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rrmoderator
Here is an excellent article that explains "thought reform" or coercive persuasion used by cults in some detail. It was written by Richard Ofshe, a professor of Sociology at Stanford University.

By recognizing this process it is possible to sort through what is brought about by coercion and what is not.

See [www.culteducation.com]

It took me awhile to read through this, but was well worth it. There’s a lot there and I’m only touching on a few points of interest. For me, it answered some lingering questions. I’m going to try to break down the article into digestible bites and relate them to the Jagad Guru Chris Butler group. Using it as a template to examine the Butler group, I’d like to share what made sense to me. Quotes from the article will illustrate my comments.

I wondered what the research said about how permanent the damage was after leaving a cult. The good news is that once out of the environment and with a supportive social structure that “reformed thoughts” do not last. While the stresses of a cult can cause psychiatric disorders, it depends on the level of stress inflicted and the history of the participant.

From the research it appears that the most powerful aspect of maintaining coercive persuasion lies more in the social context than in the so-called spiritual message or philosophy. In other words, the environment, culture, and social structure play the most important role in maintaining a participant’s continued engagement in the cult. It is not guru or even philosophy dependent. I was often puzzled by the fact that many cult members have never met the charismatic Jagad Guru Chris Butler and yet are devoted followers. The lectures and videotapes in no way replicate an in-person experience. I like Schein’s take on this which follows later. This seems to be the reason why people who do not follow the groups’ regimen religiously (sorry for the bad pun) continue to stay and believe.

This also explained the fact that even after people had suspicions about Butler that they continued to stay in the group. The group itself sustained the myth with no effort from Butler (unless he needed money). For example; when he married after taking the vow of sanyass (celibate monk) it was uncomfortably accepted; when he began fining people for offenses, they paid up; when he started to berate homosexuals, his gay and lesbian followers stayed (for awhile). The study did not indicate how long it takes to undo thought reform, only that it is doable even after years of participation with proper supports and services. Obviously it depends on a lot of things. The main thing is how much hope there is for people to regain themselves after being in a cult.

By implication the research makes the case to provide a positive social support structure to assist in recovery. In other words, don’t underestimate the power of the social group in shaping one’s recovery. A common theme I have noticed with ex Chris Butler followers in helping them to get out and recover were a loving family, close friend, or spouse. There are also those that kept one foot in the real world or somehow were able to operate on the periphery of the cult and did not need to recreate an outside support system. Grandmother was right when she said to be careful of the company you keep!

While recovery is possible, lost years and resources in the cult are not.

The following Ofshe quote shows how much the peer group is employed to keep the follower in cult bondage.

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“…the utilization of coercive persuasion's key effective-influence mechanisms: a focused attack on the stability of a person's sense of self; reliance on peer group interaction; the development of interpersonal bonds between targets and their controllers and peers; and an ability to control communication among participants.”

These following paragraphs explain how a cult is strongly dependant on the sociological structure it makes one inhabit; but, that the reformed thoughts are actually not that fixed. People are remarkably adaptable for good or for bad according to the environment.

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“The surprising aspect of the situationally adaptive response is that the attitudes that develop are unstable. They tend to change dramatically once the person is removed from an environment that has totalistic properties and is organized to support the adaptive attitudes. Once removed from such an environment, the person is able to interact with others who permit and encourage the expression of criticisms and doubts, which were previously stifled because of the normative rules of the reform environment (Schein 1961, p. 163; Lifton 1961, pp. 87-116, 399-415; Ofshe and Singer 1986). This pattern of change, first in one direction and then the other, dramatically highlights the profound importance of social support in the explanation of attitude change and stability.

“Statements supportive of the proffered ideology that indicate adaptive attitude change during the period of the target's involvement in the reform environment and immediately following separation should not be taken as mere playacting in reaction to necessity. Targets tend to become genuinely involved in the interaction. The reform experience focuses on genuine vulnerabilities as the method for undermining self-concept: manipulating genuine feelings of guilt about past conduct; inducing the target to make public denunciations of his or her prior life as being unworthy; and carrying this forward through interaction with peers for whom the target develops strong bonds. Involvement developed in these ways prevents the target from maintaining both psychological distance or emotional independence from the experience.”

“The relatively rare instances in which belief changes are internalized and endure have been analyzed as attributable to the degree to which the acquired belief system and imposed peer relations function fully to resolve the identity crisis that is routinely precipitated during the first phase of the reform process… “

“The rate at which a once-attained level of attitude change deteriorates depends on the type of social support the person receives over time (Schein 1961 pp. 158-166; Lifton pp. 399-415)…. even when the reform process is to some degree successful at shaping behavior and attitudes, the new shape tends to be maintained only as long as temperature is appropriately controlled.”

“Programs identified as thought reforming are not very effective at actually changing people's beliefs in any fashion that endures apart from an elaborate supporting social context. Evaluated only on the criterion of their ability genuinely to change beliefs, the programs have to be judged abject failures and massive wastes of effort.”

This explains why many people who have left the cult go back to the religion in which they were raised or just live by their original ideals. They are able to recover their old personalities if they have not suffered significant psychological injuries during the reform process which requires treatment.

What was surprising to me is that the less violent the coercion, the more effective it is. The article describes that the most effective re-education camps in China never employed violence. Instead they offered study groups and social activities to reshape the mentality. Richard Ofshe’s research also indicated that free will is also not affected. He showed how people are “coerced to allow themselves to be persuaded”. The reason many ex followers of Chris Butler believe they were never coerced or “brainwashed” or even that it is much of a cult is because of the “style” of thought reform Jagad Guru employed, which did not force, and is apparently the most effective form of coercion.

His was a more “beautiful” and seductive form of persuasion that gave one a sense of having had a mellow spiritual experience, but none the less dangerous. The intensity, the drug effect experienced through the chanting, kirtans, the rural Hawaiian lifestyle was pleasant and light. But the light was luciferic and blinding. In no way was it comparable to something like the punishingly frantic Rajneesh kirtans or being forced to listen to hours of Jim Jones lectures. It was a gentle subjugation difficult to resist. “Siddha: A Very Gentle Force” indeed (the name of his album of music). Who could imagine the man who sang Donovan-like sweet songs, could be operating from the darkest shadows.

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“ …what happened was a subjection to "unusually intense and prolonged persuasion" that they could not avoid; thus, "they were coerced into allowing themselves to be persuaded" (Schein 1961, p. 18).”

…”Although no evidence suggests that thought reform is a process capable of stripping a person of the will to resist, a relationship does exist between thought reform and changes in psychiatric status. The stress and pressure of the reform process cause some percentage of psychological casualties…Studies of contemporary programs have reported on a variety of psychological injuries related to the reform process. Injuries include psychosis, major depressions, manic episodes, and debilitating anxiety”

“A second myth concerns the purported effects of brainwashing. Media reports about thought reform's effects far exceed the findings of scientific studies--which show coercive persuasion's upper limit of impact to be that of inducing personal confusion and significant, but typically transitory, attitude change. Brainwashing was promoted as capable of stripping victims of their capacity to assert their wills, thereby rendering them unable to resist the orders of their controllers. People subjected to "brainwashing" were not merely influenced to adopt new attitudes but, according to the myth, suffered essentially an alteration in their psychiatric status from normal to pathological, while losing their capacity to decide to comply with or resist orders.

This lurid promotion of the power of thought reforming influence techniques to change a person's capacity to resist direction is entirely without basis in fact: No evidence, scientific or otherwise, supports this proposition. No known mental disorder produces the loss of will that is alleged to be the result of brainwashing. Whatever behavior and attitude changes result from exposure to the process, they are most reasonably classified as the responses of normal individuals to a complex program of influence…”

See [www.culteducation.com]
What follows are more highlights of the article:

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Comments related to Jagad Guru Chris Butler’s group in brackets follow. Others familiar with CB can add a lot more:

“ The key factors that distinguish coercive persuasion from other training and socialization schemes are:

1. The reliance on intense interpersonal and psychological attack to destabilize an individual's sense of self to promote compliance

[e.g., You can only know g0d through guru. Your whole life up to the point of complete surrender to guru, (which 99% of you will not succeed according to Jagad Guru), is a useless ride on the wheel of birth and death. You are really in trouble if you are born a woman. You are ten times more materialistic and will in no way get liberated unless you marry a man pleasing to guru, of which 99% will not. Better luck next life time and hope you are born a man. Every time your guru gets sick it’s your fault because he is taking on your karma. If you are gay, you might as well just kill yourself and start over on the wheel again. If you want to make love to your pious wife, be prepared to get kicked in the ass, sex is a sin unless you want a kid. There’s more, but you get the idea. vc]

2. The use of an organized peer group
[e.g., The head honchos and prima donna’s have taken over the show for the reclusive, misanthropic guru. Who collects the tithes and manages the money? The sleeper cells seem to be all over the world now in different disguises; yoga, meditation, health food, internet services, politics. vc]

3. Applying interpersonal pressure to promote conformity
[There are always people in these groups who love being the purity police. The culture becomes very insular and constricted, which gives many a sense of security, clarity, and self righteousness. This fact makes it all the more insidious. Participants are not even aware that their sense of surety has no center and will not hold. Ex followers have many stories to illustrate this one. vc]

4. The manipulation of the totality of the person's social environment to stabilize behavior once modified
[as above. vc]

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([from the Ofshe article]The programs are, however, impressive in their ability to prepare targets for integration into and long-term participation in the organizations that operate them.”

“ Rather than assuming that individual belief change is the major goal of these programs, it is perhaps more productive to view the programs as elaborate role-training regimes. That is, as resocialization programs in which targets are being prepared to conduct themselves in a fashion appropriate for the social roles they are expected to occupy …”
“The tactical dimension most clearly distinguishing reform processes from other sorts of training programs is the reliance on psychological coercion: procedures that generate pressure to comply as a means of escaping a punishing experience (e.g., public humiliation, sleep deprivation, guilt manipulation, etc.)… Coercion is principally utilized to gain behavioral compliance at key points and to ensure participation in activities likely to have influencing effects; that is, to engage the person in the role training activities and in procedures likely to lead to strong emotional responses, to cognitive confusion, or to attributions to self as the source of beliefs promoted during the process.”

more on this article later-

Vera City:

Once a person is out of a controlled environment and can freely access information and associate with anyone, thought reform often breaks down.

The key factor most frequently in breaking down a thought reform program, is recognizing how it works, which includes sorting through the cult experience and understanding how it specifically relates to cult dynamics and the coercive persuasion process.

See [www.culteducation.com]

This is an entire subsection of the Web site devoted to recovery issues.

The key most often to successful recovery is realizing how controlling dynamics of the group work and not blaming yourself.

Many people leave cult groups without this specific type of recognition and therefore they may not experience a total recovery. In such cases bits and pieces of cult programming may remain intact and thus exacerbate their recovery.

Some former members of cults may then subsequently join another cult or cult-like group, going from one cult to another, because they have not yet recognized what a cult is and how a cult's coercive persuasion techniques work.

Former cult members may sadly even blame themselves, rather than recognize what the cult did that hurt them and/or how the power of coercive persuasion was a pivotal factor.

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rrmoderator
Vera City:

Once a person is out of a controlled environment and can freely access information and associate with anyone, thought reform often breaks down.

The key factor most frequently in breaking down a thought reform program, is recognizing how it works, which includes sorting through the cult experience and understanding how it specifically relates to cult dynamics and the coercive persuasion process.

See [www.culteducation.com]

...

The key most often to successful recovery is realizing how controlling dynamics of the group work and not blaming yourself.

This is so true. It was the experience of a friend who constantly blamed herself for staying in the cult for so long. It took her years to realize what had happened. She blamed herself, she blamed the group, but never Jagad Guru for the longest time. But I don't think she ever saw these letters until after she left.

Some of us pride ourselves as being too free and intelligent of a thinker to know how very vulnerable we really are...

Another former member was criticised cruelly for being so brainwashed and for staying in the group for a decade. It doesn't help people when family, friends, or strangers on a forum to blast a former member for succumbed to a cult, especially if you don't know their coercive methods can come in nice packages too. My friend was also told that there must have been child abuse, violence, drugs to make people stay. Every time my friend said it wasn't like that, he got called a liar and brainwashed. So after being long gone from the cult, he got abuse from people who should have listened and cared. Fortunately, he is doing very well in life and doesn't blame himself.

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rrmoderator
Many people leave cult groups without this specific type of recognition and therefore they may not experience a total recovery. In such cases bits and pieces of cult programming may remain intact and thus exacerbate their recovery.

Some former members of cults may then subsequently join another cult or cult-like group, going from one cult to another, because they have not yet recognized what a cult is and how a cult's coercive persuasion techniques work.

Former cult members may sadly even blame themselves, rather than recognize what the cult did that hurt them and/or how the power of coercive persuasion was a pivotal factor.

This did happen to a lot of Chris Butler followers. When Jagad Guru CB proclaimed himself the new messiah after the death of ACB and taking a wife, people just flew from the frying pan to the fire. They just found other gurus. Maybe some were genuine religious leaders. I don't know. The criteria you speak about - how to recognize coersive persuation - needs to be tested on them too.

I think that you are right in saying that we need to know exactly HOW the cult was able to turn us the way they did and not feel bad about it if it happened to us.

There's more in the Ofshe article I was really impressed about. It follows:

See [www.culteducation.com]
Schein’s research:

This is how we get coerced without much difficulty through the group.
It sounds very academic, but it is exactly what happens in the Jagad Guru Chris Butler cult.

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”Schein's analysis of the behavioral sequence underlying coercive persuasion separated the process into three subphases: unfreezing, change, refreezing …”
“Unfreezing is the first step in eliciting behavior and developing a belief system that facilitates the long-term management of a person. It consists of attempting to undercut a person's psychological basis for resisting demands for behavioral compliance to the routines and rituals of the reform program. The goals of unfreezing are to destabilize a person's sense of identity (i.e., to precipitate an identity crisis), to diminish confidence in prior social judgments, and to foster a sense of powerlessness, if not hopelessness. Successful destabilization induces a negative shift in global self evaluations and increases uncertainty about one's values and position in society. It thereby reduces resistance to the new demands for compliance while increasing suggestibility.”

“Destabilization of identity is accomplished by bringing into play varying sets of manipulative techniques. … Contemporary programs have been observed to utilize far more psychologically sophisticated procedures to accomplish destabilization. These techniques are often adapted from the traditions of psychiatry, psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, and the human-potential movement, as well as from religious practice.”

“The change phase allows the individual an opportunity to escape punishing destabilization procedures by demonstrating that he or she has learned the proffered ideology, can demonstrate an ability to interpret reality in its own terms, and is willing to participate in competition with peers to demonstrate zeal, through displays of commitment. …”

“... Some of the practices designed to promote influence might include requiring the target to assume responsibility for the progress of less- advanced "students," to become the responsibility of those further along in the program, to assume the role of a teacher of the ideology, or to develop ever more refined and detailed confession statements that recast the person's former life in terms of the required ideological position. Group structure is often manipulated by making rewards or punishments …making status and privilege changes commensurate with behavioral compliance, subjecting the target to strong criticism and humiliation from peers for lack of progress, and peer monitoring for expressions of reservations or dissent. If progress is unsatisfactory, the individual can again be subjected to the punishing destabilization procedures used during unfreezing to undermine identity, to humiliate, and to provoke feelings of shame and guilt.”

“Refreezing denotes an attempt to promote and reinforce behavior acceptable to the controlling organization. Satisfactory performance is rewarded with social approval, status gains, and small privileges. Part of the social structure of the environment is the norm of interpreting the target's display of the desired conduct as demonstrating the person's progress in understanding the errors of his or her former life. The combination of reinforcing approved behavior and interpreting its symbolic meaning as demonstrating the emergence of a new individual fosters the development of an environment-specific, supposedly reborn social identity. The person is encouraged to claim this identity and is rewarded for doing so.”

The following document shows Jagad Guru Chris Butler advising a follower how to recruit someone. I clearly illustrates that he did not use any force, but the power of peer influence.
Recruitment Lesson 101
People trust their friends more…

The next ten pages of "Jesus and Krsna" will have to wait until my Internet connection improves. I hope that the first ten were helpful.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/04/2008 04:33AM by zeuszor.

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zeuszor
The next ten pages of "Jesus and Krsna" will have to wait until my Internet connection improves. I hope that the first ten were helpful.

Yes, thanks zeuzor to you and your friend.

You are welcome. It was my pleasure.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/04/2008 12:32PM by zeuszor.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/04/2008 01:48PM by zeuszor.