Abstract
An analysis of Jean-Marie Abgrall's cultic brainwashing theory shows that the theory is essentially identical to the pseudoscientific theory that was developed first by the American CIA as a propaganda device to combat communism, and second as an ideological device for use by the American anti-cult movement to rationalize efforts at persecution and control of minority religious groups. The CIA theory has been evaluated scientifically in research in several contexts (i.e., communist coercive indoctrination of Western prisoners, the CIA's attempted development of brainwashing techniques, and with American new religions or “cults”). In each context, it has been shown to be ineffective in coercively changing worldviews. Because of this pattern of disconfirmation, testimony based on brainwashing theory has been opposed as unscientific by relevant professional academic organizations and repeatedly excluded from American legal trials. Consequently, neither legal decisions nor public policy with respect to minority religions should be based on Abgrall's appropriation of this pseudoscientific theory.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abgrall, J.-M. (1990). Rapport Sur “L'Eglise de Scientologie”: Les techniques de la Scientologie, la doctrine Dianetique, leurs consequences médico-legales (trans: “Report on the Church of Scientology: The Techniques of Scientology and the Doctrine of Dianetics, Their Medical-Legal Consequences”). Submitted in “Case for Criminal Prosecution for Fraud,” Case No. 90:6119074, Defendants: Isabelle Archer, et al., Higher Court of Marseilles. (Also submitted in another case in Lyon.)
Abgrall, J.-M. (1996). La Mécanique des Sectes, Documents Payot, Paris.
Abgrall, J.-M. (1999a). Les sectes de l'apocalypse: Gourous de l'an 2000. Calmann-Levy, Paris.
Abgrall, J.-M. (1999b). Soul Snatchers: The Mechanism of Cults, English translation of La Mécanique des Sectes, Algora, New York.
American Psychiatric Association (1980). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 3rd ed. (DSM III), American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC.
American Psychiatric Association (1994). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed. (DSM IV), American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC.
American Psychological Association et al. (1987). Amicus Curiae Brief in Molko and Leal vs. Holy Spirit Association, filed with the California Court of Appeal, Case no. A020935.
Anthony, D. (1989). Evaluating key testimony in trials involving brainwashing allegations against religious movements. In American Bar Association National Institute on Tort and Religion: Course Materials, ABA Division of Professional Education, Chicago.
Anthony, D. (1990). Religious movements and brainwashing litigation: Evaluating key testimony. In Robbins, T., and Anthony, D. (eds.), In Gods We Trust, Transaction, New Brunswick, NJ, pp. 295–344.
Anthony, D. (1996). Brainwashing and Totalitarian Influence: An Exploration of Admissibility Criteria for Testimony in Brainwashing Trials, Doctoral Dissertation, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA (copies can be obtained from Ann Arbor, Michigan, UMI Dissertation Services).
Anthony, D. (2000). The pseudoscientific and totalistic character of the brainwashing paradigm: Legal implications and consequences. In Zablocki, B., and Robbins, T. (eds.), Misunderstanding Cults, University of Toronto Press, Toronto.
Anthony, D., and Robbins, T. (1992). Law, social science and the “brainwashing” exception to the First Amendment. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 10: 5–30.
Anthony, D., and Robbins, T. (1994). Brainwashing and Totalitarian Influence. In Ramachandran, V. S. (editor-in-Chief), Encyclopedia of Human Behavior, Academic Press, Division of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. Reprinted in Howard Friedman (editor-in-Chief), Encyclopedia of Mental Health, Academic Press, Division of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1998.
Anthony, D., and Robbins, T. (1995a). Negligence, coercion, and the protection of religious belief. Journal of Church and State, 37: 509–536.
Anthony, D., and Robbins, T. (1995b). Religious totalism, violence and exemplary dualism. In Barkun, M. (ed.), Millennialism and Violence, a special issue of Terrorism and Political Violence, 7: 10–50.
Revised version published in 1974, Modern Medicine, 42.
Assemblée Nationale (1999). Rapport fait au nom de la Commission d' Enquête sur la situation financière, patrimoniale et fiscale des sectes, ainsi que sur leurs activites economiques et leurs relations avec les milieux economiques et l'Assemblée Nationale.
Bainbridge, W. S. (1999). The Sociology of Religious Movements, Routledge, London.
Barber, T. X. (1961). Antisocial and criminal acts induced by hypnosis: A review of experimental and clinical findings. The Archives of General Psychiatry, 5.
Barber, T. X. (1969). Hypnosis: A Scientific Approach, Litton, New York.
Barker, E. (1984). The Making of a Moonie: “Brainwashing” or Choice? Basil Blackwell, New York.
Barker, E. (1989). New Religious Movements, HMSO, London.
Biderman, A. (1962). The image of “brainwashing.” Public Opinion Quarterly 26: 547–563.
Blum, J. (1978). Pseudoscience and Mental Ability: The Origins and Fallacies of the IQ Controversy, Monthly Review Press, New York and London.
Bromley, D. G. (1983). Conservatorships and deprogramming. In Bromley, D. G., and Richardson, J. T. (eds.), The Brainwashing/Deprogramming Controversy, Edwin Mellen, New York, pp. 267–294.
Bromley, D. G. (1996). Listing (in black and white): Some observations on sociological thought reform. Nova Religio, 1: 250–266.
Bromley, D. G., and Breschel, E. F. (1992). General population and institutional elite support for social control of new religions movements. Behavioral Sciences & the Law 10: 39–52.
Bromley, D. G., and Shupe, A. (1981). Strange Gods: The Great American Cult Scare, Beacon, Boston.
Broussard, P. (1999). L'enquête sur le Temple Solaire révèle le monde des sociétés secrètes (Solar Temple investigation exposes the world of secret societies). Le Monde, Dec. 24.
Campbell, R. (1981). Psychiatric Dictionary, 5th ed. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Chambre des Représentants de Belgique (1997). Enquête parlementaire visant à élaborer une politique en vue de lutter contre les pratiques illégales des sectes et les dangers qu'elles représentent pour la société et pour les personnes, particulièrement les mineurs d'âge. Rapport fait au nom de la Commission d'Enquête par MM. Duquesne et Willems, Bruxelles.
Chomsky, N. (1987). Psychology and ideology. In Peck, J. (ed.), The Chomsky Reader, Pantheon, New York, pp. 157–182.
Clark, J., Langone, M. et al. (1981). Destructive Cult Conversion: Theory, Research and Practice, Center on Destructive Cultism, American Family Foundation, Boston.
Commission d'Enquête sur les Sectes (1996). Les sectes en France: Rapport, Les Documents d'information de l'Assemblée Nationale, Paris.
Condon, R. (1958). The Manchurian Candidate, McGraw Hill, New York.
Conn, J. (1982). The myth of coercion under hypnosis. In Zeig, J. (ed.) Eriksonian Approaches to Hypnosis and Psychotherapy, Brunner Mazel, New York, pp. 357–368.
Dawson, L. (1999). Comprehending Cults, Oxford University Press, Ontario.
Dericquebourg, R. (1998). Scientology: Its cosmology, anthropology, system of ethics and methodologies. In Scientology: Theology and Practice of Contemporary Religion; A Reference Work Presented by the Church of Scientology, Bridge Publications, Los Angeles.
Erikson, M. (1939). An experimental investigation of the possible anti-social use of hypnosis. Psychiatry, 2: 391–414.
Erikson, M. (1980). The Collected Papers of Milton H. Erikson on Hypnosis: Vol. I, Rossi, E. L. (ed.), Irvington, New York.
Freud, S. (1953–1974a). Standard Edition of the Complete Works of Sigmund Freud, Vol. 13: Totem and Taboo, Hogarth, London.
Freud, S. (1953–1974b). Standard Edition of the Complete Works of Sigmund Freud, Vol. 21: The Future of an Illusion, Hogarth, London.
Fromm, E., and Shor, R. (1979). Hypnosis: Developments in Research and New Perspectives, Aldine, New York.
Gardner, H. (1985). The Mind's New Science: A History of the Cognitive Revolution, Basic Books, New York.
Gauld, A. (1992). A History of Hypnotism, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Ginsburg, G., and Richardson, J. T. (1998). “Brainwashing” evidence in light of Daubert. In Reece, H. (ed.), Law and Science, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 265–288.
Greenberg, L. (1994). What is real in the relationship? Journal of Counseling and Clinical Psychology, 41: 307–310.
Grunbaum, A. (1984). The Foundations of Psychoanalysis: A Philosophical Critique, University of California, Berkeley.
Hunter, E. (1951). Brainwashing in Red China, Vanguard, New York.
Hunter, E. (1960). Brainwashing: From Pavlov to Powers, The Bookmaster, New York.
Huxley, A. (1958). Brave New World Revisited, Harper and Row, New York.
Introvigne, M., and Melton, J. G. (eds.) (1996). Pour en finir avec les sectes. Le débat sur le rapport de la commission parlementaire, 3rd ed., Dervy, Paris.
Introvigne, M., and Richardson, J. T. (1999). “Brainwashing” theories in European parliamentary and administrative reports on “sects and cults.” Presented at Biannual Meeting of the International Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Belgium, Louvain.
James, G. G. (1986). Brainwashing: The myth and the actuality. Thought: Fordham University Quarterly LXI(241): 241–257.
Kaminer, W. (1992). I'm Dysfunctional, You're Dysfunctional: The Recovery Movement and Other Self-Help Fashions. Addison-Wesley, Reading MA.
Katz, S., and Liu, A. (1991). The Codependency Conspiracy, Warner, New York.
Kirsch, I. (1995). Foreward to the 1995 Edition of T. X. Barber, Hypnosis: A Scientific Approach, Jason Aronson, New York.
Langone, M. (1997). Report in Francon Marini vs. Church of Gaia, District Court, County of Boulder, State of Colorado, Case No. 96-CV-1450, Division 5.
Langone, M. (1998). Deposition in Francon Marini vs. Church of Gaia, District Court, County of Boulder, State of Colorado, Case No. 96-CV-1450, Division 5.
Leahey, T., and Leahey, G. (1983). Psychology's Occult Doubles: Psychology and the Problem of Pseudoscience, Nelson Hall, Chicago.
LeMoult, J. (1978). Deprogramming members of religious sects. Fordham Law Review, 46: 599–634.
Lifton, R. (1961). Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of “Brainwashing” in China, Norton, New York.
Machan, T. (1974). The PseudoScience of B. F. Skinner, Arlington House, New Rochelle, NY.
Magee, B. (1985). Philosophy and the Real World: An Introduction to Karl Popper, Open Court, LaSalle, IL.
Mallinckrodt, B. (1996). Capturing the subjective and other challenges in measuring transference. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 43(3).
Marks, J. (1980). The Search for the Manchurian Candidate, Random House, New York.
Martin, P. (1993). Post-cult recovery: Assessment and rehabilitation. In Langone, M. (ed.), Recovery from Cults, Norton, New York, pp. 201–231.
Meerloo, J. (1956). The Rape of the Mind: The Psychology of Thought Control, Menticide, and Brainwashing, World Publishing Co., Cleveland.
Melton, J. G. (1999). Anti-cultists in the United States: An historical perspective. In Wilson, B., and Cresswell, J. (eds.), New Religious Movements, Routledge, New York, pp. 213–234.
Moss, C. (1965). Hypnosis in Perspective, Macmillan, New York.
Nathan, D., and Snedeker, M. (1995). Satan's Silence: Ritual Abuse and the Making of a Modern American Witchhunt, Basic Books, New York.
O'Hear, A. (1980). Karl Popper, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London.
Ofshe, R., and Singer, M. (1986). Attacks on peripheral vs. central elements of the self and the impact of thought reform techniques. Cultic Studies Journal 3: 2–24.
Orne, M. (1961). The potential uses of hypnosis in interrogation. In Biderman, A., and Zimmer, H. (eds.), The Manipulation of Human Behavior Wiley, New York.
Orne, M. (1962). Antisocial behavior and hypnosis. In Estabrooks, G. (ed.), Hypnosis: Current Problems, Harper and Row, New York. pp. 137–192.
Paloutzian, R., Richardson, J. T., and Rambo, L. (1999). Religious conversion and personality change. Journal of Personality, 67: 1047–1079.
Peele, S. (1989). Disseasing America: Addiction Treatment Out of Control, Lexington Books, Lexington, MA.
Popper, K. (1959). The Logic of Scientific Discovery, Harper Torchbooks, New York.
Popper, K. (1963). Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London and New York.
Rapping, E. (1996). The Culture of Recovery: Making Sense of the Self-Help Movement in Women's Lives, Beacon, Boston.
Reber, A. (1995). The Penguin Dictionary of Psychology, 2nd ed., Penguin, London.
Richardson, J., and Kilbourne, B. (1983). Classical and contemporary applications of brainwashing models: A critique and comparison. In Bromley, D., and Richardson, J. (eds.), The Brainwashing/Deprogramming Controversy, Edwin Mellon, Lewiston, NY, pp. 29–45.
Richardson, J. T. (1991). Cult/brainwashing cases and the freedom of religion. Journal of Church and State 33: 55–74.
Richardson, J. T. (1992a). Public opinion and the tax evasion trial of Reverend Moon. Behavioral Sciences & the Law 10: 53–64.
Richardson, J. (1992a). Mental health of cult consumers: Legal and scientific controversies. In Schumaker, J. (ed.), Religion and Mental Health, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 233–244.
Richardson, J. T. (1993). A social psychological critique of “brainwashing” claims about recruitment to new religions. In Hadden, J., and Bromley, D. (eds.), The Handbook of Cults and Sects in America, JAI Press, Greenwich, CT, pp. 75–97.
Richardson, J. T. (1996a). “Brainwashing” claims and minority religions outside the United States: Cultural diffusion of a questionable legal concept in the legal arena. Brigham Young University Law Review, 1996: 873–904.
Richardson, J. T. (1996b). Sociology and the new religions: “Brainwashing,” “the courts, and religious freedom.” In Jenkins, P., and Kroll-Smith, S. (eds.), Witnessing for Sociology: Sociologists in Court, Praeger, Westport, CT, pp. 115–134.
Richardson, J. T., and Kilbourne, B. K. (1983). Classical and contemporary applications of brainwashing models. In Bromley, D. G., and Richardson, J. T. (eds.), The Brainwashing/Deprogramming Controversy, Edwin Mellen, New York, pp. 29–45.
Robbins, T. (1985). Cults, Converts, & Charisma, Sage Publications, Beverley Hills, CA.
Scheflin, A., and Opton, E. (1978). The Mind Manipulators, Paddington, Washington, DC.
Schein, E. (1959). Brainwashing and totalitarianization in modern society. World Politics 2: 430–441.
Schein, E. (1961). Coercive Persuasion, Norton, New York.
Seeburger, F. (1996). Addiction and Repsponsibility: An Inquiry into the Addictive Mind, Crossroad, New York.
Shermer, M. (1997). Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time, W. H. Freeman, New York.
Shupe, A., and Bromley, D. G. (1980). The New Vigilantes, Sage, Beverley Hills, CA.
Singer, M. (1983). Testimony in Robin and Marcia George v. International Society of Krishna Consciousness of California et al., 25-75-65, Orange County California Superior Court.
Singer, M., and Lalich, J. (1995). Cults in our Midst: The Hidden Menace in our Everyday Lives, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
Skinner, B. F. (1972). Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Bantam/Vintage Books, New York.
Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, et al. (1988). Amicus Curiae Brief for George v. ISKCON, filed with the California Appeal Court, Case No. D007153, 29 Feb.
Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, American Sociological Association, et al. (1989). Amicus Curiae Brief for David Molko and Tracy Leal v. Holy Spirit Association, et al., filed with US Supreme Court, Case no. 88-1600, 1 May.
Spanos, N. P. (1996). Multiple Identities and False Memories: A Sociocognitive Perspective, American Psychological Association, Washington, DC.
Tavris, C. (1992). The Mismeasure of Women, Simon & Schuster, New York.
Timpanaro, S. (1998). Error's reign. In Crews, F. (ed.), Unauthorized Freud: Doubters Confront a Legend. Viking, New York, pp. 94–105.
Victor, J. (1993). Satanic Panic: The Creation of a Contemporary Legend. Open Court, Chicago.
Wallis, R. (1977). The Road to Total Freedom: A Sociological Analyisis of Scientology, Colombia University Press, New York.
Watson, J. B. (1924). Psychology from the Standpoint of a Behaviorist, 2nd ed., Lippincott, J. B. Philadelphia.
West, L., and Singer, M. (1980). Cults, quacks, and nonprofessional therapies. In Kaplan, H., Freedman, A., and Sadock, B. (eds.), Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry—III, Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore, MD, pp. 3245–3258.
Wright, S. (1987). Leaving Cults, Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Washington, DC.
Zablocki, B. (1998). Exit cost analysis: A new approach to the scientific study of brainwashing. Nova Religio 1: 216–249.
Ziskin, J. (1981). Coping with Psychiatric and Psychological Testimony, Law and Psychology Press, Venice, CA.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Anthony, D. Pseudoscience and Minority Religions: An Evaluation of the Brainwashing Theories of Jean-Marie Abgrall. Social Justice Research 12, 421–456 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022081411463
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022081411463