Mind control

Mind control is a general term for a number of controversial theories proposing that an individual's thinking, behavior, emotions or decisions can, to a greater or lesser extent, be manipulated at will by outside sources.

Cults and mind control controversies

Several of the above mind control models have been related to religious and non-religious cults (for debates regarding what is a cult, see the article). Among scholars, adherents of NRMs and the pro-cult and anti-cult communities, it is hotly debated, if mind control is applied in any or certain cultic movements.

Related Topics:
Cult - NRMs - Pro-cult - Anti-cult

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Scholarly points of view

While in science of religion the majority of scholars reject mind control (e.g., Massimo Introvigne and J. Gordon Melton), it is often accepted in psychology and psychiatry (e.g., Margaret Singer, Michael Langone, and Philip Zimbardo) and in sociology the opinions are divided (e.g., David G. Bromley and Anson Shupe contra, Stephen A. Kent and Benjamin Zablocki pro). Most scholars have either a decided contra or a decided pro opinion, there are few who advocate a moderate point of view.

Related Topics:
Massimo Introvigne - J. Gordon Melton - Margaret Singer - Michael Langone - Philip Zimbardo - David G. Bromley - Anson Shupe - Stephen A. Kent - Benjamin Zablocki

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The renowned medical journal The Lancet as well as "The American Journal of Psychiatry" published favorable reviews of Steven Hassan's 1988 book on mind control. http://www.freedomofmind.com/stevehassan/presskit/reviews/lancet.htm http://www.freedomofmind.com/stevehassan/presskit/reviews/journal.htm

Related Topics:
The Lancet - Steven Hassan

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According to James T. Richardson on his "Brainwashing" Claims and Minority Religions Outside the United States: Cultural Diffusion of a Questionable Concept in the Legal Arena, while heavy on theory, the mind control model is light on evidence:

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:"The CCM movement has collected some information to support its belief that religious groups successfully employ mind-control techniques. But the data is unreliable. The information typically represents a very small sample size. It is not practical to obtain information before, during and after an individual has been in a NRM. Often, their data is disproportionately obtained from former members of a religious organization who have been convinced during CCM counseling that they have been victims of mind-control." http://www.religioustolerance.org/brain_wa.htm

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Dr. James Richardson, a Professor of Sociology and Judicial Studies at the University of Nevada, claims that if the NRMs had access to powerful brainwashing techniques, one would expect that NRMs would have high growth rates, while in fact most have not had notable success in recruitment, most adherents participate for only a short time, and that the success in retaining members has been limited. In addition, Tom Robbins, Eileen Barker, Newton Maloney, Massimo Introvigne, John Hall, Lorne Dawson, Anson Shupe, David G. Bromley, Gordon Melton, Marc Galanter, Saul Levine and other scholars researching NRMs have argued -- and established to the satisfaction of courts and relevant professional associations and scientific communities -- that there exists no scientific theory, generally accepted and based upon methodologically sound research, that supports the brainwashing theories as advanced by the anti-cult movement.

Related Topics:
Tom Robbins - Eileen Barker - Newton Maloney - Massimo Introvigne - John Hall - Lorne Dawson - Anson Shupe - David G. Bromley - Gordon Melton - Marc Galanter - Saul Levine

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On the other hand, sociologist Benjamin Zablocki sees strong indicators of mind control in some NRMs and demands the concept should be researched without bias:

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:"I am not personally opposed to the existence of NRMs and still less to the free exercise of religious conscience. I would fight actively against any governmental attempt to limit freedom of religious expression. Nor do I believe it is within the competence of secular scholars such as myself to evaluate or judge the cultural worth of spiritual beliefs or spiritual actions. However, I am convinced, based on more than three decades of studying NRMs through participant-observation and through interviews with both members and ex-members, that these movements have unleashed social and psychological forces of truly awesome power. These forces have wreaked havoc in many lives?in both adults and in children. It is these social and psychological influence processes that the social scientist has both the right and the duty to try to understand, regardless of whether such understanding will ultimately prove helpful or harmful to the cause of religious liberty." (Zablocki, 1997)

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Sociologists David Bromley and Anson Shupe consider the idea that "cult"s are brainwashing American youth to be "implausible".http://www.religioustolerance.org/brain_wa.htm, on the other hand, the Canadian sociology professor Stephen A. Kent published several articles where he relays practices of NRMs with brainwashing http://www.nospank.net/kent.htm, http://fhh.hamburg.de/stadt/Aktuell/behoerden/inneres/arbeitsgruppe-scientology/veroeffentlichungen/brainwashing-pdf,property=source.pdf

Related Topics:
David Bromley - Anson Shupe - Cult - Stephen A. Kent

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The American Psychological Association (APA) in 1984 requested Margaret Singer, the main proponent of anti-cult mind control theories, to set up a working group called Task Force on Deceptive and Indirect Methods of Persuasion and Control (DIMPAC).

Related Topics:
American Psychological Association - Margaret Singer - DIMPAC

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In 1987 the DIMPAC committee submitted its final report to the Board of Social and Ethical Responsibility for Psychology of the APA. On May 11, 1987 the Board rejected the report. In the rejection memo http://www.cesnur.org/testi/APA.htm is stated:

Related Topics:
1987 - May 11

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"Finally, after much consideration, BSERP does not believe that we have sufficient information available to guide us in taking a position on this issue.".

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There are two interpretations of this rejection: one side (e.g. Amitrani and di Marzio 2000) see it as no position on the issue of brainwashing, the other (e.g. Introvigne 1997) sees it as rejecting all brainwashing theories.

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In 2002 Dr. Philip Zimbardo who teaches at Stanford University a course "the psychology of mind control", commented on the request by former members of new religious movements (NRMs) to reconsider the APA's position on the possibility of mind control http://www.apa.org/monitor/nov02/pc.html

Related Topics:
Philip Zimbardo - Stanford University - New religious movement

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Recently, there are indications that some members of both parties are willing to start a dialog, e.g. the 2001 book "Misunderstanding Cults: Searching for Objectivity in a Controversial Field" in 2002 the American Family Foundation invited Eileen Barker to its yearly conference and the Evangelical Ministries to New Religions had J. Gordon Melton and Douglas Cowan as conference speakers.

Related Topics:
American Family Foundation - Eileen Barker - Evangelical Ministries to New Religions - J. Gordon Melton - Douglas Cowan

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Mind control and exit counseling

Opponents of some new religious movements accused so-called "cult"s of coercing recruits to join (and members to remain) via strong influence acquired and maintained by manipulation (see also anti-cult movement and Christian countercult movement). Many of these opponents advocate exit counseling as necessary to "free" the victim of a cult from mind control. The practice of coercive deprogramming has practically ceased. (Kent & Szimhart, 2002)]

Related Topics:
New religious movement - Cult - Manipulation - Anti-cult movement - Christian countercult movement - Exit counseling - Deprogramming

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Opponents of exit counseling generally regard it as an even worse violation of personal autonomy than any (possible) loss of personal freedom attributable to the allegedly deceptive recruiting tactics of new religions. These opponents complain that targets of deprogramming are (1) victims of deception, (2) denied due process and (3) forced to endure more intense manipulation by their supposed rescuers than they encountered during their previous group membership.

Related Topics:
Exit counseling - Due process

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Mind control and recruitment rates

Eileen Barker documents that out of 1000 people persuaded by the Moonies to attend one of their overnight programs in 1979, 90% had no further involvement. Only 8% joined for more than one week and less than 4%

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remained members in 1981, two years later." http://www.religioustolerance.org/brain_wa.htm

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Tyler Hendricks, former president of the Unification Church, estimates approximately 100,000 people "moved into" the Unification Church as full-time members from the 1970s to the 1990s. Membership in the church was 8,600 in 2004 (counting only those who joined as adults, and excluding the children of members). This is an attrition rate of 93%.

Related Topics:
Tyler Hendricks - Unification Church

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Billy Graham, one of the most successful evangelists of the last century had only an average of 1% of the attendants of his evangelizations heed the altar call at all. Follow-up work after evangelizations shows that only 10% of the people responding to an altar call actually do join a church. So successfull Christian evangelizations result in a longterm success rate of 0.1 % - compared to the 4% of Barker's observation. And these 0.1 % do not become fulltime missionaries like in the Unification Church. (Langone, 1993).

Related Topics:
Billy Graham - Altar call

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Mind control and faith

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) published a statement in 1977 related to brainwashing and mind control. In this statement the ACLU opposed certain methods "depriving people of the free exercise of religion". The ACLU also rejected (under certain conditions) the idea that claims of the use of 'brainwashing' or of 'mind control' should overcome the free exercise of religion.

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Leon Festinger based his theory of the cognitive dissonance, a component of Hassan's Mind Control model, on his observation that the faith of most members of a UFO cult was unshattered by failed prophecy. http://skepdic.com/cognitivedissonance.html.

Related Topics:
Leon Festinger - Cognitive dissonance - UFO

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Barrett who is affiliated with CESNUR and Eileen Barker, whom some anti-cult activists consider cult apologists, wrote that logical arguments are irrelevant when trying to persuade some members to leave a movement due to the certainty that they have about their faith, which he sees as not confined to cults, but also occurring in some forms of mainstream religion. He also wrote that some members do not leave the movement even though they realize that things are wrong. See also Leaving a cult.

Related Topics:
CESNUR - Eileen Barker - Cult apologist - Leaving a cult

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Counter-cult movement and mind control

In the Christian counter-cult movement there are several voices explaining membership in Christian and non-Christian cults exclusively with a theological regarding spiritual problems and therefore refuting mind control as a factor in cult membership.

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In a article by the evangelical Christian writers Bob and Gretchen Passantino, first appearing in Cornerstone magazine, titled Overcoming The Bondage Of Victimization: A Critical Evaluation of Cult Mind Control Theories they challenge the validity of mind control theories and the alleged "victimization" by mind-control, and assert in their conclusion:

Related Topics:
Evangelical Christian - Cornerstone

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: the Bogey Man of cult mind control is nothing but a ghost story, good for inducing an adrenaline high and maintaining a crusade, but irrelevant to reality. The reality is that people who have very real spiritual, emotional, and social needs are looking for fulfillment and significance for their lives. Ill-equipped to test the false gospels of this world, they make poor decisions about their religious affiliations. Poor decisions, yes, but decisions for which they are personally responsible nonetheless. As Christians who believe in an absolute standard of truth and religious reality, we cannot ignore the spiritual threat of the cults. We must promote critical thinking, responsible education, biblical apologetics, and Christian evangelism. We must recognize that those who join the cults, while morally responsible, are also spiritually ignorant.http://answers.org/CultsAndReligions/mind_control.html

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In a rebuttal to the Passantino's article, a protagonist of the counter-cult movement, Paul R. Martin, Ph.D. et al. in his Overcoming the Bondage of Revictimization: A Rational/Empirical Defense of Thought Reform, (first appeared in Cultic Studies Journal 15/2 1998), writes :

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: "The Passantinos are well known and respected evangelical writers. Consequently, their critique, which is rife with errors and misinterpretations, disturbs us very much and calls for a detailed rebuttal. For us, theological considerations inform our understanding of the sociological and psychological destruction caused by cults, although others hold similar positions without considering theological issues. Cults distort one's perceptions both of natural reality (sociological and psychological) and spiritual reality. In the Christian tradition, the former is supposed to reveal the latter; therefore, those interested in spiritual issues must address both sides in order to minister adequately to former cult members.http://www.csj.org/infoserv_articles/martin_paul_overcomingthebondage.htm

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