The Extent of Effectiveness of Drastic Cult Withdrawal Methods, in Terms of the Success Rates in Removing the Subject from Equally Extremist Cultic Practices, of the Late Twentieth Century America
Literature review:
Though a large range of methods have been attempted to remove people from cults and new religious movements, there is significant controversy both amongst religious scholars and the general public, about the necessity of degrees of force, coercion, and drasticity for withdrawal. Some believe that the extreme practices within cults justify even more drastic means of getting members out of them, which allows for often forceful, and expensive, methods of removing members that could result in trauma and psychological damage of the subject. This paper will aim to identify how the extent of extremist practices in cults that justify equally drastic means of withdrawal.
The largely overriding perception of cults, and consequential religious movements, is that they employ methods of brainwashing and drastic coercion for member recruitment. According to Lifton’s theories on thought reform, “religious totalism is recognized by exaggerated control, manipulation, and a blanketing of the milieu with guilt and shame” (Walsh 2001). By simply stating that these groups employ methods of “brainwashing” is incorrect, as there are many degrees of mental control that occur in cults. Lifton’s concepts do not necessarily constitute the concept of brainwashing, since they are not all forms of total mind control. Because of the varying possible intensities of cultic movements and their stronghold on members and recruitment, a corresponding movement of withdrawing members from these groups has formed. The various methods of cult withdrawal have a significant range in terms of the severity of actions and resulting possibility of psychological trauma.
Of the various cult withdrawal methods in existence and practice, deprogramming is by far the most well-known and controversial, because of its extremity. Ted Patrick, an active member of the cult removal movement and nicknamed “Black Lightning”, stated that “‘Thinking to a cult member is like being stabbed in the heart with a dagger… ‘It’s very painful because they’ve been told that the mind is Satan and thinking is the machinery of the Devil’” (Conway and Siegelman 1995). The largely prominent brainwashing theory regarding cults “claims that converts to a NRM have been forcefully programmed to believe a set of beliefs” (Young 2012). Deprogramming is the direct opposition to this theory. Because many people believed the draw of cults came from forceful recruitment methods that dissolved the rationality and logic of the victim, coercive deprogramming “did not have to be voluntary as the victim no longer has the capacity to make their own rational decisions” (Young 2012). This method follows a similar pursuit as Newton’s Third Law of Physics, in which a force has an equal and opposing force. In this situation, the coercively programmed mentalities of cults are met with equally coercive methods to remove them, such as abduction.
In lieu of coercive deprogramming, many anti-cult activities have resorted to exit counseling, a more voluntary approach for removing members from cults. Exit counseling is characterized by “helping those involved in cults make informed decisions about their group affiliation” (“Exit Counseling” 2016). Cult members can voluntarily approach exit counselors to help them escape the mental hold of the cults. A source of confusion regarding exit counseling is that subjects can be brought both voluntarily and involuntarily, but many exit counselors have stated that they will only deal with voluntary clients to operate in a more ethical fashion. Another source of possible controversy is that many exit counselors claim to be professional, but do not employ verified and effective methods on their subjects, which could cause further psychological damage. Finding a credible exit counselor could be difficult, but it is recommended that they are approved by an accredited cultic studies organization, such as International Cultic Studies Association. The late 20th Century saw the introduction of exit counseling in response to disagreements over the force present in deprogramming. The emphasis of exit counseling is “education and dialogue about the true history and nature of the group and compares it with similar groups” (Szimhart 2002), which varies from the nature of deprogramming with attempts to kidnap, inculcate, and indoctrinate subjects.
An approach that is similar to exit counseling is thought reform consultation, a more specific category within the broad area of exit counseling. According to the International Cultic Studies Association, thought reform consultation “involves a respectful dialogue in an open environment, supplemented by educational materials.” The most important factor of thought reform consultation is the voluntary admission from the subject, as opposed to deprogramming where relatives and those close to the cult members admit them on their behalf to be subjected to many coercive techniques that they have not consented to. The main lure of thought reform consultation and exit withdrawal is the adherence to ethical standards and lack of questions regarding potential legality, since most activities are conducted on a voluntary basis. The consulting professional and client maintain a very respectful relationship, in which there are no questions of boundaries being crossed, since the consultant will present the information and it is up to the client about whether or not they want to heed the advice. Though the phenomenon of thought reform itself involves methods that are considered very manipulative, thought reform consultation is a more direct approach with no other ulterior motives, since it is considered a solution to the thought reform found in many cult recruitments.
The effectiveness of different cult withdrawal methods has been approached with contrasting results. Because cults are known to employ rather extreme methods of thought reform, a few cultic studies experts see deprogramming as the more effective method, due to its corresponding intensity that will match the drastic beliefs of many cults. The characterization of many cults and new religious movements is that the member leaves their own identity to adopt the beliefs of the overall organization, which may leave them lacking a personality and their own form of self-cognition. Therefore, the mid-twentieth century anti-cult movements saw justification in utilizing drastic withdrawal methods, such as coercive deprogramming. Relatively, deprogramming is the more extreme of the methods, in that there are simulations of kidnapping and abduction, while exit counseling and thought reform consultation merely provide information to help the subject make their own decisions. In this paper, the connection between the radicalness of a cult in member recruitment and the resulting severity of the withdrawal methods performed will be explored in terms of effectiveness.