This article is an electronic version of an article originally published in Cultic Studies Journal, 2000, Volume 17, pages 56-78. Please keep in mind that the pagination of this electronic reprint differs from that of the bound volume. This fact could affect how you enter bibliographic information in papers that you may write.

Brainwashing and Re-Indoctrination Programs in the Children of God/The Family

Stephen A. Kent, Ph.D.
Deana Hall

Abstract

Most contemporary debates about the applicability of "brainwashing" as a social scientific concept involve arguments over what (if any) utility it has when discussing conversion to some high-demand, alternative religions. Some sociologists of religion use the term "brainwashing" to apply to extreme social influences. Others restrict use of the term to situations involving forcible confinement and physical coercion, presumably amidst a group-indoctrination process. Since few such conversion situations exist, these sociologists avoid utilizing brainwashing within social scientific discourse. What they have overlooked, however, is the conceptual utility of the brainwashing concept, even with their restrictive definition, for analyzing some groups' efforts at retaining or reconverting members. This study examines an example of a brainwashing program, the camps and programs that the Children of God\The Family developed for its teen members. These programs included intense re-education programs in the context of physical, psychological, and socio-emotional punishments, often in confined or guarded camps. As a social scientific concept, "brainwashing" has explanatory usefulness for understanding The Family's harsh efforts to increase the intensity of teens' commitment to the organization and to foster compliance to leadership.
 

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