We recently consulted with Dr. Janja Lalich, a world-recognized expert in cults and coercion, about some of the behaviors of groups seeking high levels of control and influence.
What is coercion, undue influence and coercive control?
Coercion is typically recognized as “the exploitation of authority or the use of bribes, threats of force, or intimidation to gain cooperation or compliane.”1 It is seen as “a pattern of behavior that in purpose or effect unreasonably interferes with a person’s free will and personal liberty… Examples of coercive control include, but are not limited to, unreasonably engaging in any of the following: (1) isolating the other party from friends, relatives, or other sources of support; (2) depriving the other party of basic necessities; (3) controlling, regulating, or monitoring the other party’s movements, communications, daily behavior, finances, economic resources, or access to services; (4) compelling the other party by force, threat of force, or intimidation … to engage in conduct from which the other party has a right to abstain.”2
Coercive control “erodes autonomy, self-thought, confidence and self-esteem in the victim…. Victims are forced to follow ‘rules’ and ‘regulations’ that impose strict, unwavering demands of compliance.”3 While it is perhaps believed that the majority of instances of coercive control occur in intimate or caring relationships, it is not confined to those situations. “The same set of coercive and controlling techniques are used in a variety of other scenarios.”4
Some of the harms caused to children by coercive control include: isolation and control of time, movement, and activities; undermining children’s education; neglect; constraining and distorting children’s behavior; punishing children for resistance to coercive control; and distorting family dynamics.5
“There are a variety of types of high-demand environments or cults (religious, political, and psychotherapeutic) whose common modus operandi is high levels of control and influence, what is often defined as ‘undue influence.’ .… [A] burgeoning area of research inquiry has focused on people who are born into high-demand groups or grow up in them [commonly referred to as second-generation]…. Former second generation members suffer from distinct patterns of psychological distress, both in magnitude and typology6…. The lack of a pre-cult identity is posited as one reason why the high-demand group identity is all the more dominant and totalistic, leading to additional challenges and needs.”7
“Coercive persuasion and undue influence occur over a continuum ranging from mentally healthy to abusive and damaging. The degree of coercion in the environment affects the degree of impact on the mental health of followers, as well as other factors, such as length of time [involved] and developmental milestones which may be interrupted by the experience. There has been consistent evidence of psychological harm…., particularly in the areas of post-traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, dissociation, and identity issues.”8
“More recent research has focused on the deleterious effects on the mental health of people who were born or raised in high-demand groups as they suffer from a lack of a pre-cult identity and they may not have been exposed to the range of educational opportunities and participation in activities outside the [closed environment].”9
What are cultic/coercive social systems and environments?
“A cult can be either a sharply-bounded social group or a diffusely-bounded social movement held together through a shared commitment to a charismatic leader. It upholds a transcendent belief system (often but not always religious in nature) that includes a call for a personal transformation. It also requires a high level of personal commitment from its members in words and deeds.”10
This definition is not meant to be evaluative in the sense of implying that a group is good, bad, benign, or harmful. Rather it is meant to convey a systemic view of such a group, which is comprised of a charismatic (authoritarian) relationship, a promise of fulfillment and a methodology by which to achieve it, and established rules and norms to ensure conformity, compliance, loyalty, and obedience.
Cultic and coercive social systems differ in their specific ruling ideologies (belief systems) and in their specific requirements, practices, and behaviors; a single group may even differ over its lifetime or across different locations. They exist on a continuum of influence and a continuum of control (from less invasive to all-encompassing). These entities can be distinguished from other non-mainstream groups – for example, religious or political sects, fringe or alternative groups or movements, communes and intentional communities – because of their intense ideologies and their demand for total commitment from at least some of the members. I acknowledge that each group must be observed and judged on its own merits and its own practices and behaviors as to whether it falls within this category type. But ultimately, the purpose of such a group or situation is to serve the emotional, financial, sexual, and/or power needs of the leader or the one in charge. The single most important word here is power. The dynamic is similar to that of other power relationships; however, these are self-sealing (closed) and essentially ultra-authoritarian, based on a vastly disproportional power imbalance that is deemed to be justified by the tenants of the belief system.
Each entity will develop its own version of a thought-reform, or indoctrination, program, as identified by psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton11 in his study of prisoners of the Korean War and of citizens and cadres in Communist China under Chairman Mao. In effective thought-reform programs, the core self (or central self-image) is undermined by the demand for transformation. Deliberate attacks upon the core self make people feel inherently defective. A person’s core self encompasses all of the ways by which a person approaches, reacts to, and copes with emotions, relationships, and events. Each person develops psychological defense mechanisms that are used to perceive, interpret, and deal with reality. A systematic attack on the central self tears apart a person’s inner equilibrium and perception of reality. “Alter the self or perish” is the unstated motto of this type of extreme personal self-transformation. The purpose of these intimate assaults is to bring members to the point of identifying and merging with the group (or leader). The effect is that members become extremely anxious about self-worth and even about their actual existence. In such an environment, feelings of personal disintegration are common, accompanied by unquestioning loyalty and obedience. (This latter point will become evident later in reference to the impact on children raised in such environments.)
1 State of Florida, Statute 39.01.
2 California Family Law Code, Article 1, Division 10.
3 Frye, R. (California attorney-at-law), in Baker, C. N. “California Court Grants Restraining Order Based on Coercive Control.” Ms., August 31, 2023.
4 Katz, E. Coercive Control in Children’s and Mothers’ Lives. New York, Oxford University Press, 2022, p. 38.
5 Ibid., pp. 81-92.
6 Unless otherwise noted, all underlining in this document has been added by me.
7 Dubrow-Marshall, R. P., & Dubrow-Marshall, L. “Cults and Mental Health,” Encyclopedia of Mental Health, Vol. 1, doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-397045-9.00153-1, pp. 393, 397.
8 Ibid., p. 400.
9 Goldberg, L. “Raised in cultic groups: The impact on the development of certain aspects of character.” Cultic Studies Review 5(1), pp. 1-26.
10 Lalich, J. Bounded Choice: True Believers and Charismatic Cults (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004), p. 5.
11 Lifton, R. J. Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of “Brainwashing” in China (New York, Norton, 1961)
