Narcissistic And Cult Leaders Essay

Cults can be evil and mind controlling. They can also be extremely dangerous. According to Rick Ross, an expert consultant and intervention specialist, “there are several signs of a potentially unsafe group or leader.” These signs include: “absolute authoritarianism without meaningful accountability; there is no legitimate reason to leave, former followers are always wrong in leaving, negative or even evil; followers can never be good enough; and the group or leader is the exclusive means of knowing the truth or receiving validation, no other process or discovery is really acceptable or credible.” Cult leaders use mind control to control their group. This could be dangerous or life threatening. Leaders are

Cult development is fascinating phenomenon that occurs all around the world. Their membership growth is a complex interaction facilitated by conformity and manipulation. Cult membership can have a major impact on those who are involved. Leaving a cult can cause much distress for both the ex-member and their family. It is important to understand cult affiliation factors and the development of their membership in order to provide proper therapeutic intervention for those who leave cults.

The history surrounding cults is not as simple as one might think. Cults raise a

One of the most common characteristics of cults is that they employ the foot and the door phenomenon to help achieve the leader of the cult’s

Have you ever been around someone who seems arrogant? It may not be just arrogance, that individual may have a Narcissistic Personality Disorder or NPD. Narcissus, a Greek mythological character, fell in love with his reflection in the water and could never pull himself away, so he ended up dying right beside the water after a while (Marcovitz 1). Narcissism became known as being self-centered and was developed after this Greek myth (Marcovitz 1). This disorder affects less than 1% of the American population and it occurs more in men than women (Thomas 1). Later on in life most people with NPD will experience severe symptoms around the ages of forty or fifty years old (Psych 1). Many people who have this disorder either refuse to get help

Kalle Lasn, in the his essay shows the stereotype of the bigger population being in a cult without even knowing. In, The Cult You’re In, Kalle says that all people want the same dreams, and that they are not unique by wanting this dream. The dream he entails that everyone wants is, “ wealth, power, fame, plenty of sex, and exciting recreational opportunities.” Another piece of evidence Lasn uses to show that the general public is in a cult is, “so you scaled down your hopes of embarrassing riches to reasonable expectations of adequate comfort— the modest condo downtown, the Visa card, the Braun shaver, the one good Armani suit.” The author’s use of you in this case and throughout the entire easy shows that to the typical person this does happen.

Competing in high school athletics was the highlight of my time at Sterling High School, If I could I’d go back and do it all over agin. It allowed me to learn basic life skills, such as time management, self-accountability, leadership, and teamwork. But the most important thing it brought me was a strong support system built up of teammates, coaches, competitors, and officials. My sophomore English teacher once joked that “the girl’s swim team is like a cult” which is pretty close to the truth. From early August to late November twenty girls, a diver or two, and a pair of coaches were inseparable. Together we suffered together through every practice and worked to improve not only ourselves but each other. It was these long hours that shaped

Since europeans have arrived in America women have been abused by various cults. Through the different cults women are abused and used in different ways. Cults are not only religious groups but are groups who have certain beliefs and dilemmas. Cults can rein from the religious groups like christianity to certain groups like the pueblos. Multiple cases have been found where history has proven that women have been abused in cults from the 1500’s all the way till today. This is a problem that we want to discuss and come up with a solution.

Not all cults fit into the previously aforementioned definition but become more of the nuanced dysfunctional definition. The media thrives off of featured stories such as a cult in which a man was married to dozens of women and yielded hundreds of children. Others are more menacing with groups breaking into homes and murdering families while others seemingly feel so dedicated to their cause that they kill themselves for the cult. This is the extremism that certain cults establish, however, these dangerous groups often have warning signs or what Hume (1996) described as significant danger markers.

Just another day at the office, sipping my hot coffee when my desk shakes and my coffee gets all over my new suit.

Many cult movies seem to be portrayed in the same light. A problematic situation occurs, and a resolution is needed. So, they turn to someone who is willing to solve the dilemma. Often times the cult leader will be someone magnetic, and charismatic in order to lead impressionable people (Thomas, 219). The leader will get followers to complete tasks that they don’t want to do themselves. Often using concepts of manipulation. Many situations result in some form of evil, whether its death, or physical harm. Yet, is this always so? Do cults always base themselves off manipulations and brainwashing? No, this is not the case. Our popular

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines cult as: "a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also: its body of adherents." Indeed, any religion involving unconditional worship and unquestioning obedience to God could be labeled as a cult (using the derogatory suggestion of the word), since such a religion would have that high level of dependency, obedience, and unwavering compliance ascribed to cults by definition. Many mainstream religions still require their members to believe in God unquestioningly, to have faith that he is good and that what he does is good, to consider one's own wants and needs as unimportant while accepting the will of God as paramount. All of these are certainly characteristics commonly attributed to cults, but while it would not be unreasonable to apply this definition of a cult to any dogmatic religion that requires strict compliance with God's word and will as a condition of membership, the notion of applying the word "cult" to Christianity, Islam, Judaism, or any other major world religion today is considered absurd. There are those who make this very claim: that those who worship God fit the classic depiction of cult members in their dogmatism, unswerving

Throughout history we have been able to witness the effects in which social influence has had on thousands of people: suicide bombers, Hitler Youth. These extreme mentalities do not just arise on their own, but have been manufactured by influences who have altered one’s beliefs into thinking that they are doing something which is truly good. When one is invested with unthinkable and repulsive ideas which have been encrypted through the use of cult mentality they are essentially “hypnotized” into believing that their actions are for the greater well-being of others. Supporting the evidence of the social influence theory of hypnosis, cult’s work to control their members by creating an authority figure. This then increases the likelihood of the cooperation of the members, thus gaining the amount of influence and suggestibility cult leaders have on the rest of their cult.

destructive cult is a rigidly structured absolutist group usually under an authoritarian, charismatic leader which isolates itself from established societal

Because cultic behavior underlies more than extremist religious sects, many psychologists refer to these groups as charismatic groups. "A charismatic group consists of a dozen or more members, even hundreds or thousands. It is characterized by the following psychological elements: members (1) have a shared belief system, (2) sustain a high level of social cohesiveness, (3) are strongly influenced by the group's behavioral norms, and (4) impute charismatic