Dilemmas in the evaluation and management of religious cultists.
Religious cultism defies easy generalizations. Motivating forces behind cult membership range from brainwashing-like processes to fulfillment of severe predisposing psychopathological needs; they operate to varying degrees in different individuals. Thus, the formulation of a rational and consistent therapeutic strategy may be difficult, particularly for the clinician inexperienced in this area. Treatment may be further complicated by parental pressures to adopt a deprogramming therapy model, which risks the clinician's independence, objectivity, and effectiveness. Two contrasting case histories highlight these and other evaluation and treatment dilemmas.
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D011570:Psychiatry; D012067:Religion