COMBATTING CULT MIND CONTROL

'''Combatting Cult Mind Control: The #1 Best-selling Guide to Protection, Rescue, and Recovery from Destructive Cults''' is a non-fiction work by Steven Hassan. The author describes theories of mind control and cults based on the research of Margaret Singer and Robert Lifton as well as the cognitive dissonance theory of Leon Festinger. The book was published by Park Street Press, in 1988.
Hassan is a licensed mental health counselor (LMHC) in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and is a former member of the Unification Church.

Contents

Reception

Critical viewpoints

See also

References

Further reading

Reception

The sociologist Eileen Barker, who has studied the Unification Church, has commented on the book^[1]. She expressed several concerns but nevertheless recommended the book. The book has been reviewed in the ''American Journal of Psychiatry'',^[2] and in the ''The Lancet''.^[3]
The book was well received by other authors on the subject, such as Dr. Margaret Singer, Rabbi James A. Rudin and conservative Rabbi and theologian Harold S. Kushner. Singer writes:

"...A major contribution...For the first time, a skilled and ethical exit counselor has spelled out the details of the complicated yet understandable process of helping free a human being from the bondage of mental manipulation.....Steve Hassan has written a 'how to do something about it' book."

The book, originally published in 1988, is still in print and, according to the author's website, it has been re-published in seven different languages^[4].

Critical viewpoints

John B. Brown of the "Pagan Unity Campaign" has criticized a statement in the book (page 114) which says that "Forcible intervention can be kept as a last resort if all other attempts fail." Brown states that this indicates that Hassan might resort to a forcible intervention if all other attempts fail. ^[5] However, it should be noted that the first sentence of the paragraph immediately preceding the sentence on page 114 that Brown refers to reads: 'I decided not to participate in forcible interventions, believing it was imperative to
find another approach.' , which would seem to contradict Brown's interpretation of the sentence he quotes.
According to Douglas Cowan, in this book Hassan utilizes a language opposing "freedom" and "captivity", based on the conceptual framework of brainwashing and thought control, and the alleged abuses of civil liberities and human rights. He writes that these are the precipitating motivation for secular anticultists such as Hassan.^[6]
Irving Hexham, professor of Religious Studies at the University of Calgary, writes that Hassan's description of destructive cults (page 37), as "a group which violates the rights of its members and damages them through the abusive techniques of unethical mind control" is not helpful as he fails to describe how to decide if a group is a cult or not, what are "abusive techniques" and what is "mind control".^[7]

See also

★ Cults

★ List of cult and new religious movement researchers

References

1. Church Times (UK) 23rd November, 1990 p. 13]
2. American Journal of Psychiatry 147:7 July 1990
3. ''Review of Books'' ''The Lancet'', Peter Tyrer, June 24th 1989
4. Presskit, Freedom of Mind Center, Steven Hassan, 2006
5. Jehovah's Witnesses and the Anticult Movement: Human Rights Issues, John B. BROWN, presented at CESNUR 2006 International Conference
6. Cowan, Douglas E. ''Bearing False Witness?: An Introduction to the Christian Countercult'', pp.22-3, Praeger/Greenwood (2003), ISBN 0-275-97459-6
7. Hexham, Irving and Poewe, Karla, ''New Religions as Global Cultures: Making the Human Sacred'', pp.27, Westview Press (1997), ISBN 0-8133-2508-0. "In his book combating Cult Mind Control, Steven Hassan says a "destructive cult . . . is a group which violates the rights of its members and damages them through the abusive techniques of unethical mind control" ( Hassan 1990: 37 ).The problem with definitions like this is that they raise more problems than they solve. Before we can decide whether a group is a cult or not, we must first define "rights," "abusive techniques," and "mind control." Hassan attempts to do this, but his explanations are not very helpful.

Further reading

★ Freedom of Mind website, Steven Hassan, 2006

★ Bromley, David G., ''The Politics of Religious Apostasy'', pp. 95-114, Praeger Publishers, 1998. ISBN 0-275-95508-7
;Book reviews

★ The Mind Control Hypothesis, in-depth discussion of the work, 1999, John Engle

★ Detailed review, ''The Lancet'', Britain
;Media

★ Geraldo Rivera, 1991 program, ''Combatting Cult Mind Control'' discussed