Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 6, No. 2, 1989, Page 16
former methods of information processing (which are labeled “satanic” or “demonic”).
Hassan (1988, p. 65) also emphasized the role of information control and attention, or
“compartmentalized” information, as he termed it:
Information is the fuel we use to keep our minds working properly… People
are trapped in destructive cults because they are not only denied access to
critical information but also lack the properly functioning internal mechanisms
to process it. Such information control has a dramatic and devastating
impact (p.65).
Following their interviews with a number of former cultists, deprogrammers, and
neuroscientists, Conway and Siegelman (1978) hypothesized that cult conversion is the
result of the calculated manipulation of information, leading to information overload. They
offered considerable anecdotal evidence that cults enhance vulnerability to information
overload through the manipulation of the new recruit‟s milieu: e.g., sudden dietary changes
involving decreased protein lack of sleep isolation and removal to locations devoid of
familiar reference points constant affective and hence physiological stimulation and
programmed, child-like social interactions. Made vulnerable, recruits are then subjected to a
constant bombardment of radical ideas and beliefs. They are allowed no time to reflect, or
to check any of this new information against reality. The neurobiological drive to integrate
and make sense of these new experiences and information pushes the recruit to a crisis that
can only be resolved by a sudden, uncritical acceptance of the new belief system. The
recruit then undergoes a sudden personality change: HE OR SHE “SNAPS.”
Based in part on their finding that cultists who underwent deprogramming were
rehabilitated faster than those who walked out of cults without the information provided by
deprogrammers, Conway and Siegelman (1982) suggested that cults may have created a
new form of mental illness: “information disease.”
Altered State and Hypnosis/metacognition Models
In reading the accounts of a number of deprogrammed cultists (cf. Patrick &Dulack, 1976
Conway and Siegelman, 1978 Stoner and Parke, 1977 Underwood and Underwood, 1979
Freed, 1980), I was struck by their consistent descriptions of the processes of conversion
and subsequent immersion in their respective cults. They described a sense of “other-
worldliness,” marked by focused attention, distorted perceptions, stereotyped affects, and
reduced critical judgment. These factors led Clark and his associates (Clark et al., 1981)
Goldberg and Goldberg (1982) and other investigators (cf. Enroth, 1977 Conway and
Siegelman, 1978) to hypothesize that, within a context of social/milieu control and group
pressure, cult involvement induces a “trance-like” altered state of consciousness, similar in
many ways to hypnosis, characterized by heightened suggestibility, a narrowed focus of
awareness, increased dependency and enhanced role-taking.
Zeitlin (1985) likened the cult conversion process to the information-distorting and
attention-manipulation employed for therapeutic means in hypnotherapy. He described the
recruiter-initiate relationship as one that involves “hypnotic communication patterns” and
“structured encounters which are intended to generate certain prescribed sequences of
experiences” in the initiate, including “response attentiveness” (pp. 380-381).
Clark, et. al. (1981) also conceptualized cult conversion and membership maintenance as
due, in part, to hypnotic-like phenomena:
As acculturation proceeds…trance induction frequently becomes a formalized
and valued practice, brought on by chanting…meditation, or activities such as
speaking in tongues (p.55). Although, as in the conversion phase, trance
states continue to strengthen group attachments and to enhance the
former methods of information processing (which are labeled “satanic” or “demonic”).
Hassan (1988, p. 65) also emphasized the role of information control and attention, or
“compartmentalized” information, as he termed it:
Information is the fuel we use to keep our minds working properly… People
are trapped in destructive cults because they are not only denied access to
critical information but also lack the properly functioning internal mechanisms
to process it. Such information control has a dramatic and devastating
impact (p.65).
Following their interviews with a number of former cultists, deprogrammers, and
neuroscientists, Conway and Siegelman (1978) hypothesized that cult conversion is the
result of the calculated manipulation of information, leading to information overload. They
offered considerable anecdotal evidence that cults enhance vulnerability to information
overload through the manipulation of the new recruit‟s milieu: e.g., sudden dietary changes
involving decreased protein lack of sleep isolation and removal to locations devoid of
familiar reference points constant affective and hence physiological stimulation and
programmed, child-like social interactions. Made vulnerable, recruits are then subjected to a
constant bombardment of radical ideas and beliefs. They are allowed no time to reflect, or
to check any of this new information against reality. The neurobiological drive to integrate
and make sense of these new experiences and information pushes the recruit to a crisis that
can only be resolved by a sudden, uncritical acceptance of the new belief system. The
recruit then undergoes a sudden personality change: HE OR SHE “SNAPS.”
Based in part on their finding that cultists who underwent deprogramming were
rehabilitated faster than those who walked out of cults without the information provided by
deprogrammers, Conway and Siegelman (1982) suggested that cults may have created a
new form of mental illness: “information disease.”
Altered State and Hypnosis/metacognition Models
In reading the accounts of a number of deprogrammed cultists (cf. Patrick &Dulack, 1976
Conway and Siegelman, 1978 Stoner and Parke, 1977 Underwood and Underwood, 1979
Freed, 1980), I was struck by their consistent descriptions of the processes of conversion
and subsequent immersion in their respective cults. They described a sense of “other-
worldliness,” marked by focused attention, distorted perceptions, stereotyped affects, and
reduced critical judgment. These factors led Clark and his associates (Clark et al., 1981)
Goldberg and Goldberg (1982) and other investigators (cf. Enroth, 1977 Conway and
Siegelman, 1978) to hypothesize that, within a context of social/milieu control and group
pressure, cult involvement induces a “trance-like” altered state of consciousness, similar in
many ways to hypnosis, characterized by heightened suggestibility, a narrowed focus of
awareness, increased dependency and enhanced role-taking.
Zeitlin (1985) likened the cult conversion process to the information-distorting and
attention-manipulation employed for therapeutic means in hypnotherapy. He described the
recruiter-initiate relationship as one that involves “hypnotic communication patterns” and
“structured encounters which are intended to generate certain prescribed sequences of
experiences” in the initiate, including “response attentiveness” (pp. 380-381).
Clark, et. al. (1981) also conceptualized cult conversion and membership maintenance as
due, in part, to hypnotic-like phenomena:
As acculturation proceeds…trance induction frequently becomes a formalized
and valued practice, brought on by chanting…meditation, or activities such as
speaking in tongues (p.55). Although, as in the conversion phase, trance
states continue to strengthen group attachments and to enhance the
