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exFamily.org > chatboards > genX > archives > post #15627

Do you think this applies accurately to The Family?

Posted by galston on September 28, 2004 at 17:53:41

Over time on this board I have read several posts with suggestions/pleas for change to those remaining in The Family, especially expressing hope that the remaining 2nd Generation can cause progress. The following is an excerpt from "The Cult Survivors Handbook: How to Live in the Material World Again," by Nori J. Muster(found on http://www.surrealist.org/norimuster/handbook4.html). I would like to hear what you think:

"The Addictive Organization, by Anne Wilson Schaef and Diane Fassel, explains that people who have addictive personalities may become addicted to undesirable organizations because they like the adrenaline rush from the group's drama. Thus, the organization becomes the addictive substance. Another concept Schaef and Fassel propose is that the organization takes on a life of its own, exhibiting the characteristics of an addict: it acts dishonestly, operating solely out of self-interest, and treats people with an uncaring and abusive attitude. Once the negative behaviors are institutionalized, they dictate the organization's behavior, even if there is a complete turnover of individuals."

Do you think the above explains what some of us sense when we are skeptical about The Family's hope to become an organization that is not "operating solely out of self-interest, and treats people with an uncaring and abusive attitude"?