© 2013 by Pearson Higher Education, IncUpper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved
Crisis InterventionWilliam Harmening
Roosevelt University
Harmening, Crisis Intervention: The Criminal Justice Response to Chaos, Mayhem, and Disaster
Chapter 11THE CULT MIND-SET AND THE DOOMSDAY CRISIS
© 2013 by Pearson Higher Education, IncUpper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved
11.1
11.2
To explain the nature and structure of a cult.
To list and describe the various cult typologies.
11.3 To summarize the profiles of the various types of cult members.
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
11.4 To describe the dangers posed by cults, and the best practices for police intervention.
To explain the nature and structure of a cult.
Learning ObjectivesAfter this lecture, you should be able to complete the following Learning Outcomes
11.1
11.1 The Cult
The Nature and Structure of a Cult
What is a cult? A group of people who abandon their involvement in the dominant culture, and instead affiliate as a subcultural group holding a common belief system and a separatist worldview.
In most cases the cult will demonstrate a persecution mentality, and hold to the belief that secrecy and isolation are necessary in order to prevent the dominant culture from taking their children, seizing their assets, and arresting their leaders.
To list and describe the various cult typologies.
Learning ObjectivesAfter this lecture, you should be able to complete the following Learning Outcomes
11.2
11.2 Cult Typologies
Types of Cults
Violent Apocalyptic
•Biblical•Quasi-Biblical•Secular
Characteristics of Apocalyptic Cults
•Apocalyptic beliefs•Dualism•The persecuted chosen•Imminence•Determinism•Salvation through conflict/ enemy
eradication
EX: Aum Shrinrikyo (Shoko Asahara)
11.2 Cult Typologies
Types of Cults
Passive Apocalyptic
•Biblical•Quasi-Biblical•Secular
Characteristics of Apocalyptic Cults
•Apocalyptic beliefs•Dualism•The persecuted chosen•Imminence•Determinism•Salvation through conflict/ enemy
eradication
EX: Heaven’s Gate (Marshall Applewhite)
11.2 Cult Typologies
Types of Cults
Social Isolationist
•Polygamist groups•New Age Groups•Wiccan/ Witchcraft/ Satanic groups•Groups espousing adult-child sexual
interaction•Alternative religious groups
Motivated by their desire to live an isolated existence free of outside influence. They avoid contact with mainstream society to protect their lifestyle and beliefs.
EX: The People’s Temple (Jim Jones)
11.2 Cult Typologies
Types of Cults
New World Order Cults
•Cultural•Environmental•Geopolitical•Fantasy
These groups wish to re-order society in a particular way that is more consistent with their beliefs. They may engage in violence to bring about their desired change.
EX: The Manson Family (Charles Manson)
11.2 Cult Typologies
Types of Cults
Cult Typologies
Violent Apocalyptic
Passive Apocalyptic
New World Order
Social-Isolationist
Biblical Quasi-BiblicalSecular
CulturalEnvironmentalGeopoliticalFantasy
PolygamistNew Age
Wiccan/ Witchcraft/ SatanicAdult-child sexual interactions
Alternative religious
To summarize the profiles of the various types of cult members
Learning ObjectivesAfter this lecture, you should be able to complete the following Learning Outcomes
11.3
11.3 Cult Personalities
Structure of Cult Membership
Cult Leader
Ideologue Follower
Pragmatist Follower
Disordered Follower
ENFO
RCER
ENFO
RCER
ENFORCER
11.3 Cult Personalities
Structure of Cult Membership
Cult Leader
Ideologue Follower
Pragmatist Follower
Disordered Follower
ENFO
RCER
ENFO
RCER
ENFORCER
Cult Leader
Typically the person who establishes the group, recruits initial members, and develops the cult’s ideology.
• Charming• Manipulative• Most have juvenile record• Sexually promiscuous• Antisocial/ lack of empathy• Pathological liars
11.3 Cult Personalities
Structure of Cult Membership
Cult Leader
Ideologue Follower
Pragmatist Follower
Disordered Follower
EN
FO
RCER
EN
FO
RCER
ENFORCER
The Enforcer
Trusted by the leader to carry out their orders and provide protection. Loyal to the leader, but may not always believe their ideology.
Enforcers increase the power of the Leader. They instill paranoia and an uneasy obedience within the group.
• Antisocial personality• usually a history of violence• History of risk-taking behaviors• Lack of education• History of employment
11.3 Cult Personalities
Structure of Cult Membership
Cult Leader
Ideologue Follower
Pragmatist Follower
Disordered Follower
ENFO
RCER
ENFO
RCER
ENFORCER
The Ideologue Follower
Joins the cult because they truly believe in the message being proffered by the group’s leader. May be the first to leave when the leader begins to deviate from the original message.
11.3 Cult Personalities
Structure of Cult Membership
Cult Leader
Ideologue Follower
Pragmatist Follower
Disordered Follower
ENFO
RCER
ENFO
RCER
ENFORCER
The Pragmatist Follower
These members are attracted to the group less by the message and more by the lifestyle. Typically people who have been disenfranchised by the dominant society or have experienced some major problem that left them unable to live on their own and provide for their own sustenance.
11.3 Cult Personalities
Structure of Cult Membership
Cult Leader
Ideologue Follower
Pragmatist Follower
Disordered Follower
ENFO
RCER
ENFO
RCER
ENFORCER
The Disordered Follower
These members tend to be emotionally unstable, and may even suffer from any number of psychological disorders. They may have little interest in the group’s ideology, or it may reinforce and strengthen their own delusional thought processes.
To describe the dangers posed by cults, and the best practices for police intervention.
Learning ObjectivesAfter this lecture, you should be able to complete the following Learning Outcomes
11.4
19
11.4 The Cult Threat
Warning Signs
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service Report (1999) lists the following warning signs that a cult may be preparing for violence against its own members or others.
• Intensification of illegal activities• Humiliating circumstances• Relocation to a rural area• Increasingly violent rhetoric• Struggle for leadership
20
11.4 The Cult Threat
Warning Signs
When a cult leader’s prophecy fails, there is a disconfirmed expectancy in the minds of the cult’s members (Festinger, 1956). This leads to cognitive dissonance. On one hand they believe in their leader, but on the other they see that the prophecy failed.
The danger lies in the leader’s efforts to eliminate the dissonance by blaming the failure on an outside source, such as the police, or even certain of their own members.
This tends to actually strengthen the members’ loyalty to the leader, and may compel them to engage in violent actions.
21
11.4 The Cult Threat
The Police Response
The police must recognize the Constitutional rights of cult members to assemble and exercise free speech. Their duty is to protect people from harm, including the cult members themselves.
In gathering intelligence on a cult, the police should attempt to ascertain the following:
• Type of cult• Guiding doctrines• Trigger event (a major event anticipated by the cult that may trigger violence)
• Identity of group’s leadership• Source of group’s funding• The group’s membership• Weapons acquisition• Immediate concerns (allegations of child abuse or neglect, forced detention)
22
11.4 The Cult Threat
The Police Response
The police must avoid any action that could unleash a spiral of amplification, or a confirmation of the group’s apocalyptic beliefs that could potentially lead to unnecessary violence on the part of the cult members.
We witnessed this at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, TX in 1993, when the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms executed what was arguably an unnecessary raid that resulted in the deaths of 4 law enforcement officers and nearly 80 members of the group, including children.
23
11.4 The Cult Threat
The Police Response
Following the disaster at Waco, federal guidelines were established by the USDOJ requiring that the following elements be present in any federal law enforcement response to a cult suspected of illegal activity:
• A well-equipped and highly skilled tactical team
• Trained and experienced negotiators
• Behavioral science experts
• A command structure
© 2013 by Pearson Higher Education, IncUpper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved
A cult is a group of people who abandon their involvement in the dominant culture, and instead affiliate as a subcultural group holding a common
belief system and a separatist worldview. They typically live communally.
Cults come in many forms, but can be classified generally as violent apocalyptic, passive apocalyptic,
new world order, or social-isolationist. The type of cult it is provides an idea of its potential for violence.
Most cults are led by a charismatic leader who surrounds himself with enforcers. The cult members
have different motivations for joining the group. They can be classified as ideologue, pragmatist, and
disordered followers.
The police are constrained in their response to cults by the U.S. Constitution. Their primary mission is to
protect people, including the cult members, from harm.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
11.1
11.2
11.3
11.4
© 2013 by Pearson Higher Education, IncUpper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Reflect on someone you know who you think might be attracted to affiliate with a cult under the right circumstances. What are the characteristics of that person’s personality that led you to believe this?
2. Do some basic internet research on the siege at Waco, Texas, of the Branch Davidian compound in 1993. Discuss the initial police response, and whether you feel it was appropriate given the information and intelligence that was available to them at the time.
3. Discuss the “spiral of amplification,” and some ways in which the police response could potentially trigger and intensify this dangerous circumstance.