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International Cultic Studies Association
Articles:
other
|
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|
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| _______________________________________________ |
The
History of the American Family Foundation
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Michael D. Langone, Ph.D. |
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Vol. 1, No. 1,
2002
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10 |
History of the American Family
Foundation 10/10
One of AFF’s most important goals
is to inspire, encourage, coordinate, support and contribute to research
initiated by AFF staff, volunteer professionals, and others who are interested
in the cult problem. In September
1994 AFF's Dr. Michael Langone organized a two-day research-planning meeting
in which 16 professionals convened to discuss ongoing and planned research.
A second meeting took place in April 1995.
Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center hosted both meetings.
The research outline below summarizes the results of these meetings and
subsequent discussions with AFF research advisors.
This outline continues to guide our research work.
(In order to enhance scientific clarity the term, “psychologically
abusive group,” is used instead of “cult,” with which considerable
ambiguity and controversy is associated.)
Although much useful research has been conducted, fully implementing
this ambitious research plan will take many years. Those
interested in contributing to the research program outlined below should
contact Dr. Langone (AFF, P.O. Box 2265, Bonita Springs, FL 34133; aff@affcultinfoserve.com).
The questions that guide our
research follow:
-
How can we productively conceptualize the term “psychologically
abusive group” and the relevance of certain types of “harm,” “group
variables,” and “person variables” to psychologically abusive groups?
Answering this
question will require a series of conceptual essays [one of which, Dr.
Langone’s essay “Psychological Abuse,” has already been published in Cultic Studies Journal, 9(2), 1992] that will lay the groundwork
for a psychological theory of group-perpetrated psychological abuse.
This theory should clearly imply empirical studies that can test the
theory’s validity.
2.
How can we productively measure group psychological abuse and relevant
group, person, and harm variables?
Drs. William Chambers, Michael
Langone, and Arthur Dole developed the 28-item Group Psychological Abuse Scale
(GPA Scale) from a factor analysis of the responses of 308 subjects rating
their groups on 112 questions [Cultic
Studies Journal, 11(1), 1994]. The
GPA Scale needs to undergo a full course of psychometric development,
including reliability and validity studies and the collection of data from a
wide range of cultic and noncultic groups.
If the GPA Scale lives up to its promise, it should prove useful in
distinguishing cultic from noncultic groups and in differentiating various
types of cultic groups. It will
provide, for the first time, an objective measure of the “cultishness” of
a group.
Drs. Langone and Chambers
presented a paper with Ohio University graduate student, Peter Malinoski to
the American Psychological Association. This
paper, which is available from AFF, summarizes research with the Group
Psychological Abuse Scale (GPA) through 1996.
Dr. Rod Marshall and Lois
Kendall of Buckinghamshire College in London gave an updated report on their
research, which used the GPA along with other instruments, at AFF's annual
conference in Seattle, April 28-29, 2000 (they gave a report at the 1999
conference as well). Other
researchers are also collecting or analyzing data involving the GPA.
Despite the GPA Scale’s
promise, it is also desirable to supplement the self-report GPA with other
self-report scales and observational measures of psychologically abusive group
environments. In regard to the first goal, Dr. Nadine Winocur developed a
related scale as part of her doctoral dissertation at Pepperdine University.
She and her colleagues report on the Individual Cult Experience Index
in Cultic Studies Journal, 14(2),
1997. Because of the complexity
of the second goal, the first step will be to write a carefully thought out
methodological essay on issues to consider in developing observational
measures of abusive groups.
In testing the GPA, AFF has
found that families of individuals involved in cultic groups also find the
scale useful. In order to meet
their needs more effectively AFF would like to develop a companion scale for
families. This scale will explore
how families are affected by and perceive cultic groups.
Research conducted at Ohio
University, Boston University, Buckinghamshire College, and Wellspring Retreat
and Resource Center have utilized a battery of standardized psychological
instruments to assess harm in populations of former group members.
See Question 4 below.
3.
How can we usefully classify psychologically abusive groups?
It would be helpful to write a
critical review of existing classification systems, including those proposed
by sociologists (An “unassigned” task at present).
The psychometric development of
the GPA Scale may lead to an empirically based classification scheme.
4.
With regard to psychologically abusive groups, what is the relationship
between person variables, group variables, and psychopathology?
AFF’s Executive Director, Dr.
Michael Langone, whom Boston University named the 1995 Albert V. Danielsen
Visiting Scholar, conducted a study at Boston University of the International
Churches of Christ movement. He
used the GPA Scale and a new scale (the DDD Scale—Deception, Dependency, and
Dread Scale) to assess the abusiveness of the Boston Movement, as rated by
former members. He also used a
psychological test battery to assess the nature and degree of psychological
distress experienced by former members of the Boston Movement and two
comparison groups: graduates of a mainstream campus ministry and former
members of a mainstream religion. This
test battery is identical to that used in an Ohio University study described
below. Dr. Langone's report to the Danielsen Institute is available from AFF.
A team of three psychology
graduate students under the direction of Ohio University’s Dr. Steve Lynn
gave a standardized test battery to clients of the Wellspring Retreat and
Resource Center and a matched comparison group of college students in order to
assess the nature and degree of psychopathology among former cult members.
A report on this research was published in Cultic
Studies Journal, 16(1), 1999. Members of this team also wrote a
comprehensive review of the empirical literature in this field [Aronoff, J.B.,
Lynn, S.J., & Malinoski, P.T. (in press).
Are cultic environments psychologically harmful?
Clinical Psychology Review].
The Marshall and Kendall
studies, mentioned above, are also using a standardized battery to assess
harm.
A team of four psychology
graduate students under the direction of Pepperdine University’s Dr. David
Foy have used the Los Angeles Symptom Checklist (a standardized instrument
designed to measure symptoms common to victimization populations) to measure
distress and the Group Experience Index (GEI) to assess the severity of
exposure to cult-related pressures and abuses in order to study the
relationships between post-cult distress and variables related to pre-cult
history and adjustment, cult-related experiences, and post-cult history. A multiple regression research design was used to evaluate
the relative contributions of the variables under investigation to post-cult
distress. The Winocur article
mentioned above also reports on this aspect of these studies.
Data from the AFF questionnaire
from which the GPA Scale was derived await analyses and reporting by Dr.
Langone and colleagues. This questionnaire explored subjects’ psychological
and social history, background variables related to cult joining,
characteristics of the group environment, subjects’ responses to the cult
experience, subjects’ post-group experiences (including recovery), and
subjects’ evaluations of helping resources.
Dr. Arthur Dole has written a
methodological paper, published in Cultic
Studies Journal, 12(2), 1995, explaining how to apply case study
methodology to the cult area. Over
the next few years, AFF would like to enlist the support of clinicians in this
field to conduct a series of case studies using Dr. Dole’s methodology.
Although considerable research
has been conducted, much more research is needed to adequately answer this
question.
5.
What is the prevalence of membership in psychologically abusive groups
and how many such groups are there in the United States?
The first research-planning
meeting decided that existing prevalence data are sufficient for current
research purposes and that a full-scale epidemiological study on cultic groups
would be an inappropriate use of limited resources at this time.
It was decided, however, that surveys of professional populations
(e.g., clergy, psychologists), such as Dr. Edward Lottick’s survey of
primary care physicians [Lottick, E.A. (Feb. 1993).
Survey reveals physicians's experiences with cults. Pennsylvania
Medicine, 96, 26-28 -- available from AFF], would provide useful data at
relatively low cost (and would also contribute to professional education).
Such surveys will be conducted as funds allow.
Scientifically determining the
number of psychologically abusive groups, or cults, in the U.S. is a daunting
task. Perhaps the most feasible
approach would be to compile a comprehensive list of groups about which AFF
receives inquiries, select a random sample from this list, and conduct
in-depth studies of this sample, using when possible the GPA Scale and/or
other scales to be developed in the future.
This study would enable us to make reasonable and empirically based
generalizations about the broad population of groups we receive inquiries on
(e.g., what percentage appears to be abusive).
This study obviously will require considerable funding.
Developing a methodology for
assessing the nature and extent of cultic influence on a university campus
could help campus authorities
assess cult-related problems on their campuses.
Dr. Russell Eleven's research, which was published in Cultic
Studies Journal, 15(1), 1998, has laid the groundwork for the development
of such a measure.
6.
What is the relationship between person, group, and treatment variables
and amelioration in post-group distress?
Currently, the most thorough
outcome evaluation of psychological treatment for former group members is that
of Dr. Paul Martin and his colleagues at Wellspring Retreat and Resource
Center, published in Cultic Studies
Journal, 9(2), 1992. Although
controlled outcome studies are obviously preferred, such studies require
considerable funding. In the
meantime, the state of knowledge would be advanced if other clinicians in this
field attempted to evaluate treatment effectiveness using standardized pre-
and post-measures, as Wellspring does.
7.
What are the legal implications of the cult phenomenon?
The American Bar Association
report published in Cultic Studies
Journal, 12(1), 1995 provides a
literature review and analysis of case law relating to mind control issues,
undue influence, and fraud. Cultic Studies Journal has also published articles on other aspects
of the legal dimension of this subject, including custody, violence against
women laws, emancipation of minors, hypnotic testimony, and certain reports of
governments. The international
dimension of the cult issue greatly complicates the legal arena.
It would be helpful to develop a manual of pertinent laws, precedents,
and unresolved issues in various countries in order to make the scholarly
analysis above accessible to greater numbers of people.
Obviously, this is a major task that would require funding and the
skills of a legal scholar.
8.
What are the cultural implications of the cult issue?
AFF believes that the cultural
implications of cultism can be explored fruitfully by answering the following
key question:
How
does a free, constitutionally based society protect itself against the
totalist impulses and practices of cultic groups without becoming closed and
repressive?
The answer to this question
includes, but is not limited to, legal considerations.
A key component of the answer, for example, has to do with the ethics
of how we influence each other, a subject on which AFF has published a number
of articles. Answering this
question also demands an analysis of fundamental societal values and how
conflicting values can most effectively be reconciled.
|
| ______________________________________________
^ |
|
Last revised:
February 11, 2008
| |
|
International Cultic Studies Association
Articles:
other
|
|
|
|
| _______________________________________________ |
The
History of the American Family Foundation
|
|
|
| |
Michael D. Langone, Ph.D. |
|
|
Vol. 1, No. 1,
2002
|
| |
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4
| 5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
History of the American Family
Foundation 10/10
One of AFF’s most important goals
is to inspire, encourage, coordinate, support and contribute to research
initiated by AFF staff, volunteer professionals, and others who are interested
in the cult problem. In September
1994 AFF's Dr. Michael Langone organized a two-day research-planning meeting
in which 16 professionals convened to discuss ongoing and planned research.
A second meeting took place in April 1995.
Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center hosted both meetings.
The research outline below summarizes the results of these meetings and
subsequent discussions with AFF research advisors.
This outline continues to guide our research work.
(In order to enhance scientific clarity the term, “psychologically
abusive group,” is used instead of “cult,” with which considerable
ambiguity and controversy is associated.)
Although much useful research has been conducted, fully implementing
this ambitious research plan will take many years. Those
interested in contributing to the research program outlined below should
contact Dr. Langone (AFF, P.O. Box 2265, Bonita Springs, FL 34133; aff@affcultinfoserve.com).
The questions that guide our
research follow:
-
How can we productively conceptualize the term “psychologically
abusive group” and the relevance of certain types of “harm,” “group
variables,” and “person variables” to psychologically abusive groups?
Answering this
question will require a series of conceptual essays [one of which, Dr.
Langone’s essay “Psychological Abuse,” has already been published in Cultic Studies Journal, 9(2), 1992] that will lay the groundwork
for a psychological theory of group-perpetrated psychological abuse.
This theory should clearly imply empirical studies that can test the
theory’s validity.
2.
How can we productively measure group psychological abuse and relevant
group, person, and harm variables?
Drs. William Chambers, Michael
Langone, and Arthur Dole developed the 28-item Group Psychological Abuse Scale
(GPA Scale) from a factor analysis of the responses of 308 subjects rating
their groups on 112 questions [Cultic
Studies Journal, 11(1), 1994]. The
GPA Scale needs to undergo a full course of psychometric development,
including reliability and validity studies and the collection of data from a
wide range of cultic and noncultic groups.
If the GPA Scale lives up to its promise, it should prove useful in
distinguishing cultic from noncultic groups and in differentiating various
types of cultic groups. It will
provide, for the first time, an objective measure of the “cultishness” of
a group.
Drs. Langone and Chambers
presented a paper with Ohio University graduate student, Peter Malinoski to
the American Psychological Association. This
paper, which is available from AFF, summarizes research with the Group
Psychological Abuse Scale (GPA) through 1996.
Dr. Rod Marshall and Lois
Kendall of Buckinghamshire College in London gave an updated report on their
research, which used the GPA along with other instruments, at AFF's annual
conference in Seattle, April 28-29, 2000 (they gave a report at the 1999
conference as well). Other
researchers are also collecting or analyzing data involving the GPA.
Despite the GPA Scale’s
promise, it is also desirable to supplement the self-report GPA with other
self-report scales and observational measures of psychologically abusive group
environments. In regard to the first goal, Dr. Nadine Winocur developed a
related scale as part of her doctoral dissertation at Pepperdine University.
She and her colleagues report on the Individual Cult Experience Index
in Cultic Studies Journal, 14(2),
1997. Because of the complexity
of the second goal, the first step will be to write a carefully thought out
methodological essay on issues to consider in developing observational
measures of abusive groups.
In testing the GPA, AFF has
found that families of individuals involved in cultic groups also find the
scale useful. In order to meet
their needs more effectively AFF would like to develop a companion scale for
families. This scale will explore
how families are affected by and perceive cultic groups.
Research conducted at Ohio
University, Boston University, Buckinghamshire College, and Wellspring Retreat
and Resource Center have utilized a battery of standardized psychological
instruments to assess harm in populations of former group members.
See Question 4 below.
3.
How can we usefully classify psychologically abusive groups?
It would be helpful to write a
critical review of existing classification systems, including those proposed
by sociologists (An “unassigned” task at present).
The psychometric development of
the GPA Scale may lead to an empirically based classification scheme.
4.
With regard to psychologically abusive groups, what is the relationship
between person variables, group variables, and psychopathology?
AFF’s Executive Director, Dr.
Michael Langone, whom Boston University named the 1995 Albert V. Danielsen
Visiting Scholar, conducted a study at Boston University of the International
Churches of Christ movement. He
used the GPA Scale and a new scale (the DDD Scale—Deception, Dependency, and
Dread Scale) to assess the abusiveness of the Boston Movement, as rated by
former members. He also used a
psychological test battery to assess the nature and degree of psychological
distress experienced by former members of the Boston Movement and two
comparison groups: graduates of a mainstream campus ministry and former
members of a mainstream religion. This
test battery is identical to that used in an Ohio University study described
below. Dr. Langone's report to the Danielsen Institute is available from AFF.
A team of three psychology
graduate students under the direction of Ohio University’s Dr. Steve Lynn
gave a standardized test battery to clients of the Wellspring Retreat and
Resource Center and a matched comparison group of college students in order to
assess the nature and degree of psychopathology among former cult members.
A report on this research was published in Cultic
Studies Journal, 16(1), 1999. Members of this team also wrote a
comprehensive review of the empirical literature in this field [Aronoff, J.B.,
Lynn, S.J., & Malinoski, P.T. (in press).
Are cultic environments psychologically harmful?
Clinical Psychology Review].
The Marshall and Kendall
studies, mentioned above, are also using a standardized battery to assess
harm.
A team of four psychology
graduate students under the direction of Pepperdine University’s Dr. David
Foy have used the Los Angeles Symptom Checklist (a standardized instrument
designed to measure symptoms common to victimization populations) to measure
distress and the Group Experience Index (GEI) to assess the severity of
exposure to cult-related pressures and abuses in order to study the
relationships between post-cult distress and variables related to pre-cult
history and adjustment, cult-related experiences, and post-cult history. A multiple regression research design was used to evaluate
the relative contributions of the variables under investigation to post-cult
distress. The Winocur article
mentioned above also reports on this aspect of these studies.
Data from the AFF questionnaire
from which the GPA Scale was derived await analyses and reporting by Dr.
Langone and colleagues. This questionnaire explored subjects’ psychological
and social history, background variables related to cult joining,
characteristics of the group environment, subjects’ responses to the cult
experience, subjects’ post-group experiences (including recovery), and
subjects’ evaluations of helping resources.
Dr. Arthur Dole has written a
methodological paper, published in Cultic
Studies Journal, 12(2), 1995, explaining how to apply case study
methodology to the cult area. Over
the next few years, AFF would like to enlist the support of clinicians in this
field to conduct a series of case studies using Dr. Dole’s methodology.
Although considerable research
has been conducted, much more research is needed to adequately answer this
question.
5.
What is the prevalence of membership in psychologically abusive groups
and how many such groups are there in the United States?
The first research-planning
meeting decided that existing prevalence data are sufficient for current
research purposes and that a full-scale epidemiological study on cultic groups
would be an inappropriate use of limited resources at this time.
It was decided, however, that surveys of professional populations
(e.g., clergy, psychologists), such as Dr. Edward Lottick’s survey of
primary care physicians [Lottick, E.A. (Feb. 1993).
Survey reveals physicians's experiences with cults. Pennsylvania
Medicine, 96, 26-28 -- available from AFF], would provide useful data at
relatively low cost (and would also contribute to professional education).
Such surveys will be conducted as funds allow.
Scientifically determining the
number of psychologically abusive groups, or cults, in the U.S. is a daunting
task. Perhaps the most feasible
approach would be to compile a comprehensive list of groups about which AFF
receives inquiries, select a random sample from this list, and conduct
in-depth studies of this sample, using when possible the GPA Scale and/or
other scales to be developed in the future.
This study would enable us to make reasonable and empirically based
generalizations about the broad population of groups we receive inquiries on
(e.g., what percentage appears to be abusive).
This study obviously will require considerable funding.
Developing a methodology for
assessing the nature and extent of cultic influence on a university campus
could help campus authorities
assess cult-related problems on their campuses.
Dr. Russell Eleven's research, which was published in Cultic
Studies Journal, 15(1), 1998, has laid the groundwork for the development
of such a measure.
6.
What is the relationship between person, group, and treatment variables
and amelioration in post-group distress?
Currently, the most thorough
outcome evaluation of psychological treatment for former group members is that
of Dr. Paul Martin and his colleagues at Wellspring Retreat and Resource
Center, published in Cultic Studies
Journal, 9(2), 1992. Although
controlled outcome studies are obviously preferred, such studies require
considerable funding. In the
meantime, the state of knowledge would be advanced if other clinicians in this
field attempted to evaluate treatment effectiveness using standardized pre-
and post-measures, as Wellspring does.
7.
What are the legal implications of the cult phenomenon?
The American Bar Association
report published in Cultic Studies
Journal, 12(1), 1995 provides a
literature review and analysis of case law relating to mind control issues,
undue influence, and fraud. Cultic Studies Journal has also published articles on other aspects
of the legal dimension of this subject, including custody, violence against
women laws, emancipation of minors, hypnotic testimony, and certain reports of
governments. The international
dimension of the cult issue greatly complicates the legal arena.
It would be helpful to develop a manual of pertinent laws, precedents,
and unresolved issues in various countries in order to make the scholarly
analysis above accessible to greater numbers of people.
Obviously, this is a major task that would require funding and the
skills of a legal scholar.
8.
What are the cultural implications of the cult issue?
AFF believes that the cultural
implications of cultism can be explored fruitfully by answering the following
key question:
How
does a free, constitutionally based society protect itself against the
totalist impulses and practices of cultic groups without becoming closed and
repressive?
The answer to this question
includes, but is not limited to, legal considerations.
A key component of the answer, for example, has to do with the ethics
of how we influence each other, a subject on which AFF has published a number
of articles. Answering this
question also demands an analysis of fundamental societal values and how
conflicting values can most effectively be reconciled.
|
| ______________________________________________
^ |
|
Last revised:
February 10, 2008
|
