Why People Join Cults
CULTS
I. Introduction Thesis: The forces that draw individuals into cults can be explained by psychological doctrine.
II. What is a cult
A. Brief description
B. Types of cults
1. religious
2. psychotherapy or personal growth
3. political
4. popular or faddist
III. Popular cult groups
A. People's Temple
B. David Koresh
C. Heaven's Gate
D. The Family
IV. Charismatic group
A. Brief desciption
B. Characterization
V. Sigmund Freud's beliefs
A. Belonging to a group
B. Super-ego
VI. Thought Reform
A. Brief description
B. How thought reform works
VII. Effects of a cult
A. Stress
B. Isolation
C. New lifestyle
D. Dissociative
E. Anxiety
F. Personality disorders
VIII. Conclusion
IX. References
CULTS
What makes a person join a cult? What happens in a person's life to make them completely change they way they used to talk and act? Many are puzzled about the mysterious happenings in a cult member's life. They wonder how one could become involved in such a group. The forces that draw individuals into cults can be explained by psychological doctrine. Many in the psychology field have sought to provide answers to the various questions that society has. A cult is a structured group, most of whose members demonstrate unquestionable loyalty to a dynamic leader. The cult leader governs most, if not all, aspects of the lives of his or her followers, often insisting that they break all ties with the world outside of the cult. A definition that is standard of all cults is that they consist of a "group of persons who share in a special interest differing from the established majority or current religious, social, or cultural values, who meet regularly to continue and extend their purpose or mission independent of previous relationships with family, friends, religion, school or career, with beliefs, practices and rituals which reinforce cult values and norms" (MacHovec, 1989, p. 10). One category that cults fall
I. Introduction Thesis: The forces that draw individuals into cults can be explained by psychological doctrine.
II. What is a cult
A. Brief description
B. Types of cults
1. religious
2. psychotherapy or personal growth
3. political
4. popular or faddist
III. Popular cult groups
A. People's Temple
B. David Koresh
C. Heaven's Gate
D. The Family
IV. Charismatic group
A. Brief desciption
B. Characterization
V. Sigmund Freud's beliefs
A. Belonging to a group
B. Super-ego
VI. Thought Reform
A. Brief description
B. How thought reform works
VII. Effects of a cult
A. Stress
B. Isolation
C. New lifestyle
D. Dissociative
E. Anxiety
F. Personality disorders
VIII. Conclusion
IX. References
CULTS
What makes a person join a cult? What happens in a person's life to make them completely change they way they used to talk and act? Many are puzzled about the mysterious happenings in a cult member's life. They wonder how one could become involved in such a group. The forces that draw individuals into cults can be explained by psychological doctrine. Many in the psychology field have sought to provide answers to the various questions that society has. A cult is a structured group, most of whose members demonstrate unquestionable loyalty to a dynamic leader. The cult leader governs most, if not all, aspects of the lives of his or her followers, often insisting that they break all ties with the world outside of the cult. A definition that is standard of all cults is that they consist of a "group of persons who share in a special interest differing from the established majority or current religious, social, or cultural values, who meet regularly to continue and extend their purpose or mission independent of previous relationships with family, friends, religion, school or career, with beliefs, practices and rituals which reinforce cult values and norms" (MacHovec, 1989, p. 10). One category that cults fall
References: (or sometimes divine) power to the group or its leadership" (Galanter, 1989, p. 5). Most psychologists would probably acknowledge that there exists a deep human need to belong to a group Lifton, R., foreword, Cults In Our Midst, by Margaret Thaler Singer & Lalich (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995). MacHovec, F. (1989) Cults and Personality. Springfield: Charles C Thomas. Roth, M. (1998). Freud Conflict and Culture. New York: Alfred A, Knopf, Inc. Young-Bruehl, foreword, What Freud Really Said, by David Stafford-Clark (London: McDonald & Co., 1965).