Misunderstanding Cults : : Searching for Objectivity in a Controversial Field / / Thomas Robbins, Benjamin Zablocki.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter UTP eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2015
• TeilnehmendeR: Robbins, Thomas,; Zablocki, Benjamin,
• Place / Publishing House: Toronto : : University of Toronto Press, , [2016]; ©2001
• Year of Publication: 2016
• Language: English
• Series: Heritage
• Physical Description: 1 online resource

Misunderstanding Cults provides a uniquely balanced contribution to what has become a highly polarized area of study. Working towards a moderate "third path" in the heated debate over new religious movements or cults, this collection includes contributions from both scholars who have been characterized as "anticult" and those characterized as "cult-apologists." The study incorporates multiple viewpoints as well as a variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives, with the stated goal of depolarizing the discussion over alternative religious movements. A prominent section within the book focuses explicitly on the issue of scholarly objectivity and the danger of partisanship in the study of cults.The collection also includes contributions on the controversial and much misunderstood topic of brainwashing, as well as discussions of cult violence, children brought up in unconventional religious movements, and the conflicts between alternative religious movements and their critics. Unique in its breadth, this is the first study of new religious movements to address the main points of controversy within the field while attempting to find a middle ground between opposing camps of scholarship.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Caveat -- Introduction: Finding a Middle Ground in a Polarized Scholarly Arena -- PART ONE: HOW OBJECTIVE ARE THE SCHOLARS? -- 1. 'O Truant Muse': Collaborationist!! and Research Integrity / Beit-Hallahmi, Benjamin -- 2. Balance and Fairness in the Study of Alternative Religions / Robbins, Thomas -- 3. Caught Up in the Cult Wars: Confessions of a Canadian Researcher / Palmer, Susan J. -- 4. Pitfalls in the Sociological Study of Cults / Lalich, Janja -- PART TWO: HOW CONSTRAINED ARE THE PARTICIPANTS? -- 5. Towards a Demystified and Disinterested Scientific Theory of Brainwashing / Zablocki, Benjamin -- 6. Tactical Ambiguity and Brainwashing Formulations: Science or Pseudo-Science? / Anthony, Dick -- 7. A Tale of Two Theories: Brainwashing and Conversion as Competing Political Narratives / Bromley, David -- 8. Brainwashing Programs in The Family/ Children of God and Scientology / Kent, Stephen A. -- 9. Raising Lazarus: A Methodological Critique of Stephen Kent's Revival of the Brainwashing Model / Dawson, Lome L. -- 10. Compelling Evidence: A Rejoinder to Lome Dawson's Chapter / Kent, Stephen A. -- PART THREE: HOW CONCERNED SHOULD SOCIETY BE? -- 11. Child-Rearing Issues in Totalist Groups / Siskind, Amy -- 12. Contested Narratives: A Case Study of the Conflict between a New Religious Movement and Its Critics / Rubin, Julius H. -- 13. The Roots of Religious Violence in America / Kaplan, Jeffrey -- Appendix: Further Reading and Web Browsing -- Contributors