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led, he concluded, to greatly heightened suggestibility as well as physical debilitation and
mental exhaustion. It might be noted that this approach is used regularly by police
personnel in questioning suspects. (See Ofshe [1989] for a description of law-enforcement
abuses.) We‟re all familiar (from television) with the starkly bare interrogation room that
promotes tension and anxiety and with the “good cop, bad cop” team of questioners.
The hope of salvation mentioned by Sargant was also the “carrot” used by such eminent
preachers as Jonathan Edwards in colonial New England and John Wesley in 18th-century
Britain --after they had aroused anxiety, feelings of guilt, conflicting loyalties, and
heightened group suggestibility. Again, this technique became familiar through the
portrayal of “Elmer Gantry.” In fact, Sargant asserted, the techniques used by the
Communists in Russia and Korea could be better understood if these religious uses were
studied. Of course, physical terror was used by these political groups in addition to the
massive psychological assault, as the latter process alone would have been too slow to
obtain control of hundreds of millions of people.
Both Sargant and Joost Meerloo, author of The Rape of the Mind (1956), point out,
moreover, that these techniques are also related to Pavlov‟s simple conditioning techniques.
One might also cite the use of Skinner‟s operant conditioning theory. In both situations,
reinforcement is heavily dependent upon the organism‟s behavior, with positive
reinforcement (from a simple affirmative nod to the excessive “love bombing” employed by
some cult members) given for all acceptable behavior and no reinforcement for contrary
behavior.
Sargant also quotes Richard Walker, author of China Under Communism, as identifying six
steps in the training of party workers who will transmit the message between the party and
the masses:
1. Training in an area isolated from family and friends
2. Fatigue --no opportunity for relaxation or reflection
3. Tension
4. Uncertainty --related to those who didn‟t measure up
5. Use of vicious language
6. Seriousness of the process --humor is forbidden (Sargant, 1957, pp. 165-166).
Does this sound suspiciously like what happened to those recruited by many of the cults in
the 1960s, „70s, and „80s? The first four steps certainly have been reported and
documented by thousands of former cult devotees. To some extent, military drill instructors
use modifications of these same techniques with new recruits in basic training. One ex-DI
told me, for example, that a major message conveyed in the training course for DIs was
that for the first two weeks no recruit can do anything correctly --even if he makes his bed
perfectly, exceeds the quota of push-ups, and so on. (You may recall seeing such scenes in
the film “An Officer and a Gentleman.”)
Depersonalization, Deindividualization, and the Search for Happiness
An essential part of cult indoctrination has been a kind of depersonalization, that is,
breaking down one‟s persona or identity in order to create a new one in the image of the
group and its leader. It‟s interesting to note how this was carried out by a Charles Manson
as well as a Jim Jones (Lindholm, 1990) and also, in earlier generations, by some convents
and seminaries with their novices. In the latter situations, however, novices usually not only
entered an order voluntarily and with knowledge of what was to come, but also had the
opportunity to withdraw if they found that they could not adapt to the strict religious life.

Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 8, No. 1, 1991, Page 29
According to Halperin, in discussing the meal served to potential recruits, “groups that place
a great emphasis on denigrating individuality must inevitably create a food which denies
individual taste” (1983, p. 227). The assumption of a common “uniform,” as with the Hare
Krishnas today, or the pooling of all clothing so that no individual is associated with a
particular item that will make him or her stand out among the others, is another aspect of
deindividualization.
Another approach, one that may be traced back to some of the early followers of Jesus and
other religious figures, is less threatening. It is, in fact, an appeal to the very human desire
to be happy. Snow and Machalek (1982) describe the appeal:
Two couples standing outside of a Los Angeles restaurant are asked by a
neatly dressed Caucasian female if they have ever heard of “Nam-Myoho-
Renge-Kya.” They look at her as if to say, “What are you talking about?”
Noting their confusion, the proselytizer asks if they want to be happy and
fulfill their dreams. They respond that they are quite content. The proselytizer
emphasizes that they could get whatever they want --mentally, physically, or
spiritually --if only they chanted. She then indicates how chanting has
provided her with greater meaning and purpose, enabled her to get better
grades in school, and improved her relationship with her parents. Their
response was still one of disinterest, so the proselytizer moves on in search of
other prospects. (1982, p. 15)
Perhaps the unique feature of this description is the readiness with which the proselytizer
appeared to move on. As in any other field that utilizes essentially sales techniques, some
practitioners are more persistent than others. Whether an itinerant salesman, a Hare
Krishna devotee seeking donations, or one of today‟s street beggars, some will move on
after one rebuff while others hang on hoping to change the target‟s mind through use of a
new argument or simple repetition.
We must consider as well the nature of the target. In times of stress and uncertainty, more
people are amenable to persuasion by someone who appears to have “the answers,” even if
this means accepting an undue measure of control. On a national scale, we‟ve seen this
happen time and time again from the period of the Exodus to modern-day Iran. On the
individual level, vulnerability to techniques of persuasion and control is particularly noted at
several points in development --late adolescence, early adulthood, and today in very late
adulthood. These are the times in a person‟s life cycle of major change and numerous
options. For those individuals who have not yet determined direction and who may not have
experience in decision-making in an amorphous situation, the invitation to a solution that
promises happiness and fulfillment is tempting indeed. Drawn in by the very effective
persuasive techniques of the recruiters and the “already committed” and increasingly
controlled by the practitioners of the organization, they, too, throw themselves into their
new group in a “thorough and totalistic manner” with all the zeal of the Crusaders of old.
Part of the attraction of cults (and other totalistic groups) may be their exclusivity: “Only we
will be saved!” or “We have the solutions to the world‟s problems!” Another attraction, at
least for social isolates, is the social network that is gained at once upon acceptance yet,
for the cult, it is also a means of controlling the new recruit‟s behavior. However,
acceptance by the group is dependent on total commitment to the group‟s ideas and on the
demonstration of such commitment by seeking to “reform,” that is, proselytize, others. The
refinement of the persuasive techniques, used without the physical terror imposed by an
Inquisitor, a Stalin, a Hitler, or an Imam, is such that it would be envied by a Mary Kay
distributor or a Madison Avenue advertising executive.