AFF News Briefs
December 2001
Contents
AFF 2002 Annual Conference - Orlando, Florida June 14-15, 2002
Interesting Survey of Nontraditional Beliefs
Cult Education and Research News
AFF 2002 Annual Conference
Understanding Cults and New Religious Movements
Perspectives of Researchers, Professionals, Former Members, and Families
Friday & Saturday, June 14-15, 2002
Orlando, Florida (Crowne Plaza Orlando Airport)
Thursday, June 13, 2002 (Pre-Conference Events)
· Workshop for Former Group Members (10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.)
Coordinator: Carol Giambalvo
· Workshop for Families and Friends (10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.)
Coordinator: Livia Bardin, M.S.W.
· Free Workshop for Mental Health Professionals (7:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.)
Coordinator: Rosanne Henry, M.A., L.P.C.; Lorna Goldberg, M.S.W., L.C.S.W.; William Goldberg, M.S.W., L.C.S.W.
· Social – Cash Bar
Friday, June 14, 2002
· Introduction (Herbert Rosedale, Esq.; Michael D. Langone, Ph.D.)
· Brainwashing, Social Psychology, and the Courts (Alan Scheflin, J.D., L.L.M., Coordinator; Edward Frishholz, Ph.D.; Paul Martin, Ph.D.)
· A Conversation with Dr. Margaret Singer (Margaret T. Singer, Ph.D.)
· Anyone Can Be Fooled (Sandy Andron, Ed.D.)
· International Churches of Christ (Carol Giambalvo, Coordinator; Ron Burks, M.A.; David Clark; Kathy Kelly Endres, M.A.)
· Political Groups: Deed and Creed (Rod Marshall, Ph.D., Coordinator; Dennis Tourish, Ph.D.; Discussant: Janja Lalich, Ph.D.)
· The Jim Roberts Group Parents Network (Ronald Loomis, Coordinator; Joseph Szimhart; James Foster; Larry Wilcox)
· Advances in Social Science Research (Miriam Williams Boeri, Doctoral Candidate; Catherine Delhaire, M.A., Ph.D. Student; Marie-Andree Pelland, Ph.D. Student)
· Waldorf Schools: Theory & Practice (Dan Dugan; Sharon Lombard)
· Inside Polygamy (Andrea Moore Emmett)
· Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves (Steven Hassan, M.Ed.)
· Clinical and Diagnostic Issues (Josep Jansa, M.D., Coordinator; Pere Cubero Bros, M.D.; Miguel Perlado Recacha)
· Research in Latin America (Paul Carden, Coordinator; Jorge Erdely, Ph.D.; Cesar Mascarenas, M.D.)
· RETIRN: Lessons from 20 Years of Counseling Against Coercion (Linda Dubrow, Ph.D.; Steve Dubrow-Eichel, Ph.D., A.B.P.P.; Roberta Cobrin Eisenberg, M.S.W., L.C.S.W., BCD)
· Social – Cash Bar
Registration Form
Name(s):
Address:
City:
State:
Zip:
Country:
Phone(s):
Fax:
***E-Mail:
All rates are per person. Registration includes conference fee only. All catered meals are optional. (Less expensive meals are available in the hotel restaurant.) Attendees need to make their own hotel reservations and pay the hotel directly for their rooms and non-conference meals. Ask for the special AFF room rate, which is only guaranteed through May 12, 2002 ($69.00 plus tax per night; 407-856-0100; see back for directions). Enter appropriate amounts for registration fees and optional meals on the right and total at the bottom. (Your contributions will help us give discounts and scholarships to people needing financial assistance.) See discount columns for early registration fees. Don't forget credit card information at the bottom. Fax, mail, or e-mail this form to AFF, P.O. Box 2265, Bonita Springs, FL 34133 (fax: 732-352-6818; e-mail: [email protected]).
If the table below is unreadable, please let us know so we can send you the information in another format. Include your street address and fax number.
No.
People
Item
Register By
28 Feb. 02
Register By
30 Apr. 02
After
30 Apr. 02
Calculate Amount Due
Registration Two-Day (Friday & Saturday)
$140
$170
$200
Registration: pre-conference ex-member workshop (Thursday 10:00 am - 5:00 pm)
$45
$60
$75
Registration: pre-conference family workshop (Thursday 10:00 am - 5:00 pm)
Coping with Cult Involvement: A Handbook for Families and Friends is a required text for the workshop. Attendees may purchase the book at the workshop ($27) or contact AFF about purchasing it in advance.
$55
$70
$85
Registration: pre-conference workshop for mental health professionals (Thursday 7:00 pm – 9:30 pm)
Free
Free
Free
One-Day Registration.
Check Day: Friday [ ] Saturday [ ]
$80
$100
$120
Thursday Lunch
$ 20
Thursday Dinner
$ 35
Friday Lunch
$ 20
Friday Dinner
$ 35
Saturday Lunch
$ 20
Saturday Dinner
$ 35
Contribution
$
Total
$
Payment Method:
Check (U.S. Funds drawn on U.S. bank)
Visa
MasterCard
CC No.
Expiration Date:
Saturday, June 15, 2002
· Church Universal and Triumphant (Joseph Szimhart, Coordinator)
· Harm in New Religious Movements: Perspectives from Sociology, Religious Studies, and Psychology (Jean-Francois Mayer, Ph.D., Coordinator; Eileen Barker, Ph.D.; Arthur Dole, Ph.D., A.B.P.P.; Phillip Lucas, Ph.D.; Benjamin Zablocki, Ph.D.)
· Report from Canada (Mike Kropveld)
· Research on the Jehovah’s Witnesses (Paul Carden, Coordinator; Jerry Bergman, Ph.D.; Herbert Rosedale, Esq., Discussant)
· Kashi (Rosanne Henry, M.A., Coordinator; Harry Brodie, M.D.; Paul Martin, Ph.D.; Discussant: Steve Dubrow-Eichel, Ph.D.)
· Marriage After the Cult (Lorna Goldberg, M.S.W., L.C.S.W.)
· Advances in Psychological Research (Ron Burks, M.A., Ph.D. Candidate; Rod Marshall, Ph.D.; Jonibeth Whitney,Ph.D.; Carmen Almendros, Doctoral Student; Discussant: Paul Martin, Ph.D.)
· Cults and Terrorism: Similarities and Differences (Christopher Centner, M.A.)
· Social – Cash Bar
Coordinators are organizing programs for which all speakers may not have been identified at time of printing. Program schedule subject to change. Please arrive early to pick up your registration materials.
Presenters
Carmen Almendros, Doctoral Student, Departamento de Psicología Biológica y de la Salud, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Sandy Andron, Ed.D., North Miami Beach, Florida
Livia Bardin, M.S.W., Psychotherapist, Clinical Social Worker, Washington, D.C.
Eileen Barker, Ph.D. Professor of Sociology with Special Reference to the Study of Religion, London School of Economics; Founder and Chairman of the Board of Governors, INFORM, London, England
Jerry Bergman, Ph.D., Department of General Studies, Northwest State College, Archbold, Ohio
Miriam Williams Boeri, Doctoral Candidate, Department of Sociology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia
Harry Brodie, M.D., former member of Kashi, Littleton, Colorado
Pere Cubero Bros, M.D., Hospital 12 de Octubre, Madrid, Spain
Ronald Burks, M.A., Ph.D. Candidate, Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center, Albany, Ohio
Paul Carden, Executive Director, Centers for Apologetics Research, San Juan Capistrano, California
Christopher Centner, M.S., Senior Intelligence Analyst, Defense Intelligence Agency
David Clark, Thought Reform Consultant; AFF Video Education Committee Chair, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Catherine Delhaire, M.A., Doctoral Student, Department of Criminology, University of Montreal
Arthur Dole, Ph.D., A.B.P.P., Emeritus Professor, Psychology in Education, University of Pennsylvania
Steve Dubrow-Eichel, Ph.D., ABPP, Psychologist and Co-director of RETIRN, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Linda Dubrow, Ph.D., Psychologist and Co-director of RETIRN, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dan Dugan, Secretary, PLANS, Inc. (People for Legal and Nonsectarian Schools), San Francisco, California
Roberta Cobrin Eisenberg, M.S.W., L.C.S.W., BCD, RETIRN, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Andrea Moore Emmett, Writer and Journalist/Researcher, Salt Lake City, Utah
Kathy Kelly Endres, M.A., ATC/L, Ex-member (ICC), Cult educational consultant, Exercise Physiologist, Pinehurst, NC
Jorge Erdely, Ph.D., Director, Centro de Investigaciones, Instituto Cristiano de Mexico, Mexico City
James Foster, The Roberts Group Parents Network
Edward Frischholz, Ph.D., Psychologist, Rush North Shore Hospital, Chicago, Illinois
Carol Giambalvo, Director of Recovery Programs, AFF; Thought Reform Consultant, Flagler Beach, Florida
Lorna Goldberg, M.S.W., L.C.S.W., Director, Child & Adolescent Program, New Jersey Institute for Training in Psychoanalysis
William Goldberg, M.S.W., L.C.S.W., Director, Community Support Center, Rockland County (NY) Department of Mental Health
Steven Hassan, M.Ed., L.M.H.C., Cult Counselor; Director, Freedom of Mind Resource Center, Inc., Somerville, Massachusetts
Rosanne Henry, L.P.C., Psychotherapist, Littleton, Colorado
Mike Kropveld, Executive Director, Info-Cult, Montreal, Canada
Josep Jansa, M.D., Medical Coordinator, Assessment and Information on Cults, Barcelona, Spain
Janja Lalich, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Sociology, California State University, Chico
Michael Langone, Ph.D., Executive Director, AFF
Sharon Lombard, B.F.A., Miami, Florida
Ronald Loomis, Cult Educational Consultant, New London, Connecticut
Phillip Lucas, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Stetson University, Deland, Florida
Rod Marshall, Ph.D., Acting Dean of Faculty of Applied Social Sciences and Humanities, Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College, Wycombe, England
Paul Martin, Ph.D., Director, Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center, Albany, Ohio
Cesar Mascarenas, M.D., Professor and Researcher, Faculty of Post-Graduate Medicine, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico
Jean-Francois Mayer, Ph.D., Lecturer in Religious Studies, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
Marie-Andree Pelland, Ph.D. Student, Department of Criminology, University of Montreal
Miguel Perlado Recacha, Psychologist, Assessment and Information on Cults, Barcelona, Spain
Herbert L. Rosedale, Esq., President, AFF; Senior Counselor, Gilchrist & Jenkins Parker Chapin, New York City
Alan Scheflin, J.D., L.L.M., Professor of Law, Santa Clara University Law School, Santa Clara, California
Margaret Thaler Singer, Ph.D., Emeritus Adjunct Professor of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley
Joseph Szimhart, Thought Reform Consultant, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dennis Tourish, Ph.D., Department of Management, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland
Jonibeth Whitney, Ph.D., Psychotherapist, Los Angeles, California
Larry Wilcox, Co-Founder of The Roberts Group Parents Network
Benjamin Zablocki, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey
The Facility
The Crowne Plaza Hotel is a premiere luxury hotel located at the Orlando International Airport with free airport courtesy vans and free parking. Hotel features include a beautiful glass enclosed atrium with pool, whirlpool, and exercise rooms, the Bistro 436 Cafe and Terrace Lounge. All rooms have a work station, telephone, and remote control television. The hotel is within easy driving time to Walt Disney World, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and other Orlando attractions. Ask for the special AFF rate of $69 plus tax when you call to make your reservations (407-856-0100); fax: 407-855-7991). The special rate may not be available after May 12th, and other functions may result in a shortage of rooms. So register early! Guests wishing to combine some holiday time with the conference may take advantage of the special room rate 3 nights before and 3 nights after the conference.
Directions: The hotel is located at 5555 Hazeltine National Drive. It is easily visible from Highway 436 (Semoran Boulevard) and Route 528, which runs from Interstate 4 to the Florida Turnpike. Your registration confirmation packet will include detailed driving directions.
Airport Shuttle: To get the free airport shuttle go down one level to the baggage claim. Go to the courtesy phones and push the button for Crowne Plaza Orlando Airport. Tell the guest services representative at the hotel what side of the airport you are at (either A side or B side). The shuttle will pick you up within 15 minutes.
Interesting Survey of Nontraditional Beliefs
The September 2001 issue of Emerging Trends, published by the Princeton Religion Research Center (P.O. Box 389, 47 Hulfish Street, Princeton, NJ 08542 - 609-279-2255 - [email protected]) reports on an interesting survey of non-traditional beliefs in the U.S. The survey is based on telephone interviews with 1000 adults in a national Gallup survey carried out May 10-14.
The survey gave the following instruction: "For each of the following items I am going to read you, please tell me whether it is something you believe in, something you're not sure about, or something you don't believe in. How about.."
The following percentages of respondents indicated belief in:
54% Psychic or spiritual healing or the power of the human mind to heal the body
50% ESP or extrasensory perception
42% That houses can be haunted
41% The people on this earth are sometimes possessed by the devil
38% Ghosts or that spirits of dead people can come back in certain places and situations
36% Telepathy, or communication between minds without using the traditional five senses
33% That extraterrestrial beings have visited Earth at some time in the past
32% Clairvoyance, or the power of the mind to know the past and predict the future
28% That people can hear from or communicate mentally with someone who has died
28% Astrology, or that the position of the stars and planets can affect people's lives
26% Witches
25% Reincarnation, that is, the rebirth of the soul in a new body after death
15% Channeling, or allowing a "spirit-being" to temporarily assume control of a human body during a trance
The percentage of people believing the above items increased from 1990 to 2001 for all items, except for telepathy, which stayed the same. The largest increases were for haunted hauses (+13%), ghosts (+13%), witches (+12%), communication with the dead (+10%).
Cult Education and Research News
Please e-mail AFF at [email protected] with subject line, "Consider for AFF News Briefs," if you would like us to consider your news note(s). We are especially interested in learning about research, new publications, Web sites, and educational programs. Please be brief! Items below are listed more or less in the order in which we received the corresponding communication.
The National Conference of Evangelical Ministries to New Religions will take place February 21-23 in Louisville, Kentucky. Theme: Refining Responses to New and World Religions in the 21st Century. http://www.emnr.org
Arnold Markowitz, CSW, Director of the Cult Hotline & Clinic of the New York Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services, has announced that Dana (pronounced Donna) Wehle is the new Clinical Social Worker at the Cult Hotline and Clinic. She fills the gap created when Rachel Bernstein moved back to California, where she is in private practice.
Frank MacHovec, Associate Professor of psychology at Christopher Newport University in Virginia and author of Cults and Personality has authored a new book entitled Spiritual Intelligence, the Behavioral Sciences and the Humanities that will be published spring 2002. It is based on the theory that there are multiple intelligences and spiritual intelligence (SIQ).
Arnold Markowitz, MSW, Director of the Cult Clinic of the New York Jewish Board of Family and Childrens' Services, gave a talk entitled, "Is Osama bin laden and al Quaida a Cult," to the New York Jewish Community Relations Council on October 10, 2001.
Paul Bonano from Malta reports that the Religious Movements Research Centre gave over 50 talks, contributed newspaper articles, and participated in radio and TV programmes. The organization also organised a seminar with the theme: "Facing the Challenge of the New Religious Movements in Malta" (1999). Members of RMRC attended International conferences in Italy (CESNUR), France (FECRIS) and Israel. RMRC is working on a website. [email protected]
Larry Zilliox, Jr., President of Investigative Research Specialists, has completed the 2nd edition of Investigating Extremist Groups: A Manual and Resource Guide for Law Enforcement. The new book is 118 pages with reference to over one hundred Internet links. The manual is available for $23.00 ppd at the web page www.extremistgroups.com/manual.html. IRS also offers links to purchase the latest books on investigations and extremism through Amazon.com. On our links page investigators will find 116 different resources about cults, extremists and investigations.
Janja Lalich, Ph.D. has a chapter, "Pitfalls in the Sociological Study of Cults," in a new book, entitled Misunderstanding Cults: Searching for Objectivity in a Controversial Field, edited by Benjamin Zablocki and Thomas Robbins. Published by University of Toronto Press. Dr. Lalich presented "Ti and Do's Last Call: The Life Cycle of the Heaven's Gate Group" on a panel entitled "Millennial Movements: Religious and Secular" at the American Sociologial Association, August 2001, in Anaheim, California. She also organized a panel on "The Enigma of Charismatic Authority" at the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, October 2001, Columbus, Ohio.
www.ChildTraumaAcademy.com, to which Dr. Bruce Perry, psychiatrist who worked with the Branch Davidian children, is a major contributor. has many excellent resources on trauma in children. The Academy also offers online courses. Recent courses have included: "The Amazing Human Brain" and "Surviving Childhood: An Introduction to the Impact of Trauma."
Japie Grobler of the Cult Information & Evangelization Center in Edleen, South Africa says that " We will no longer post future issues of our quarterly newsletter, Sentinel, but will forward it per E-mail. It will be in PDF. To open it and print it you will require Acrobat Reader which can be downloaded for free off the Internet at this site. http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html. If you foresee any problems with this arrangement please feel free to contact us. [email protected]
AFF's Cult Observer reports on the death of long-time cult educator, Rose Paull. "Rose Paull, a long-time activist in warning and educating the public about destructive cults, died in late October. Mrs. Paull, who lost a daughter to a cultic group, established in 1990 a unique and successful continuing education project among students and faculty at Miami Dade Community College (MDCC) and Florida International University (FIU). Twice weekly, she drove to the campus space that MDCC assigned her, set up two tables of material next to the library, displayed the neat signs identifying her subjects: "Mind Control," "Exit Counseling," "Recruitment," and the like, arranged the relevant articles and pamphlets, and stood ready to answer queries, from early morning to mid-afternoon. If a passing student seemed interested, Mrs. Paull was ready to chat; but she did not push. Instructors in psychology, law, and English also asked for material from Mrs. Paul, used it in their courses, and assigned student papers on cult-related subjects. Fittingly, Mrs. Paull wrote an article on the education of students for Young People and Cults, a newsletter of the AFF-funded International Cult Education Program. She also contributed, through her literature tables, to the effort to diminish the influence of the Boston Church of Christ, a group then recruiting heavily on Florida campuses. In 1996, at the age of 85, Mrs. Paull, once secretary to the Nobel laureate chemist Linus Pauling, participated in her last public education program. But she continued to lend her moral and financial support to other activists, and to remain in contact with her extended family, until the end." (Cult Observer report)
Nori Muster, author of Betrayal of the Spirit, is currently seeking input from ex-members of abusive groups and has posted a questionnaire at this URL: http://surrealist.org/betrayalofthespirit/survey.html.
Some ex-disciples of Sri Chinmoy have created a site which they think will help others who would like to read testimonials of ex-disciples. The URL is http://www.aboutsrichinmoy.com.
Maxine Pinson , a graduate student at Union Seminary/PSCE in Richmond, VA, wrote a paper, "The Problem of Evil,": "Understanding the Difference Between Spirituality & Religiosity," which can be accessed from a website she hosts addressing Unhealthy Religion vs. Healthy Spirituality: www.the-innside-scoop.com/unhealthy.html . In addition to co-authoring a book , Maxine and her daughter, Malyssa, sponsor an online publishing opportunity for children to express grief. "Memories," established in memory of Maxine's older daughter, is located at www.rememberingcelia.com. Following graduate school, Maxine plans to pursue a full-time writing ministry with an emphasis on hope and encouragement.
Dennis Tourish, Ph.D., Department of Management, University of Aberdeen, reports that he has a paper co-authored with Ashly Pinnington appearing in February in Human Relations. It is entitled "Transformational Leadership, Corporate Cultism and the Spirituality Paradigm: An Unholy Trinity in the Workplace." It is a look at the theory of TL, which is very influential in business training, and its potential to create corporate cults, especially if linked to a desire to inappropriately promote particular models of spirituality. I will also be giving a talk in February on political cults to the Department of Psychology in Glasgow Caledonian University.
The Vatican organized an international meeting on "Healing Prayer and the Charismatic Renewal in the Catholic Church." It was held in Rome from Nov. 10-13. The colloquium was organized and promoted by the Pontifical Council for the Laity in collaboration with International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services (ICCRS), the organization that promotes Charismatic Renewal in the Church and coordinates the activities of the charismatic communities at a worldwide level. The initiative was inspired by the "Instruction on Prayers to Obtain Healing from God" ( http://www.zenit.org/english/archive/documents/CDF_healing.html), published Sept. 14, 2000, by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Mary Kohan, who lectures about cults to Catholic audiences, recently published an article on Catholic Exchange, "The Fundamental Apostasy." http://www.catholicexchange.com/vm/index.asp?vm_id=1&art_id=10530
Leona Furnari, MSW, gave a presentation, with Roseanne Henry and Kim Mooney, entitled: "Cults - What Are They? Do's & Dont's for Therapy." This was presented for INTERFACE, in Boulder, Colorado, which is a group of psychotherapists and clergy who meet once/month and have a presentation and discussion on various relevant topics. She also contributed to a workshop, at the Religious Movements Resource Center' conference last spring on cults, "Growing Up in Cults." The workshop focused on looking at the normal stages of childhood development and how those are impacted in closed, high-demand groups or cults. She is also in the process of writing a paper on this. [email protected]
Dr. Kimiaki Nishida of the University of Shizuoka in Japan presented a paper to the Association for the Sociology of Religion in Annaheim, California August 17-19: "Recent Developments of Anti-cult Movements in Japan." [email protected]; http://nursing.u-shizuoka-ken.ac.jp/~nishidak/
Steve Hassan was interviewed on the power of cults and myths surrounding them for the PBS special series, "Discovering Psychology." http://www.freedomofmind.com/steve/presskit.asp; http://www.learner.org/discoveringpsychology/20/e20expand.html
Pascal Zivi of the Mind Control Research Center in Sapporo, Japan ( [email protected]; http://www2.ocn.ne.jp/~mind123c) tells us that on December 11, 2001 Japan Today reported that Makoto Sugimoto, a cleric of Nishio church in Aichi Prefecture of the United Church of Christ in Japan, a Protestant Christian union, was given a human rights award by the Nagoya Bar Association. (Kyodo News) in honor of his efforts to help cultic group members in Japan.
Steve Hassan appeared on The O'Reilly Factor of Fox News and the Abrams Report of MSNBC on December 21st. He discussed issues of mind control raised by the John Walker case.
AFF (American Family Foundation), P.O. Box 2265, Bonita Springs, FL 34133. [email protected]; www.csj.org; www.cultsandsociety.com
941-514-3081; fax 732-352-6818.