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Cultic
Studies Journal
Psychological
Manipulation and Society
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Leaders
and Followers: A Psychiatric Perspective on Religious Cults
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Cultic Studies Journal
Book Reviews
Cultic Studies Journal
Psychological
Manipulation and Society
Vol. 9, No. 2, 1992
- Leaders and Followers: A Psychiatric Perspective on
Religious Cults
- Formulated by the Committee on Psychiatry and Religion, Group
for the Advancement of Psychiatry. Report No. 132. American Psychiatric Press, Washington,
DC, 1992, 70 pages.
Reviewer: John
Hochman, M.D.
This is one of numerous monographs published by the Group
for the Advancement of Psychiatry (GAP). This invitation-only organization's reports on
psychiatric issues are addressed to both professionals and laypersons. Like most GAP
reports, it can be read in about 90 minutes. This report on "religious cults" was written
by GAP's Committee on Psychiatry and Religion, not to be confused with the multiauthored
report from the American Psychiatric Association's committee of the same name.
The stated aim of the report is neither to decry nor to
defend cults, but to help in the "rational" evaluation of patients identified as
cult members. The book does offer an excellent and lengthy set of questions for a
therapist to ask to gain insight into whether a patient is under the sway of a destructive
cult. The report's conclusion is that while some cults are benign, others are so
destructive that legal measures should be taken to prevent members from joining.
Unfortunately, the report obtains its "fair"
perspective by being overly vague when some detail would help, and by offering extensive
detail on religious sects that have little in common with contemporary cults. References
from all spectra of the literature are cited as sources, but the report offers no
criticism as to the very different conclusions of some of these references. There are no
new data here.
Cults are simplistically viewed as juvenile religions
that will grow up one day, and not as a specific kind of group that can have a religious, psychological,
political,
health, or self-development motif. The report "blames the victim," suggesting
cult members suffer from "developmental arrest" and "poor reality
testing," prior to entering cults; while bad cults make the members even sicker,
"benign" cults offer "mentors, goals, and ideals" without the pressure
of maintaining a 2.0 average.
The report states that "brainwashing"
does occur in cults but offers little in the way of specifics. An extensive biography of
the Reverend
Mr. Moon says little more about brainwashing than its being an allegation of
his "enemies." The Bhagwan's
100+ Rolls Royces are implied to represent the end results of "freedom of
choice." Meanwhile, there is an extended treatise about the Essenic sect of the Dead
Sea Scrolls, while Scientology
is summarized in two benign sentences. All of this unfortunate vagueness may be related to
the inability of the Essenes to sue their critics for libel since they all died some time
ago.
The weaknesses of this book outweigh its merits. It is
pricey at $12 since 12 of its 70 pages list the names of GAP psychiatrists and committees.
John Hochman, M.D.
Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry
UCLA School of Medicine
 Purchase from Barnes and Nobel: Leaders and Followers: A Psychiatric Perspective on Religious Cults
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