Cults

Why do people join cults? How do cults exert such a strong influence over their members' beliefs and even their appearance? These and other questions about the operation of cult groups are answered in this study. The psychological forces that enable cults to exert their intense influence are analyzed in detail and with many examples. These forces include social cohesiveness, which has its parallels in the ties that bind family members together; shared beliefs, which set the groups' standards for behaviour; and altered consciousness, which can lead to a rapid change in the attitudes of recruits and members. Galanter points out that many new recruits are vulnerable to such influences because they have been socially dislodged and their ties to other persons are weak. He shows how cults tend to seal off their members from straightforward contact with the outside world and impose their own ideology. To fill out the picture of how cults function as social systems, Galanter gives accounts of a number of groups. The book contains first-person accounts of conversions, daily life under the rule of charismatic leaders, disillusionments, and departures both voluntary and forced.
There are also overviews of many of the most influential cults, including a psychological analysis of the evolution of the "Moonies".