Research on former members of cults, also known as new religious movements, often focuses on psychological issues. Little has been written about the everyday lives of former members, and rarely has gender been placed at the center of analyses. Based on participant observation at ex-cult reunions and in-depth interviews, this analytical ethnography examines the everyday lives of women who are former members of a religious cult. Their experiences and concerns are analyzed with a focus on four qualitative themes: identity, roles, interactions, and contexts. The salient issues that emerge are alienation, depression, spiritual confusion, changing wife and mother roles, limited friendships, sexual abuse, lack of education and work history, and health concerns. The minority status of cult survivor is proposed as a core concept, and the implications of this study for intervention and future research are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aidala, A.1985. Social change, gender roles, and new religious movements. Sociological Analysis46:287-314.
2.
Allen, C.1998. Brainwashed! Scholars of cults accuse each other of bad faith. Lingua Franca8 (9): 26-34.
3.
Anthony, D.
, and T. Robbins. 1982. Deprogramming, brainwashing and the medicalization of deviant religious groups. Social Problems29:283-297.
4.
Anthony, Dick
, Thomas Robbins, and Jim McCarthy. 1980. Legitimating repression. Society17 (3): 39-42.
5.
Bainbridge, W. S.1997. The sociology of religious movements. New York: Routledge.
6.
Balch, R.1996. Sex, slander, and salvation: Investigating The Family/Children of God. Book review. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion35:72.
7.
Berg, B. L.1998. Qualitative research methods for the social sciences. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
8.
Berg, D.
[1973] 1976. One wife. Mo Letter No. 249. In The Mo letters, vol. 2, 1911-1915. Hong Kong: Children of God.
9.
Berg, D.
[1974a] 1976. Flirty little fishy. Mo Letter No. 293. In The Mo letters, vol. 2, 2340-2347. Hong Kong: Children of God.
10.
Berg, D.
[1974b] 1976. The law of love. Mo Letter No. 302C. In The Mo letters, vol. 3, 2413-2415. Hong Kong: Children of God.
11.
Berg, D.1982. The 7 F's of FFing! Mo Letter No. 1083. In The Mo letters, vols. 9 and 10, 8520-8539. Hong Kong: Children of God.
12.
Berger, P.
, and T. Luckmann. 1966. The social construction of reality: A treatise in the sociology of knowledge. New York: Doubleday.
Chancellor, J. D.2000. Life in the family: An oral history of the Children of God. Syracuse, NY: University Press.
15.
Charmaz, K.1983. The grounded theory method: An explication and interpretation. In Contemporary field research: A collection of readings, edited by R. N. Emerson, 109-126. Boston: Little, Brown.
16.
Conway, F.
, and J. Siegelman. 1982. Information disease: Have cults created a new mental illness?Science Digest90 (January): 86-92.
17.
Cooley, C. H.
[1902] 1956. Human nature and the social order. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
18.
Delgrado, Richard
. 1980. Limits to proselytizing. Society17 (3): 25-33.
19.
D'Emilio, J.
, and E. Freedman. 1997. Intimate matters: A history of sexuality in America. 2d ed.Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
20.
Dobash, R. E.
, and R. Dobash. 1983. The context specific approach. In The dark side of families, edited by D. Finklehor, R. J. Gelles, G. T. Hotaling, and M. A. Strauss, 261-276. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
21.
Dworkin, A.1983. Right-wing women. New York: Coward-McCann.
22.
Ebaugh, H.R.F.1998. Becoming an ex: The process of role exit. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
23.
Elshtain, J. B.1997. The hard questions: Heaven can wait. The New Republic216 (18): 23.
24.
The Family
. 1996. Women in the family. Zurich, Switzerland: The Family.
25.
Fontana, A.
, and J. H. Frey. 1998. Interviewing: The art of science. In Collecting and interpreting qualitative material, edited by N. Denzin and Y. Lincoln, 47-78. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
26.
Gagné, P. L.1992. Appalachian women: Violence and social control. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography20:387-415.
27.
Gerth, H. H.
, and C. W. Mills. [1946] 1969. From Max Weber: Essays in sociology. New York: Oxford University Press.
28.
Goffman, E.1959. Presentation of self in everyday life. Garden City, NY: Anchor.
29.
Goffman, E.1961. Asylums: Essays on the social situation of mental patients and other inmates. Chicago: Aldine.
30.
Hargrove, Barbara
. 1980. Evil eyes and religious choices. Society17 (3): 20-24.
31.
Hochschild, A.1989. The second shift. London: Viking.
32.
Jacobs, J.1991. Gender and power in new religious movements: A feminist discourse on the scientific study of religion. Religion21:345-356.
33.
Kanter, R. M.1972. Commitment and community: Communes and utopias in sociological perspective. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
34.
Kent, S. A.1993. Radical rhetoric and mystical religion in America's late Vietnam war era. Religion23:45-60.
35.
Kent, S. A.1994a. Lustful prophet: A psychosexual historical study of the Children of God's leader, David Berg. Cultic Studies Journal11:135-188.
36.
Kent, S. A.1994b. Misattribution and social control in the Children of God. Journal of Religion and Health33:29-43.
37.
Kent, S. A.
, and D. Hall.2000. Brainwashing and re-indoctrination programs in the Children of God/The Family. Cultic Studies Journal17:1-23.
38.
Kim, B.1979. Deprogramming and subjective reality. Sociological Analysis40 (26): 197-208.
39.
Lalich, J.1996. Dominance and submission: The psychosexual exploitation of women in cults. Women & Therapy19:37-52.
40.
Lalich, J.2001. Pitfalls in the sociological study of cults. In Misunderstanding cults: Searching for objectivity in a controversial field, edited by B. Zablocki and T. Robbins, 123-155. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press.
41.
LaRossa, R.
, and D. Reitzes. 1993. Symbolic interactionism and family studies. In Sourcebook of family theories and methods: A contextual approach, edited by P. G. Boss, W. J. Doherty, R. LaRossa, W. R. Schumm, and S. K. Steinmetz, 135-163. New York: Plenum.
42.
Laskas, J. M.1994. Never say die. Cultic Studies Journal11:37-55.
43.
Levine, E. M.1980. Deprogramming without tears. Society17 (3): 34-38.
44.
Lewis, J. R.1987. The cult withdrawal syndrome: A case of misattribution of cause?Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion26:508-522.
45.
Lewis, J. R.1989. Apostates and the legitimization of repression: Some historical and empirical perspectives on the cult controversy. Sociological Analysis49:386-396.
46.
Lewis, J. R.
, and J. G. Melton, eds. 1994. Sex, slander, and salvation: Investigating The Family/Children of God. Stanford, CA: Center for Academic Publication.
47.
Lofland, J.1977. Doomsday cult: A study of conversion, proselytization, and maintenance of faith. New York: Halsted.
48.
Lofland, J.1995. Analytic ethnography: Features, failings, and futures. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography24:30-67.
49.
Lofland, J.
, and L. H. Lofland. 1995. Analyzing social settings: A guide to qualitative observation and analysis. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
50.
Mead, G. H.
[1936] 1964. Self. In On social psychology: Selected papers, edited by A. Strauss, 199-248. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
51.
Mills, C. W.
[1959] 2000. The sociological imagination. New York: Oxford University Press.
52.
Parks, R. E.
[1926] 1950. Race and culture. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
53.
Pritchett, W. D.1985. The Children of God—Family of love: An annotated bibliography. New York: Garland.
54.
Prus, R.1996. Symbolic interaction and ethnographic research: Intersubjectivity and the study of human lived experience. Albany: State University of New York Press.
55.
Richardson, James T.1980. Conversion careers. Society17 (3): 47-50.
56.
Roberts, K. A.1990. Religion in sociological perspective. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
57.
Rosenberg, M.1979. Conceiving the self. New York: Basic Books.
58.
Saliba, J. A.1995. Understanding new religious movements. Grand Rapid, MI: Eerdmans.
59.
Schwartz, P.
, and V. Rutter. 1998. The gender of sexuality. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.
60.
Shupe, A.
, and D. Bromley. 1980. The vigilantes. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
61.
Shupe, Anson D., Jr.
, Roger Spielmann, and Sam Stigall. 1980. Cults of anti-cultism. Society17 (3): 43-46.
62.
Singer, M. T.1979. Coming out of cults. Psychology Today8 (December): 72-82.
63.
Sleutel, M. R.1998. Women's experience of abuse: A review of qualitative research. Issues in Mental Health Nursing19:525-539.
64.
Smith, D. E.1989. Sociological theory: Methods of writing patriarchy. In Feminism and social theory, vol. 4: Key issues in sociological theory, edited by R. Wallace, 34-63. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
65.
Strauss, A.
, and J. Corbin. 2000. Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. 2d ed.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Van Zandt, D. E.1991. Living in the Children of God. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
68.
Wagnerin, R. E.1984. Women in the Children of God: Revolutionary women or mountain maids? In Women in search of utopia: Mavericks and mythmakers, edited by R. Rohrlich and E. Hoffman, 130-139. Baruch, NY: Schocken Books.
69.
Walker, L. E.1989. Spousal abuse: A basic profile. In Abuse and religion, edited by A. Horton and J. Williamson, 13-20. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
70.
Wallis, R.1976. Observations on the Children of God. Sociological Review24:807-829.
71.
Wallis, R.1978. Fishing for men. Humanist38:14-16.
72.
Ward
, The Right Honourable Lord Justice Alan. 1995. W 42 in the High Court of Justice. Family Division. Principal registry in the matter of ST (a minor) and in the matter of the supreme court act19 October1991, 1-295.
73.
Williams, M.1998. Heaven's harlots: My fifteen years as a sacred prostitute in the Children of God cult. New York: William Morrow.
74.
Wright, S. A.1984. Post involvement attitudes of voluntary defectors from controversial new religious movements. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion23:172-182.
75.
Wright, S. A.1991. Reconceptualizing cult coercion and withdrawal: A comparative analysis of divorce and apostasy. Social Forces70:125-145.
76.
Wright, S. A.1997. Why Waco? Cults and the battle for religious freedom in America. Cross Currents47:128-129. Available from www.thefamily.org
77.
Zablocki, B.1997. The blacklisting of a concept: The strange history of the brainwashing conjecture in the sociology of religion. Nova Religio1:96-121.
