The Significance and Purpose of the “Anti-Cult Movement” in Facilitating Disaffiliation From a New Religious Movement
Resources for Self-construction or a Justificatory Account
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsnr.v3i2.213Keywords:
ACM, former members, identity, brainwashing discoursesAbstract
The current study investigates the experiences of 23 former members of New Religious Movements (NRMs) or cults with anti-cult practices and discourses in Australia. All the participants in this study report some involvement with anti-cult practices and/or engagement with brainwashing explanations of NRM affiliations; however, they describe the significance of these anti-cult resources for their sense of self in different ways. The findings suggests that for some former members anti-cult resources, in particular the brainwashing discourses, merely served as a convenient account through which to explain or justify their former NRM affiliation and manage embarrassment or possible stigmatisation, while for others these resources served an important identity function at a time of loss and uncertainty. These participants describe their involvement with anti-cult practices as a much needed identity resource in which they could anchor their sense of self following the dramatic loss of identity associated with NRM disaffiliation. To make sense of the variations in the way in which anti-cult practices and discourses informed the participants” sense of self Symbolic Interactionist understandings of the self are applied.
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----- n.d Coercive Persuasion and Mind Control: Treating Victims of Coercive Groups and Destructive Cults 2010 [cited 20/06/2012. Available from http://www.cifs.org.au/conference.php.
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Crabtree, Benjamin F. and William L. Miller. 1992 Doing qualitative research: research methods for primary care, vol. 3. Newbury Park, California: Sage Publications.
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Doering, Jan. 2010 “Face, accounts, and schemes in the context of relationship breakups.” Symbolic Interaction 33(1): 71–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/si.2010.33.1.71
Dowhower, Richard, L. 1993 “Guidelines for Clergy.” In Recovery From Cults: Help for Victims of Psychological and Spiritual Abuse, edited by Michael Langone, 251–262. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Durocher, Nicole. 1999 “Insights From Cult Survivors Regarding Group Support.” British Journal of Social Work 29: 581–599. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/29.4.581
Ebaugh, Helen Rose. 1988a Becoming and Ex. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
----- 1988b “Leaving Catholic Convents.” In Falling from the Faith: Causes and Consequences of Religious Apostacy edited by David G. Bromley, 100–121. Newbury Park, California Sage Publications.
Ezzy, Douglas. 2002 Qualitative Analysis: Practice and innovation. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin.
Francis, Linda E. 1997 “Ideology and interpersonal emotion management: Redefining identity in two support groups.” Social Psychology Quarterly 60(2): 153–171. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2787102
----- 2003 “Feeling Good, Feeling Well: Identity, Emotion and Health.” In Advances in Identity Theory & Research, edited by P. J. Burke, T. J. Owens, R. T. Serpe and P. A. Thoits, 123–134. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9188-1_9
Galanter, M. 1983 “Unification Church (“Moonie”) dropouts: psychological readjustment after leaving a charismatic religious group.” American Journal of Psychotherapy 140: 984–989.
Gasde, I. and R. Block. 1998 “Cult Experience: Psychological Abuse, Distress, Personality Characteristics, and Changes in Personal Relationships Reported by Former Members of Church Universal and Triumphant.” Cultic Studies Journal 15(2).
Gergen, Kenneth J. 1991 The saturated self: Dilemmas of identity in contemporary life. New York: Basic Books.
Giambalvo, Carol. 1993 “Post-cult Problems: An Exit Counselor’s Perspective.” In Recovery From Cults: Help for Victims of Psychological and Spiritual Abuse, edited by Michael Langone. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
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Published
2012-12-31
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Coates, D. (2012). The Significance and Purpose of the “Anti-Cult Movement” in Facilitating Disaffiliation From a New Religious Movement: Resources for Self-construction or a Justificatory Account. International Journal for the Study of New Religions, 3(2), 213-244. https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsnr.v3i2.213
