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In Reply to: Re: Trying to understand posted by CB on September 22, 2006 at 13:47:24:
There is a significant difference in what happened in those experiences compared to the experience of someone in a highly destructive cult where you are isolated. First the description of what was done in the experiment you talked about:
"The experimenter (E) orders the participant (S) to give what the participant believes are painful electric shocks to another participant (A), who is actually an actor. Many participants continued to give shocks despite pleas for mercy from the actor, as long as the experimenter kept on ordering them to do so."
What happened in my experience of being in the family was that I came into something that was presented as a noble cause at a time of chaos and major life change. The cause was not presented as one people would universally be repelled by, but was a seemingly honorable one.
There was a systematic training much more intense about first believing in God and obedience to God, then classes, memorization, sleep deprivation, often food deprivation and poor diet especially in early days, there were "purging sessions" where people felt the need to confess even thoughts that went against the "Lord" by doubting anything or having any thoughts that would be unapproved.
At first those thoughts were not about Berg's gradually introduced deviant doctrines but they were about things quite the opposite which puzzles me today.
Why does a sex addict (Berg was always one behind the scences) teach members that to lust after others is a sin worthy of a purging session reaming while he is already having sex with others and had a history of sex with prostitutes and molesting his own children before the Family even began?
What I see the reason for standing by as things worsened as, is that over time and systematically it was ingrained in me that to not obey or to step out of line meant I was weak, displeasing to God and there could be very dire consequences for that.
What people normally register as a "red flag" would be registered in the family as a weakness, doubt, displeasing God, bad, all negatives.
There was one absolute leader, David Berg, and he made the doctrine. For someone who never believed in God before, and then suddenly after getting saved, believed very sincerely, there were little miracles always being testified to and uncanny things happening that made me believe God was behind it. (Talking about being behind the Family here as it was presented initially and not about what it became.)
Many people question how Patty Hearst or Elizabeth Smart could have turned to their captors and even felt protective of them. In Hearst's case she became one of them and in Smart's case when she later had the opportunity to run away and in fact when she was confronted by police when in town she denied who she was.
Their situations are different in that they were taken by force and were not in the possession of their captors for long.
Still, I believe the Stockholm Syndrome more aptly compares to what happens to cult members as to why they "stand by" and don't do anything.
They believe their revulsion is them being bad unless something so bad happens it causes a melt down. Or a series of things happen that can't be tolerated and processed anymore.
That is what happened to me. I got out when I could not go further with what was happening and what I saw coming.
There are many studies specific to cults and what happens to people in them. One book that helped me early on was "Combatting Cult Mind Control" by Steven Hassan.
He is a professional who was in a cult for years (the Moonies) and he wrote based on his experience and the experience of studying cults in general. There are a few paragraphs particular to the Family (COG) as well.
