• The nature of psychological manipulation and abuse
• Conditions of thought reform programs
• General recovery needs of former members
• Coping with depression and guilt
• Effects of hypnosis and trance techniques
• Coping with feelings of anger
• Coping with anxiety
• Decision-making
• Reestablishing trust in yourself and others
• Dependency issues
• The grieving process
• Reintegration/identity issues
• Spiritual and philosophical concerns

The workshops are organized and coordinated by Carol Giambalvo, a thought reform consultant, former member of a controversial group, and author/editor of Exit Counseling: A Family Intervention and The Boston Movement: Critical Perspectives on the International Churches of Christ (Herbert L. Rosedale, co-editor).  Ms. Giambalvo serves AFF as Director of Recovery Programs, which include workshops, special publications, professional liaison, and outreach.

Family Workshops

Topics discussed typically include:

•  The nature of psychological manipulation and abuse
•   Why people join and leave high-control, abusive groups
• How to assess your situation
• How to communicate more effectively with your loved one
•   Problem-solving
•   Formulating a helping strategy
•   When exit counseling might be appropriate and how to prepare
•   Ethical issues
•   Special concerns of spouses
• How to help your loved one after he or she leaves the group
•   How to cope with apparent helplessness without losing hope

AFF Family Workshops are organized and coordinated by Livia Bardin, M.S.W., a therapist in private practice.  Ms. Bardin serves on AFF’s Social Work Committee and Family Education Service Advisory Board and is editor of the newsletter of the Greater Washington Society of Clinical Social Workers.  She is author of Coping with Cult Involvement: A Handbook for Families and Friends.

Appendix D:  Research Plan

One of AFF’s most important goals is to inspire, encourage, coordinate, support and contribute to research initiated by AFF staff, volunteer professionals, and others who are interested in the cult problem.  In September 1994 AFF's Dr. Michael Langone organized a two-day research-planning meeting in which 16 professionals convened to discuss ongoing and planned research.  A second meeting took place in April 1995.  Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center hosted both meetings.  The research outline below summarizes the results of these meetings and subsequent discussions with AFF research advisors.  This outline continues to guide our research work.  (In order to enhance scientific clarity the term, “psychologically abusive group,” is used instead of “cult,” with which considerable ambiguity and controversy is associated.)  Although much useful research has been conducted, fully implementing this ambitious research plan will take many years.  Those interested in contributing to the research program outlined below should contact Dr. Langone (AFF, P.O. Box 2265, Bonita Springs, FL 34133; aff@affcultinfoserve.com). 

The questions that guide our research follow: 

1.   How can we productively conceptualize the term “psychologically abusive group” and the relevance of certain types of “harm,” “group variables,” and “person variables” to psychologically abusive groups?

Answering this question will require a series of conceptual essays [one of which, Dr. Langone’s essay “Psychological Abuse,” has already been published in Cultic Studies Journal, 9(2), 1992] that will lay the groundwork for a psychological theory of group-perpetrated psychological abuse.  This theory should clearly imply empirical studies that can test the theory’s validity. 

2.                  How can we productively measure group psychological abuse and relevant group, person, and harm variables? 

Drs. William Chambers, Michael Langone, and Arthur Dole developed the 28-item Group Psychological Abuse Scale (GPA Scale) from a factor analysis of the responses of 308 subjects rating their groups on 112 questions [Cultic Studies Journal, 11(1), 1994].  The GPA Scale needs to undergo a full course of psychometric development, including reliability and validity studies and the collection of data from a wide range of cultic and noncultic groups.  If the GPA Scale lives up to its promise, it should prove useful in distinguishing cultic from noncultic groups and in differentiating various types of cultic groups.  It will provide, for the first time, an objective measure of the “cultishness” of a group. 

Drs. Langone and Chambers presented a paper with Ohio University graduate student, Peter Malinoski to the American Psychological Association.  This paper, which is available from AFF, summarizes research with the Group Psychological Abuse Scale (GPA) through 1996. 

Dr. Rod Marshall and Lois Kendall of Buckinghamshire College in London gave an updated report on their research, which used the GPA along with other instruments, at AFF's annual conference in Seattle, April 28-29, 2000 (they gave a report at the 1999 conference as well).  Other researchers are also collecting or analyzing data involving the GPA. 

Despite the GPA Scale’s promise, it is also desirable to supplement the self-report GPA with other self-report scales and observational measures of psychologically abusive group environments. In regard to the first goal, Dr. Nadine Winocur developed a related scale as part of her doctoral dissertation at Pepperdine University.  She and her colleagues report on the Individual Cult Experience Index in Cultic Studies Journal, 14(2), 1997.  Because of the complexity of the second goal, the first step will be to write a carefully thought out methodological essay on issues to consider in developing observational measures of abusive groups. 

In testing the GPA, AFF has found that families of individuals involved in cultic groups also find the scale useful.  In order to meet their needs more effectively AFF would like to develop a companion scale for families.  This scale will explore how families are affected by and perceive cultic groups. 

Research conducted at Ohio University, Boston University, Buckinghamshire College, and Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center have utilized a battery of standardized psychological instruments to assess harm in populations of former group members.  See Question 4 below. 

3.                  How can we usefully classify psychologically abusive groups?

It would be helpful to write a critical review of existing classification systems, including those proposed by sociologists (An “unassigned” task at present). 

The psychometric development of the GPA Scale may lead to an empirically based classification scheme. 

4.                  With regard to psychologically abusive groups, what is the relationship between person variables, group variables, and psychopathology? 

AFF’s Executive Director, Dr. Michael Langone, whom Boston University named the 1995 Albert V. Danielsen Visiting Scholar, conducted a study at Boston University of the International Churches of Christ movement.  He used the GPA Scale and a new scale (the DDD Scale—Deception, Dependency, and Dread Scale) to assess the abusiveness of the Boston Movement, as rated by former members.  He also used a psychological test battery to assess the nature and degree of psychological distress experienced by former members of the Boston Movement and two comparison groups: graduates of a mainstream campus ministry and former members of a mainstream religion.  This test battery is identical to that used in an Ohio University study described below. Dr. Langone's report to the Danielsen Institute is available from AFF. 

A team of three psychology graduate students under the direction of Ohio University’s Dr. Steve Lynn gave a standardized test battery to clients of the Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center and a matched comparison group of college students in order to assess the nature and degree of psychopathology among former cult members.  A report on this research was published in Cultic Studies Journal, 16(1), 1999. Members of this team also wrote a comprehensive review of the empirical literature in this field [Aronoff, J.B., Lynn, S.J., & Malinoski, P.T. (in press).  Are cultic environments psychologically harmful?  Clinical Psychology Review]. 

The Marshall and Kendall studies, mentioned above, are also using a standardized battery to assess harm. 

A team of four psychology graduate students under the direction of Pepperdine University’s Dr. David Foy have used the Los Angeles Symptom Checklist (a standardized instrument designed to measure symptoms common to victimization populations) to measure distress and the Group Experience Index (GEI) to assess the severity of exposure to cult-related pressures and abuses in order to study the relationships between post-cult distress and variables related to pre-cult history and adjustment, cult-related experiences, and post-cult history.  A multiple regression research design was used to evaluate the relative contributions of the variables under investigation to post-cult distress.  The Winocur article mentioned above also reports on this aspect of these studies. 

Data from the AFF questionnaire from which the GPA Scale was derived await analyses and reporting by Dr. Langone and colleagues. This questionnaire explored subjects’ psychological and social history, background variables related to cult joining, characteristics of the group environment, subjects’ responses to the cult experience, subjects’ post-group experiences (including recovery), and subjects’ evaluations of helping resources. 

Dr. Arthur Dole has written a methodological paper, published in Cultic Studies Journal, 12(2), 1995, explaining how to apply case study methodology to the cult area.   Over the next few years, AFF would like to enlist the support of clinicians in this field to conduct a series of case studies using Dr. Dole’s methodology.

Although considerable research has been conducted, much more research is needed to adequately answer this question. 

5.                  What is the prevalence of membership in psychologically abusive groups and how many such groups are there in the United States? 

The first research-planning meeting decided that existing prevalence data are sufficient for current research purposes and that a full-scale epidemiological study on cultic groups would be an inappropriate use of limited resources at this time.  It was decided, however, that surveys of professional populations (e.g., clergy, psychologists), such as Dr. Edward Lottick’s survey of primary care physicians [Lottick, E.A. (Feb. 1993).  Survey reveals physicians's experiences with cults. Pennsylvania Medicine, 96, 26-28 -- available from AFF], would provide useful data at relatively low cost (and would also contribute to professional education).  Such surveys will be conducted as funds allow. 

Scientifically determining the number of psychologically abusive groups, or cults, in the U.S. is a daunting task.  Perhaps the most feasible approach would be to compile a comprehensive list of groups about which AFF receives inquiries, select a random sample from this list, and conduct in-depth studies of this sample, using when possible the GPA Scale and/or other scales to be developed in the future.  This study would enable us to make reasonable and empirically based generalizations about the broad population of groups we receive inquiries on (e.g., what percentage appears to be abusive).  This study obviously will require considerable funding. 

Develop a methodology for assessing the nature and extent of cultic influence on a university campus.  AFF believes that if we could develop an effective and efficient survey instrument, colleges and universities could use this instrument to help them assess cult-related problems on their campuses.  Dr. Russell Eleven's research, which was published in Cultic Studies Journal, 15(1), 1998, has laid the groundwork for the development of such a measure. 

6.                  What is the relationship between person, group, and treatment variables and amelioration in post-group distress? 

Currently, the most thorough outcome evaluation of psychological treatment for former group members is that of Dr. Paul Martin and his colleagues at Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center, published in Cultic Studies Journal, 9(2), 1992.  Although controlled outcome studies are obviously preferred, such studies require considerable funding.  In the meantime, the state of knowledge would be advanced if other clinicians in this field attempted to evaluate treatment effectiveness using standardized pre- and post-measures, as Wellspring does. 

7.                  What are the legal implications of the cult phenomenon? 

The American Bar Association report published in Cultic Studies Journal, 12(1), 1995 provides a literature review and analysis of case law relating to mind control issues, undue influence, and fraud.  Cultic Studies Journal has also published articles on other aspects of the legal dimension of this subject, including custody, violence against women laws, emancipation of minors, hypnotic testimony, and certain reports of governments.  The international dimension of the cult issue greatly complicates the legal arena.  It would be helpful to develop a manual of pertinent laws, precedents, and unresolved issues in various countries in order to make the scholarly analysis above accessible to greater numbers of people.  Obviously, this is a major task that would require funding and the skills of a legal scholar. 

8.                  What are the cultural implications of the cult issue? 

AFF believes that the cultural implications of cultism can be explored fruitfully by answering the following key question: 

How does a free, constitutionally based society protect itself against the totalist impulses and practices of cultic groups without becoming closed and repressive?  

The answer to this question includes, but is not limited to, legal considerations.  A key component of the answer, for example, has to do with the ethics of how we influence each other, a subject on which AFF has published a number of articles.  Answering this question also demands an analysis of fundamental societal values and how conflicting values can most effectively be reconciled. 

1/5 <   [ 1 |  2  | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10]  > 7/10

Articles: -  In this issue

• The nature of psychological manipulation and abuse
• Conditions of thought reform programs
• General recovery needs of former members
• Coping with depression and guilt
• Effects of hypnosis and trance techniques
• Coping with feelings of anger
• Coping with anxiety
• Decision-making
• Reestablishing trust in yourself and others
• Dependency issues
• The grieving process
• Reintegration/identity issues
• Spiritual and philosophical concerns

The workshops are organized and coordinated by Carol Giambalvo, a thought reform consultant, former member of a controversial group, and author/editor of Exit Counseling: A Family Intervention and The Boston Movement: Critical Perspectives on the International Churches of Christ (Herbert L. Rosedale, co-editor).  Ms. Giambalvo serves AFF as Director of Recovery Programs, which include workshops, special publications, professional liaison, and outreach.

Family Workshops

Topics discussed typically include:

•  The nature of psychological manipulation and abuse
•   Why people join and leave high-control, abusive groups
• How to assess your situation
• How to communicate more effectively with your loved one
•   Problem-solving
•   Formulating a helping strategy
•   When exit counseling might be appropriate and how to prepare
•   Ethical issues
•   Special concerns of spouses
• How to help your loved one after he or she leaves the group
•   How to cope with apparent helplessness without losing hope

AFF Family Workshops are organized and coordinated by Livia Bardin, M.S.W., a therapist in private practice.  Ms. Bardin serves on AFF’s Social Work Committee and Family Education Service Advisory Board and is editor of the newsletter of the Greater Washington Society of Clinical Social Workers.  She is author of Coping with Cult Involvement: A Handbook for Families and Friends.

Appendix D:  Research Plan

One of AFF’s most important goals is to inspire, encourage, coordinate, support and contribute to research initiated by AFF staff, volunteer professionals, and others who are interested in the cult problem.  In September 1994 AFF's Dr. Michael Langone organized a two-day research-planning meeting in which 16 professionals convened to discuss ongoing and planned research.  A second meeting took place in April 1995.  Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center hosted both meetings.  The research outline below summarizes the results of these meetings and subsequent discussions with AFF research advisors.  This outline continues to guide our research work.  (In order to enhance scientific clarity the term, “psychologically abusive group,” is used instead of “cult,” with which considerable ambiguity and controversy is associated.)  Although much useful research has been conducted, fully implementing this ambitious research plan will take many years.  Those interested in contributing to the research program outlined below should contact Dr. Langone (AFF, P.O. Box 2265, Bonita Springs, FL 34133; aff@affcultinfoserve.com). 

The questions that guide our research follow: 

1.   How can we productively conceptualize the term “psychologically abusive group” and the relevance of certain types of “harm,” “group variables,” and “person variables” to psychologically abusive groups?

Answering this question will require a series of conceptual essays [one of which, Dr. Langone’s essay “Psychological Abuse,” has already been published in Cultic Studies Journal, 9(2), 1992] that will lay the groundwork for a psychological theory of group-perpetrated psychological abuse.  This theory should clearly imply empirical studies that can test the theory’s validity. 

2.                  How can we productively measure group psychological abuse and relevant group, person, and harm variables? 

Drs. William Chambers, Michael Langone, and Arthur Dole developed the 28-item Group Psychological Abuse Scale (GPA Scale) from a factor analysis of the responses of 308 subjects rating their groups on 112 questions [Cultic Studies Journal, 11(1), 1994].  The GPA Scale needs to undergo a full course of psychometric development, including reliability and validity studies and the collection of data from a wide range of cultic and noncultic groups.  If the GPA Scale lives up to its promise, it should prove useful in distinguishing cultic from noncultic groups and in differentiating various types of cultic groups.  It will provide, for the first time, an objective measure of the “cultishness” of a group. 

Drs. Langone and Chambers presented a paper with Ohio University graduate student, Peter Malinoski to the American Psychological Association.  This paper, which is available from AFF, summarizes research with the Group Psychological Abuse Scale (GPA) through 1996. 

Dr. Rod Marshall and Lois Kendall of Buckinghamshire College in London gave an updated report on their research, which used the GPA along with other instruments, at AFF's annual conference in Seattle, April 28-29, 2000 (they gave a report at the 1999 conference as well).  Other researchers are also collecting or analyzing data involving the GPA. 

Despite the GPA Scale’s promise, it is also desirable to supplement the self-report GPA with other self-report scales and observational measures of psychologically abusive group environments. In regard to the first goal, Dr. Nadine Winocur developed a related scale as part of her doctoral dissertation at Pepperdine University.  She and her colleagues report on the Individual Cult Experience Index in Cultic Studies Journal, 14(2), 1997.  Because of the complexity of the second goal, the first step will be to write a carefully thought out methodological essay on issues to consider in developing observational measures of abusive groups. 

In testing the GPA, AFF has found that families of individuals involved in cultic groups also find the scale useful.  In order to meet their needs more effectively AFF would like to develop a companion scale for families.  This scale will explore how families are affected by and perceive cultic groups. 

Research conducted at Ohio University, Boston University, Buckinghamshire College, and Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center have utilized a battery of standardized psychological instruments to assess harm in populations of former group members.  See Question 4 below. 

3.                  How can we usefully classify psychologically abusive groups?

It would be helpful to write a critical review of existing classification systems, including those proposed by sociologists (An “unassigned” task at present). 

The psychometric development of the GPA Scale may lead to an empirically based classification scheme. 

4.                  With regard to psychologically abusive groups, what is the relationship between person variables, group variables, and psychopathology? 

AFF’s Executive Director, Dr. Michael Langone, whom Boston University named the 1995 Albert V. Danielsen Visiting Scholar, conducted a study at Boston University of the International Churches of Christ movement.  He used the GPA Scale and a new scale (the DDD Scale—Deception, Dependency, and Dread Scale) to assess the abusiveness of the Boston Movement, as rated by former members.  He also used a psychological test battery to assess the nature and degree of psychological distress experienced by former members of the Boston Movement and two comparison groups: graduates of a mainstream campus ministry and former members of a mainstream religion.  This test battery is identical to that used in an Ohio University study described below. Dr. Langone's report to the Danielsen Institute is available from AFF. 

A team of three psychology graduate students under the direction of Ohio University’s Dr. Steve Lynn gave a standardized test battery to clients of the Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center and a matched comparison group of college students in order to assess the nature and degree of psychopathology among former cult members.  A report on this research was published in Cultic Studies Journal, 16(1), 1999. Members of this team also wrote a comprehensive review of the empirical literature in this field [Aronoff, J.B., Lynn, S.J., & Malinoski, P.T. (in press).  Are cultic environments psychologically harmful?  Clinical Psychology Review]. 

The Marshall and Kendall studies, mentioned above, are also using a standardized battery to assess harm. 

A team of four psychology graduate students under the direction of Pepperdine University’s Dr. David Foy have used the Los Angeles Symptom Checklist (a standardized instrument designed to measure symptoms common to victimization populations) to measure distress and the Group Experience Index (GEI) to assess the severity of exposure to cult-related pressures and abuses in order to study the relationships between post-cult distress and variables related to pre-cult history and adjustment, cult-related experiences, and post-cult history.  A multiple regression research design was used to evaluate the relative contributions of the variables under investigation to post-cult distress.  The Winocur article mentioned above also reports on this aspect of these studies. 

Data from the AFF questionnaire from which the GPA Scale was derived await analyses and reporting by Dr. Langone and colleagues. This questionnaire explored subjects’ psychological and social history, background variables related to cult joining, characteristics of the group environment, subjects’ responses to the cult experience, subjects’ post-group experiences (including recovery), and subjects’ evaluations of helping resources. 

Dr. Arthur Dole has written a methodological paper, published in Cultic Studies Journal, 12(2), 1995, explaining how to apply case study methodology to the cult area.   Over the next few years, AFF would like to enlist the support of clinicians in this field to conduct a series of case studies using Dr. Dole’s methodology.

Although considerable research has been conducted, much more research is needed to adequately answer this question. 

5.                  What is the prevalence of membership in psychologically abusive groups and how many such groups are there in the United States? 

The first research-planning meeting decided that existing prevalence data are sufficient for current research purposes and that a full-scale epidemiological study on cultic groups would be an inappropriate use of limited resources at this time.  It was decided, however, that surveys of professional populations (e.g., clergy, psychologists), such as Dr. Edward Lottick’s survey of primary care physicians [Lottick, E.A. (Feb. 1993).  Survey reveals physicians's experiences with cults. Pennsylvania Medicine, 96, 26-28 -- available from AFF], would provide useful data at relatively low cost (and would also contribute to professional education).  Such surveys will be conducted as funds allow. 

Scientifically determining the number of psychologically abusive groups, or cults, in the U.S. is a daunting task.  Perhaps the most feasible approach would be to compile a comprehensive list of groups about which AFF receives inquiries, select a random sample from this list, and conduct in-depth studies of this sample, using when possible the GPA Scale and/or other scales to be developed in the future.  This study would enable us to make reasonable and empirically based generalizations about the broad population of groups we receive inquiries on (e.g., what percentage appears to be abusive).  This study obviously will require considerable funding. 

Develop a methodology for assessing the nature and extent of cultic influence on a university campus.  AFF believes that if we could develop an effective and efficient survey instrument, colleges and universities could use this instrument to help them assess cult-related problems on their campuses.  Dr. Russell Eleven's research, which was published in Cultic Studies Journal, 15(1), 1998, has laid the groundwork for the development of such a measure. 

6.                  What is the relationship between person, group, and treatment variables and amelioration in post-group distress? 

Currently, the most thorough outcome evaluation of psychological treatment for former group members is that of Dr. Paul Martin and his colleagues at Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center, published in Cultic Studies Journal, 9(2), 1992.  Although controlled outcome studies are obviously preferred, such studies require considerable funding.  In the meantime, the state of knowledge would be advanced if other clinicians in this field attempted to evaluate treatment effectiveness using standardized pre- and post-measures, as Wellspring does. 

7.                  What are the legal implications of the cult phenomenon? 

The American Bar Association report published in Cultic Studies Journal, 12(1), 1995 provides a literature review and analysis of case law relating to mind control issues, undue influence, and fraud.  Cultic Studies Journal has also published articles on other aspects of the legal dimension of this subject, including custody, violence against women laws, emancipation of minors, hypnotic testimony, and certain reports of governments.  The international dimension of the cult issue greatly complicates the legal arena.  It would be helpful to develop a manual of pertinent laws, precedents, and unresolved issues in various countries in order to make the scholarly analysis above accessible to greater numbers of people.  Obviously, this is a major task that would require funding and the skills of a legal scholar. 

8.