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such groups thus feel in danger of being victimized by political leaders, public institutions,
the police, and anyone who has some level of institutionalized authority. Feeling constantly
threatened, they strongly believe they must protect themselves against outside attack.
Leadership
Usually, the leader rules as a plenipotentiary master who exercises power in a solitary
fashion, although he may choose a select few to assist him in his work. In extreme cases,
the leader will have total control over the group as well as over all aspects of each
individual‘s life. But even in less extreme cases, the authority of the leader is never
contested since the members often regard him as an earthly god. As a result of this
attribution of godlike wisdom and authority to the leader, he is usually the focus of the
group‘s life.
The leader usually makes all decisions, from the most important to the most banal.
However, when this is not feasible because of the large size of the community, decisions
made by others are provisional, as the leader can overturn each for whatever reason. As he
exercises power in a totalitarian fashion, he usually wants to be informed of all that goes on
among the members. Moreover, he may tend to establish a coercive mode of relating to his
followers, sometimes to the extent of being tyrannical and frequently resorting to the use of
sanctions or even harsh physical punishment.
Also, the imagery surrounding the leader will often present him not only as the spiritual
father of all, but as their biological father as well. This idealized vision of the leader gives
rise to legends about his birth and exceptional childhood, legends that he encourages and
uses as tools to control or dominate his community.
Membership
Total submission to the leader‘s authority is expected from members in such groups. In this
sense, members fully accept to restrain their own will, surrendering themselves to their
leader‘s commands, whims, and wishes. Since the leader is viewed as an earthly god,
members often feel privileged to serve him. Loyalty to the leader is hence a most important
virtue for each individual member and is also viewed as the most important group value.
Although social status, wealth, or personal prestige of individual members may be important
in certain groups because they enhance the prestige of the leader and hence of the whole
group, often the total number of members is more important than the prestige or talents of
individual members. Also, since the size of the group is often seen as a symbol of the
leader‘s worth, recruitment of new members is often emphasized. Competent recruiters are
consequently usually highly valued members.
Children
Children in such groups must often meet high standards of conduct. Since immaturity is
sometimes interpreted as maliciousness, children are often scolded and publicly rebuked.
Moreover, the leader may feel jealous of the attention parents give to children, often
expecting that all attention be concentrated on him. When this happens, parents and
guardians may enforce very strict codes of conduct on young children for fear that their own
loyalty and devotion to the leader may be put in doubt. In such a context, children can be at
risk of severe maltreatment aimed at repressing their infantile traits. Furthermore,
interpreting infantile traits and immaturity as something bad can make the leader and even
members at large view a particular child as an evil incarnate, rendering that particular child
very vulnerable to being severely maltreated and neglected by many if not most members
of the community.
In order to ward off fear that children could potentially disrupt the group‘s functioning and,
more importantly, weaken their parents‘ loyalty to the leader, some groups test the

Cultic Studies Journal, Volume 17, 2000, Page 103
children‘s faith in the leader. Through such tests, children are expected to show that they,
like the adult members, have unfailing confidence in the leader‘s wisdom and are willing to
blindly put their fate in his hands. When a community lives in fear of outside attack, these
tests of loyalty can become abusive, either because such trials are evidently out of the
children's reach, thereby condemning them to failure, or because they put children at risk of
injury, tax their health, or hinder development. Indeed, the more the group projects
maliciousness onto the outside world, the more such a group is liable to become intolerant
toward children, for childlike manifestations are interpreted as signs of failing loyalty to the
leader. In such a context, if a child does not obviously show that he is totally devoted to the
leader, he is at risk of being seen as an internal enemy, a potential danger to the leader‘s
and the group‘s survival.
Although many children may tolerate such social pressure, some are unable to bear the
strain or the demands of the group. Their weaknesses or failures can cause such children to
become scapegoats. In the more extreme philosophy of survival groups, this can lead to
serious physical punishment or severe deprivation of emotional and biological needs. In one
small group of this type in the province of Quebec, physical punishment and deprivation
became so harsh on specific children that some died. This, however, appears to be a rare
occurrence.
Rituals
Group rituals appear to be of the highest importance in these communities, usually playing a
central role in group life. More specifically, rituals performed in group settings serve to
cement devotion and loyalty toward the leader. Group rituals are often organized around the
spiritual attributes, discourse, or feats of the leader. Hence, they are sequenced in such a
manner as to progress toward a paroxysm in the ceremony, at which time the leader
appears before the members, who by then are anxiously awaiting his arrival.
Loyalty toward the leader is often an important theme in many rituals in which individual
members or sub-groups publicly testify to their devotion to him. When the leader fears the
group‘s loyalty has diminished, he may order a particular ritual in which he proceeds to
demonstrate his powers or even godlike attributes. For instance, Jim Jones would conduct
miraculous healings of cancerous tumors --now proven to have been staged --in the same
manner as Joe DiMambro of the Order of the Solar Temple staged performances of
omnipotent psychic powers. Since in a philosophy of survival group, members, and often
even more so the leader, feel endangered, group rituals are used to motivate members and
demonstrate the group‘s strength while helping to keep anxiety and fear at tolerable levels.
These hidden functions of rituals also explain why it becomes imperative that all members,
whether children or adults, attend all group rituals. Members fear that their absence may
be interpreted as an expression of disloyalty or as a sign of the group‘s weakness in the face
of outside enemies.
Doctrine
Usually, a group adhering to a philosophy of survival attaches more importance to the
leader of the group than to the doctrine. The leader‘s strengths, his abilities, his charm, and
his worth as a protector of his people tend to supersede the importance accorded to the
doctrine. Indeed, when the doctrine is based on a holy book or a sacred text the leader‘s
interpretation of these scriptures dominates all other interpretations and is seen as the only
correct one. But since the leader‘s interpretation is fundamentally more important than the
doctrine per se, the group accepts all doctrinal modifications, as well as the introduction of
new principles, rituals, or beliefs, with the same dedication that characterizes their loyalty to
their leader.