The Wrong Way Home: Uncovering the Patterns of Cult Behaviour in American Society - Softcover

Deikman, Arthur J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0807029157 ISBN 13: 9780807029152

Publisher: Beacon Press, 1994

Synopsis

Since this book was first published, events in Waco, Texas, refocused American attention on the prevalence of cults in our society. There, in an eerie parallel to Jim Jones’s People’s Temple, a group of devotees was immolated at the command of its leader. Amid all the horror and drama, few people identified with the cult members or compared the cult to groups to which they belonged. They should have, because cults grow out of behaviors intrinsic to the human condition, behaviors that are present in all of us. Wherever there are groups, including those not thought of as cults, cult-like behavior will be found. This is a hard fact for us to face, and it is generally resisted. We wish to separate ourselves from the behavior of the Branch Davidians, or the People’s Temple, or the less dramatic but alien groups soliciting in airports and street corners. We don’t want to recognize our own cult behavior because we take pride in being independent; we defend our own group’s rationality and purpose. Yet, as this book demonstrates, certain basic cult processes are present in the familiar and legitimate activities of our established religions, large corporations, government, the media, and the professions. (from the Preface)

About this title

Synopsis

Deikman shows how typical cult behaviours - such as the devaluation of outsiders and the avoidance of dissent at all costs - can also be found in businesses, government, media, and other mainstream organizations.

Edition details

• Publisher: Beacon Press
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0807029157
• ISBN 13: 9780807029152
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208