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Deprogramming refers to actions to persuade or force a person to abandon allegiance to a religious group (see also Exit counseling). Most deprogrammings in the U.S. and Japan are commissioned by parents of adult children, which has led to controversies over freedom of religion and civil rights.

Supporters of deprogramming portray the practice as an antidote to illegitimate or deceptive religious conversion practices by "cults", variously called mind control, brainwashing, thought reform, or coercive persuasion. They describe it as a last resort for families who feel that their loved ones have been taken away from them.

The validity and legality of involuntary deprogramming has been attacked by members of new religious movements (NRM), by professor Eileen Barker, and other scholars. Their common argument asserts that it is dangerous and illegal to kidnap someone from any organization in which they voluntarily participate. Barker further argues that if the involuntary deprogramming fails then it will only widen the rift between the member of the NRM and his or her family.

Sometimes the word deprogramming is used in a wider sense, to mean the freeing of someone (often oneself) from any previously uncritically assimilated idea.

Deprogramming procedures

There has never been any "standard" deprogramming procedure and the descriptions vary greatly. There are many anecdotal reports and studies involving interviews of former deprogrammees. Steve Dubrow-Eichel did a professional study and analysis of the deprogramming of an ISKCON member which he accompanied and taped to a great part (with voluntary consent of all participants).

Deprogrammers generally operate on the assumption that the persons they are paid to extract from religious organizations are victims of mind control (or "brainwashing"). Books written by deprogrammers and exit counselors assert that the most essential part of "freeing the mind" of the person is to convince him that he had been under "control".

In practice, the vast majority of the time spent during deprogramming sessions is the marshalling of evidence aimed at proving that the "cult" deceived and manipulated the recruit into joining. Once the person accepts this premise, the remainder of the process is relatively easy.

Psychologist Steve Dubrow-Eichel found in published deprogramming accounts besides a lot of variations a number of common factors:

  • voluntary or involuntary removal from the cultic milieu
  • establishing a personal relationship
  • disputing cult information and imparting new information on the cult
  • interference with cult-supported attentional patterns used to block oneself from outside influences (chanting, self-induced trance states, etc.)
  • an overt or covert sign that the deprogrammee has renounced his or her allegiance to the cult

The deprogramming observed by Dubrow-Eichel did not stress emotion, but information and logical analysis of contradiction between words and deeds of the ISCON leaders.

Ted Patrick, one of the pioneers of deprogramming, used a confrontational method:

"When you deprogram people, you force them to think. ... But I keep them off balance and this forces them to begin questioning, to open their minds. When the mind gets to a certain point, they can see through all the lies that they've been programmed to believe. They realize that they've been duped and they come out of it. Their minds start working again. "

Sylvia Buford, an associate of Ted Patrick who has assisted him on many deprogrammings, described five stages of deprogramming (Stoner, C., & Parke, J. (1977). All God's children: The cult experience - salvation or slavery? Radrior, PA: Chilton ):

  • Discredit the figure of authority: the cult leader
  • Present contradictions (ideology vs. reality): "How can he preach love when he exploits people?" is an example.
  • The breaking point: When a subject begins to listen to the deprogrammer; when reality begins to take precedence over ideology.
  • Self-expression: When the subject begins to open up and to voice some of his own gripes against the cult.
  • Identification and transference: when the subject begins to identify with the deprogrammers, starts to think of himself as an opponent of the cult rather than a member of it.

Deprogramming and kidnapping

Deprogramming has often been associated with kidnapping, which has in some cases been part of the procedure. The percentage of cases involving kidnapping varies a lot, depending on the source. Joseph Szimhart, a former deprogrammer, says "until 1992, in a low percentage of my cases, included situations in which families elected to confine and sometimes abduct a 'cultist' to a deprogramming." (Kent & Szimhart, 2002). Former deprogrammer Rick Ross states that 90% of his deprogrammings since 1982 had been voluntary *, other figures talk about 30% of the cases including kidnapping.

Deprogramming and violence

The deprogramming accounts vary a lot regarding the use of force, with the most dramatic accounts coming from deprogrammees who returned to the cult.

Steven Hassan in his book Releasing the Bonds spoke decidedly against coercive deprogramming methods using force or threats.

The deprogramming case observed by Dubrow-Eichel did not include any violence.

Sociologist Eileen Barker wrote in Watching for Violence:

"Although deprogramming has become less violent in the course of time ... Numerous testimonies by those who were subjected to a deprogramming describe how they were threatened with a gun, beaten, denied sleep and food and/or sexually assaulted. But one does not have to rely on the victims for stories of violence: Ted Patrick, one of the most notorious deprogrammers used by CAGs (who has spent several terms in prison for his exploits) openly boasts about some of the violence he employed; in November 1987, Cyril Vosper, a Committee member of the British cult-awareness group, FAIR, was convicted in Munich of "causing bodily harm" in the course of one of his many deprogramming attempts; and a number of similar convictions are on record for prominent members of CAGs elsewhere."

In Colombrito vs. Kelly, the Court accepted the definition of deprogramming by J. Le Moult published in 1978 in the Fordham Law Review:

"Deprogrammers are people who, at the request of a parent or other close relative, will have a member of a religious sect seized, then hold him against his will and subject him to mental, emotional, and even physical pressures until he renounces his religious beliefs. Deprogrammers usually work for a fee, which may easily run as high as $25,000. The deprogramming process begins with abduction. Often strong men muscle the subject into a car and take him to a place where he is cut from everyone but his captors. He may be held against his will for upward of three weeks. Frequently, however, the initial deprogramming only last a few days. The subject's sleep is limited and he is told that he will not be released until his beliefs meet his captors' approval. Members of the deprogramming group, as well as members of the family, come into the room where the victim is held and barrage him with questions and denunciations until he recants his newly found religion "

Exit counselor Carol Giambalvo writes in From Deprogramming to Thought Reform Consultation

"It was believed that the hold of the brainwashing over the cognitive processes of a cult member needed to be broken – or "snapped" as some termed it – by means that would shock or frighten the cultist into thinking again. For that reason in some cases cult leader's pictures were burned or there were highly confrontational interactions between deprogrammers and cultist. What was often sought was an emotional response to the information, the shock, the fear, and the confrontation. There are horror stories – promoted most vehemently by the cults themselves – about restraint, beatings, and even rape. And we have to admit that we have met former members who have related to us their deprogramming experience – several of handcuffs, weapons wielded and sexual abuse. But thankfully, these are in the minority – and in our minds, never justified. Nevertheless, deprogramming helped to free many individuals held captive to destructive cults at a time when other alternatives did not seem viable. "

Since the success of the deprogramming determined the legality of the endeavor (successful=recovered cult victim, or unsuccessful=traumatized kidnap victim), progressively extreme measures were taken.

History

In the 1600s, Descartes could be seen as a precursor to deprogramming, as wrote a book titled Meditations on Philosophy where he starts with noting the large number of false beliefs which he had adopted in his childhood, and building upon things that he has proven to be true. Though he feared being labelled as a heretic, he did not merely accept the notion of God as taught by the Church of the day, but rather approached it scientifically.

In more recent history, the American Ted Patrick was one of its most prominent proponents. Most of the deprogramming cases took place in the United States, with only sporadic cases in Western Europe. In Europe, attempts to justify deprogramming continue on the basis of opinions by psychiatrists and psychologists, even though in the United States, such opinions have been successfully challenged in court and debunked by the APA. *

"The number of forcible deprogrammings had diminished by the end of the 1980s. Not only did the anticult movement lose the academic battle to make its theories accepted, the legal battle to make its activity excusable, and the legislative battle to pass laws that would allow it to 'legalize' its activity, but it also became obvious how easy it was to defeat deprogramming. The person just had, at some point, to pretend to go along with deprogrammers. The deprogrammer then 'recognized' that the person had snapped out of the cult 'mind-control' (which proves that this notion is based on nothing else than animus towards the person's choice) and switched to the 'rehabilitation' phases, then released him - after which the deprogrammer found himself in front of the Court." *

Controversy and related issues

One of the points which fired deprogramming controversies was the fact that they were in the majority of cases successful.

One of main objections raised to deprogramming (as well as to exit counseling) is the contention that they begin with a false premise. Lawyers for some groups who have lost members due to deprogramming, as well as some civil libertarians, sociologists and psychologists, argue that it is not the religious groups but rather the deprogrammers who are the ones who deceive and manipulate people.

Public support for deprogramming hinges on the degree to which people agree or disagree with the mind control model. In the United States, from the mid-1970s and throughout the 1980s mind control was widely accepted, and the vast majority of newspaper and magazine accounts of deprogrammings assumed that recruits' relatives were well justified to seek conservatorships and to hire deprogrammers. It took nearly 20 years for public opinion to shift.

One aspect that gradually became disturbing from a civil rights point of view, was that relatives would use deception, or legal dealings or even kidnapping to get the recruit into deprogrammers' hands, without allowing the person any recourse to a lawyer or psychiatrist of their own choosing. Previously, there would be a sanity hearing first, and only then a commitment to an asylum or involuntary therapy. But with deprogramming, judges routinely granted parents legal authority over their adult children without a hearing.

After 10 or 15 years of this, some adult children began suing their parents or deprogrammers. Also, in the mid-1980s, psychologist Margaret Singer lost her status as an expert witness when the APA declined to endorse the DIMPAC report. From this point on, involuntary deprogramming's legal basis almost immediately vanished. See also Brainwashing controversy in new religious movements.

Since that time, involuntary deprogramming has been virtually unknown in the United States.

Deprogrammers claim that the voluntary participation is due to "mind control," a controversial theory that a person's thought processes can be changed by outside forces. They justify this intervention or "therapy" as necessary to bring the person out from under the influence of the group's "mind control." The existence of mind control is widely disputed, and sometimes dismissed as pseudoscience by the psychiatric establishment. Modern behavorist psychology, however, can do much to explain the ability of external forces to control actions even if it has studied little regarding the internal thought processes associated with them (although relational framing and other theoretical constructs hedge into such territory). Present-day psychological principles suggest that traditional deprogramming approaches would almost certainly be inferior to other forms of intervention. Even supposing mind control is possible, it would be extremely difficult to prove to a legal standard that any individual person's mind has been controlled. In light of the legal and psychological issues, less intrusive and more patient-oriented interventions will likely replace this practice completely.

Involontary deprogramming has fallen into disfavor because of its controversial aspects. A number of prominent anti-cult groups and persons have distanced themselves from the practice, noting that a less intrusive form of intervention called exit counseling has been shown to be more effective, less harmful, and less likely to lead to legal action. Organizations often referred to as cults, such as the Church of Scientology, insist that the practice is still commonplace, and they often make statements that their critics and opponents are "deprogrammers."

The American Civil Liberties Union published a statement in 1977 in which they position deprogramming as a violation of constitutional freedoms:

"ACLU opposes the use of mental incompetency proceedings, temporary conservatorship, or denial of government protection as a method of depriving people of the free exercise of religion, at least with respect to people who have reached the age of majority. Mode of religious proselytizing or persuasion for a continued adherence that do not employ physical coercion or threat of same are protected by the free exercise of religion clause of the First Amendment against action of state laws or by state officials. The claim of free exercise may not be overcome by the contention that 'brainwashing' or 'mind control' has been used, in the absence of evidence that the above standards have been violated."

In the 1980s in the United States, namely in New York (Deprogramming Bill, 1981), Kansas (Deprogramming Bill, 1982), and Nebraska (conservatorship legislation for 1985), lawmakers unsuccessfully attempted to pass laws that would allow to legalize involuntary deprogramming.

Rev. Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church (many of whose members were targets of deprogramming) issued this statement in 1983:

The methods involved in "deprogramming" are like those used in Communist concentration camps. Using parents and relatives to entrap members, "deprogrammers" commit grown adults to mental hospitals with the supposed "illness" of holding of a minority religious belief. Other typical deprogramming techniques include kidnapping, illegal detention, violence, psychological harassment, sleep deprivation, inducement to use alcohol and drugs, sexual seduction and rape. By such threats, harassment and manipulation professional "deprogrammers" force members to renounce their faith. Many people are injured physically and psychologically because of this criminal activity. *

People and Places

During the 1990s, Rick Ross, a noted cult intervention advocate who allegedly took part in a number of deprogramming sessions, was sued by Jason Scott, a former member of a group called the Life Tabernacle Church after an attempt at intervention after an abduction was unsuccessful. The jury awarded Scott $875,000 in compensatory damages and $1,000,000 in punitive damages against the Cult Awareness Network, and $2,500,000 against deprogrammer Rick Ross which were later settled for $5,000 and 200 hours of services "as an expert consultant and intervention specialist" (Scott vs. Ross, Workman, Simpson, Cult Awareness Network). The judgement was used to force CAN into bankruptcy, and its name and assets were purchased by a representative of the Church of Scientology, which had been frequently criticized by CAN, shortly afterwards. This case was seen as effectively closing the door on the practice of involuntary deprogramming.

Ted Patrick was found guilty of kidnapping Roberta McElfish, a 25-year old woman of Tucson, Ariz., in order to "deprogram" her in 1980 from a group known as the Wesley Thomas Family.

In the case of Kathy Crampton, she went back to the group Love Israel several days after the apparently successful deprogramming. Patrick was charged for kidnapping, but he was acquitted with the reasoning:

"parents are, as here, of the reasonable and intelligent belief that they were not physically capable of recapturing their daughter from existing, imminent danger, then the defense of necessity transfers or transposes to the constituted agent, the person who acts upon their belief under such conditions. Here that agent is the Defendant [Ted Patrick '' ((District Court of the United States 1974: 79; New York Times 1974).

Steve Hassan, author of the book Combatting Cult Mind Control, states that he took part in a number of deprogrammings in the late 1970s, but he no longer approves of the practice and has not participated in any deprogrammings since then. He is one of the major proponents of exit counseling as a form of intervention therapy, and he refers to his method as "strategic intervention therapy."

See also

Bibliography

  • Conway, Flo & Jim Siegelman, Snapping (1978), excerpt ISBN 0964765004
  • Colombrito v. Kelly, 764 F.2d 122 (2d Cir. 1985)
  • Dubrow-Eichel, Steve K., Ph.D.: Deprogramming: A Case Study, Cultic Studies Journal
  • Stephen A. Kent and Josef Szimhart: Exit Counseling and the Decline of Deprogramming., Cultic Studies Review 1 No.3, 2002
  • Langone, Michael: Deprogramming, Exit Counseling, and Ethics, Clarifying the Confusion, Christian Research Institute Journal, 1993 *
  • Melton, Gordon, J. "Brainwashing": Career of a Myth in the United States and Europe, . *
  • Le Moult J. (1978), Deprograrnming members of religious sects, Fordham Law Review, 46, pp. 599-640.
  • Ross, Rick: A brief history of cult intervention work, 1999 *
  • Szimhart, Joseph: Persistence of "Deprogramming" Stereotypes in Film, Cultic Studies Journal, 3/2 2004

Dramatization

  • Holy Smoke! 1999 movie based on the book with the same name

External links

Disengagement from religion | Religion and society | Moral panics | Cults | Anti-cult terms and concepts

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