12 ICSA TODAY
Above: Paul R. Martin
Based on a paper first presented at the ICSA annual conference in Montreal, Canada, July 5–7, 2012.
2012 Paul R. Martin Lecture: Thought Reform and
the Psychology of
Breaking Away
from Totalism
I make no apology for the blatant plagiarism in the title of this lecture.
I am going to attempt to combine two areas near to the heart of
Paul Martin’s life and work. The first is, of course, recovery from the
psychological effects of thought reform. One of Paul’s most
significant contributions to this field was to turn Robert Lifton’s
academic discourse into an accessible tool to help former cult
members.
The second is an area in which I’m not aware Paul made any public
presentations: the moral and philosophical necessity of freedom. That
cults deprive members of basic freedom was of great significance
to Paul for two reasons: First, he could personally identify because it
happened to him and second, freedom was pivotal to his view of a
moral universe.
By Ron Burks
Above: Paul R. Martin
Based on a paper first presented at the ICSA annual conference in Montreal, Canada, July 5–7, 2012.
2012 Paul R. Martin Lecture: Thought Reform and
the Psychology of
Breaking Away
from Totalism
I make no apology for the blatant plagiarism in the title of this lecture.
I am going to attempt to combine two areas near to the heart of
Paul Martin’s life and work. The first is, of course, recovery from the
psychological effects of thought reform. One of Paul’s most
significant contributions to this field was to turn Robert Lifton’s
academic discourse into an accessible tool to help former cult
members.
The second is an area in which I’m not aware Paul made any public
presentations: the moral and philosophical necessity of freedom. That
cults deprive members of basic freedom was of great significance
to Paul for two reasons: First, he could personally identify because it
happened to him and second, freedom was pivotal to his view of a
moral universe.
By Ron Burks
