and signifying practices. London: Sage.
International Conference on AIDS. Jul 9–14 13: abstract no. TuPeE3972.
Hubbard, L. R. (2001). Science of survival. Los Angeles: Bridge Publications.
James, W. (1950). The principles of psychology. Mineola, NY: Dover.
Kent, S. A. 1994. Misattribution and social control in the Children of God. Journal of Religion and
Health, 33:29–43.
