In the American cultural memory, the idea of a “cult” conjures up an image of a group of weak-willed adherents following the every move of one individual with some crazy ideas. The concept is often linked with wanton violence, excessive drug use, and manipulative sexual activity; people with no experience with cults often assume that individuals that get sucked into cults are weak or unintelligent. However, cults are complex social groups, formed by the same social bonds and social imperative that drives people to form clans and communities. Cults, clans, and communities are all driven by the same human need: the need to form social bonds and feel as though one is part of a group.
A clan, then, is a type of community. However, within clans, individuals are united by a sense of kinship, whether real or imagined (Galanter and American Psychiatric Association, 1989). A clan could be, for instance, a group of different Irish families who share the same ancestor, or a group of Native Americans who consider themselves descended from the same animal (Galanter and American Psychiatric Association, 1989). While the distinction between clan and community is slight, it is still an important distinction to make; all clans are a type of community, but not all communities should or could be considered clans. When considering clans, it is also important to consider that most true clans are tightly-knit and insular, whereas communities can be loosely connected or tightly-knit (Galanter and American Psychiatric Association, 1989).
A cult is different from a clan and a community. Although a cult can technically be considered a type of community because it is a type of social unit, it is, perhaps, easier to consider a cult as a separate entity because of the psychological effects of being in a cult on the individual. Where being part of a community is a positive thing for most, the psychological impact of being in a cult is nearly always negative. The word “cult” is a pejorative term; it is used by anthropologists, sociologists, and other professionals to define insular groups whose religious, moral, or ethical beliefs and practices are vastly different from the larger society that the individuals belong to (Jenkins, 2000).
Galanter writes, “The term ‘cult’ used to refer to a minor religious sect that practices its own peculiar rituals. Nowadays it suggests a secretive and dangerous group, one led by a madman or charlatan. We regularly hear of bizarre behavior in cults, but the glare of media attention belies the fact that there are lawful psychological factors that underlie their operation” (Galanter, 1999). The discussion of cults, clans and communities is very important because nearly every human being belongs to some form of community, but when a community begins to morph into a cult, the societal impact can be far-reaching, painful, and even dangerous to those inside and outside the cult.
One of the most famous cults of all time is the cult of the People’s Temple, led by Jim Jones. The eventual mass suicide by followers at Jonestown is decades in the past, but it still reverberates in America’s cultural memory and language today. “Drinking the Kool-aid” remains a common saying in American English-- a saying that refers to mindless following of orders, regardless of the outcome of those orders.
In the late 1970s, Jones announced his intention to move his group from the continental United States to Guyana, in an attempt to form a true socialist commune (Rapaport, 2003). Temple members began to migrate from the United States to the Jonestown location, unaware that their lives were in jeopardy. It is a testament to the charisma and power of Jones himself that he was able to convince so many people to leave the United States to live on a farming commune-- particularly in light of the fact that transportation, security, and communication were not as advanced in the 1970s as they are today. Jones established his cult of personality through propaganda and brainwashing techniques, and was able to convince hoards of individuals to leave the economic stability they spent lifetimes cultivating and dedicate their lives to a political cause (Rapaport, 2003).
On November 18, 1978, 908 people died at Jonestown. They were convinced by their leader to drink poisoned Kool-aid. Five people, including a congressman, were shot and killed at a nearby airstrip when they were attempting to leave the compound (Rapaport, 2003). This tragedy defines the problem with cults: when the leader is peaceful and benevolent, cults are fairly innocuous. However, the kind of power that a cult leader has nearly always turns sour; the cult quickly becomes economically or psychologically manipulative, and the insular environment acts as a wall between members and the outside world. Members become locked into a way of thinking that is neither normal nor healthy, but they lack the outside influence to put the thought processes into perspective (Galanter, 1999).
Many people who have never experienced the power of an idea are perplexed by cults. They question how an individual’s thinking could become so warped, and often assume that cult members are unintelligent. This is not the case, however; cult leaders are excellent at culling the emotionally-vulnerable from society and offering them a place to belong, not unlike gangs and other organized crime units (Galanter, 1999). Cults are certainly a type of community, but they are toxic; the sense of community created by a cult is not one that offers the individual anything positive in the long run.
Clans, on the other hand, can be good or bad for the individual. Clans and cults are not the same, but they can bear similarities that cause them to overlap. Clans are often led by one individual, a matriarch or a patriarch; this individual, in extreme cases, can employ the same type of psychological manipulation that a cult leader will employ (Turton, 2002).
One of the problems of creating communities is that when there is an “in” group, there is always an “out” group as well. For groups like cults and clans, the “out” group is the society at large-- these groups rarely consider themselves to be part of the society. Clans might begin to squabble and even war amongst each other, particularly over land, resources, or even pride and perceived slights.
According to Dittman (2009), “Cults often use behavior modification on followers, such as thought- stopping techniques and instilling an ‘us-versus-them’ mindset, Hassan said. With thought-stopping techniques, members are taught to stop doubts from entering [their] consciousness often with a key phrase they repeat. Phobia indoctrination is also used, where cults play on a person's irrational fears, with threats such as the person will develop cancer or go insane if he ever leaves or questions the group.” A clan with a charismatic patriarch or matriarch can become just as dangerous as a cult, because there are pre-formed bonds that exist within a clan-- the bonds of family or perceived family.
Clans exist within almost every society in the world. They are the logical extension of the family unit, although some cultures encourage the formation of clans much more readily than others. In societies that have strong family ties and bonds, clans that are made up of extended families form very readily. An excellent example of this is China in the pre-Cultural Revolution era (Effland, 1998).
Until the Cultural Revolution threw the entire nation into chaos and upheaval, it was not uncommon for Chinese families to be housed entirely in one compound. Women married out of their clan into clans with similar values and socio-economic status, but men stayed within the family clan, taking wives and producing children under the family roof (Effland, 1998). China has an incredibly long and well-detailed history of warring clans passing their grievances on from generation to generation. Even Shakespeare wrote about this concept in a different context-- the story of Romeo and Juliet is set against the backdrop of two different clans arguing violently over a generations-old grievance, which eventually causes the death of a number of the younger members of both families.
While the idea of a clan is not an inherently negative one, the problem with clans is that family cannot be chosen. A clan demands that the members adhere to the principle that blood is all-important, so even when a clan member acts badly, irresponsibly, or even unethically, the clan is honor-bound to support that member at the expense of everything else (Effland, 1998). There is no mode for moderation when pride and family ties are held as all-important within a group of people.
Communities, outside of cults and clans, can be very positive experiences for people. The idea of a community is a neutral one, neither positive nor negative in theory; it is the thing that unites the community that will define it as a positive or negative influence on the individual. Communities that isolate their members and create a feeling of “us” versus “them” set their members on a dangerous path towards a lack of critical thinking and a potentially cult-like mentality.
Cults prey on the need that people feel to be included in a group. Often, cult leaders are particularly adept at choosing individuals who are searching fruitlessly for a place to belong; if the leaders provide them with a place to belong, they will very quickly become adherents to whatever the leader says. This does not indicate a lack of intelligence, nor does it indicate that the person is weak-- it merely indicates that they were the victim of a manipulative, often sociopathic, charismatic leader in a particularly vulnerable state. Cult leaders are excellent at psychological manipulation, and the effect that it can have on an individual who is in the right mindset is very far-reaching.
Cults and clans are insular groups, focused on the good of the in-group and maintaining distance from those on the outside, who are seen as less worthy. While clans are not necessarily bad for the individual, they certainly can be. Communities need not be insular and exclusive, however. Some communities are welcoming and inclusive, allowing individuals to enter and leave at will.
For an individual to remain healthy, it is important for him or her to maintain his or her autonomy. This means that a group that he or she belongs to should not control his or her financial, emotional, or vocational choices; while the group may offer input or guidance in these areas, they do not dictate what the individual must do to remain part of the group. This is the most important distinction between a community that is healthy for the individual and one that is unhealthy for the individual.
References
Dittman, M. (2002). Cults of hatred. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.apa.org/monitor/nov02/cults.aspx [Accessed: 10 Mar 2013].
Effland, R. (1998). The Cultural Evolution of Civilizations. [online] Retrieved from: http://web.mesacc.edu/dept/d10/asb/anthro2003/glues/model_complex.html [Accessed: 10 Mar 2013].
Galanter, M. (1999). Cults: Faith, healing, and coercion. New York: Oxford University Press.
Galanter, M., & American Psychiatric Association. (1989). Cults and new religious movements: A report of the American Psychiatric Association. Washington, DC: The Association.
Jenkins, P. (2000). Mystics and messiahs: Cults and new religions in American history. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Rapaport, R. (2003). “Jonestown and City Hall slayings eerily linked in time and memory / Both events continue to haunt city a quarter century later.” San Francisco Sun, [online] November 16th. Retrieved from: http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/Jonestown-and-City-Hall-slayings-eerily-linked-in-2548703.php [Accessed: 10th March 2013].
Turton, D. (2002). War and ethnicity: Global connections and local violence. San Francisco, Calif: Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Social Stress
