Dr Janja Lalich: "What Can We Learn From The Children of Cults?", a presentation following extensive research into the experience of the "Adult Children of Cult Members".
Plenty of resonances here with the experiences of "Adult Children of Brahma Kumari Members [Cultic Group]", children born into the cult who did not join it by choice, but rather were forced into it by their mother's or parent's adherence.
See also; Born or Raised in Cultic Groups or Relationships.
For those of us who have been on the outside of the BKs for many years ... sadly ... what the reseacher reports is not new, but it is handled in an academic manner not done before. Rather than repeat the darker elements of her talk, what she did find was that in almost all cases, what surprised the children was how "nice" people who were not in the cult were ... having been subjected to intense indoctrination about how "evil" they were.
Likewise, in all but one case, the interviewees said, they would
She also reports that the most common sources of help were from ex-member websites, not just of their own cult's but other cults in general; and in most cases, this helped them to recovery.
This is a good reminder and underlines the importance of what we do here.
I found some of the interviews she quotes very touching. A real "been there, done that".
Plenty of resonances here with the experiences of "Adult Children of Brahma Kumari Members [Cultic Group]", children born into the cult who did not join it by choice, but rather were forced into it by their mother's or parent's adherence.
See also; Born or Raised in Cultic Groups or Relationships.
For those of us who have been on the outside of the BKs for many years ... sadly ... what the reseacher reports is not new, but it is handled in an academic manner not done before. Rather than repeat the darker elements of her talk, what she did find was that in almost all cases, what surprised the children was how "nice" people who were not in the cult were ... having been subjected to intense indoctrination about how "evil" they were.
Likewise, in all but one case, the interviewees said, they would
"They would never go back ... not even in their darkest moments.
The most painful moments outside, were better than their time in the cult"
She also reports that the most common sources of help were from ex-member websites, not just of their own cult's but other cults in general; and in most cases, this helped them to recovery.
This is a good reminder and underlines the importance of what we do here.
I found some of the interviews she quotes very touching. A real "been there, done that".