◊ Terms: "On using the term Cult" 1/2
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◊ Terms: definitional ambiguity
Terms "On using the term Cult"
Even though we have each studied cults and educated people about
this subject for more than 20 years, neither of us has ever felt
completely comfortable with the term "cult." No other term, however,
serves more effectively the linked educational and research aims of
ICSA, the organization that
we serve as president (Rosedale) and executive director (Langone). In order to help others who have asked questions about the term "cult," we here offer some thoughts on the definition and use of this term.
Review of Definitions
According to the Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (1971) the term, "cult," originally referred to "worship; reverential homage rendered to a divine being or beings...a particular form or system of religious worship; especially in reference to its external rites and ceremonies ...devotion or homage to a particular person or thing." More
recently, the term has taken on additional connotations: "3 : A religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious...4 : A system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator...5 a. great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work...b. a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion." (Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition,
1994)
Robbins's (1988) review of recent sociological contributions to the study of cults identifies four definitional perspectives:
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cults as dangerous, authoritarian groups;
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cults as culturally innovative or transcultural groups;
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cults as loosely structured protoreligions;
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Stark and Bainbridge’s (1985) subtypology that distinguishes among "audience cults" (members seek to receive information, e.g., through a lecture or tape series) "client cults" (members seek some specific benefit, e.g., psychotherapy, spiritual guidance), and "cult movements" (organizations that demand a high level of commitment from members). The Stark
and Bainbridge typology relates to their finding that cult membership increases as church membership decreases.
Rutgers University professor Benjamin Zablocki (1997) says that sociologists often distinguish "cult" from "church," "sect," and "denomination." Cults are innovative, fervent groups. If they become accepted into the mainstream, cults, in his view, lose their fervor and become more organized and integrated into the community; they become churches. When people
within churches become dissatisfied and break off into fervent splinter groups, the new groups are called sects. As sects become more stolid and integrated into the community, they become denominations. Zablocki defines a cult as "an ideological organization held together by charismatic relationships and demanding total commitment." According to Zablocki, cults are at high risk of becoming
abusive to members, in part because members' adulation of charismatic leaders contributes to their becoming corrupted by the power they seek and are accorded.
Definitions proposed at various times by associates of
ICSA tend to presume the manifestation of what is potential in Zablocki's definition. These definitions tend to emphasize elements of authoritarian structure, deception, and manipulation and the fact that groups may be psychotherapeutic, political, or commercial, as well as religious. One of the more commonly
quoted definitions of "cult" was articulated at an
ICSA/UCLA Wingspread Conference on Cultism in 1985:
Cult (totalist type): A group or movement exhibiting a great or excessive devotion or dedication to some person, idea, or thing and employing unethically manipulative techniques of persuasion and control (e.g., isolation from former friends and family, debilitation, use of special methods to heighten suggestibility and subservience, powerful group
pressures, information management, suspension of individuality or critical judgment, promotion of total dependency on the group and fear of leaving it, etc.), designed to advance the goals of the group's leaders, to the actual or possible detriment of members, their families, or the community. (West & Langone, 1986, pp. 119-120)
Because this and related definitions imply high levels of psychological manipulation, many students of the field have associated cults with the concept of thought reform (Lifton, 1961; Ofshe & Singer, 1986;
Singer & Ofshe, 1990). Although there are many similarities between these concepts, a cult does not necessarily have to be characterized by thought reform, nor does a thought reform program necessarily have to be a cult. Nevertheless, the two seem to go together often enough that many people mistakenly see them as necessarily linked.
Definitions advanced by ICSA associates imply that the term "cult" refers to a continuum, in which a large gray area separates "cult" from "noncult," or add qualifiers to the term "cult," such as "destructive" or "totalist type." These definitions suggest that there may be some debate about the appropriateness of the term
as applied to a specific group, especially when available evidence indicates that the group is in or near the gray area of the continuum. This debate can become more acute when the group in question is one that varies among its geographic locations, has different levels of membership with correspondingly different levels of commitment, has changed over time in the direction of greater or less "cultishness,"
or is skilled at public relations.
Because they tend to focus on certain practices and behaviors, the definitions advanced by
ICSA associates are implicitly interactionist. Like all psychologically based models, they presume that different people will respond differently to the same group environment, much as twins can respond differently to the same family environment. Cults are not all alike. Nor
are all cult members affected in the same way, even within the same group. Nevertheless, a huge body of clinical evidence leads
ICSA associates to contend that some groups harm some members sometimes, and that some groups may be more likely to harm members than other groups.
◊ Terms: "On using the term Cult" 1/2
◊ Terms: "On using the term Cult" 2/2
◊ Terms: definitional ambiguity
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