Deprogramming: from private self-help to governmental organized repression

Richardson, James T.

doi:10.1007/s10611-011-9286-5

Cited by 14 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…The epitome of coercion in religious exit narratives is found not in accounts about leaving voluntarily but in those about the forcible removal of individuals from religious or spiritual groups. A key arena for considering this has been "deprogramming" (Bromley 1988;Richardson 2011), a cold-war concept deriving from the idea that people could be "brainwashed" or programmed by groups or states deemed dangerous by mainstream society (McCloud 2004). From the 1970s to the 1990s, especially in the US, deprogramming involved kidnapping or other methods of abduction of "brainwashed" sons and daughters from "cults", followed by a process of thoughtreform or re-education.…”

Section: The Social Nature Of Religious Unlearning: Agency and Coercionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can a case be made for “unlearning” in the study of religions?

Knott

2024

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The concept of “unlearning” has been positively endorsed in both self-help literature and organizational research, but has yet to be discussed in the study of religions. Is there room for it in the conceptual space of religious socialization, pedagogy and spiritual seeking? Where does it occur in the spiritual journey, and what is its purpose? From the perspective of social learning, and drawing on a definition and model from organizational studies, the case for “unlearning” is considered with reference to those leaving religion. Addressing research gaps identified by organizational-studies scholars, I consider how leavers experience the process of freeing themselves from previously held beliefs, practices and commitments. What is revealed is an iterative and emotionally fraught process in which even voluntary religious leavers struggle to move on, often feeling powerless, even coerced by others. Whilst there is a broad fit between the basic process model of unlearning and what leavers experience, that is not the full story. Furthermore, questions remain about whether “unlearning” is a necessary or suitable concept, not least because it is rarely used by scholars of religion or practitioners themselves, all of whom prefer other terms.

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Section: The Social Nature Of Religious Unlearning: Agency and Coercionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can a case be made for “unlearning” in the study of religions?

Knott

2024

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“…It is important to note that not all state responses have been grounded in cases of religious violence. In the past two decades, the Chinese government has adopted from Euro-American discourses and legal categorisations of officially sanctioned 'religions' and illegal 'cults' (xie jiao, translated as 'evil cult') to crack down on minority religions including the Falun Gong and the Church of Almighty God (Edelman and Richardson 2005;Irons 2018;Richardson 2011;Yang 2012).…”

Section: State Responses -Aum and The Lawmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aum Shinrikyo and religious terrorism in Japanese collective memory

Ushiyama¹

2022

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Aum Shinrikyō's sarin attack on the Tokyo subway in March 1995 left an indelible mark on Japanese society. This book is the first comprehensive study of the competing memories of Aum Shinrikyō's religious terrorism. Developing a sociological framework for how uneven distributions of power and resources shape commemorative processes, this book explores how the Aum Affair developed as a ‘cultural trauma’ in Japanese collective memory following the Tokyo attack. The book shows how numerous stakeholders, including the state, the mass media, public intellectuals, victims, and perpetrators offered competing narratives about the causes and consequences of Aum's violence. Combining multiple methods including media content analysis, participant observation, and original interviews with victims and ex-members, this book reveals various flashpoints of contention such as the state regulation of religion, ‘brainwashing’ and ‘mind control’ controversies, and the morality of capital punishment. It shows that although cultural trauma construction requires the use of moral binaries such as ‘good vs. evil’ and ‘sacred vs. profane’, the entrenchment of such binary codes in commemorative processes can ultimately hinder social repair and reconciliation.

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“…Ces éléments relevés dans la littérature à propos des NMR (captivité, modalités de contrôle, abus, soumission et obéissance) sont rendus possibles en fonction de ce qui a été nommé « lavage de cerveau » (Richardson, 2011). D'une façon générale, le processus de « brainwashing » peut être opérationnalisé en trois étapes : 1) déstructuration de l'identité ; 2) introduction et identification aux normes et valeurs du NMR ; 3) mort symbolique et renaissance (Zablocki, dans Zablocki et Robbins, 2001, pp.…”

Section: Cadre Théorique Et Analytiqueunclassified

Comparaison des représentations des amish et des mormons fondamentalistes (FLDS) dans deux téléréalités américaines

Legault-Laberge

Vanasse-Pelletier

2021

Canadian Review of Sociology

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This research explores the representations of two minority religions in United States, the Amish and the fundamentalist Mormons (FLDS), in two reality shows produced in 2013: Breaking Amish and Breaking the Faith. To which extent these reality shows contribute to reinforce stereotypes about these minority religions? The hypothesis postulates that there is a convergence in the representations of minority religions in these reality shows which contributes to the reproduction of stereotypes. Based on theories of identity construction and on the study of new religious movements, the analysis shows that the same guiding lines are recurrent in both reality shows.

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Deprogramming: from private self-help to governmental organized repression

Cited by 14 publications

References 11 publications

Can a case be made for “unlearning” in the study of religions?

Can a case be made for “unlearning” in the study of religions?

Aum Shinrikyo and religious terrorism in Japanese collective memory

Comparaison des représentations des amish et des mormons fondamentalistes (FLDS) dans deux téléréalités américaines

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