Danielle Moses

IR I /P3/ 10 GT

4/24/20

The progression of a cult from indoctrination to facing long term impacts

Thesis:​ Individuals are drawn to cult mainly because of their condition at the moment of

entering, and there are multiple powers put into effect after they are indoctrinated that keep them

in the collective and thus erodes their mental stability.

Sub-Thesis: ​ Once they are indoctrinated there are multiple forces brought to bear that maintains

them in the group.

Intro:​ On November 18th, 1978, 909 people died at the hands of Jim Jones, a destructive

charismatic cult leader. These people did not join a cult, they entered a community hoping they

would get what they needed there. What they wanted was people-to-person interaction, a sense

of identity, a community they felt protected. One aspect was consistent, and it was that they were

deliberately targeted by a cult leaders at a sensitive period in their lives. ​Individuals are drawn

to cult mainly because of their condition at the moment of entering, and there are multiple

powers put into effect after they are indoctrinated that keep them in the collective and thus

erodes their mental stability.

Second Control Rewrite:​ If you're indoctrinated into a cult, it's a very formal commitment that

makes it very difficult to quit. The factors that make it impossible to escape violence the people

experience very frequently. The violence happens in several different ways. There is violence in

nearly all violent cults in any form or other.An example would be with, “Jill Mython who
worked with 262 adults who lived in a religious group as children… 27% reported child sexual

abuse and 68% had found the experience of leaving traumatic” (British Psychological

Society).This indicates that there was harassment and discusses by name sexual violence.

Unfortunately, sexual harassment between children and women is a growing type of violence.

Sexual harassment is prevalent due to the extent of power it gives to the offender and how the

survivor sometimes feels humiliated and insignificant. This indicates that there was harassment

and discusses by name sexual violence. Unfortunately, sexual harassment between children and

women is a growing type of violence. Sexual harassment is prevalent due to the extent of power

it gives to the offender and how the survivor sometimes feels humiliated and insignificant.

Sexual violence establishes what's considered a connection to trauma. Sherry Gaba LCSW

describes a trauma connection as anything "close to Stockholm Syndrome, in which people kept

hostage tend to feel trust or even love towards the same individuals who abducted them and kept

them against their will. Within a partnership, this form of survival tactic can also occur.That is

called trauma bonding, and it may arise while a person is in a partnership with a narcissist. "In

many situations, these people bond with the group leader (who are the narcissist) with which

they regulate certain facets of their life, where they sleep, eat, and when they engage in the

events.This establishes the center of their lives for the group and the cult leader, which triggers

the lack of individuality. This is demonstrated with the religion of the Children of God, the sex

element became an important part of that community. Children were advised to look out and

think about sex at an early age. It was normal for adults to commit these sexually inappropriate

actions on the children.The violence they suffered brought the Cult strength to the leader and

upper members. Children were given different punishments which varied from the adults very
frequently. Children were disciplined in many societies for stealing food or exhibiting defiant

characteristics or behavior.Deborah Layton (a survivor of the Jim Jones People Temple cult)

states that “They (the children) would be taken to the Jonestown well in the dark of night, hung

upside down by a rope around their ankles, and dunked into the water again and again while

someone hidden inside the well grabbed at them to scare them.” It is evident that in destructive

cults the abuse did not discriminate and came in different forms. Many other things occur within

cults that are just as influential the sex abuse. One of these things is physical abuse, which

includes the hitting and beating of an individual, the other is mental abuse, which is classified as

verbal harassment. It was seen that “at least occasionally (82%), were hit occasionally (78%),

and were verbally abused (97%). These subjects, 86% of whom felt harmed by the experience,

also reported depression (50%),” (Galanter 176). The percentage of 97 of former cult members

said they experienced verbal abuse solidifies the argument to the mental abuse that occurs.

Additionally, 78 percent of people stated that they were hit occasionally which qualifies as

physical abuse. Brainwashing is a type of violence that is yet to be addressed which happens to

victims at the psychological level. Brainwashing is the destruction of one's subconscious and

turning it into what the offender sees fit. This is also damaging to several occasions by

suppressing the abused's identity and all beliefs and replacing them with their own.There is a

“terror of brainwashing, the fear of one’s mind being broken down and then reshaped to someone

else’s specification, draws its power from our preferred view of ourselves as free rational

decisive individuals,” (Taylor 26). This also occurs in the church as cult members seek people

that can fervently accept his philosophy like he is. Whether that is achieved is for the

over-scheduled days where participants are asked what to feed, work, and engage in other
events.It does not require for individualism for the survivor to make choices for themselves in

such a rigid timetable, instead of pursuing the party and the members. While a person's

brainwashing by a religion other things are expected to happen to be effective in

brainwashing.Cults in Our Midst (1996) by psychologist Margaret Singer. Singer defined six

requirements of cultic regulation that included environmental control; a scheme of rewards and

punishments; creating a sense of powerlessness, intimidation, and dependence; and modifying

the actions and behaviors of the followers all within a closed logic structure.If the brains of the

people undertaking this process are handled right, they will embrace the philosophy and be rid of

all that does not suit it. This violence is widely used and gives the cult leader a great amount of

control.

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