Preface

Caveat

Introduction: Finding a Middle Ground in a Polarized Scholarly Arena
Benjamin Zablocki and Thomas Robbins

PART ONE: HOW OBJECTIVE ARE THE SCHOLARS?

'O Truant Muse': Collaborationist!! and Research Integrity
Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi

Balance and Fairness in the Study of Alternative Religions
Thomas Robbins

Caught Up in the Cult Wars: Confessions of a Canadian Researcher
Susan ]. Palmer

Pitfalls in the Sociological Study of Cults
Janja Lalich

PART TWO: HOW CONSTRAINED ARE THE PARTICIPANTS?

Towards a Demystified and Disinterested Scientific Theory of Brainwashing
Benjamin Zablocki

Tactical Ambiguity and Brainwashing Formulations: Science or Pseudo Science
Dick Anthony

A Tale of Two Theories: Brainwashing and Conversion as Competing Political Narratives
David Bromley

Brainwashing Programs in The Family/Children of God and Scientology
Stephen A. Kent

Raising Lazarus: A Methodological Critique of Stephen Kent's Revival of the Brainwashing Model
Lome L. Dawson

Compelling Evidence: A Rejoinder to Lome Dawson's Chapter
Stephen A. Kent

PART THREE: HOW CONCERNED SHOULD SOCIETY BE?

Child-Rearing Issues in Totalist Groups
Amy Siskind

Contested Narratives: A Case Shady of the Conflict Between a New Religious Movement and Its Critics
Julius H. Rubin

The Roots of Religious Violence in America
Jeffrey Kaplan

Appendix
Contributors

About the Author

Benjamin Zablocki is a professor in the Sociology Department at Rutgers University.

Thomas Robbins is an independent scholar and lives in Rochester, Minnesota.

Table of Contents

About the Author