by Tara Backes | May 7, 2026 | Blog, Cults: The Basics, In the Media
Dr. Janja Lalich and I talk about cults (we are both cult survivors and cult researchers) and we meander through these topics: Why people join: The main thing that attracts people to cults is their own idealism. Most people are recruited into cults by friends and...
by Tara Backes | Jun 18, 2025 | Cults: The Basics, Essays
Alexandra Stein is a writer and lecturer specializing in the social psychology of cults, totalitarianism, and other dangerous social relationships and their opposites: “small d” democracy, inclusivity, and healthy social networks. In this essay, Alexandra...
by Tara Backes | Jun 18, 2025 | Cults: The Basics, Essays
Keely Griffin and Andrew Pledger write about how sociologist Evan Stark coined the term “coercive control” to describe a broader form of domestic abuse that includes psychological, sexual, and economic manipulation. He argued it’s a gender based...
by Tara Backes | Feb 27, 2024 | Cults: The Basics, Presentations
In case you missed it, here’s the link to the National Writers Series event this past Thursday in Traverse City, Michigan. I was there with Keely Griffin, survivor of the Twin Flames Universe cult (TFU), featured in the Netflix documentary, Escaping Twin...
by Janja Lalich | Jun 17, 2017 | Cults: The Basics, Presentations
Today, there are thousands of cults around the world. Broadly speaking, a cult is a group or movement with a shared commitment to a usually extreme ideology that’s typically embodied in a charismatic leader. But what exactly differentiates cults from other groups –...
by Janja Lalich | Sep 14, 2016 | Cults: The Basics, Essays
Methods Used to Support a Behavioral Control System Isolation of the person and manipulation of his or her environment. Control of information going in and out of the group environment. Separation and/or alienation from family and friends. Induced dissociation and...
