Monica Woodlief
PSY 241-Z90
Mrs. Rouse
24 November 2017
1541 words
Cults and Social Control
During the mid to late twentieth century, there was a significant outbreak of cults
throughout the United States. They are still present in the country today despite their decline in
publicity; common methods of control used by these cults have remained in place over the years.
In order to better understand why cults are so successful in recruiting members, the techniques
used and the leaders themselves must be observed. It is usually perfectly normal citizens who get
pulled into a cult lifestyle, and cults have commonly been a cause for murder and mass suicides.
They can be very dangerous and harmful to society. There is an actual psychological process
used by cult leaders in order to “brainwash” their followers, which has proven to be a successful
process many times in history and is a great cause of concern for the future due to its devastating
consequences. Some of the most “successful” cult leaders were big names, such as Jim Jones,
Charles Manson, and David Koresh.
Although cults have probably always been around, it wasn’t until the later 1900s that
some significant cult activity was seen in the country. November 18, 1978, a man named Jim
Jones presided over a mass suicide of all his followers by forcing them all to drink cyanide-laced
Kool-Aid. Over 900 people died that day in Jonestown, Guyana before Jones himself died from a
possibly self-inflicted gunshot wound. His cult was called the People’s Temple and was founded
in 1956. From an outsider’s view, the People’s Temple was a huge success. They opened up
soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and helped both addicts and foster children. Jones preached
mostly about loyalty and sacrifice and had a socialist point of view. However, on the inside, the
People’s Temple was turning into a cult completely centered on Jones. Members were pledging
over their devotion, their possessions and their money to Jones and some were even giving him
custody of their children. He was able to get these people to trust him and truly see him as a
supreme being. The mass suicide shocked the country and showed how much power a cult leader
really does have. In the past, cult activities were much more extreme and notable. Over time, cult
issues in the country have greatly decreased and a mass death as significant as the Jim Jones
example has not occurred. The decline of cults in the US is likely due to the level of education
we now have thanks to ex-cult members. People who were able to escape cults in the past tend to
become psychologists, therapists, or counselors in order to prevent the past from repeating itself.
Today, more people leave cults on their own and without an outside intervention, unlike in the
past. There is now much more information out there on cults and how they pull in recruits. With
this information being out there, it is assisting in the decline of cult activity. Of course, keeping a
person from being informed is the best form of social control.
Cult leaders gain authority over their followers using four types of control: behavior,
thought, emotion, and information. Behavior control is deciding for a person where they will
live, sleep, eat, or do any other activity. Most cults have a strict schedule for their members that
must be followed at all times of the day. This is a powerful form of control because the member
will eventually subject himself to his own punishments in full belief that he deserves them.
