Abstract

Unlike the psycho-physical interpretation of the Pavlovian approach (Hunter, 1953; Hinkle and Wolffs, 1956) or psychoanalytic notions (Lifton, 1961; Meerloo, 1956) on thought reform, we contend in this paper that contemporary religious deprogramming of American young “cultists” may be best analyzed in terms of ego-identity change as suggested by Schein (1961). The ego-identity change occurs in interaction with “significant others“ who provide a unique plausibility structure through three specific stages: a shock treatment of “defreezing,” “protective” or “coercive” persuasion to eliminate “floating” influence of the “cultist mind-control,” and readjustment of the changed subjective reality to the larger society. A set of data was collected through intensive interviews with 17 deprogrammed youths and a few deprogrammers and rehabilitators, and through participant observations in the deprogramming-rehabilitation sessions. The data then were used as illustrative and interpretive materials in support of our contention.