1. First reason is there is a pervasive lack of awareness about cults and mind control. In talk shows an interviewer will ask a cult member, " Are you brainwashed ? " And of course they will answer , " No ". What the host fails to realize is that the mind controlled member will not know that he has surrendered copntrol until he is able to step away from the group and learn about cult recruitment and indoctrination. "
Prior to my becoming involved with JW's, my imaginings of cults was that they were these shadowy groups with strange rituals and secret compounds who kidnapped prospective members and held them captive over a period of weeks or months, during which time torture and isolation would be used to break the recruit down psychologically, and then the recruit would be built back up according to the ways of the cult. I had no idea that mind control could be far more subtle than that.
2. " Second, many situations make people more vulnerable to recruitment. A person whose parents have recently separated or divorced will be more likely to listen to a recruiter who describes his group as " one big happy family . " Someone whose romantic relationship or marriage has just ended will be more susceptible to come-ons by an attractive person. Other common variables include : death of a loved one, illness, loss of a job, graduation ( from high school or college ) , and moving to a new location. Situational vulnerabilities occur in everyone's life. It is easy to see how people tend to be more vulnerable to an attractive recruiteroffering community, love and meaning during such episodes. "
Two of the above were true - broken family, and high school graduation. A lot of kids experience the divorce of their parents, but with mine the dynamic of it was pretty extreme as my mom (who got custody of me) really flipped out over it for a number of years. It was a very bad, very dysfunctional scene.
3. " Thirdly , some individuals have psychological profiles that make recruitment easier for cults. People pleasers, who seek the approval of their peer group out of insecurity, and anyone with low self esteem, will be more vulnerable to the peer pressure exerted by cult recruiters. Individuals with learning disorders, drug or alcohol problems, unresolved sexual issues ( sexual identity orientation or, possibly, past rape or molestation trauma ) ,pre-existing phobias, and other unresolved traumatic issues will also be easier targets. Cults seek out such vulnerabilities and use them against recruits , often making grandiose claims that their group will solve all of the person's problems .
Hmmm...definitely approval seeking and insecure...i don't know if i have any learning disorders, although I've occasionally wondered if I might be somewhere on the very high-functioning end of the autism spectrum as I have quite a bit of that sort of thing in my family and I've had many embarrassing blunders that I attribute in part to a lack of social awareness. I smoked a lot of wiid back in the day too, and again this isn't something that affects everybody the same way, but I would probably have been better off if i had never put a joint to my lips, lol.
