ABSTRACT
Cultic studies is the academic arm of the anticult movement. Anticultists believe that NRMs or cults are harmful human organizations that people should be warned about. Cultic studies is rooted in theories about brainwashing, which have been around since the 1950s and the Korean Conflict. Cultic studies scholars used these theories, often taken out of the original context. This chapter surveys those theories, then examines Cultic studies as a field, emerging during the 1970s when parents of young adults who joined cults became concerned about their children. Many Cultic studies scholars were helping professionals who saw parents and ex-members of cults in therapy. Cultic studies asserted a number of positions. Originally it justified deprogramming, a somewhat harsh therapy experience when done by zealous practitioners. Later this was abandoned in favor of exit counseling. Cultic studies scholars privileged the testimonies of ex-members over those of current members of cults. Originally scholars in both Cultic studies and NRM studies met together for scholarly presentations and discussions, but by the 1980s the former had become a separate field. Its key periodical was the Cultic Studies Journal, published by the anticult organization the American Family Foundation, now called the International Cultic Studies Association.
