Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 8, No. 1, 1991, Page 3
Cult Formation
Robert J. Lifton, M.D.
John Jay College
Abstract
Cults represent one aspect of a worldwide epidemic of ideological totalism, or
fundamentalism. They tend to be associated with a charismatic leader,
thought reform, and exploitation of members. Among the methods of thought
reform commonly used by cults are milieu control, mystical manipulation, the
demand for purity, a cult of confession, sacred science, loading the language,
doctrine over person, and dispensing of existence. The current historical
context of dislocation from organizing symbolic structures, decaying belief
systems concerning religion, authority, marriage, family, and death, and a
“protean style” of continuous psychological experimentation with the self is
conducive to the growth of cults. The use of coercion, as in certain forms of
“deprogramming,” to deal with the restrictions of individual liberty associated
with cults is inconsistent with the civil rights tradition. Yet legal intervention
may be indicated when specific laws are broken.
Two main concerns should inform our moral and psychological perspective on cults: the
dangers of ideological totalism, or what I would also call fundamentalism and the need to
protect civil liberties. There is now a worldwide epidemic of totalism and fundamentalism in
forms that are political, religious, or both. Fundamentalism is a particular danger in this age
of nuclear weapons, because it often includes a theology of Armageddon --a final battle
between good and evil. I have studied Chinese thought reform in the 1950s as well as
related practices in McCarthyite American politics and in certain training and educational
programs. I have also examined these issues in work with Vietnam veterans, who often
movingly rejected war-related totalism and more recently in a study of the psychology of
Nazi doctors.
Certain psychological themes which recur in these various historical contexts also arise in
the study of cults. Cults can be identified by three characteristics: 1) a charismatic leader
who increasingly becomes an object of worship as the general principles that may have
originally sustained the group lose their power 2) a process I call coercive persuasion or
thought reform 3) economic, sexual, and other exploitation of group members by the
leader and the ruling coterie.
Milieu Control
The first method characteristically used by ideological totalism is milieu control: the control
of all communication within a given environment. In such an environment individual
autonomy becomes a threat to the group. There is an attempt to manage an individual‟s
inner communication. Milieu control is maintained and expressed by intense group process,
continuous psychological pressure, and isolation by geographical distance, unavailability of
transportation, or even physical restraint. Often the group creates an increasingly intense
sequence of events, such as seminars, lectures and encounters, which makes leaving
extremely difficult, both physically and psychologically. Intense milieu control can
contribute to a dramatic change of identity which I call “doubling”: the formation of a
second self which lives side by side with the former one, often for a considerable time.
When the milieu control is lifted, elements of the earlier self may be reasserted.
Cult Formation
Robert J. Lifton, M.D.
John Jay College
Abstract
Cults represent one aspect of a worldwide epidemic of ideological totalism, or
fundamentalism. They tend to be associated with a charismatic leader,
thought reform, and exploitation of members. Among the methods of thought
reform commonly used by cults are milieu control, mystical manipulation, the
demand for purity, a cult of confession, sacred science, loading the language,
doctrine over person, and dispensing of existence. The current historical
context of dislocation from organizing symbolic structures, decaying belief
systems concerning religion, authority, marriage, family, and death, and a
“protean style” of continuous psychological experimentation with the self is
conducive to the growth of cults. The use of coercion, as in certain forms of
“deprogramming,” to deal with the restrictions of individual liberty associated
with cults is inconsistent with the civil rights tradition. Yet legal intervention
may be indicated when specific laws are broken.
Two main concerns should inform our moral and psychological perspective on cults: the
dangers of ideological totalism, or what I would also call fundamentalism and the need to
protect civil liberties. There is now a worldwide epidemic of totalism and fundamentalism in
forms that are political, religious, or both. Fundamentalism is a particular danger in this age
of nuclear weapons, because it often includes a theology of Armageddon --a final battle
between good and evil. I have studied Chinese thought reform in the 1950s as well as
related practices in McCarthyite American politics and in certain training and educational
programs. I have also examined these issues in work with Vietnam veterans, who often
movingly rejected war-related totalism and more recently in a study of the psychology of
Nazi doctors.
Certain psychological themes which recur in these various historical contexts also arise in
the study of cults. Cults can be identified by three characteristics: 1) a charismatic leader
who increasingly becomes an object of worship as the general principles that may have
originally sustained the group lose their power 2) a process I call coercive persuasion or
thought reform 3) economic, sexual, and other exploitation of group members by the
leader and the ruling coterie.
Milieu Control
The first method characteristically used by ideological totalism is milieu control: the control
of all communication within a given environment. In such an environment individual
autonomy becomes a threat to the group. There is an attempt to manage an individual‟s
inner communication. Milieu control is maintained and expressed by intense group process,
continuous psychological pressure, and isolation by geographical distance, unavailability of
transportation, or even physical restraint. Often the group creates an increasingly intense
sequence of events, such as seminars, lectures and encounters, which makes leaving
extremely difficult, both physically and psychologically. Intense milieu control can
contribute to a dramatic change of identity which I call “doubling”: the formation of a
second self which lives side by side with the former one, often for a considerable time.
When the milieu control is lifted, elements of the earlier self may be reasserted.
