The Psychology of Cults - Research Paper Example

The Psychology of Cults: The Leaders and the Followers Due Cults have been existence for centuries and many people have differing definitions of the term. However, what many have in common is a charismatic and manipulative leader and a following of loyal members who do as they are instructed by that leader. Many historical cults have resulted in deception and death. Understanding the psychology of both the leaders and the members is essential to combating the development of future dangerous cult. In order to understand the nature and characteristics of cults member it is necessary to look to a number of authentic cases as examples of cults and their leaders like, Jim Jones, David Koresh, Warren Jeffs, and Charles Manson. Due to the government perspective of freedom of speech and freedom of religion many cults are able to continue taking advantage of people and leaders maintain leadership. However, modern psychology has been and continues to make efforts to understand the mental illnesses and disorders that identify potential cult activity; the kind that could become dangerous to both members and possibly the general public. Reforms are necessary that will allow interventions to be taken to stall the progress of dangerous cult phenomena so that there is less issue with constitutional rights. INTRODUCTION When people hear the word “cult” what images most likely come to mind? A cult is seen most often seen as a scary group of religious fanatics, anyone who practices a pagan, non-mainstream religions, or, the most frightening cult incarnation, devil worshippers stalking and sacrificing neighborhood pets. Sometimes a cult earns the label of cult simply because a group has a different spirituality, philosophy, or ideology. The “Us vs. Them” psychological complex inspires both the perspectives of outsiders looking into a cult, but also, the cult member’s perception of the outside world. Real cults, in some cases, are in fact harmless. However, sometimes a cult will have the right combination of a charismatic leader with a desire to control and the blind followers, which are often, mislead, misguided, and misinformed. Most cult members do not realize that they are joining a cult when they first join (Rhoads, 1997). Many feel that what makes a cult is the leader. Most are defined by the deviance and control of the leadership over the behaviors of their followers. But, both, the leaders and followers provide elements that allow a cult to flourish. The cult phenomenon is encouraged by the psychological profile of its leader, certainly, but, also, by its members. Finding change for both is, ultimately, essential. It is the combination of the differing psychological disorders and those predispositioned by their own mental faults, needs, or disorders that must come together in order to produce a dangerous cult mentality. HISTORY What defines a cult? In the simplest definition is a cult is a group whose beliefs and practices are new or different from the mainstream where the members are dogmatically loyal and dedicated to a single person or thing, often presenting a separatist and obsessive form of worship and adoration that may be unhealthy. .Of course, that definition can define a lot of groups, many of which are not cults. For example, Alcoholics Anonymous uses religious overtones at group meetings to aid alcoholics to remain alcohol free. But are they a cult? Most experts would say no. There a number of Christian denominations that while they veer from other versions, they do not qualify as cults (Robinson, 2011). All the same, there are a lot more genuine cults that are active today that most people would imagine. In the United States alone there 3,000 dangerous and potentially destructive cults currently active, which equates to more than 4 million members total (Rhoads, 1997). Most cults fall into one of four specific categories. Religious Cults: The most common type of cult, and focuses on religious principles to control members of the group Psychological or Enlightenment Cults: These offer contrary theories to mainstream thinking; new age for example. They generally offer workshops at high cost. Political Cults: A group that springs up due to political and governmental ideologies. A prime example is the era of Nazism in Germany under Adolf Hitler. Commercial: Commercial cults are associated with gaining money. A prime example of commercial cults are pyramid scams (Rhoads, 1997). While there are definitely differences between one cult and another there are certain characteristics that represent a group that is, in fact, a dangerous cult. Firstly it is the two components of any cult, the leader and the followers. The leaders, who charmingly manipulate their followers to benefit himself, take advantage and engage in authoritarian control factors (Lalich & Tobias, 2006). These characteristics include, programming and grooming of new members, a singular devotion to single leaders, exploitation of the group members in favor of the leader’s goals, isolation of group from outside influence, use of psychological and physical means to gain group dependency, finally, threats made towards members themselves and family are often used to motivate group members (Furnham, 2014). DISCUSSION Cult leaders all seem to share certain psychological predispositions, including narcissistic personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, and anti-social personality disorder. Most cult leaders share one or a combination of all of these conditions. These are very serious mental disorders indicative of a potential cult leader. Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD): There are many signs and mental symptoms of this disorder, some of the most significant include -manifest signs of superiority over others. -fantasizes about being all-powerful and all knowing. -extreme sense of entitlement; he/she deservers the most and best (Navarro, 2012). Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD): Borderline personality disorder is a maladaptive disorder that that is characterized by the following symptoms. -Negative emotions like sadness, depression, unpredictable mood swings, and often dramatic and defensive when slighted or offended. -Disinhibition in actions and behaviors like risk-taking, impulsiveness, and irresponsibility. -Aggressiveness without warning like unwarranted rage and easily hostile (Mason & Kreger, 1998). Anti-Social Personality Disorder (APD): This mental disorder manifests both due to predisposition and life experiences; children who are abused may as adults manifest anti-social personality disorder traits. The condition is also broken into two, far more familiar terms, sociopathy and psychopathy. The former is known to be more disorganized and erratic in their behaviors, while a psychopath is more composed and calculating. Both are present with a lack of emotional sympathy or empathy and are prone to fire starting and cruelty to animals. Other shared characteristics include: -The ability is witty, engaging, and charming. -Uses flattery in order to manipulate the feelings and behaviors of others. -Often disregards the law and engages in drug use. -This disorder is also seen in the profile of serial killers. -Shows no sincere guilt or remorse; however a psychopath can emulate emotions (Medline Plus, 2014). All of the above assessments can be applied to many cult leaders. These leaders believe themselves to be special, better than others, the one having all of the answers, and the belief that they should be adored or worshipped. However, they also, show a lack of patients and explosive anger, devalue those around them, and do not like to be disobeyed or challenged. Followers seem to overlook these less than pleasant traits and accept them as a challenge of their “faith and loyalty.” The psychology of the followers is actually very common. Any average, everyday person who is seeking community, has a desire to belong, or participate in something bigger than themselves can be lured in by cults that are recruiting. In order to understand better the leader/follower dynamic and the psychology behind the cult phenomena it is best to discuss the different psychologies and mentalities by reviewing the leaders and followers of four infamous cults. Jim Jones Most have heard, when referencing cults, about not drinking the “Kool-Aid,” well it is the group under Jim Jones leadership, primarily, through, the 1970s, that that phrase was coined. Jones founded the People’s Temple; a Christian based perspective of Jones’s design. He developed many followers that loyally followed his charismatic preaching; his promise of a truly equal society, and that through him was the only way that could be achieved. When the cult began to draw negative attention he left the United States and established a compound called Jonestown in Guyana in South America. However, the more controlling Jones became the more of a threat he was perceived and the fear of outside interference would result in the tragic suicide of all but a few of his followers in November of 1978. More than 900 people consumed cyanide laced Kool-Aid and died where they had stood; 300 of those victims were children, whose parents fed them the poison that would take their lives. Jones himself was found at the compound as well, with self inflicted gunshot wounds to the head (Dittmann, 2003). So how was Jones able to lure in so many people and then so easily order them to make the ultimate sacrifice? It is not at all surprising, according to a most psychologists who review Jones’ case. Jim Jones was a classic and prime example of a true sufferer of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. He possesses all of the associated characteristics, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV-TR), which applies to NPD. A need to be adored, a “know-it-all” attitude, and explosive disdain for being questioned, and creates and environment where he/she is the most important figure. However, there are elements of anti-social personality disorder as well, which presents in Jones’s actions. The ability to abuse others and have little remorse or care for the ultimate well-being. It is the combination of sociopathy and narcissism is what allowed Jim Jones to order the suicide of loyal men, women, and, most disturbing, children (Maynard, 2013). David Koresh Like his predecessor, David Koresh, also, in the 1990s began a church of his own. called the Branch Dravidians, where cult leader, David Koresh was their prophet and Messiah. He believed himself special, ordained by God, and destined to lead “believers” down the right path to God and heaven. He had a large following of men, women, and children, who gathered supplies, weapons, and barricaded themselves in a compound in Waco, Texas. After a several day of unsuccessful negotiations and on-going stand-off with multiple federal and state law enforcement agencies resulted in the cult members and their leader exchanging gunfire with law enforcement and fire erupted. Fifty four adults and 21 children lost their lives in that fire. Like Jim Jones, Koresh, presents all of the major traits associated with NPD; seeing himself as a Messiah, a prophet, and believing that he was entitled to be in power. In fact, there are even reports that he sometimes perceived himself as the “Second-Coming of Jesus Christ.” He saw himself as more than just a prophet of God, but as the reincarnation of Christ himself. That level arrogance and self-importance, a reflection of narcissism, allowed him to see himself as superior and important. However, he may not have possessed the characteristics of APD as Jones’ did, after all the fire may have been an accident, meaning that Koresh did not order a mass suicide, but ultimately caused one. Warren Jeffs Warren Jeffs is the jailed leader of a very strict version of the Mormon religion called the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This unrecognized branch of Mormon philosophy practices plural marriage, forces little or no contact with the outside world, and women, specifically, have no real rights beyond pleasing their husbands and producing children. Jeffs, as their Prophet is to be obeyed without question. He decided who married whom and when, would banish members as saw it, separated families, and passed atypical demands upon his followers. The FLDS can be found in bordering compounds in Texas, Utah, and Arizona. These compounds total 1000s of acres where temples, factories, and housing has been built. Jeffs decreed that no children should have toys, women should be quiet and obedient, and they must all where long modest dresses and comb their hair in high-banged, tightly woven braids or buns. However, unlike Koresh and Jones, the people of Jeffs communities remain willing participants and continue to live under the laws of the Prophet even in his absence. While the government interventions would not allow them to disband the cult for reasons of freedom of religions, Jeffs himself was accused and found guilty of child molestation. While many cults have cult leaders who take advantage of sexual favors coerced from female members, Jeff’s behaviors are far worse. He was known to have engages in strange sexual abuses of small children and marrying a girl that was only 12 years old’ she was just one of 2 dozen wives. Followers deny the “rumors” of underage marriages and continue to receive orders from the manipulative Jeffs from prison (Martinez, 2014). Jeffs psychological profile reveals the same behaviors and attitudes indicative of NPD. Again this leader sees himself as special, a Prophet, a man entitled to control the actions of others. It is the erratic nature of his demands were sometimes quite strange. For example, he outlawed the color red, he decided that children’s education would end at the junior high level, and speaks to his people, not just as a prophet, but as a conduit for God. While a narcissist, he is also, a genuine true to form pedophile. His desire was young children and young girls. His sexual tastes have been described as quite deviant for a man who claims to be a “man of God.” But his superiority allows him justify all of his actions in his own mind. He could order their parents surrender their daughters to him at any time or dictating whom a girl would marry (Martinez, 2014). Charles Manson Born Charles Maddox, Manson did not take his infamous surname until he was a few years old. He was born to an underage mother who had trouble with law, used drugs and alcohol, was promiscuous, and neglectful of her young son. Given the upbringing, it is no surprise that Manson also became a young criminal, spending most of year’s youth, teens, and early adulthood in and out of reform schools or prison. In the 1960s Manson met a young college student name Mary Brunner. She was so taken with Manson that she quit school, took up drug-use, and traveled with him seeking recruiting for the “Manson Family” throughout California. Manson became a self-appointed “guru” and began filling people’s heads with the ideas that he had a “sixth sense” and was special among men (Montaldo, 2014). As the Family’s numbers increased they appeared to be nothing more than a bunch of drum circle, stereotypical hippies common in the era; Manson himself was a decent singer and songwriter. However, as time went by the group and this folk-singing leader changed. After Manson was denied a record recording deal, he angrily went to the house of the man that he felt cost him the opportunity who had once lived at the infamous house in Beverly Hills, California on Cielo Drive. However, that man no longer lived there. The home was now the residence of young actress, Sharon Tate, and her director husband, Roman Polanski. Starting in 1969, Manson began to exhibit more erratic and odd behavior he began making racist statements and instilled in the Family his belief in an inevitable race war, that he called Helter Skelter. He then proposes a mission for a handful of his closest followers, led by Tex Watson, he ordered them to go to Cielo Drive and murder everyone there. Following his orders the group broke into the home and butchered Sharon Tate, who was 8 months pregnant, and 3 of her guests and an innocent bystander in the driveway, using guns, knives, and strangulation. Manson believes that people would assume that it was “black” people who committed such a crime. However, that was not the case. Two days later he ordered the death of the couple, the LaBiancas, in Los Feliz. However, this time, he told his “killers” to draw cat paws in blood on the walls and leave watermelon rinds in the yard, so that law enforcement would assume the crime was committed by the Black Panthers, a militant African American Civil Rights group. Again, that was not the case. Manson’s plans to ignite a race war would fail and he and his followers involved in the murders would be charged and incarcerated (Bonn, 2014). The Manson Family is a different kind of cult from most. Both their leader and their followers bring new element into the equation of what makes a cult dangerous. These communal hippies were living in the era of free love and freer drugs. Manson was more than happy to oblige; the group members drug addiction and continuous use made them much easier to manipulate. (Goldberg, 2010). Manson took advantage of this power and control. Manson shows the traditional signs of a NPD, he saw himself as special, entitled, and superior. He openly shared that after the inevitable race war the world would turn to him as their new leader. That level of delusion is expressive of his mental illness. Manson does show some sign of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) as well. His deviance and issues with right and wrong, his loner status, and his problems with the law all speak to that possibility. Mason, also, shows signs of APD. He may never have lifted the knife that committed the infamous murders, he did mastermind them; with little remorse or concern of consequence However modern psychologist offer than that he may not have been the only genuinely mentally disturbed factor in the Manson family. Many claim that Manson is sociopathic, but the Watson was a psychopath. Manson gave him a mission and he was the willing ring-leader in these crimes who engaged eagerly in the sadistic murder and torture of these people with no real empathy or remorse for his victims; even after he spent years in prison (Mountjoy, 2013). Even those members not involved in the murders, these drug-addled, individuals showed compromised judgment and psychological proof of the power and control Mason had over them (Naqshbandi, 2012). At one point Family members crawled on the pavement in the middle of the day, all the way to the courthouse, in protest of Manson’s imprisonment. ISSUES & SOLUTIONS There are many religious perspectives, philosophical organizations, and like-minded clubs that are not cults. However, now that we are more aware of the evidence that helps us identify those individuals leading groups that could be a danger and could become a potential cult. That said, that evidence can help disband, separate, and liberate cult members before anything tragic occurs. That seems like such a simple solution, but it is not. Here in the United States we pride ourselves on freedom of speech and religion. That said it can be difficult to maintain those freedoms and intervene on a budding cult. It will take practical approaches, reforms, and new policy development that changes the way cults are viewed, investigated, and ideally prevented. People crave to belong, to be part of something, and to feel like their contributions to “something” are valued. This can leave many people open to the lure of cults and their charismatic leadership. Cults are dangerous (Lalich & Tobias, 2006). However a cult is nothing without the loyalty of its members. That said the existence of cults cannot be solely blamed on the leaders but on the blind faith of followers who may, also, suffer from some sort of emotional lacking or psychological need that is making them more likely to succumb to blind faith. Members are used by manipulative authoritarian leaders, who seek to live out their own agendas and soak in their delusions of grandeur. CONCLUSION Ultimately the psychological concern involved in the cult phenomena is not simply a matter of the profiles of the leaders, but also the followers. As we see in the case of the Manson Family that sometimes there is potential mental illness among the members as surely as the leader. In the cases of Jonestown, Waco, and the FLDS we see what happens when the rules of freedom of religion are misused to allow the machinations and manipulations of mentally unstable leaders. Changes are needed in order to limit the establishment and a member-stranglehold created by a cult leader that leads to the negative outcomes witnessed in the past. This is the 21st century, we know how cults usually end; they end with death, violence, and sacrifice. Ideally finding means to detect the most dangerous leaders and potentially threatening groups are essential to keeping society safe. Individual groups may have the right to freedom of speech and religion, but individuals also have a right not to be treated like fodder and breeding stock as in the FLDS, not be murdered in their own homes as in the Manson murders, they do not expect to end their lives with spiked Kool-Aid as in Jonestown, and finally no one normally expects to set themselves on fire as occurred in Waco. We may have to reform the former perspectives on freedom in order to protect people from the realities of cult involvement. REFERENCES Barrie-Anthony, S. (2002). 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