Am J Psychiatry 1979; 136:279-282
Copyright © 1979 by American Psychiatric Association
Coercive persuasion (brainwashing), religious cults, and deprogramming
JT Ungerleider and DK Wellisch
Psychiatric interviews and psychological testing were conducted with 50
members of former members of a variety of religious cults who contacted the
authors about the issue of deprogramming. The subjects were divided into
four groups: cult members who feared deprogramming, those who had returned
to the cult after deprogramming, ex-cult members who had left after
deprogramming, and those who had left without deprogramming. There were
significant differences between these groups on length of time in the cult,
perception of and resistance toward the deprogramming experience, status of
parental marriage, and who became a deprogrammer. No evidence of insanity
or mental illness in the legal sense was found.
