Disaffiliation and psychological distress in former members of cultic groups

Many former cult members perceive themselves to have been psychologically abused during their cult involvement (Chambers, Langone, Dole, & Grice, 1994); adjustment and psychological difficulties after leaving a cult also have been documented (Aronoff, Lynn, & Malinoski, 2000). It has been argued that those evaluations of former cult experiences are negatively biased, either because of the influence of contact with cult-awareness organizations or the method of cult disaffiliation (Lewis, 1986; Solomon, 1981).The present study examines the perceptions of a Spanish sample of 101 former members of cultic groups about their motives to leave them, as well as to examine their psychological distress. The majority of our participants walked away from their groups without outside assistance and considered disillusion as the most important factor. Results showed no discrepancies either between participants whether or not they had contact with cult awareness resources, or between participants who walked away from their groups and those who left because of outside intervention on their reasons for leaving, perceptions regarding the psychological abusiveness of their past groups or levels of psychological distress.