Misunderstanding Cults

Searching for Objectivity in a Controversial Field

Edited by Benjamin Zablocki & Thomas Robbins
Categories: Religious Studies, Social Sciences, Sociology
Series: Heritage
Publisher: University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division
Paperback : 9780802081889, 538 pages, December 2001
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Table of contents

Preface

Caveat

Introduction: Finding a Middle Ground in a Polarized Scholarly Arena
Benjamin Zablocki and Thomas Robbins

PART ONE: HOW OBJECTIVE ARE THE SCHOLARS?

  1. 'O Truant Muse': Collaborationist!! and Research Integrity
    Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi
  2. Balance and Fairness in the Study of Alternative Religions
    Thomas Robbins
  3. Caught Up in the Cult Wars: Confessions of a Canadian Researcher
    Susan ]. Palmer
  4. Pitfalls in the Sociological Study of Cults
    Janja Lalich

PART TWO: HOW CONSTRAINED ARE THE PARTICIPANTS?

  1. Towards a Demystified and Disinterested Scientific Theory of Brainwashing
    Benjamin Zablocki
  2. Tactical Ambiguity and Brainwashing Formulations: Science or Pseudo Science
    Dick Anthony
  3. A Tale of Two Theories: Brainwashing and Conversion as Competing Political Narratives
    David Bromley
  4. Brainwashing Programs in The Family/Children of God and Scientology
    Stephen A. Kent
  5. Raising Lazarus: A Methodological Critique of Stephen Kent's Revival of the Brainwashing Model
    Lome L. Dawson
  6. Compelling Evidence: A Rejoinder to Lome Dawson's Chapter
    Stephen A. Kent

PART THREE: HOW CONCERNED SHOULD SOCIETY BE?

  1. Child-Rearing Issues in Totalist Groups
    Amy Siskind
  2. Contested Narratives: A Case Shady of the Conflict Between a New Religious Movement and Its Critics
    Julius H. Rubin
  3. The Roots of Religious Violence in America
    Jeffrey Kaplan

Appendix
Contributors

Description

Misunderstanding Cults provides a uniquely balanced contribution to what has become a highly polarized area of study. Working towards a moderate "third path" in the heated debate over new religious movements or cults, this collection includes contributions from both scholars who have been characterized as "anticult" and those characterized as "cult-apologists." The study incorporates multiple viewpoints as well as a variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives, with the stated goal of depolarizing the discussion over alternative religious movements. A prominent section within the book focuses explicitly on the issue of scholarly objectivity and the danger of partisanship in the study of cults.

The collection also includes contributions on the controversial and much misunderstood topic of brainwashing, as well as discussions of cult violence, children brought up in unconventional religious movements, and the conflicts between alternative religious movements and their critics. Unique in its breadth, this is the first study of new religious movements to address the main points of controversy within the field while attempting to find a middle ground between opposing camps of scholarship.