http://www.csj.org/infoserv_cult101/checklis.htm

Characteristics Associated with Cultic Groups - Revised

Janja Lalich, Ph.D. & Michael D. Langone, Ph.D.

Concerted efforts at influence and control lie at the core of cultic groups, programs, and relationships. Many members, former members, and supporters of cults are not fully aware of the extent to which members may have been manipulated, exploited, even abused. The following list of social-structural, social-psychological, and interpersonal behavioral patterns commonly found in cultic environments may be helpful in assessing a particular group or relationship.

Compare these patterns to the situation you were in (or in which you, a family member, or friend is currently involved). This list may help you determine if there is cause for concern. Bear in mind that this list is not meant to be a “cult scale” or a definitive checklist to determine if a specific group is a cult. This is not so much a diagnostic instrument as it is an analytical tool.

• The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.
• Each Oom Yung Doe school is an independently-owned business. Oom Yung Doe teaches traditional martial arts techniques, which were originally taught in the United States by John C. Kim. The martial arts techniques are never presented to be the one “right” way to live one’s life. Oom Yung Doe students and instructors come from diverse backgrounds, including multiple races, nationalities, and religious faiths.

• Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.
• All information regarding the connection between the independent Oom Yung Doe schools and the national organization are clearly written and posted in each school to avoid confusion among students and instructors. Oom Yung Doe encourages questions, as questions are necessary for students to be properly trained and many, if not all students ask questions throughout there training. Students are always encouraged to understand why they are doing anything in there lessons.

• Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).
• Oom Yung Doe offers meditation techniques as part of martial arts training. People familiar with the martial arts and sports in general understand the concept of “visualization”. Scientific studies have proven that athletes who visualize going through the motions of their sport actually perform better than if they had not done so. Meditation is taught as a method to settle the mind and provide metal clarity, just as they are in Yoga classes. Students practice meditation on their own, not in groups; many do not meditate at all. There is no religious association, and students should never be pressured to meditate.

• The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marryor leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).
• Oom Yung Doe has nothing to do with the personal lives and decisions of those who train at any of the Oom Yung Doe schools. All schools are individually owned and operated.

• The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avataror the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).
• Oom Yung Doe follows the same principle of traditional martial arts as all other martial arts schools. Oom Yung Doe martial arts methods have been passed down by John C. Kim. There is, for some students, a level of respect similar to that of a college student who has respect for a professor who has excelled in his or her field. Oom Yung Doe is a martial arts school and students are often thankful to instructors for helping them improve athletically, lose weight, or become better martial arts practitioners, but in no way is there any pressure to think of an instructor as more than an equal human being.

• The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society.
• Not applicable. In general, students and instructors of Oom Yung Doe are very strong proponents of family, friends and community.

• The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).
• Instructors at each school absolutely should abide by the laws of society and answer to the authorities of the society; however like any organization, no one in the Oom Yung Doe schools can control what laws an individual chooses to abide by.

• The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).
• Not applicable

• The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt iin order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.
• Not applicable. In fact one of the main philosophies of Traditional Martial Arts (Traditional Moo Doe) that Oom Yung Doe follows is: You can make yourself good or you can make yourself bad, no one can tell you what to do, the choice is yours.

• Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.
• The individuals who train in Oom Yung Doe all have lives. People come when they want, see who they want, whenever they want. Oom Yung Doe is not interested in ‘monitoring’ the personal lives of the students and instructors. There is no leader, and therefore no subservience to a leader. Cutting ties with family/friends and altering goals and activities is the exact opposite of what Oom Yung Doe is about.

• The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.
• A key to running any business is to build up a customer base. There are ‘business owners’ and ‘customers’.

• The group is preoccupied with making money.
• Each Oom Yung Doe school works the same as any other legitimate company to grow and build a good reputation. If profit was the main purpose and participants did not receive benefits then Oom Yung Doe schools would be out of business like any other company.

• Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.
• Students and instructors participate in community events as they so choose. Each school is individually owned and operated; Oom Yung Doe LLC does not monitor the individual school owner’s managerial practices.

• Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.
• Students and instructors socialize with other students and instructors if they choose to. Everyone has their own homes, there are probably a few students who are roommates in some cases but in most all cases student/instructors live with their family or friends who are not even associated with Oom Yung Doe in any manner.

• The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.
• Every student and instructor leads a life outside school. Unless someone is a full-time school owner, they have a job/career outside of the school. Everyone has their own family, set of friends, and social circles.

This checklist will be published in the new book, Take Back Your Life: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships by Janja Lalich and Madeleine Tobias (Berkeley: Bay Tree Publishing, 2006). It was adapted from a checklist originally developed by Michael Langone.

Resources

Langone, Michael, Ph.D.: “Definitional Abiguity”

Langone, Michael, Ph.D.: “On Using the Term “Cult”