Take Back Your Life, Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships

By Janja Lalich, Madeleine Tobias (1994, 2006) Originally published as Captive Hearts, Captive Minds: Freedom and Recovery from Cults and Abusive Relationships, Bay Tree Publishing, Berkeley, CA  
 
"Cult victims and those who have experienced abusive relationships often suffer from fear, confusion, low self-esteem, and post-traumatic stress. TAKE BACK YOUR LIFE explains the seductive draw that leads people in such situations, provides insightful information for assessing what happened, and hands-on tools for getting back on track." -- Back cover.

Cults in Our Midst, The Hidden Menace in our Everyday Lives

By Margaret Thaler Singer (1995) Jossey-Bass Inc., San Francisco, CA  
 
"Cults are more pervasive than ever before. Covert seductive groups are targeting the elderly, the workplace, the family...anyone can be a victim." -- Back cover.

"What makes Cults in Our Midst so absorbing is Singer's ability to show the extremely damaging effect of cults as well as the lure that cults may have for 'average' people in 'normal' life. Although cults often emerge cyclically -- a 'good' time for cults is the end of the millennium, when people become obsessed with apocalyptic notiions...(but) they never really disappear." -- San Francisco Chronicle

Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism, A Study of "Brainwashing" in China


By Robert Jay Lifton (1961, 1989) W.W. Norton & Co,, University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC.  
 
"...In identifying, on the basis of this study of thought reform, features common to all expressions of ideological totalism, I wish to suggest a set of criteria against which any environment may be judged -- a basis for answering the ever-recurring question: 'Isn't this just like 'brainwashing'?

"These criteria consist of eight psychological themes which are predominant within the social field of the thought reform milieu....1)Milieu control; 2)Mystical manipulation; 3)Demand for purity; 4)The cult of confession; 5)The 'sacred science'; 6)Loading the language; 7)Doctrine over person; 8)The dispensing of existence." -- Lifton

"Informed by Erik Erikson's concept of the formation of ego identity, this book...is an analysis of the experiences of fifteen Chinese citizens and twenty-five Westerners who underwent 'brainwashing' by the Communist Chinese government. Robert Lifton constructs these case histories through personal interviews and outlines a thematic pattern of death and rebirth, accompanied by feelings of guilt, that characterizes the process of 'thought reform.' In a new preface, Lifton addresses the implications of his model for the study of American religious cults." -- Back cover.

Them and Us, Cult Thinking and the Terrorist Threat


By Arthur J. Deikman, (1990, 1994, 2003), Bay Tree Publishing, Berkeley, CA  
 
"How could anyone do such a thing? It's a question we've asked repeatedly -- after September 11, Waco, Jonestown, the Khmer Rouge, Hitler and Stalin -- and each time the horror seems unprecedented and inconceivable. Yet, the same kind of thinking led to each of these events -- a way of thinking we all share in some measure. When we belittle others, shy away from dissenting views, rely on an inspiring leader, or simply go along with the group, we set ourselves on the path to cult thinking. Once we draw a clear line between Them and Us -- whoever they are -- we begin to lose our way.

"The antidote," says Arthur Deikman, "lies in recognizing cult thinking in a wide range of institutions -- corporate, political, religious, and educational -- and in our personal responses. When we understand how easily we fall into patterns of defensiveness and accusation, we develop a more realistic view of the world and can respond more effectively to hatred and terrorism."-- Back cover.