6 ICSA TODAY
Both these similar recruitment mechanisms and the
psychological changes among members are shared by
members of a large variety of groups labeled as either cults or
radical groups. There are, however, huge differences when it
comes to an individual group’s
• worldview/ideology
• acceptance of common societal values
• acceptance of laws
• cult of leadership
• internal violent behavior or intentions, both physical
and mental and
• external violent behavior or intentions toward society
or a specific group.
Different “scores” on these points help us to make the
distinctions between organizations and followers that range
from relatively innocent to representing a clear and present
danger.
The way in which a cultic or radical group functions evolves
over time. Groups also can split up into more or less dogmatic/
radical factions.
Retaining Members. Margaret Singer (1995) described six
ways in which cults can use thought-reform processes to
influence and control members.7 Cults and extremists can
use these processes to exercise extraordinary control over
members’ lives, although not all groups necessarily do so.
1. Keep the person unaware of what is going on and
how she or he is being changed one step at a time.
Potential new members are led, step-by-step, through
a behavioral-change program, without being aware
of the final agenda or full content of the group. The
goal may be to make them deployable agents for the
leadership, to get them to buy more courses, or get
them to make a deeper commitment, depending on
the leader’s aim and desires.
2. Control the person’s social and/or physical
environment especially control the person’s time.
Through various methods, newer members are kept
busy and led to think about the group and its content
during as much of their waking time as possible.
3. Systematically create a sense of powerlessness in the
person. This is accomplished by removing members
from their normal social support group for a period
of time, and instead putting them in an environment
where the majority of people are already group
members. The members serve as models for the
attitudes and behaviors of the group and speak an in-
group language.
4. Manipulate a system of rewards, punishments, and
experiences in such a way as to inhibit behavior that
reflects the person’s former social identity. Manipulation
of experiences can be accomplished through various
methods of trance induction, including leaders using
such techniques as paced speaking patterns, guided
imagery, chanting, long prayer sessions or lectures, and
lengthy meditation sessions.
5. Manipulate a system of rewards, punishments, and
experiences in order to promote learning the group’s
ideology or belief system and group-approved
behaviors. Good behavior, demonstrating an
understanding and acceptance of the group’s beliefs,
and compliance, are rewarded while questioning,
expressing doubts or criticizing are met with
disapproval, redress and possible rejection. If someone
expresses a question, he or she is made to feel that
there is something inherently wrong with them for
questioning.
6. Put forth a closed system of logic and an authoritarian
structure that permits no feedback and cannot be
modified except by leadership approval or executive
order. The group has a top-down, pyramid structure.
The leaders must have verbal ways of never losing.
The ultimate result in conversion is that the person internalizes
the ideology and values of the group, becoming a deployable
agent. This conversion process is also described in “The
Influence Continuum…” (Dubrow-Marshall, R., 2010) self-
identification with the group becomes totally dominant and
suppresses other aspects of a person’s identity. Totalistic
identity theory is based on research that found evidence of
links between a form of group-based psychopathology and
the extent of one’s identification with a group. The theory also
explains how group-based actions, including violent actions,
can be self-referential and reinforcing of the dominant part of
the person’s self-identity, which is group related.
Leaving an Extremist Group or a Cult
There are two ways to leave an extremist group or cult:
voluntarily or by force. Voluntary withdrawal can happen if
the member feels that inconsistencies in ideology and group
behavior become unbearable. RAN EXIT deems that a seed of
doubt about the group or ideology is a necessity for successful
exit intervention: “There is a difference between someone
needing help and someone being ready for help. You cannot force
an exit intervention on someone who is not open to it.”8 The other
way of exiting an extremist group or cult is by force: being
kicked out by the group, being pulled out by family members,
or being imprisoned by the state. But even though a person
may be pushed or pulled out of the direct influence of a group,
this exit does not necessarily mean the individual renounces
the group’s ideology or behavior. Both individuals who leave
voluntarily and those who are forced to leave must deal
with many challenges before successful resocialization into
mainstream society is possible.
Both these similar recruitment mechanisms and the
psychological changes among members are shared by
members of a large variety of groups labeled as either cults or
radical groups. There are, however, huge differences when it
comes to an individual group’s
• worldview/ideology
• acceptance of common societal values
• acceptance of laws
• cult of leadership
• internal violent behavior or intentions, both physical
and mental and
• external violent behavior or intentions toward society
or a specific group.
Different “scores” on these points help us to make the
distinctions between organizations and followers that range
from relatively innocent to representing a clear and present
danger.
The way in which a cultic or radical group functions evolves
over time. Groups also can split up into more or less dogmatic/
radical factions.
Retaining Members. Margaret Singer (1995) described six
ways in which cults can use thought-reform processes to
influence and control members.7 Cults and extremists can
use these processes to exercise extraordinary control over
members’ lives, although not all groups necessarily do so.
1. Keep the person unaware of what is going on and
how she or he is being changed one step at a time.
Potential new members are led, step-by-step, through
a behavioral-change program, without being aware
of the final agenda or full content of the group. The
goal may be to make them deployable agents for the
leadership, to get them to buy more courses, or get
them to make a deeper commitment, depending on
the leader’s aim and desires.
2. Control the person’s social and/or physical
environment especially control the person’s time.
Through various methods, newer members are kept
busy and led to think about the group and its content
during as much of their waking time as possible.
3. Systematically create a sense of powerlessness in the
person. This is accomplished by removing members
from their normal social support group for a period
of time, and instead putting them in an environment
where the majority of people are already group
members. The members serve as models for the
attitudes and behaviors of the group and speak an in-
group language.
4. Manipulate a system of rewards, punishments, and
experiences in such a way as to inhibit behavior that
reflects the person’s former social identity. Manipulation
of experiences can be accomplished through various
methods of trance induction, including leaders using
such techniques as paced speaking patterns, guided
imagery, chanting, long prayer sessions or lectures, and
lengthy meditation sessions.
5. Manipulate a system of rewards, punishments, and
experiences in order to promote learning the group’s
ideology or belief system and group-approved
behaviors. Good behavior, demonstrating an
understanding and acceptance of the group’s beliefs,
and compliance, are rewarded while questioning,
expressing doubts or criticizing are met with
disapproval, redress and possible rejection. If someone
expresses a question, he or she is made to feel that
there is something inherently wrong with them for
questioning.
6. Put forth a closed system of logic and an authoritarian
structure that permits no feedback and cannot be
modified except by leadership approval or executive
order. The group has a top-down, pyramid structure.
The leaders must have verbal ways of never losing.
The ultimate result in conversion is that the person internalizes
the ideology and values of the group, becoming a deployable
agent. This conversion process is also described in “The
Influence Continuum…” (Dubrow-Marshall, R., 2010) self-
identification with the group becomes totally dominant and
suppresses other aspects of a person’s identity. Totalistic
identity theory is based on research that found evidence of
links between a form of group-based psychopathology and
the extent of one’s identification with a group. The theory also
explains how group-based actions, including violent actions,
can be self-referential and reinforcing of the dominant part of
the person’s self-identity, which is group related.
Leaving an Extremist Group or a Cult
There are two ways to leave an extremist group or cult:
voluntarily or by force. Voluntary withdrawal can happen if
the member feels that inconsistencies in ideology and group
behavior become unbearable. RAN EXIT deems that a seed of
doubt about the group or ideology is a necessity for successful
exit intervention: “There is a difference between someone
needing help and someone being ready for help. You cannot force
an exit intervention on someone who is not open to it.”8 The other
way of exiting an extremist group or cult is by force: being
kicked out by the group, being pulled out by family members,
or being imprisoned by the state. But even though a person
may be pushed or pulled out of the direct influence of a group,
this exit does not necessarily mean the individual renounces
the group’s ideology or behavior. Both individuals who leave
voluntarily and those who are forced to leave must deal
with many challenges before successful resocialization into
mainstream society is possible.
