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"Potentially unsafe groups or leaders "come off very nice at first, they go for vulnerable people who are looking for answers, lonely, what you'd call 'normal people.' They're very good at what they do and can get people to believe anything. You might think you'd never get taken in, but don't bet on it. "

-- Margaret Singer, Ph.D.


By Rick Ross, Expert Consultant and Intervention Specialist


Ten warning signs of a potentially unsafe group/leader
.
•Absolute authoritarianism without meaningful accountability.

•No tolerance for questions or critical inquiry.

•No meaningful financial disclosure regarding budget, expenses such as an independently audited financial statement.

•Unreasonable fear about the outside world, such as impending catastrophe, evil conspiracies and persecutions.

•There is no legitimate reason to leave, former followers are always wrong in leaving, negative or even evil.

•Former members often relate the same stories of abuse and reflect a similar pattern of grievances.

•There are records, books, news articles, or television programs that document the abuses of the group/leader.

•Followers feel they can never be "good enough".

•The group/leader is always right.

•The group/leader is the exclusive means of knowing "truth" or receiving validation, no other process of discovery is really acceptable or credible.

Ten warning signs regarding people involved in/with a potentially unsafe group/leader.

•Extreme obsessiveness regarding the group/leader resulting in the exclusion of almost every practical consideration.

•Individual identity, the group, the leader and/or God as distinct and separate categories of existence become increasingly blurred. Instead, in the follower's mind these identities become substantially and increasingly fused--as that person's involvement with the group/leader continues and deepens.

•Whenever the group/leader is criticized or questioned it is characterized as "persecution".

•Uncharacteristically stilted and seemingly programmed conversation and mannerisms, cloning of the group/leader in personal behavior.

•Dependency upon the group/leader for problem solving, solutions, and definitions without meaningful reflective thought. A seeming inability to think independently or analyze situations without group/leader involvement.
•Hyperactivity centered on the group/leader agenda, which seems to supercede any personal goals or individual interests.

•A dramatic loss of spontaneity and sense of humor.

•Increasing isolation from family and old friends unless they demonstrate an interest in the group/leader.

•Anything the group/leader does can be justified no matter how harsh or harmful.

•Former followers are at best-considered negative or worse evil and under bad influences. They can not be trusted and personal contact is avoided.

Ten signs of a safe group/leader.

•A safe group/leader will answer your questions without becoming judgmental and punitive.

•A safe group/leader will disclose information such as finances and often offer an independently audited financial statement regarding budget and expenses. Safe groups and leaders will tell you more than you want to know.

•A safe group/leader is often democratic, sharing decision making and encouraging accountability and oversight.

•A safe group/leader may have disgruntled former followers, but will not vilify, excommunicate and forbid others from associating with them.

•A safe group/leader will not have a paper trail of overwhelmingly negative records, books, articles and statements about them.

•A safe group/leader will encourage family communication, community interaction and existing friendships and not feel threatened.

•A safe group/leader will recognize reasonable boundaries and limitations when dealing with others.

•A safe group/leader will encourage critical thinking, individual autonomy and feelings of self-esteem.

•A safe group/leader will admit failings and mistakes and accept constructive criticism and advice.

•A safe group/leader will not be the only source of knowledge and learning excluding everyone else, but value dialogue and the free exchange of ideas.

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Delta Zeta lawsuit claims Iowa house is imposto

By RYAN J. FOLEY | September 24, 2013 | 6:35 PM EDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A house near a small Iowa university that's devoted to transcendental meditation has been falsely advertising itself as a Delta Zeta sorority chapter, duping tenants into believing they are pledging to the group, the national group said Tuesday.

Delta Zeta filed a lawsuit Monday in federal court in Des Moines against Frederick and Oksana Shaddock, owners of the rental home near Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield that for years called itself the "Delta Zeta House." The lawsuit also names the CI Corporation, which is Shaddock's business and owns the Internet domain names DeltaZetaHouse.com and DeltaZetaHouse.org.

Shaddock said Tuesday the lawsuit was a ridiculous waste of money and he never intended to mislead anyone. But within hours, the two sites were taken down and replaced by Chinese language websites. Shaddock said he canceled his ownership of the domain names and was prepared to make additional changes to resolve the matter.

"We don't want to offend anybody," he said.

The national sorority had sent a warning letter in July, which prompted the Shaddocks to remove a "Delta Zeta" sign from the house and change the house's name to "Delta Nu Zeta."

"Given the particularly heinous nature of your infringement, which involves luring young women to live at your house with the belief that they are going to be part of a well-respected, widely known national sorority, I am positive that any court or jury would be more than willing to award significant damages to Delta Zeta," the sorority's attorney, Brian J. Downey, wrote in the letter to the couple.

The lawsuit says that even after the Shaddocks changed the name, online references to "Delta Zeta" and its symbols remained prevalent. The suit claims the Shaddocks warned that if Delta Zeta did not pay $1,000 for the domain names, they would be put up for auction and "likely purchased by someone in China who would put up a distasteful site." Shaddock denied making that statement.

The sites had featured Delta Zeta's rose and green colors, the group's official crest and symbol and photos of "sisters" wearing Delta Zeta apparel. Those interested in "pledging" were directed to another website to fill out a lease application, the lawsuit claims.

The Oxford, Ohio-based sorority, which has 160 chapters, including in Iowa City and Ames, learned about the house earlier this year after someone stumbled on the websites, Downey said.

The sorority had a chapter in Fairfield until the 1970s, when the southern Iowa town was home to Parsons College. Followers of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the spiritual adviser, later bought the campus and now operate Maharishi University of Management, which is built around the practice of transcendental meditation and attracts many foreign students.

Shaddock, a Washington D.C. resident, said he attended graduate school there and he and his wife started marketing the "Delta Zeta House" in 2006. He said the campus had a lack of Greek life, and naming the house Delta Zeta was a nod to the sorority's history in Fairfield.

A tenant applied for recognition from the sorority in 2007 but never heard back, Shaddock said. In any event, students have chosen to live there because of its proximity to campus and not its name, he said.

The lawsuit alleges trademark infringement, false designation, unfair competition and false advertising. It seeks $200,000 for alleged cyberpiracy violations and unspecified damages, including profits the defendants have made from the Delta Zeta name.

"It's interesting that we gave them the opportunity to change the name and they chose not to take it," Downey said. "They are clearly trading off of Delta Zeta and obviously Delta Zeta had to act to protect against that."

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Delta Zeta sorority drops lawsuit against rental home near Maharishi U. in Iowa

IOWA CITY (AP) — The national Delta Zeta sorority has dropped a lawsuit that accused the owners of a house near an Iowa university of false advertising and trademark infringement.

The sorority dismissed the lawsuit after its lawyers said they were unable to serve the defendants with notice.

The lawsuit named Frederick and Oksana Shaddock, owners of the Delta Nu Zeta rental home near Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield. The suit also named Frederick Shaddock’s business.

Shaddock said Wednesday that he’s happy the lawsuit has been dismissed. He denied the sorority’s suggestion that he deliberately avoided being served, saying he’s easy to find.

Shaddock noted that he changed the house’s name from Delta Zeta to Delta Nu Zeta before the lawsuit. He’s also canceled ownership of domain names DeltaZetaHouse.com and DeltaZetaHouse.org.


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