Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 6, No. 1, 1989, Page 34
sufficient quantity in any group, must evoke concern, and to indicate possible means for
examining and evaluating new groups and organizations.
Health
The salvation promised in the new groups includes, in some cases, physical and spiritual
recovery and the transfer of supernatural or superhuman powers/qualities. Physical health
is often defined in the new groups as dependent upon purity of the soul, and mental health
is defined as a consequence of heeding the dictates of the group or of following the path laid
out by its leaders. In some of the groups there is opposition to conventional mental therapy,
and the attitude towards the accepted principles of medicine may be one of contempt and
scorn.
Members of these groups are often denied adequate mental, psychological, or psychiatric
care, and in some of the groups ordinary physical medical care is not given. There are
reasonable grounds for the claim that the groups often show contempt for elementary rules
of preventive medicine.
In some of these groups techniques and means are employed which by themselves have
direct influence on the mental state and on the personality in general. These techniques and
means are employed on all the new recruits/members, apparently regardless of the
individual starting point and without consideration of potential risks.
Most of the instructors in the new groups are not skilled professionals in the discipline of
mental health and are not capable of discerning potential damage which may be caused by
their actions. There are a number of known cases of hospitalization and severe mental
reactions among members in these groups.
There are reasons to believe that actions of a direct and specific medical/therapeutic nature,
such as hypnosis, are employed in some of these groups in conjunction with many other
methods of acculturation, such as: group pressure, physical and cultural isolation (no
newspapers, books, TV, etc.), physiological deprivation (little food or sleep), conceptual
confusion (the use of a private esoteric vocabulary which distorts the accepted meaning of
words and concepts), “noise” immersion (speeches, tapes, conversations and
“confessions”), screening of information (on the way to achieving acculturation), fraudulent
philosophy (towards the recruit), and more. Some of these means, even if each one on its
own does not carry the potential for a significant change in mental balance and personality,
may, when activated simultaneously at a high intensity, be a contributing and triggering
element in such a metamorphosis. If these methods involve hypnosis or psychological
treatment applied by unqualified individuals, then this is a violation of the law.
Family and friends of cult members told the Committee that when they tried to talk with
relatives and friends involved in these groups, in order to ascertain the change in their lives
and the ideology guiding their new direction, they often came up against a blank wall. Very
long repetitious speeches containing little information, repeating themselves time and again,
or containing a collection of ideas which seemed confused and baffling were a common
occurrence. When conversation did occur, it was characterized by a lack of responsiveness
(irrelevant answers), lack of reaction to new information, impatience, a monotone response
to emotional stimuli, and prolonged obtuseness or, alternatively, sustained euphoria. This
condition was broken when skepticism or criticism was expressed, which in turn often
evinced anger and/or blunt accusations and/or cutting off contact.
What some of the groups describe as eternal happiness, ultimate serenity, security, and the
fulfillment of personal potential, is often described by the critics of these groups as a
worrying metamorphosis of the personality.
sufficient quantity in any group, must evoke concern, and to indicate possible means for
examining and evaluating new groups and organizations.
Health
The salvation promised in the new groups includes, in some cases, physical and spiritual
recovery and the transfer of supernatural or superhuman powers/qualities. Physical health
is often defined in the new groups as dependent upon purity of the soul, and mental health
is defined as a consequence of heeding the dictates of the group or of following the path laid
out by its leaders. In some of the groups there is opposition to conventional mental therapy,
and the attitude towards the accepted principles of medicine may be one of contempt and
scorn.
Members of these groups are often denied adequate mental, psychological, or psychiatric
care, and in some of the groups ordinary physical medical care is not given. There are
reasonable grounds for the claim that the groups often show contempt for elementary rules
of preventive medicine.
In some of these groups techniques and means are employed which by themselves have
direct influence on the mental state and on the personality in general. These techniques and
means are employed on all the new recruits/members, apparently regardless of the
individual starting point and without consideration of potential risks.
Most of the instructors in the new groups are not skilled professionals in the discipline of
mental health and are not capable of discerning potential damage which may be caused by
their actions. There are a number of known cases of hospitalization and severe mental
reactions among members in these groups.
There are reasons to believe that actions of a direct and specific medical/therapeutic nature,
such as hypnosis, are employed in some of these groups in conjunction with many other
methods of acculturation, such as: group pressure, physical and cultural isolation (no
newspapers, books, TV, etc.), physiological deprivation (little food or sleep), conceptual
confusion (the use of a private esoteric vocabulary which distorts the accepted meaning of
words and concepts), “noise” immersion (speeches, tapes, conversations and
“confessions”), screening of information (on the way to achieving acculturation), fraudulent
philosophy (towards the recruit), and more. Some of these means, even if each one on its
own does not carry the potential for a significant change in mental balance and personality,
may, when activated simultaneously at a high intensity, be a contributing and triggering
element in such a metamorphosis. If these methods involve hypnosis or psychological
treatment applied by unqualified individuals, then this is a violation of the law.
Family and friends of cult members told the Committee that when they tried to talk with
relatives and friends involved in these groups, in order to ascertain the change in their lives
and the ideology guiding their new direction, they often came up against a blank wall. Very
long repetitious speeches containing little information, repeating themselves time and again,
or containing a collection of ideas which seemed confused and baffling were a common
occurrence. When conversation did occur, it was characterized by a lack of responsiveness
(irrelevant answers), lack of reaction to new information, impatience, a monotone response
to emotional stimuli, and prolonged obtuseness or, alternatively, sustained euphoria. This
condition was broken when skepticism or criticism was expressed, which in turn often
evinced anger and/or blunt accusations and/or cutting off contact.
What some of the groups describe as eternal happiness, ultimate serenity, security, and the
fulfillment of personal potential, is often described by the critics of these groups as a
worrying metamorphosis of the personality.
