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Welcome to Cults and High-Control Groups
Welcome to Cults and High-Control Groups.
Every year, intelligent, caring, idealistic people are drawn into groups that slowly take control of their time, their money, their relationships, and even their thoughts. Most never imagined it could happen to them. Their families watch, frightened and unsure how to help. And when people finally leave, they often find few ministers or counselors who understand what they have been through.
This course will prepare you to be one of the people who understands. You will study the psychology of influence and manipulation, how high-control groups recruit and keep their members, well-known cases and their lessons, how to recognize a high-control group, how to help someone leave, and how to support recovery.
Throughout the course, two commitments guide us. First, people who joined these groups deserve respect, not ridicule; most joined out of hope, love, or a desire to do good. Second, the word “cult” must be used with care, never as a weapon against a religion simply because it is new, small, or unfamiliar.
How This Course Works
| Topic | Details |
|---|---|
| Prerequisite | None. Titles and degrees begin with ordination through the Ordination Orientation. |
| Pace | Self-paced. Most students finish in four to six weeks, studying about four to five hours a week. There are no deadlines. |
| Structure | Eight modules. Each module has a lesson, a reading assignment, and a ten-question quiz. |
| Book report | Read one of the books offered, pass its ten-question quiz, and write a one-paragraph summary, after Module 8. |
| Final exam | Fifteen multiple-choice questions and one essay of 1,500 to 2,000 words, taken after Module 8. |
| Credit | 3 credit hours toward further titles and degrees. |
| A note of care | Some material in this course describes abuse, violence, and death. If you have been in a high-control group yourself, go at your own pace, and reach out for support if the material stirs up painful memories. |
Grading
| Part | To pass |
|---|---|
| Module quizzes (8) | Pass each with 70% or higher. Retakes allowed. |
| Book report quiz (10 questions) | Pass with 70% or higher. Retakes allowed. |
| Book report summary (one paragraph) | Approved by the school |
| Final exam, Part 1 (multiple choice) | Pass with 70% or higher. Retakes allowed. |
| Final exam, Part 2 (one essay, 1,500 to 2,000 words) | Approved by the school |
Required texts
- Combating Cult Mind Control, Steven Hassan
- Cults in Our Midst, Margaret Thaler Singer
- Take Back Your Life, Janja Lalich and Madeleine Tobias
Many of these books are available from public libraries, used bookstores, and as ebooks.
What you will study
Module 1: What Is a Cult? Module 2: The Psychology of Influence Module 3: Recruitment and Manipulation Module 4: Inside the Group: Leaders, Control, and Abuse Module 5: Case Studies: What Went Wrong Module 6: How to Identify a High-Control Group Module 7: Helping People Get Out Module 8: Recovery and Ministry After Leaving
Book report choices
Cults in Our Midst, Margaret Thaler Singer with Janja Lalich; Combating Cult Mind Control, Steven Hassan
Academic honesty
All written work must be your own. You may quote and discuss the course readings and other sources, but you must say where the words and ideas came from. Submitting work written by someone else, including work generated entirely by AI tools, is not permitted.