Read the text below and discuss the methods of compliance cults may use to recru
ID: 3454031 • Letter: R
Question
Read the text below and discuss the methods of compliance cults may use to recruit new members. (At least 250 words for the response)
On September 3, 2012, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, leader of the Unification Church and self-proclaimed messiah, died at the age of 92 (Brown, 2012). The Uni- fication Church, founded by Moon in 1954, has expanded throughout the world
and is a prime example of a cult. The term cult literally refers to any group of people with a particular religious or philosophical set of beliefs and identity. In the strictest sense of the word, the Roman Catholic Church and Protestantism are cults within the larger religion of Christianity. But most people associate the term cult with a negative connotation*: A group of people whose religious or philosophical beliefs and behavior are so different from that of mainstream organizations that they are viewed with suspicion and seen as existing on the fringes of socially acceptable behavior. Although many cults exist without much notice from more mainstream groups, at times members of cults have horrified the public with their ac- tions, as was the case with the Reverend Jim Jones and the People’s Temple.
In 1997, the followers of the Heaven’s Gate cult, who believed that aliens in a spaceship were coming in the tail of the Hale-Bopp comet, committed suicide under the leadership of Marshall Applewhite. They believed that their souls would be taken up by the comet aliens.
Why would any person get so caught up in cult beliefs that suicide, and in some cases murder, becomes a desired behavior? It seems that people who are under a lot of stress, dissatisfied with their lives, unassertive, gullible, dependent, who feel a desire to belong to a group, and who are unrealistically idealistic (“We can solve all the world’s problems if every- one will just love each other”) are the most likely targets of cult recruitment (Langone, 1996). Young people rebelling against parental authority or trying to become independent of fami- lies are prime targets.
Cult leaders have certain techniques for gaining compliance that are common to most cult organizations. The first step is usually something called “love-bombing” by current cult members, who shower the recruits with affection and attention and claim to understand just how the potential cult members feel. Then efforts are made to isolate the recruits from family and friends who might talk them out of joining. This is accomplished in part by keeping the recruits so busy with rigid rituals, ways of dress, meditations, and other activities that they do not allow the recruits time to think about what is happening. Cults also teach their members how to stop questioning thoughts or criticisms, which are typically seen as sins or extremely undesirable behavior. In other words, cults promote a high degree of conformity and compli- ance (Singer & Lalich, 1995; Zimbardo & Hartley, 1985).
Commitments to the cult are small at first, such as attending a music concert or some other cult function. (Notice that this is the foot-in-the-door technique.) Eventually, a major step is requested by the cult, such as quitting one’s job, turning over money or property to the cult, or similar commitments. Leaving a cult is quite difficult, as members of the cult in good standing will often track down a “deserter.”
Parents, friends, and other family members have been known to hire special “depro- grammers” to help their loved one recover from cult membership, willingly or unwillingly. Sometimes people actually have to “kidnap” their loved one out of the cult environment. Nevertheless, as difficult as it is to leave, 90 percent or more of cult members do eventually get out (Barker, 1983, 2007; Galanter, 1983).
Explanation / Answer
Cults are places where there are groups of people who tend to be organised around a person who acts as the central authority. Cults are at constant attempt to expand influences so that they would exert power as well as gain money. There are many types of cults, the most common is the destructive form, whose main aim to rule could be fulfilled in any manner. These methods may or may not be humane and they don’t shy in destruction of humanity to show their power.
One of the experiments carried out by Zimbardo showed that there would be a dimensional shift of people into particular roles that were by the other members of the cult, rather than using morals or judgments, His attempt was to show that in such situations there is a complete strip off of individuality aS well as morality and the life becomes controlled. His attempt was showing that there occurs dehumanisation as well as a loss of moral values when an individual would get immersed in the situations of a cult.Along with deindividuation and dehumanisation, there is restructuring of values which align with the ones suggested by the leader.
The leader uses techniques of persuasion in order to make people obey or comply with the values that he is projecting. Persuasion may be in the form of
- religion, instilling the fear of god, or
- psychological , where there would be motivators in the form of money or gifts.
- marketing through repeated advertising.
- manipulation by data obtaining from social networking sites followed by tracking activity and projection of articles on a repeated basis so as to manipulate the individual and persuade him to join a cult.
Related Questions
Navigate
Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.