Anti-cult movement

The anti-cult movement is a collection of groups and campaigns opposing organizations they identify as cults, often by warning the public or assisting people leaving them.

Deprogramming: A set of practices intended to make a person leave a group regarded as coercive or cultic. Early anti-cult activism often centered on forcibly removing members and attempting to reverse their commitments.
Cult apologetics: Advocacy that defends groups labeled cults against accusations of coercion, abuse, or illegitimacy. It directly contests the movement’s characterizations and often disputes its accounts of member influence.
Exit counseling: A voluntary process that helps people examine involvement in a high-control group and consider leaving it. It became a less coercive alternative to traditional deprogramming in some anti-cult settings.
Rick Ross (deprogrammer): An American intervention specialist and anti-cult activist known for assisting relatives concerned about group involvement. His legal cases and public work illustrate the movement’s shift toward counseling and the risks of intervention.
Ted Patrick: An American activist known for abducting members of groups he considered cults and subjecting them to deprogramming. His methods made coercive intervention a highly visible and controversial part of the movement.
New religious movement: A religious group or movement that has emerged relatively recently within a particular society. Scholars often use this more neutral category where anti-cult activists use the label cult.
International Cultic Studies Association: A nonprofit organization that provides education and support concerning psychological manipulation and high-control groups. It connects research, education, and assistance for people affected by groups identified as cultic.
Jason Scott case: A legal dispute arising from the 1991 abduction and deprogramming of Pentecostal minister Jason Scott. The litigation exposed legal consequences of involuntary deprogramming and contributed to the Cult Awareness Network’s bankruptcy.
Cult Awareness Network: A United States organization founded in 1978 to provide information and assistance concerning groups it regarded as cults. It became one of the movement’s best-known organizations before losing its assets in litigation.
Religious freedom: The right to hold, change, practice, or reject religious beliefs without improper coercion or discrimination. Interventions against alleged cults can collide with protections for religious belief and association.

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