SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY AND GROUP DYNAMICS
Studies have shown that today's cults use a stronger form of control
than those of 50 years ago. The advent of new psychological
experiments in the 60's and 70's have produced the modern methods of
mind control which are far more sophisticated than the BEHAVIOUR
MODIFICATION TECHNIQUES and THOUGHT REFORM developed by the Chinese.
To understand mind control you need a basic understanding of BEHAVIOUR
MODIFICATION TECHNIQUES.
What is "behaviour modification."
Simply described, it is "reward or punishment for actions" association.
It was used on you as a child whenever you were being commended or
otherwise for your behaviour.
Taking away a privilege is usually a sure-fire method to persuading
a child to change its behaviour when that child is old enough to under-
stand the process. Praising a child for doing good is another method of
changing behaviour, especially in the child who is anxious toplease.
The rod of education applied to the seat of learning is another method
of bringing about a desired behaviour change.
When behaviour modification techniques such as these are applied in
a loving, caring and consistent way, the child changes their behaviour
without holding feelings of resentment. However, if these techniques
are perverted in any way, damage is done to the child's psyche, their
emotions. e.g.. the abused child syndrome. Cults use a sophisticated
and perverted form of behaviour modification which damages an individuals
emotions.
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE
Leon Festinger is a psychologist who studied groups that predicted
the end of the world. He found that most members became stronger than
ever when the prophecy failed. His investigation revealed that members
had to find a way to cope psychologically with the failure. They needed
to maintain order and meaning in their life. They needed to think they
were acting according to their self-image and values. Festinger
described this contradiction which they had to overcome as what has
become known as the "COGNITIVE DISSONANCE THEORY." The three
components he described are:
"CONTROL OF BEHAVIOUR" - "CONTROL OF THOUGHTS" - "CONTROL OF EMOTIONS"
Each component has a powerful effect on the other two: CHANGE ONE
AND THE OTHERS WILL TEND TO FOLLOW. When all three change the
individual undergoes a complete change. Festinger summarised
the basic principle:
"If you change a person's behaviour, his thoughts and feelings will
change to minimise the dissonance."
When there is a conflict between thoughts, feelings or behaviour,
then those in conflict will change to minimise the contradiction. This
is because a person can only tolerate a certain amount of discrepancy
between these components which make up his identity. In cults this
dissonance is created to exploit and control them.
Steven Hassan, author of Combating Cult Mind Control, added a
fourth component to Festinger's:
"CONTROL OF INFORMATION"
By controlling the information one receives you can control and
restrict the individual's ability to think for himself. You limit
what he is able to think about.
BEHAVIOUR CONTROL - The control of an individual's physical reality.
This can include control of where he lives, what he eats, his
clothing, sleep, job, rituals etc. This is why most cults
have a stringent schedule for members. There is always something to
do in destructive cults. Each cult has its own distinctive set of
behaviours that bind it together. This control is so powerful that the
cult member will actually participate in their own punishment and come
to believe he actually deserves it! No one can command a person's
thoughts but IF YOU CAN CONTROL BEHAVIOUR THEN HEARTS AND MINDS WILL FOLLOW.
THOUGHT CONTROL - The control of an individual's thought processes
The indoctrination of members so thoroughly that they will manipulate their
own thought processes. The ideology is internalised as "the truth". Incoming
information is filtered through the beliefs which also regulates how this
information is thought about.
The cult has it's own language which further regulates how a person
thinks. This puts a great barrier between cult members and outsiders.
Another form of control is "thought stopping" techniques. This can
take many forms: chanting, meditating, singing, humming, tongues (some
even pay money to learn it), concentrated praying, etc. The use of
these techniques short-circuits the persons' ability to test reality.
The person can only think positive thoughts about the group. If there
is a problem the member assumes responsibility and works harder.
EMOTIONAL CONTROL - The control of the individuals emotional life
This manipulates a person's range of feelings. Guilt and fear are
used to keep control. Cult members cannot see the control by guilt and
like other abuse victims are conditioned to blame themselves when things
are wrong, even grateful when a leader points our their transgressions.
Fear is used to manipulate two ways. The first is to create an
outside enemy (we vs them) who is persecuting you. The second is the
fear of punishment by the leaders if you are not "good enough." Being
"good enough" is following the ideology perfectly. The most
powerful emotional control is phobia indoctrination. This can give
the person a panic reaction at the very thought of leaving the
group. It is almost impossible to conceive that there is any life
outside the group. There is no physical gun held to their heads but the
psychological gun is just as if not more powerful.
INFORMATION CONTROL - The control of the individuals information sources
Deny a person the information needed to make a sound judgment and he will be
incapable of doing so. People are trapped in cults because they are denied
both the access to the critical information they need to assess their
situation. The psychological chains on their minds are just as powerful
as if they were locked away physically from society. So strong is this
psychological process they also lack the properly functioning internal
mechanism to process any critical information placed in front of them.
THE EIGHT MARKS OF MIND CONTROL
TOTALISM - ALL OR NOTHING
Mind Control is a PROCESS of eradicating former beliefs and
instituting new beliefs in their place through the use of COERCIVE
persuasion. It is a PROCESS which is designed to break a
person's independence and individuality and replace it with the
ideology clone. The Chinese called this process "thought reform" which was
poorlytranslated into English as "brain-washing".
BRAIN-WASHING
Brain-washing is now considered to be a different process to
thought reform or mind control. In brain-washing the victim knows who is
the enemy. An example is American Patty Hearst who was kidnapped
by a terrorist group. Through physical abuse she finally became a
member of the group and took part in terrorist activities and bank robberies.
THOUGHT CONTROL
Thought control is more subtle. The victim doesn't know who is the
enemy because the enemy seems like their best friend who only has their
best interests at heart.
Cults practice a more refined form of thought control than that
used by the Chinese. Leading psychologist, Dr Margaret Singer, said
cults do it better than the Chinese because it is easier to get people
to do what you want through manipulating them with guilt and anxiety.
During this process the prospective recruit is re-educated and will
abandon the precepts he has learnt from life for the "truth" or
"enlightenment" offered by the group. In some cults this is done over a
long period of time; Other cults can bring about this change within 48
hours. Whichever way the process takes place the results are the same.
The individual has undergone a total change in personality and is
often unrecognisable by their family.
The process of thought control has been documented by Robert J
Lifton who researched what happened to the American prisoners of the
Communist Chinese. He labelled the steps which have become the standard
by which to judge whether a group is using "brain-washing" or "thought
reform" on it's recruits.
Robert J Lifton's research showed that -
"These criteria consist of eight psychological themes which are
predominant within the social field of the thought reform milieu.
Each has a totalistic quality; each depends upon an equally
absolute philosophical assumption; and each mobilises certain
individual emotional tendencies, mostly of a polarising nature.
Psychological theme, philosophical rationale, and polarised
individual tendencies are interdependent; they require, rather than
directly cause, each other. In combination they create an
atmosphere which may temporarily energise or exhilarate, but which
at the same time poses the gravest of human threats." (Thought
Reform & the Psychology of Totalism p 420)
The eight marks noted by Lifton are:
1. MILIEU CONTROL - Control of the Environment and Communication
The control of human communication is the most basic feature of the
thought reform environment. This is the control of what the individual
sees, hears, reads, writes, experiences and expresses. It goes even
further than that, and controls the individuals communication with
himself - his own thoughts.
Everything other than their beliefs is excluded. The organisation
appears to be omniscient. They seem to know everything that is going
on. Reality is their exclusive possession. In this environment the
individual is deprived of the combination of external information
and internal reflection required to test reality and to maintain a
measure of identity separate from his environment. The individual
can feel victimised by his controllers and feel the hostility of
suffocation - the resentful awareness that his striving toward new
information, independent judgment and self-expression are being
thwarted.
EXAMPLE - Jehovah's Witnesses are a classical example of a closed
community living within and mixing with the wider community. Because
they are so well known we have used them as an example.
e.g. - In Jehovah's Witnesses
- You could "go beyond the 'truth' - beyond what they taught. This
showed you were thinking for yourself and put yourself above
leadership. Those moving ahead of the Organisation are counselled
- No gatherings other than those allowed or organised by organisation
(1982).
- Not making comments from your own thoughts at the meetings.
Only comments from the study articles are permitted. No independent
thinking is permitted.
- The organization always seemed to know what was going on in
your congregation and article appeared in Watchtower
publications just at the right time ("food at the proper time").
This was done through Circuit Servants reports to Headquarters.
- Use of 'publisher record cards' etc. to monitor activities of
members. Watchtower is aware of trends etc. by strict reporting and
control of individual Witnesses activities.
- Report on fellow brothers & sisters (cannot get away from organisation)
- Monitoring or observation of disfellowshipped or marked people.
- Non Witnesses are viewed as 'bad association'
- Worldly education discouraged - better to go door-to-door
- Employment that takes up time which should be devoted to
Watchtower activities is also discouraged.
- Should be 'buying out the opportune time' in 'theocratic activities'.
- Taught to indoctrinate self!
- 'Shepherding' of those who fall behind.
2. MYSTICAL MANIPULATION - The Mystique of the Organisation
This seeks to provoke specific patterns of behaviour and emotion in
such a way that these will appear to have arisen spontaneously from
within the environment. For the manipulated person this assumes a
near-mystical quality. This is not just a power trip by the manipulators.
They have a sense of "higher purpose" and see themselves as being the
"keepers of the truth." By becoming the instruments of their own mystique,
they create a mystical aura around the manipulating institution - the Party,
the Government, the Organisation, etc. They are the chosen agents to
carry out this mystical imperative.
The pursuit of this mystical imperative supersedes all
considerations of decency of immediate human welfare. The end justifies the
means. You can lie, deceive or whatever to those outside the organiz-
ation. Association with the "outside" is only to benefit their own
cause in some way. Some cults like Moonies and Hare Krishna's call
their deception "heavenly deception" or "transcendental trickery".
Members believe in the ideology to such a degree that they
rationalize these deceptions. Members are kept in a frenzy of cult
related activities. There is little time or energy to think about
their lifestyle.
"The psychology of the pawn" - This person feels unable to escape
from forces he sees more powerful than himself. His way of dealing with
this is to adapt to them. He learns how to anticipate problems with the
organisation and to manipulate events to avoid incriminating himself.
This is the person who has been in the organisation long enough, knows
something is wrong, is on the verge of leaving then suddenly becomes
very loyal. They sell out to the organisation and will turn in friends
who may have confided in them.
e.g. - In Jehovah's Witnesses
- "Theocratic strategy" - If you don't have a right to know the truth
it is OK to lie to you. (See "Insight" under 'Lie')
- Avoid telling prospects- No blood, holidays, family, friends, etc
- Bring someone new each time they call so prospect gets to know the
people at the Kingdom Hall when they attend. (Planned spontaneity)
- The ideology supersedes the welfare of the individual. They are
not involved in charities outside the group [or in the group].
- Not helping fellow memmbers to the detriment of promoting the
ideology. This is more important than helping the sick & elderly.
- Prayers are general - for the organisation not the needs of the
individual. See God as not interested in you as a person.
- Blessed only for effort in promoting the Kingdom.
- Ability of organisation to accomplish the 'preaching work' seen
as evidence of Jehovah's blessing, direction and angelic help
- Jehovah 'sifts out' those not truly 'in the truth', those
without 'the right heart condition' which is why people leave or
must be disfellowshipped. No one leaves legitimately.
3. DEMAND FOR PURITY - Everything is black & white
Pure and impure is defined by the ideology of the organization.
Only those ideas, feelings and actions consistent with the ideology
and policy are good. The individual conscience is not reliable.
The philosophical assumption is that absolute purity is
attainable and that anything done in the name of this purity is
moral. By defining and manipulating the criteria of purity and
conducting an all-out war on impurity (dissension especially) the
organisation creates a narrow world of guilt and shame. This is
perpetuated by an ethos of continuous reform, the demand that one
strive permanently and painfully for something which not only does
not exist but is alien to the human condition.
Under these conditions the individual expects humiliation,
ostracism and punishment because of his inability to live up to the
criteria and lives in a constant state of guilt and shame. Since the
organisation is the ultimate judge of good and evil, this guilt and
shame is used to manipulate and control members. The organization
becomes an authority without limit in the eyes of members and their
power is nowhere more evident that in their capacity to "forgive".
All impurities are seen to originate from "outside" (the world).
Therefore, one of the best ways to relieve himself of the burden of
guilt is to denounce these with great hostility. The more guilty he
feels, the greater his hatred, the more hostile is his denouncement.
Organizationally this eventually leads to purges of heretics, mass
hatred and religious holy wars. The group will point to the mistakes
of all other belief systems while promoting their own purity. This
gives the impression that their organisation is perfect, clean and
pure as a people or group.
e.g. - In Jehovah's Witnesses
- Dress and grooming have been laid down at various times.
No pantsuits for ladies No beards or moustaches
Short hair on men No coloured shirts for men
No gold rimmed glasses Certain styles of clothing
These rules change at the whim of the leaders.
- Only 2 organisations: Jehovah's and Satan's. You cannot be part of both.
- World has no conscience - all dishonest
- Must keep clear of worldly celebrations (Christmas, Easter,
Birthdays, Mother's & Father's Day, Thanksgiving etc)
- Loyalty displayed through meeting attendance and participation,
field service, choice of marriage partners [strong 'in the truth'],
shunning disfellowshipped relatives and friends.
4. CULT OF CONFESSION - Reporting to leadership
This is closely related to the demand for purity. Confession is
carried beyond the ordinary religious, legal and therapeutic expressions
to the point of becoming a cult in itself. In totalist hands,
confession becomes a means of exploiting, rather than offering solace
for these vulnerabilities.
Totalist confession is an act of self-surrender, the expression of
the merging of the individual and environment. There is a dissolution of
self, talents and money. Conformity.
The cult of confession has effects quite the reverse of its ideal
of total exposure; rather than eliminating personal secrets, it
increases and intensifies them.
The individual becomes caught up in continuous conflict over which
secrets to preserve and which to surrender, over ways to reveal lesser
secrets can be revealed and ways to protect more important ones.
The cult of confession makes it virtually impossible to attain
reasonable balance between worth and humility.
e.g. In Jehovah's Witnesses
- Confessing infringements to an Elder.
- Putting in field reports (test of spirituality) [A monthly report
of one's activities for that month. How many hours door-knocking;
number of books and magazines sold; number of people one studied
doctrine with etc]
- Accept orders without question. Ask "How high" when told to jump.
- Any who are aware of another's sin must put this one in
to the elders or the guilt will rest on their shoulders.
- Congregation is made aware of the sin through talks and
restrictions placed on guilty ones.
5. SACRED SCIENCE - Absolute "Truth"
Their "truth" is the absolute truth. It is sacred - beyond
questioning. There is a reverence demanded for the leadership. They
have ALL the answers. Only to them is given the revelation of "truth".
The ultimate moral vision becomes the ultimate science and the
person who dares to criticise it, or even think criticism, is immoral,
irreverent and "unscientific".
The assumption here is not so much that man can be God, but rather
that man's IDEAS can be God.
This gives sense of security to the member. They are confident
they can get the answer to the most difficult problem or question.
e.g. In Jehovah's Witnesses you can be disfellowshipped (kicked out)
for daring to question what is taught in their publications.
- Watchtower demands full devotion of members. Must not question
the Organization (= questioning God)
- There is an answer to everything, if you cannot find it in the
publications you must 'wait on Jehovah' and not 'push ahead'.
- Organisation itself will survive Armageddon but individual
Jehovah's Witnesses have no such assurance.
6. LOADING THE LANGUAGE - Thought terminating cliches
Everything is compressed into brief, highly reductive,
definitive-sounding phrases, easily memorised and easily expressed.
There are "good" terms which represents the groups ideology and
"evil" terms to represent everything outside which is to be rejected.
Totalist language is intensely divisive, all-encompassing jargon,
unmercifully judging. To those outside the group this language is
tedious - the language of non-thought.
This effectively isolates members from outside world. The only
people who understand you are other members. Other members can tell if
you are really one of them by how you talk.
This narrowness of the language is constricting. The individual is
linguistically deprived because language is central to the human
experience and his capacities for thinking and feeling are immensely
restricted.
While initially this loaded language can give a sense of security
to the new believer, an uneasiness develops over time. This uneasiness
may result in a withdrawal into the system and he preaches even harder
to hide his problem and demonstrate his loyalty. It may also produce
an inner division and the individual will publicly give the right
performance while privately have his own thoughts.
Either way, his imagination becomes increasingly disassociated from
his actual life experiences and may even tend to atrophy from disuse.
e.g. - In Jehovah's Witnesses
- Theocratic strategy - "ark of salvation" - "new light"
- "meat in due season" - "faithful & discreet slave" - "apostate"
- "The anointed" - Book study - Christendom
- "Christ Jesus" instead of "Jesus Christ"
- 'back calls' now called 'return visits' (terminology changes indicate
who might be falling behind or who is not really a member)
- "Jehovah will take care of it in his due time."
- "It's the truth" - doesn't matter if they make a mistake
- Where else is there to go?
- Worldly - Governing Body - New System of Things
7. DOCTRINE OVER PERSON - Doctrine supersedes human experience
The ideological myth merges with their "truth" and the resulting
deduction can be so overpowering and coercive that is simply replaces
reality. Consequently past events can be altered, rewritten or even
ignored to make them consistent with the current reality. This alteration is
especially lethal when the distortions are imposed on the individual's
memory.
They demand character and identity of a person be reshaped to fit
their clone of mentality. The individual must fit the rigid contours
of the doctrinal mould instead of developing their own potential and
personality.
The underlying assumption is that the doctrine - including its
mythological elements - is ultimately more valid, true and real than is
any aspect of actual human character or human experience. The individual
under such pressure is propelled into an intense conflict with his own
sense of integrity, a struggle which take place in relation to polarised
feelings if sincerity and insincerity.
Absolute sincerity is demanded by the group yet this must be put to
one side when changes take place the individual has to deny the original
belief ever existed. Personal feelings are suppressed and members
must appear to be contented and enthusiastic at all times.
Some cults believe that all illness is a result of lack of faith
and evidence of sin in your life. These things have to be prayed away
and medical attention is ignored as a "sign of faith."
e.g. - In Jehovah's Witnesses
- "There is no life outside the organisation" so when they see
people who have made a life outside they revert back to doctrine
over what they see.
- If an experience doesn't fit, it must be demons.
- Will ignore needs of others because doctrine overrides human
experience. i.e. will ignore needs of disfellowshipped or marked
persons no matter how serious those needs are.
- Those who were JW's before 1975 and are still JW's will deny they
ever believed Armageddon was due that year - even those who sold
homes, delayed medical treatment etc.
- Watchtower has final authority even over personal experience.
Blood transfusions, etc. Conscience matters are discussed only in
the light of Watchtower doctrine (not left to individuals' consciences).
8. DISPENSING OF EXISTENCE - Who is worthy to live
They have the right to decide who is worthy of life and who isn't.
They also decide which history books are accurate and which are not.
Those in the organisation are worthy of life; those outside worthy
of death. The outsiders can be permitted to live if they change and
become an insider. Members live in fear of being pronounced "dead".
They have a fear of annihilation or extinction. The emotional conflict
is one of "being vs nothingness".
Existence comes to depend upon creed (I believe, therefore I am),
upon mission (I obey, therefore I am) and beyond these, upon a sense of
total merger with the organisation. Should he stray from the "truth"
his right to exist may be withdrawn and he is pronounced "dead".
e.g. - In Jehovah's Witnesses
- "Sheep and goats" - how one responds to "Christ's brothers"
decides their future. ("Christ's brothers" are those who rule the
organisation. How you respond to their message as carried by their
messengers decides your eternal future).
- Elders decide who is worthy of life at Judicial Committee meetings.
- They decide who is worthy of a resurrection - (Sodom & Gommorah).
- Disfellowshiping 'sinners' denyies them any hope for a future outside the Organisation.
- They will blatently lie to achieve goals and consider this to
be "theocratic strategy".
- Any information contrary to the Watchtower 'system' is not
considered worth listening to or reading.
- Witnesses are forbidden to discuss such information, especially
if is considered 'apostate' [put together by former members]
IN SUMMARY
The more clearly these eight points are obvious, the greater the
resemblance to ideological totalism. The more an organisation utilises
such totalist devices to change individuals, the greater its resemblance
to thought reform.
Remember ..... A group does not have to be religious to be cultic
in behaviour. High demand groups can be commercial, political and
psychological. Be aware, especially if you are a bright, intelligent
and idealistic person. The most likely person to be caught up in this
type of behavioural system is the one who says "I won't get caught. It
will never happen to me. I am too intelligent for that sort of thing."
Written by Jan Groenveld
Internet Address:
py101663@mailbox.uq.oz.auFidonet Address : 3:640/316
(c) Cult Awareness & Information Centre, PO Box 2444,
Mansfield 4122, Australia,
May be distributed freely providing it contains the above
identifying information and the text is not altered in any way.
