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.
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.
