Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 6, No. 2, 1989, Page 18
With one foot in the door, the recruit is encouraged to continue chanting, with the
explanation that the true benefits of the mantra can only be obtained if the individual
becomes spiritually pure. Spiritual purity, they are told, can only be obtained by studying
the Bhagavad Gita (a Hindu holy scripture) as interpreted by ISKCON‟s founder, A. C.
Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who ISKCON believes was the reincarnation of Lord
Krishna himself. Of course, only by becoming a member of ISKCON can one receive this
spiritual education.
After commencing a formal study of Krishna doctrine, the recruit – now a “lay member” of
ISKCON – is eventually pressured to make a formal and total commitment to Krishna. This
process, called “initiation,” involves: donating all material possessions to Krishna (i.e., to
ISKCON), formally adopting Krishna dietary and lifestyle regulations, shaving the head (for
males) leaving only a ponytail (the sika) in the back of the head, renunciation of maya
(outside “demonic” influences and sinful behaviors), living full-time in a Krishna temple or
other approved dwelling, vows of celibacy and sobriety, assignment to a personal guru (who
becomes one‟s spiritual master”) and adoption of an ISKCON (Hindu) name.
Full-time members (“initiates”) lead a highly regimented and ascetic life in which a typical
day is spent chanting the Krishna mantra (often for as long as seven hours each day), fund-
raising (Sankirtan), witnessing, and serving one‟s guru or temple president. Ironically, many
initiates (including Ken, the deprogrammee in my study) never complete their study of the
Gita, which helped lure them into full-time membership status to begin with.
Indoctrination, thought reform and coercion within ISKCON are accomplished by constant
chanting, which has the dual effect of inducing a hypnotic-like state and interfering with any
competing thoughts (“thought-stopping”), almost total milieu control, mystical
manipulations, and skillful use of guilt. According to Conway and Siegelman (1978, p.137),
of all the major cults, ISKCON seems best at promoting the hardest and clearest “snaps.”
Consciousness, Information Processing, and Deprogramming
Feldman (1985, 1986) utilized information processing theory to account for the cognitive
change modalities and intervention strategies of both the cognitive-behavioral and
Ericksonian schools of psychotherapy. Both schools of therapy, Feldman argued,
concentrate on changing cognitive maps or schema as the building blocks of behavior
change the difference, he contended, is that cognitive-behavior therapy focuses on
“conscious” thoughts and processes while Ericksonian therapy, with its emphasis on
hypnosis and trance utilization, focuses more on “unconscious” or “preconscious” processes.
In line with Neisser‟s and Erdelyi‟s (1974) conceptualizations of attention and information
capacity, Feldman proposed that attention is active and that information is processed on
both conscious and preconscious levels simultaneously (i.e., parallel processing), with
feedback between both systems. Cognitive maps or schemata that more generally guide
attention are both maintained and modified in this process, but not necessarily consciously.
Both Zeitlin (1980, 1985) and Hassan (1988) have emphasized unconscious and
preconscious as well as conscious information processes in the conversion and deconversion
of cultists, in part because they both received training in Ericksonian hypnotherapy and
Bandler and Grinter‟s (1975) expansion of Erickson‟s work, neurolinguistic programming.
Hassan believes that “the mind needs frames of reference in order to structure reality.
Change the frame of reference, and the information coming in will be interpreted in a
different way.” During cult conversion, the age-regressed, “child-like” recruit is placed in a
“situation where his senses are overloaded with noncoherent information, and the mind
[goes] “numb‟” (Hassan, 1988, p. 47). This process, Hassan wrote, if both conscious and
overt, and unconscious and covert.

Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 6, No. 2, 1989, Page 19
Information Processing, “Snapping,” and Deprogramming
Most deprogrammers I interviewed agreed that deprogrammings and exit counselings can
generally be classified by (1) the amount of time it takes for the cultist to deconvert and
reintegrate back into society, and (2) the presence or lack thereof of an identifiable
“snapping” phase.
“Snapping” is a term first popularized by Conway and Siegelman (1978). It purports to
denote a phase in brainwashing marked by pronounced information overload, when an
individual experiences a sudden and extensive change in world-view that results in a sudden
personality change. Snapping has also come to denote the time period of moment during a
deprogramming when, as Steven Hassan (1988) describes it, the cultist has “the
indescribable experience of [the] mind opening up, as if a light switch had been thrown”
(p.29). Often, the snap is actually preceded by “minisnaps” – periods throughout the
middle phase of a deprogramming when the cultist, if even for a few brief moments, is able
to entertain criticisms, doubts, or positive associations with personal history. For former
Moonist Hassan, the first of these minisnaps occurred on the second day of his own
deprogramming, as his father was driving him to see his mother:
My father turned around from the driver‟s seat and started to cry…
This is crazy,” he pleaded. “Tell me, what would you do, if your son, your
only son, went away for a weekend workshop and all of [a] sudden
disappeared, dropped out of college, quit work, and got involved with such a
controversial organization?” That was the first time since I had joined ]the
Unification Church] that – for even a moment – I allowed myself to think from
his perspective. (Hassan, 1988, pp. 27-28)
Occasionally, there is no single, identifiable snapping episode, but the cultist instead makes
a gradual and lengthy transition from cult mindset to renunciation over a period of weeks or
even months. This form of deconversion has been observed more frequently with
prolonged, less pressured exit counseling as opposed to time-intensive deprogrammings.
In Hassan‟s experiences as a deprogrammer and exit counselor, the process of deconversion
is centered around providing the cultist with missing information. The primary problem is
getting the cultist to attend to and seriously consider that information. The nine keys to
getting the cultist to reevaluate the cult, he claims, involve: (1) building rapport and trust,
(2) using goal-oriented communications marked by “an agenda to influence others,” (3)
developing models of identity (understanding the cultists‟ pre-cult and cultic personalities,
as well as the “typical” cultist‟s personality), (4) getting the person in touch with his pre-cult
identity, (5) getting the cult member to look at reality from many different perspectives
(e.g., consider alternative hypotheses), (6) side-step the thought-stopping process by
giving information in an indirect way (e.g., Ericksonian indirect suggestion), (7) visualize [to
the cultist] a happy future outside the cult to undo phobia indoctrination, and (9) offer the
cult member concrete definitions of mind control and characteristics of a destructive cult
(Hassan, 1988, pp. 148-170).
Deprogramming
The process of deprogramming, as Clark et. al. (1981), p. 63) describe it, involves a
“sometimes forced reawakening of the convert‟s old personality and an evaluation of his cult
experience.” The activity itself seems to vary somewhat, but usually involves three steps:
First, the cult member is physically separated (voluntarily or involuntarily) from the cult
milieu, and then is engaged in an intense discussion that may last from one to several days.
Finally, the member undergoes “rehabilitation.” Rehabilitation can involve spending several
weeks at a “rehab” center located away from the site of the deprogramming, and/or
ongoing mental health counseling. When conducted at a formal rehab center, this final step