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Deception,
Dependency & Dread
By
Michael Langone, Ph. D.
ICSA
The Conversion Process
Farber, Harlow, & West (1957) coined the term
"DDD syndrome" to describe the essence of Korean war thought reform with
prisoners of war: debility, dependency, and dread. Lifton (1961), who also studied
thought reform employed in Chinese universities, demonstrated that the process
did not require physical debilitation. Contemporary cultic groups, which do not
have the power of the state at their disposal, have more in common with this
brand of thought reform than with the POW variety, in that they rarely employ
physical coercion. In order to control targets, they must rely on subterfuge and
natural areas of overlap between themselves and prospects. As with all Korean
era thought reform programs (those directed at civilians and at prisoners),
however, contemporary cultic groups induce dependent states to gain control over
recruits and employ psychological (sometimes physical) punishment ("dread") to
maintain control. The process, in my view, can be briefly described by a
modified "DDD syndrome": deception, dependency, and dread.
Although the process here described is complex
and varied, the following appears to occur in the prototypical cult conversion:
- A vulnerable prospect encounters a cultic
group.
- The group (leader[s]) deceptively presents
itself as a benevolent authority that can improve the prospect's well-being.
- The prospect responds positively,
experiencing an increase in self-esteem and security, at least some of which
is in response to what could be considered "placebo" The prospect can now be
considered a "recruit".
- Through the use of "sharing" exercises,
"confessions," and skillful individualized probing, the group [leader(s)]
assesses the recruit's strengths and weaknesses.
- Through testimonies of group members, the
denigration of the group's "competitors" (e.g., other religious groups, other
therapists), the tactful accentuation of the recruit's shameful memories and
other weaknesses, and the gradual indoctrination of the recruit into a closed,
non-falsifiable belief system, the group's
superiority is affirmed as a fundamental assumption.
- Members' testimonies, positive reinforcement
of the recruit's expressions of trust in the group, discrete reminders about
the recruit's weaknesses, and various forms of group pressure induce the
recruit to acknowledge that his/her future well-being depends upon adherence
to the group's belief system, more specifically its "change program."
- These same influence techniques are joined
by a subtle undermining of the recruit's self-esteem (e.g., by exaggerating
the "sinfulness" of experiences the recruit is encouraged to "confess"), the
suppression or weakening of critical thinking through fatiguing activity,
near-total control of the recruit's time, trance-induction exercises (e.g.,
chanting), and the repetitive message that only disaster results from not
following the group's "change program." These manipulations induce the recruit
to declare allegiance to the group and to commit to change him/herself as
directed by the group. He or she can now be considered a convert embarking on
a path of "purification," "enlightenment," "self-actualization," "higher
consciousness," or whatever. The recruit's dependency on the group is
established and implicitly, if not explicitly, acknowledged. Moreover, he/she
has accepted the group's authority in defining what is true and good, within
the convert's heart and mind as well as in the world.
- The convert is next fully subjected to the
unrealistically high expectations of the group. The recruit's "potential" is
"lovingly" affirmed, while members testify to the great heights they and
"heroic" models have scaled. The group's all-important mission, e.g., save the
world, justifies its all-consuming expectations.
- Because by definition the group is always
right and "negative" thinking is unacceptable, the convert's failures become
totally his or her responsibility, while his or her doubts and criticisms are
suppressed (often with the aid of trance-inducing exercises such as
meditation, speaking in tongues, or chanting) or redefined as personal
failures. The convert thus experiences increasing self- alienation. The
"pre-cult self" is rejected; doubts about the group are pushed out of
consciousness; the sense of failure generated by not measuring up to the
group's expectations is bottled up inside. The only possible adaptation is
fragmentation and compartmentalization. It is not surprising, then, that many
clinicians consider dissociation
to lie at the heart of cult-related distress and dysfunction (Ash, 1985).
- The convert's self-alienation will tend to
demand further psychological, if not physical, alienation from the non-group
world (especially family), information from which can threaten to upset
whatever dissociative equilibrium the convert establishes in an attempt to
adjust to the consuming and conflicting demands of the group. This alienation
accentuates the convert's dependency on the group.
- The group supports the convert's
dissociative equilibrium by actively encouraging escalating dependency, e.g.,
by exaggerating the convert's past "sins" and conflicts with family, by
denigrating outsiders, by positively reinforcing chanting or other
"thought-stopping" activities, and by providing and positively reinforcing
ways in which the convert can find a valued role within the group (e.g., work
for a group-owned business, sell magazines on the street).
- The group strengthens the convert's growing
dependency by threatening or inflicting punishment whenever the convert or an
outside force (e.g., a visit by a family member) disturbs the dissociative
equilibrium that enables him or her to function in a closed, non-falsifiable
system (the "dread" of DDD). Punishment may sometimes by physical. Usually,
however, the punishment is psychological, sometimes even metaphysical. Certain
fringe Christian groups, for example, can at the command of the leadership
immediately begin shunning someone singled out as being "factious" or
possessed of a "rebellious spirit." Many groups also threaten wavering
converts with punishments in the hereafter, for example, being "doomed to
Hell." It should be remembered that these threats and punishments occur within
a context of induced dependency and psychological alienation from the person's
former support network. This fact makes them much more potent than the
garden-variety admonitions of traditional religious, such as "you will go to
hell if you die with mortal sin."
The result of this process, when carried to its
consummation, is a person who proclaims great happiness but hides great
suffering. I have talked to many former cultists who, when they left their
groups and talked to other former members, were surprised to discover that many
of their fellow members were also smilingly unhappy, all thinking they were the
only ones who felt miserable inside.
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