46 International Journal of Coercion, Abuse, and Manipulation ■ Vol. 2, 2021
submission of women, including the
following: “the application of specific group
rules” “endowing sexual intimacy with the
leader with special status and honour”
“testing women’s loyalty” and “imparting
expectations of female subservience” (Lalich,
1997). These strategies are evident in
Raniere’s grooming practices, and I
incorporate them in my analyses later.
Keith Raniere: The Smartest Man in the
World
An examination of Raniere’s interpersonal
relationships, along with assorted NXIVM
course materials, reveals a sustained
trajectory of grooming. Whilst Raniere
groomed and subjected the women of DOS to
his most extreme ideas and demands, he did,
however, groom, sexually manipulate,
exploit, and abuse many women prior to
establishing DOS in 2015. How members of
NXIVM viewed Raniere is critical to
understanding the influence that he had on
them—and how he was able to successfully
groom many of the women of NXIVM to
accept, or at least tolerate, increasingly
abusive practices.
Raniere had spent years crafting a mystique
around himself. Moreover, Raniere needed—
indeed, demanded—attention and recognition
(see American Psychiatric Association, 2013,
pp. 669–670). These needs began early in his
life. According to Barbara Bouchey (a former
intimate partner of Raniere’s and a high-
ranking member of NXIVM), Keith’s father,
James Raniere, told her that his son’s
perception of his own superiority started
when he was a child. Raniere Sr. recalls that
his son took an intelligence test when he was
around eight years old: the test identified
Keith as “gifted.”
This outcome prompted an immediate change
in Raniere: From then on, he considered
himself superior to others, and even God-like
(Bloch et al., 2018).
Raniere’s propensity for self-promotion and
self-aggrandizement continued—both are
typical features of narcissism (see American
Psychiatric Association, 2013, pp. 669–670).
Allegedly a child protégé, he contends that he
spoke in full sentences as a one-year-old, and
that by age 2 he could read. Raniere
characterizes himself as a judo champion as
a self-taught, concert-level pianist and a
math genius. Majoring in mathematics,
biology, and physics from the Rensselaer
Polytechnic in New York state, Raniere
claims a record of academic excellence
(Grigoriadis, 2018, p. 34 Meier, 2017
Natalie &Hardin, 2019, p. 20). His
transcripts, however, reveal that he obtained
mostly C, D, and F grades, and that he
eventually graduated with a modest 2.26
GPA (United States of America v. Raniere,
2019, p. 5131). Unperturbed by official
outcomes, Raniere would go on to describe
himself as “a great philosopher, an ethical
man and a scientist” (Grigoriadis, 2018,
p. 32) as the “smartest man in the world”
(Natalie &Hardin, 2019, p. 26 Bloch et al.,
2018)19 and as “one of the 3 top problem
solvers” globally (Natalie &Hardin, 2019,
p. 20). His ostentatious self-assessments
indicate his sense of superiority and a clear
exaggeration of his achievements (American
Psychiatric Association, 2013,
p. 670), a pattern that persisted over time.
Many people believed him. He had
established a level of “positive notoriety” that
appeals to others (Sinnamon, 2017,
p. 466). His claims attracted individuals who
joined his early business venture, Consumers
19 Raniere completed an unsupervised, unofficial, “take-home” IQ
test that gave him a score of 240 (Natalie &Hardin, 2019, pp. 14,
108 Parlato, 2017).
submission of women, including the
following: “the application of specific group
rules” “endowing sexual intimacy with the
leader with special status and honour”
“testing women’s loyalty” and “imparting
expectations of female subservience” (Lalich,
1997). These strategies are evident in
Raniere’s grooming practices, and I
incorporate them in my analyses later.
Keith Raniere: The Smartest Man in the
World
An examination of Raniere’s interpersonal
relationships, along with assorted NXIVM
course materials, reveals a sustained
trajectory of grooming. Whilst Raniere
groomed and subjected the women of DOS to
his most extreme ideas and demands, he did,
however, groom, sexually manipulate,
exploit, and abuse many women prior to
establishing DOS in 2015. How members of
NXIVM viewed Raniere is critical to
understanding the influence that he had on
them—and how he was able to successfully
groom many of the women of NXIVM to
accept, or at least tolerate, increasingly
abusive practices.
Raniere had spent years crafting a mystique
around himself. Moreover, Raniere needed—
indeed, demanded—attention and recognition
(see American Psychiatric Association, 2013,
pp. 669–670). These needs began early in his
life. According to Barbara Bouchey (a former
intimate partner of Raniere’s and a high-
ranking member of NXIVM), Keith’s father,
James Raniere, told her that his son’s
perception of his own superiority started
when he was a child. Raniere Sr. recalls that
his son took an intelligence test when he was
around eight years old: the test identified
Keith as “gifted.”
This outcome prompted an immediate change
in Raniere: From then on, he considered
himself superior to others, and even God-like
(Bloch et al., 2018).
Raniere’s propensity for self-promotion and
self-aggrandizement continued—both are
typical features of narcissism (see American
Psychiatric Association, 2013, pp. 669–670).
Allegedly a child protégé, he contends that he
spoke in full sentences as a one-year-old, and
that by age 2 he could read. Raniere
characterizes himself as a judo champion as
a self-taught, concert-level pianist and a
math genius. Majoring in mathematics,
biology, and physics from the Rensselaer
Polytechnic in New York state, Raniere
claims a record of academic excellence
(Grigoriadis, 2018, p. 34 Meier, 2017
Natalie &Hardin, 2019, p. 20). His
transcripts, however, reveal that he obtained
mostly C, D, and F grades, and that he
eventually graduated with a modest 2.26
GPA (United States of America v. Raniere,
2019, p. 5131). Unperturbed by official
outcomes, Raniere would go on to describe
himself as “a great philosopher, an ethical
man and a scientist” (Grigoriadis, 2018,
p. 32) as the “smartest man in the world”
(Natalie &Hardin, 2019, p. 26 Bloch et al.,
2018)19 and as “one of the 3 top problem
solvers” globally (Natalie &Hardin, 2019,
p. 20). His ostentatious self-assessments
indicate his sense of superiority and a clear
exaggeration of his achievements (American
Psychiatric Association, 2013,
p. 670), a pattern that persisted over time.
Many people believed him. He had
established a level of “positive notoriety” that
appeals to others (Sinnamon, 2017,
p. 466). His claims attracted individuals who
joined his early business venture, Consumers
19 Raniere completed an unsupervised, unofficial, “take-home” IQ
test that gave him a score of 240 (Natalie &Hardin, 2019, pp. 14,
108 Parlato, 2017).
