What is a Cult?
What is a cult? Some possible definitions:
Deciding whether or not you've been in a cult is for you to say.
Having said this, one of the problems is that it is sometimes hard to tell - so here are some possible definitions.
Some ex-cult members' definitions of a cult:
A cult is where a vulnerable person/s become/s devoted to a person or regime, be it religious/sexual etc. People lose their sense of self. Often these cults are abusive and about power and control.
A cult is a group or a gathering of people who are following strict doctrines of some kind, most of the time a distortion of some religious beliefs, and whose leadership exercise power, control, and abusive techniques to subdue their followers into obedience. These groups deny the individual's capacity for discernment and critical thinking.
A pyramid-shaped group, with the leader at the top, who try to control members' behaviour, emotions, thoughts and information they receive. There is deceit in what they promise/expect and the leader's objective is to gain power and money from the members by whatever means: manipulation, breaking the law, psychological/emotional/physical/sexual abuse.
A group (or person) that uses manipulative means, whether psychological or physical, to dominate and control its members, so robbing them of their free will.
A cult has several characteristics: the main is having a charismatic leader and the group believing they are 'The Chosen Few' i.e. if people want to leave they will be seen as bad, evil, lost etc. The family contact is lost if the member's family doesn't want to be involved.
A person/group/church which makes members dependent on them and takes away their choice, freedom and autonomy, using unethical means to do so; such as fear, force, violence, abuse and any sort of psychological/emotional manipulation or dishonesty. Such people/groups/churches ultimately have their own interests in mind and care little, if anything, for the well-being of those they abuse.
Other definitions of a cult:
Martin (Cult Proofing Your Kids, 1993, p.22) defines a cult as: 'A group that uses methods that deprive individuals of their ability to make free choice. They use deceitful recruitment techniques, they deceptively and destructively use the devotees energies, and they capture the devotees minds.'
Langone (Recovery from Cults, 1993, p.5) defines a cult as:
"A cult is a group or movement that, to a significant degree, (a) exhibits great or excessive devotion or dedication to some person, idea, or thing, (b) uses a thought-reform program to persuade, control, and socialise members (i.e. to integrate them into the group's unique pattern of relationships, beliefs, values, and practices), (c) systematically induces states of psychological dependency in members, (d) exploits members to advance the leadership's goals, and (e) causes psychological harm to members, their families and the community."
There are many other similar definitions of a cult including:
Hassan, Releasing the Bonds (2000)
Lalich & Tobias, Take Back Your Life: Recovering from cults and abusive relationships (2006) an update of Lalich & Tobias, Captive Hearts, Captive Minds (1994)
Singer, Cults in Our Midst (1995)
Lalich, Bounded Choice (2004)
Academic discussion of 'What is a cult?' from the Literature Review in my MA Research
'Defining the term cult can be problematic. It can refer to sadistic and ritual abuse cults (Sinason, 1994). It can have its own meaning to the user, for example it is sometimes used to describe a popular television programme (Barrett, 2001). The media tend to use it to sensationalise. Kendal (2005) uses the term extremist authoritarian sect: she believes the term cult may cause some people not to take her work seriously. Barrett (2001) states:
Cult really has become a four-letter word. In popular usage it is nearly always pejorative. (p.27)
He (Ibid, 2001) notes that sociologists of religion prefer the term New Religious Movement (NRM) because it avoids pejorative overtones. It is thought to sound neutral and does not beg the question of harm (Dole, 2003, p.3), (Langone, 1995). I have used the term cult in both my title and research question: I intend the term to include all types of cults including psychotherapy cults.
Martin (1993) defines a cult as:
'Agroup that uses methods that deprive individuals of their ability to make free choice. They use deceitful recruitment techniques, they deceptively and destructively use the devotees' energies, and they capture the devotees' minds'. (p.22)
There are many other similar definitions of a cult including Langone (1993), Hassan (2000), Tobias & Lalich (1994), Singer (1995), Lalich (2004) and Barrett (2001). Griffin & Tyrell (2003) come close to defining a cult, acknowledging that cults are not only religious and can form where people meet regularly, emotions are raised and charismatic personalities influence for their own ends.
I have found no definition of a cult in Gestalt psychotherapy literature.'
