Why People Join Cults

ntroduction
There is no exact definition of a cult. Cults range in characteristics and motives that make them incredibly hard to define. The typical understanding among sociologists is that a cult is a religious or social group with socially deviant or novel beliefs and practices. Cults typically consist of a leader with several dedicated members. There are a variety of cults; destructive cults, which believe in an end of the world scenario, religious cults, which believe and worship a set religion, or even a political based terrorism cult, that attempt to stop a political movement by means of their own beliefs. There are many types of cults, and members experience a similar life in all of them. From entering a cult, the member faces severe
Cult Member Characteristics
Worldwide, there are hundreds of groups defined as ‘cults’, each are comprised of many members, who are there for personal reasons. The type of people and their assimilation into cult life are similar in many cases. There is no defined group of people who are more susceptible to a cult’s influence. The people joining may be of any race, gender, economic class, level of education, or former religion. Those who join cults centered around religions, are usually previously affiliated with a similar religion. Yet, because there is such a large variety of cults, there is no specific type of person. Most cults are made up of similar people, whether it is a same economic class, their culture, or race. People who join usually face some sort of recruitment by already members of the cult. Large amounts of cult members experience significant amounts of stress before joining a cult, whether it is
It is entirely uncommon for a person to suddenly want to join a cult; they are usually a victim of some sort of subtle deception and techniques of psychological manipulation. Cult recruiters exploit these characteristics and the hardships and use it as a tool of manipulation. Cult recruiters were once just normal uninvolved people, most likely experiencing a similar setback to the people they are trying to recruit. Cult recruiters pick locations where a person possessing dependent personality traits or going through a stressful situation maybe. Although that may be anywhere, there are certain locations, as in a college campus, an alcohol or drug support group or in spiritual and religious seminar. Yet, in some cases it is not necessary to find a recruiter spot as they recruit family and friends to join. Most cult recruiters share similar practices in recruitment in order to persuade as many people as possible to join their cause, without sharing the truth behind their cult. The main methods of cult recruitment are so effective because they are centered around deceptive and manipulative techniques. Potential members are shown all the glories and how perfect the group would be, instead of being told the group's true intentions and nature. Recruiters find the specific needs of the potential victims, and exploit them (Schwartz, 1990). The weakness is related to and a bond forms