Product Description

Cults today are bigger than ever, with broad ramifications for national and international terrorism. In this newly revised edition of her definitive work on cults, Singer reveals what cults really are and how they work, focusing specifically on the coercive persuasion techniques of charismatic leaders seeking money and power. The book contains fascinating updates on Heaven′s Gate, Falun Gong, Aum Shinrikyo, Hare Krishna, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, and the connection between cults and terrorism in Al Queda and the PLO.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #74347 in Books
• Published on: 2003-04-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

From the Inside Flap
Most people believe that cult members are mentally unbalanced or are misfits who live in remote places, like the doomed devotees of Jim Jones and David Koresh. We take comfort in the fact that the influences of cults are far removed from our everyday lives.Nothing could be further from the truth.Over the past two decades, in the United States alone, an estimated twenty million people have joined cults. Today, three to five thousand cults are working to recruit new members. At any point in time, two–and–a–half to three million Americans are active cult members. Often a cult is disguised as a legitimate business or organization: a restaurant, self–help group, psychotherapy clinic, or leadership training program could be a front for a cult. Anyone––no matter what age or income level––could be susceptible to the covert and seductive nature of a cult. People are especially vulnerable to these masterful manipulators during periods of traumatic life changes: a college student away from home for the first time, a grief–stricken widow in need of understanding and support, or a businessperson transferred by his or her employer to a new and unfamiliar community.The country′s leading authority on cults, Margaret Thaler Singer, calls on her nearly fifty years of expertise to write the definitive book on cults. Written with author and former cult member Janja Lalich, Singer′s first book is a shocking exposea that reveals what cults are and how they work. Cults in Our Midst offers vital information on how to help people escape cult entrapments and recover from the experience. This compelling book debunks commonly held myths and answers perplexing questions about cults such as:∗∗ Why don′t people just leave cults?∗∗ What characteristics do cults have in common?∗∗ Why isn′t the U.S. Marines or Alcoholics Anonymous considered a cult?∗∗ Who are the people most likely to join cults?∗∗ Where can I go for help if someone I love is living in a cult?∗∗ What actions can w

From the Back Cover
Cults today are bigger than ever, with broad ramifications for national and international terrorism. In this newly revised edition of her definitive work on cults, Singer reveals what cults really are and how they work, focusing specifically on the coercive persuasion techniques of charismatic leaders seeking money and power. The book contains fascinating updates on Heaven′s Gate, Falun Gong, Aum Shinrikyo, Hare Krishna, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, and the connection between cults and terrorism in Al Queda and the PLO.

"What makes Cults in Our Midst so absorbing is Singer′s ability to show the extremely damaging effect of cults as well as the lure that cults may have for the ′average′ people in ′normal′ life. Cults often emerge cyclically— but they never disappear. A ′good′ time for cults is the end of the millennium, when people become obsessed with apocalyptic notions . . . [but] they never really disappear."
— San Francisco Chronicle

"The definitive A to Z work on cults. . . . It would have been a tremendous resource and comfort to me and my family through our ordeals."
— Patricia Ryan, daughter of Congressman Leo Ryan, who was assassinated by members of Jim Jones′s Peoples Temple

About the Author
Margaret Thaler Singer is a clinical psychologist and emeritus adjunct professor at the University of California, Berkeley. In her career she has counseled and interviewed more than 3,000 current and former cult members and their relatives and friends. An expert on post–traumatic stress as well as cults, she lectures widely in the United States and abroad. She is the coauthor of "Crazy" Therapies.

Customer Reviews

Without substance
At the beginning of the text the writer makes a confession. She has edited out virtually all the references to actual cults or cult leader in order to avoid lawsuits. While I sympathise with her fear, the result is a book without substance - it is a bit like writing a history of WW2 without reference to leaders or countries.

"Cults in Our Midst" gives the details!
"Cults in Our Midst" tells in detail how cults recruit members, manipulate current members, and strong-arm those who want to leave into staying. Cult tactics and practices are revealed. A very informative and fascinating study.

Important book
As someone affected by the cult problem, I can say that Singer's book is accurate and necessary for anyone affected by cults, or who wants to learn to protect themselves from cults.