cult

 Recommended Reading and Viewing

Books: 
Most of these books can be ordered through ICSA's bookstore: http://www.icsahome.com  (click on Books)

  • The Boston Movement: Critical Perspectives on the International Churches of Christ, ed.: Carol Giambalvo and Herbert Rosedale (AFF, 1996)
  • Bounded Choice: True Believers and Charismatic Cults, Janja Lalich(University of California Press, 2004)  Janja offers a new, very understandable model for thought reform and cult/group dynamics.
  • Churches That Abuse, Ronald M. Enroth (Zondervan, 1992)
  • Crazy Therapies: What Are They? Do They Work? Margaret Thaler Singer and Janja Lalich (1996, Jossey-Bass)
  • Cults In Our Midst: The Hidden Influence in Our Everyday Lives, Margaret Thaler Singer with Janja Lalich (1995, Jossey-Bass)
  • Discipling Dilemma, Flavil Yeakley (Gospel Advocate, 1988) (available online)
  • All the Emperor's Men, Garry Greenwood, a book about Mahikari.
  • Family Interventions for Cult-Affected Loved Ones, Carol Giambalvo (AFF [ICSA], revised 2003)
  • From Dean's List to Dumpsters -- Why I Left Harvard to Join a Cult, Jim Guerra. An excellent book about his experience in The Brethren, A/K/A Jim Roberts Group, A/K/A The Garbage Eaters. For more information on the group, see the parents' web site at http://members.tripod.com/~nfishel/index.html
  • Help At Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids, Maia Szalavitz, Riverhead Books, NY, 2006
  • I Can't Hear God Anymore: Life in a Dallas Cult, Wendy J. Duncan ( (VM Life Resources, 2006) The account of a former member of Trinity Foundation.
  • Influence: The new psychology of modern persuasion, Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D. (Quill, 1984)
  • Outrageous Betrayal: The Dark Journey of Werner Erhard from est to Exile, Steven Pressman (St. Martin’s Press, 1993
  • Recovery from Abusive Groups, Wendy Ford (American Family Foundation, 1990)
  • Recovering from Churches That Abuse, Ronald M. Enroth (Zondervan, 1994)
  • Recovery from Cults: Help for the Victims of Psychological and Spiritual Abuse, ed. Michael D. Langone (1993, Norton)
  • Regaining Faith After Boston: An Insider's View, Sharen Meyers (Star Bible Publications, 1-800-433-7507) A book on the International churches of Christ from a Christian perspective.
  • Take Back Your Life: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships, Janja Lalich and Madeleine Tobias, Bay Tree Publishing, 1994, 2006
  • The Boy Who Was Raised As a Dog: What Traumatized Children Can Teach Us About Loss, Love and Healing, Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D. and Maia Szalavitz, Basic Books, 2006
  • Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of "Brainwashing" in China, Robert Jay Lifton, M.D. (Chapel Hill, 1989)
  • Trauma and Recovery, Judith Lewis Herman, M.D. (Basic Books, 1992)
  • Under the Influence: The Destructive Effects of Group Dynamics, John D. Goldhammer (Prometheus Books, 1996)
  • Werner Erhard: The Transformation of a Man: The Founding of est, W. W. Bartley, III (Clarkson N. Potter, Inc., 1978)
  • Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us, Dr. Robert D. Hare (Pocket Books, 1993)
Articles:

  • "Attacks on Peripheral versus Central Elements of Self and the Impact of Thought Reforming Techniques" Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 3, No. 1, Spring/Summer 1986
  • "Cults in America: A Legal Analysis of Undue Influence, Fraud, and Misrepresentation" by American Bar Association’s Commission on Mental and Physical Disability Law, Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 12, No. 1, 1995.
  • "Ethical Standards for Thought Reform Consultants" by Carol Giambalvo, Joseph Kelly, Patrick Ryan and Madeleine Landau Tobias, Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 13, No. 1, 1996
  • "The Utilization of Hypnotic Techniques in Religious Conversion" Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 3, No. 2, Fall/Winter, 1986
Note: copies of Cultic Studies Journal articles available from ICSA: http://www.icsahome.com

Videos:

Note: videos are available through ICSA