The Wrong Way Home: Uncovering the Patterns of Cult Behavior in American Society

Members of political or spiritual cults exhibit conformity, a yen for dependence and susceptibility to authoritarian leaders. The same behavior, Deikman argues, can be observed in ordinary people--in relationships, the workplace and family life. For example, in the ``corporate culture,'' this California psychiatrist has found threats of censure and expulsion, and an inhibition of active strategies and dissent--all favorite cult tactics. Other examples of cultish shenanigans cited include politicians' cultivation of a benign, powerful parent persona; military leaders who ``imagine enemies where there are none''; the complicity of a subservient news media in supporting the status quo; and the humble compliance to God's will urged by religions. Although Deikman sometimes stretches the analogy of cult behavior too far, his provocative book uncovers a psychopathology of everyday life in a discerning analysis. (Jan.)