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involved in deprogramming and exit-counseling, although he continues to engage in public
speaking on cult-related topics.
Following his deprogramming and subsequent two weeks at Unbound, a rehabilitation center
for former cultists, Ken Butler worked for approximately one year assisting on other
deprogrammings. My sources told me he was only moderately effective as a deprogrammer.
During part of that first year, Ken lived with his mother and saved the money he earned as
a deprogrammer until he could afford his own apartment. He legally changed his name to a
unique one with strong Jewish connotations, although to my knowledge he has not returned
to practicing Judaism The last I heard from Ken, he had worked at various jobs and was for
the moment somewhat settled in as a medical transport driver.
Ken Butter, the deprogrammee and former Krishna devotee, has remained outside of
ISKCON. He has remained unmarried, and seems to continue to have some interpersonal
difficulties with women. He continues to work as an ambulance driver and has also returned
to his first career love, photography, with hopes of becoming a professional photographer
some day.
Chapter IV
Discussion
The deprogramming of Ken Butler was primarily a cognitive and social-affiliative
intervention within a specific form of extended, intensive conversation. There were some
notable changes in content and group process over time in Ken's deprogramming. These
changes and shifts, some of which were discernible only through my qualitative analysis of
the deprogramming as a whole, suggested that Ken's deprogramming had different
modalities as well as phases. The information conveyed and eventually accepted, along with
the strong trust, rapport and affiliative bonds developed between the deprogrammers and
the cultist, combined to produce a dramatic change in Ken.
Anticipating the Conversation Analysis
In addition to the descriptive analysis, I performed a quantitative analysis of three
segments (the “Beginning,” “Snapping point” and “End”) of Ken's deprogramming. An article
in a later issue of Cultic Studies Journal will present this analysis. To briefly anticipate the
data I will present in this later article, the following summary statements can be made:
In the beginning stage of Ken's deprogramming, the deprogrammers were primarily focused
on providing information, questioning, agreeing (with Ken) and self-disclosing about their
own thoughts and experiences. For the cultist, the beginning was marked primarily by self-
disclosing, questioning the deprogrammers, giving information of his own, and quoting
ISKCON doctrine.
For the deprogrammers, the middle stage (the snap) was marked primarily by giving
information, self-disclosing, agreeing, and questioning. For the cultist, the middle phase was
marked by giving information, self-disclosing, citing doctrine and questioning.
For the deprogrammers, the end stage was marked primarily by giving information, self-
disclosing, agreeing and citing doctrine. The deprogrammer quoted ISKCON doctrine
primarily in order to point out inconsistencies with Hare Krishna behavior or to debunk it.
For the cultist, it was marked primarily by giving information, citing doctrine, self-disclosing,
and agreeing.
For all speakers during all stages, there was surprisingly little overt disagreeing, and few
statements that requested of demanded obedience of some sort.
Over the course of the deprogramming, there were some significant changes in the degree
of participation in the deprogramming, in discourse (conversation) style, in focus of

Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 6, No. 2, 1989, Page 79
attention, and in motility. These areas of interest were addressed by specific research
questions in my doctoral thesis, and will be discussed in a separate article.
What follows are some conclusions about Ken's deprogramming based on my qualitative
observations.
Summary of Deprogramming Process observations
Cognitive process. The cultist, Ken, entered the deprogramming with many suppressed
doubts, some missing information, and some information that was present but was
interpreted in an ISKCON context. Initially, the information presented to him had to do with
the deprogramming process itself-what to expect, who the deprogrammers were, what they
intended to do. In addition to having an affective impact (lowering his anxiety about the
immediate situation), the manner in which this information was relayed contradicted
ISKCON's statements about deprogrammers. On a social-affiliative level, this information
served to decrease his anxiety and set the stage for growing trust. On a cognitive level, the
immediate violation of Ken's expectations jarred his consciousness, and stimulated
information processing (Kahnemann, 1973).
Information processing and persuasion. As expected, the primary focus of the
deprogramming was on exchanging information both of an impersonal and a personal
nature. The content of the conversation reflected my impression that the cognitive and
social-affiliative realms were the ones in which I saw the greatest activity. The development
and maintenance of interpersonal rapport seemed intimately connected with the effective
communication of information relevant to the cult. Taken all together, the deprogrammers
appeared to employ a comprehensive persuasive strategy (Burgoon &Bettinghaus, 1980) in
which they skillfully utilized: (a) objective evidence, (b) a familiar message structure (e.g.,
common familiarity with ISKCON philosophy terminology, and membership), c) moderate
emotionalism (d) rewards, and (e) language of relative low intensity (with little
confrontation).
Shifts in attention and consciousness. Ken's attention tended to be more stable toward
the end of the deprogramming. As he stated, “flitting” tended to be his ideational
(attentional) style while in the cult, Ken's agreement at least temporarily to cease chanting
his rounds was a significant event in this deprogramming's cognitive process. This action
served to break the thought-stopping cycle, thereby removing the most active barrier to
information processing. As an autohypnotic technique, chanting may have also contributed
to Ken's “floating” state of consciousness. By ceasing his daily “rounds,” Ken changed in
attentional motility and increased in information processing, which thereby resulted in a
shift in consciousness.
Utilization of dissonance. As predicted by the deprogrammers I interviewed prior to Ken's
deprogramming, Ken's deprogrammers tended to ask him to reflect on his pre-cult life. Most
deprogrammers and exit counselors have acknowledged the importance of focusing on the
cultists personal history during deconversion (Hassan, 1988). In Ken's deprogramming,
these requests tended to come most often from Greg Stem, whose background was most
similar to Ken's. The request to reflect on the past served to generate tension and to
reconnect Ken with his own internal fund of information that contradicted ISKCON. For
example, after Ken admitted to having cheated someone out of his money, Greg asked him
if “that (was] something you would have done before you got involved” with ISKCON. When
Ken replied in the negative, Greg responded, “So that's something you picked up from
hanging around Krishnas ...how to con, to cheat.” This question reminded Ken that he had
violated his own ethical values (the ideals that led him to ISKCON in the first place), which
generated a moderate level of anxiety, enhanced his listening, and motivated him toward
change. The statement that immediately followed also served to confirm Ken's suspicions