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of the book is so enormous, most of it seems rather superficial. We get a snapshot of the
founder of a movement and where it started, not what a group stands for, where it is now,
or if it is still around at all. The book needs to be taken with a grain of salt because so-
called new age groups change and evolve according to the whims of the leader(s), and as
such they are always dynamic.
As a chronicle of new social and spiritual movements, Melton‘s book is an exhaustive
attempt at documenting the ever-changing world of new age groups. His bibliography of
suggested reading is 36 pages long and will be useful to anyone who seeks to study this
area in depth. This book could be handy as a reference tool, but, because it was published
before the Internet became accessible to the common person, its utility is limited. Before I
would use this book for a reference tool, I would use the Internet to obtain current
information about a group.
The book's utility is further limited because it failed to advise spiritual consumers about the
potential risks new groups might pose for them. Unfortunately, New Age Almanac remains
merely a cafeteria of new age samplings --interesting, but lacking in depth and insight.
Sharon Colvin
Westminster, Colorado
Prophetic Charisma: The Psychology of Revolutionary Religious
Personalities. L. Oakes. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1997, 246 pp.
Charismatic Cult Leaders. T. Streissguth. Minneapolis, MN: The Oliver Press,
1995, 160 pp.
The link between these two slim volumes is obviously the word ―charisma.‖ Oakes, a former
member of a communal cult in New Zealand, later studied the psychology of charisma as a
resident observer of the group for several years and then for his doctoral dissertation.
Streissguth, a journalist and sometime teacher, has singled out eight charismatic leaders
from John of Leiden (1509-1536) to David Koresh (1959-1993) to introduce cults and their
leaders to juvenile readers. He attempts to distinguish between those leaders who
exploited their followers and those who did not.
Looking first at the Streissguth book, the author‘s effort to show abuse of trust and power
by several leaders is apparent. The essence of ―charisma‖ is explained in the brief
introduction, but the word is mentioned only once more in direct connection with any of the
cult leaders. The ―magnetism‖ of a Father Divine or Sun Myung Moon tends to get lost in a
welter of other details, including how many of the leaders changed their names for various
reasons, as well as how their early beneficial community efforts were often downplayed
later as the leaders became more and more subject to narcissistic demands and growing
paranoia. In addressing a youthful audience, Streissguth should have recalled from his
teaching experience that a concluding chapter helps to summarize and synthesize the major
points made in a text. The absence of such a chapter here reduces the value of the facts
conveyed for too many of the book‘s young readers.
Oakes, writing for a more adult audience, mentions many of the same leaders – Hubbard,
Jones, Moon, Joseph Smith – as he develops a theory of the life cycle of messianic and
charismatic leaders. His own experience in a communal group plus his research on 20
groups in New Zealand gives him an unusual perspective.
Oakes defines a prophet as ―one who (a) espouses a message of salvation that is opposed
to conventional values, and (b) attracts a following of people who look to him for guidance
in their daily lives‖ (p. 2). Whether male or female, the group leaders and prophets who he
studied displayed a few common traits: enormous energy, grandiose self-confidence,
fixation on a revolutionary vision, ―phenomenal‖ rhetorical skill, and extreme

Cultic Studies Journal, Volume 17, 2000, Page 144
manipulativeness. One of their key talents is social insight, their ability to read their
audience. Combined with the other traits, this talent makes them potentially very powerful.
He also describes a five-stage ―natural history‖ of the prophet that begins with early
narcissism. In the second stage, ―incubation,‖ the individual‘s ―differentness‖ from others
becomes apparent and is tested. Next comes an ―awakening‖ or visionary experience which
leads to the fourth stage – a sense of mission. This is the point at which the public tends to
become aware of the prophet and his followers. The final stage is the one in which the
charismatic prophet declines or falls. Drawing primarily on Kohut‘s work, Oakes portrays, in
the course of several chapters, the development of the narcissist who becomes a
charismatic leader. Leaders of a number of the small New Zealand cults, as well as some
more familiar to American readers, serve as examples of Oakes‘ thesis.
He also discusses the cult followers and how their needs are met as they become part of the
group. Many questions are asked of new members, and their self-disclosures tie them more
closely to those already committed to the leader. Later on, then new members are
themselves committed to the leader, they have to continue trusting him even when flaws
are revealed so as to justify all that has been given up from their previous lives – family,
independence, and personal goals.
Oakes also provides a list of characteristics that differentiate messianic and charismatic
leaders. Two of the more significant are 1) that messianic leaders tend to be regarded as
highly consistent, whereas charismatic leaders are more likely to be inconsistent, and 2)
"For the messianic the highest ethic concerns notions of truth and duty, whereas the
charismatic'‘ highest ethic is expressed in terms of freedom and love"‖(p. 184).
Oakes has presented an informed and informative narrative about cult followers as well as
their charismatic leaders. Even if the reader disagrees with some of the points made, Oakes
has provided much food for thought about cults. His book is worth reading.
Lita Linzer Schwartz, Ph.D.
Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Educational Psychology
Pennsylvania State University, Ogontz
Multiple Personality Disorder from the Inside Out. Barry M. Cohen, Esther
Giller, &W. Lynn, Sidran Press, 1991, 245 pages.
Perhaps one of the greatest debates among psychologists in the 1990s revolved around the
diagnosis of Multiple Personality Disorder (or Dissociative Identity Disorder in the DSM IV).
While some believe that this disorder is caused in part by a history of severe abuse, others
believe that this disorder is extremely rare, if it even exists, and that the surge in purported
numbers with MPD is the result of well-meaning but naïve therapists who have unscientific
beliefs.
Whichever side you are on will greatly influence how you will feel about Multiple Personality
Disorder from the Inside Out. There is no debate launched in this book. Hence, it is best for
believers only, or perhaps those who are open to the possibility that MPD is common
enough to warrant a collection of writings by and for those with the diagnosis. Since it is
clear that any bias on the part of the reviewer will influence one‘s judgment about the book,
I will try to remain neutral and assess the book in light of the goals stated by its editors.
The introduction includes a section called ―How to use this book.‖ To paraphrase the book‘s
purposes, it is meant as an educational tool for clinicians and families of those with the
diagnosis of MPD. For survivors, it is meant to validate their experiences by providing a
variety of essays, poems, and vignettes about various aspects of living with this diagnosis.