Cults as Power Structures

Four interlocking dimensions make up the framework of a cult’s social system and dynamics. You can use this framework to examine your own cult experience. These four dimensions are clearly separated so that former cult members (whose memories of cult experiences are often confused and conflicting) can more easily deconstruct and understand each phase of indoctrination and control:

Charismatic authority. This is the emotional bond between a leader and his followers. It lends legitimacy to the leader and grants authority to his actions while at the same time justifying and reinforcing followers’ responses to the leader and/or the leader’s ideas and goals. Charisma is the hook that links a devotee to a leader and/or his ideas.

The general purpose of charismatic authority is to provide leadership. The specific goal is for the leader to be accepted as the legitimate authority and to offer direction. This is accomplished through privilege and command. The desired effect, of course, is that members will believe in and identify with the leader.

Transcendent belief system. This is the overarching ideology that binds adherents to the group and keeps them behaving according to the group’s rules and norms. It is transcendent because it offers a total explanation of past, present, and future, including the path to salvation. Most importantly, the leader/group also specifies the exact methodology (or recipe) for the personal transformation necessary to travel on that path.

The goal of the transcendent belief system is to provide a worldview that offers meaning and purpose through a moral imperative. This imperative requires each member to subject himself to a process of personal transformation. The desired effect is for the member to feel a sense of connection to a greater goal while aspiring to salvation. This effect is solidified through the internalization of the belief system and its accompanying behaviors and attitudes.

Systems of control. This is the network of acknowledged—or visible—regulatory mechanisms that guide the operation of the group. It includes the overt rules, regulations, and procedures that guide and control members’ behavior.

The purpose of the systems of control is quite simply to provide organizational structure. The specific goal is to create a behavioral system and disciplinary code through rules, regulations, and sanctions. The effect is compliance, or better still, obedience.

Systems of influence. This is the network of interactions and social influence that resides in the group’s social relations. This interaction and group culture teach members to adapt their thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors in relation to their new beliefs.

The purpose of the systems of influence is to shape the group culture. The specific goal is to create institutionalized group norms and an established code of conduct by which members are expected to live. This is accomplished by various methods of peer and leadership pressure, and through social-psychological influence and modeling. The desired effect is conformity and the self-renunciation that is required not only to be part of the group but also to achieve the professed goal.8

This combination of transcendent belief systems, all-encompassing systems of interlocking structural and social controls, and highly charged charismatic relationships between leader(s) and adherents results in self-sealing systems that exact a high degree of commitment (as well as expressions of that commitment) from its core members. A self-sealing system is one that is closed in on itself, allowing no consideration of disconfirming evidence or alternative points of view. In the extreme, a self-sealed group is exclusive and its belief system is all inclusive, in the sense that it provides answers to everything. Typically the quest of such groups is to attain a far-reaching ideal. However, a loss of sense of self is all too often the by-product of that quest.

Over the years, some people have used alternative terms or adjectives to identify cult groups, such as high-demand, high-control, totalistic, totalitarian, closed charismatic, ultra-authoritarian, and so on. In academia, some rather acrimonious debate has arisen over the use of the word cult, with some academicians and researchers using their influence to dissuade scholars, legal and helping professionals, the media, and others from identifying any group as a cult.

Frankly we prefer to use the term cult because we feel that it has historical meaning and value. Whatever one decides to call these groups, one must not ignore the structural and behavioral patterns that have been identified through years of study and research, or through the voluminous accounts of people who successfully escaped cult groups and relationships. To sweep cults under the rug or to call them by another name won’t make cults go away—nor will it aid us in understanding these complex social systems. Most importantly, cover-ups and whitewashing won’t help former cult members evaluate or recover from their experiences in a whole and healthful manner.

This article has been excerpted from Take Back Your Life: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships by Janja Lalich and Madeleine Tobias (Bay Tree Publishing. More information available at

http://www.baytreepublish.com/take-back-life-fr.html

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Contract for Membership in a Cultic Group or Relationship

In the medical profession, ethical contracts ensure that patients have given “fully informed consent.” That is, if a doctor fails to inform a patient about the risks, side effects, and options for treatment, the uninformed patient is entitled to sue. Below is a mock contract for cult membership.12Ask yourself if you gave informed consent at the time of your recruitment, or if you would have joined had you known your participation would involve the following conditions.

I, _______________ hereby agree to join___________________. I understand that my life will change in the following ways. I know what I am getting into and agree to all of the following conditions:

1.. My good feelings about who I am will stem from being liked by other group members and/or my leader, and from receiving approval from the group/leader. 2.. My total mental attention will focus on solving the group’s/leader’s problems and making sure that there are no conflicts. 3.. My mental attention will be focused on pleasing and protecting the group/leader. 4.. My self-esteem will be bolstered by solving group problems and relieving the leader’s pain. 5.. My own hobbies and interests will gladly be put aside. My time will be spent however the group/leader wants. 6.. My clothing and personal appearance will be dictated by the desires of the group/leader. 7.. I do not need to be sure of how I feel. I will only be focused on what the group/leader feels. 8.. I will ignore my own needs and wants. The needs and wants of the group/leader are all that is important. 9.. The dreams I have for the future will be linked to the group/leader. 10.. My fear of rejection will determine what I say or do. 11.. My fear of the group’s/leader’s anger will determine what I say or do. 12.. I will use giving as a way of feeling safe with the group/leader. 13.. My social circle will diminish or disappear as I involve myself with the group/leader. 14.. I will give up my family as I involve myself with the group/leader. 15.. The group’s/leader’s values will become my values. 16.. I will cherish the group’s/leader’s opinions and ways of doing things more than my own. 17.. The quality of my life will be in relation to the quality of group life, not the quality of life of the leader. 18.. Everything that is right and good is due to the group’s belief, the leader, or the teachings. 19.. Everything that is wrong is due to me.  § Leave the group at any time without the need to give a reason or sit through a waiting period

a.. Maintain contact with the outside world b.. Have an education, career, and future of my choice c.. Receive reasonable health care and have a say in my health care d.. Have a say in my own and my family’s discipline, and to expect moderation in disciplinary methods e.. Have control over my body, including choices related to sex, marriage, and procreation f.. Expect honesty in dealings with authority figures in the group g.. Expect honest in any proselytizing I am expected to do h.. Have any complaints heard and dealt with fairly with an impartial investigation i.. Be supported and cared for in my old age in gratitude for my years of service This article has been excerpted from Take Back Your Life: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships by Janja Lalich and Madeleine Tobias (Bay Tree Publishing. More information available at

http://www.baytreepublish.com/take-back-life-fr.html

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