Dick Anthony (September 24, 1939 – July 24, 2022) was a

forensic psychologist Forensic psychology is the application of scientific knowledge and methods (in relation to psychology) to assist in answering legal questions that may arise in criminal, civil, contractual, or other judicial proceedings. Forensic psychology includes ...

noted for his writings on the validity of

brainwashing Brainwashing is the controversial idea that the human mind can be altered or controlled against a person's will by manipulative psychological techniques. Brainwashing is said to reduce its subject's ability to think critically or independently ...

as a determiner of behavior, a prolific researcher of the social and psychological aspects of involvement in

new religious movements A new religious movement (NRM), also known as a new religion, is a religious or spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin, or they can be part of a wider re ...

Academic career

Anthony held a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from the

Graduate Theological Union The Graduate Theological Union (GTU) is a consortium of eight private independent American Seminary, theological schools and eleven centers and affiliates. Seven of the theological schools are located in Berkeley, California. The GTU was founded ...

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer to ...

, California. He supervised research at the Department of Psychiatry of the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

at Chapel Hill and at the Graduate Theological Union, and was a former director of the Graduate Theological Union's

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

-affiliated Center for the Study of New Religions.Sipchen, Bob (1988-11-17)
"Ten Years After Jonestown, the Battle Intensifies Over the Influence of 'Alternative' Religions"
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' His research has been supported by government agencies including the

National Institute of Mental Health The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is one of 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH, in turn, is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and is the primar ...

, the

National Institute of Drug Abuse The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is a United States federal government research institute whose mission is to "advance science on the causes and consequences of drug use and addiction and to apply that knowledge to improve individual ...

, and the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

, and he frequently testified or acted as a consultant in court cases involving allegations of religious coercion or harm resulting from involvement in a religious group. Anthony authored or co-authored multiple scholarly articles on the topic and has co-edited several books.

Involvement in the brainwashing debate

Anthony has characterized brainwashing as "a pseudo-scientific myth", and spearheaded efforts which, from 1990 onward, led to the general rejection of brainwashing testimony as unscientific in United States courts. Anthony asserted in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' that "no reasonable person would question that there are situations where people can be influenced against their best interests, but those arguments are evaluated on the basis of fact, not bogus expert testimony."Oldenburg, Don (2003-11-21)
"Stressed to Kill: The Defense of Brainwashing; Sniper Suspect's Claim Triggers More Debate"
''

''. Dismissing the idea of

mind control Mind control may refer to: Psychology and neurology * Brainwashing, the concept that the human mind can be altered or controlled by certain psychological techniques * Brain–computer interface * Hypnosis * Neuroprosthetics, the technology of cont ...

, he has defended

, and argued that involvement in such movements may often have beneficial, rather than harmful effects. Anthony was a key consultant for the government in the Fishman case and acted as a consultant in many subsequent cases of a similar nature, "frequently getting pseudoscientific mind control testimony excluded from evidentiary hearings". Richardson, James T. "Sociology and the New Religions: 'Brainwashing', the Courts, and Religious Freedom", in: Jenkins, Pamela J.; Kroll-Smith, Steve (eds.). ''Witnessing for Sociology: Sociologists in Court'', Praeger Publishers 1996, pp. 128–130, According to sociologist James T. Richardson, he was the "intellectual driving force" behind an

amicus curiae An amicus curiae (; ) is an individual or organization that is not a Party (law), party to a legal case, but that is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. Wheth ...

brief on brainwashing endorsed by the

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychologists in the United States, and the largest psychological association in the world. It has over 170,000 members, including scientists, educators, clin ...

. In the Fishman case, the court accepted Anthony's argument that

Margaret Singer Margaret Thaler Singer (July 29, 1921 – November 23, 2003) was an American clinical psychologist and researcher with her colleague Lyman Wynne on family communication. She was a prominent figure in the study of undue influence in social and ...

's brainwashing theory lacked scientific support, a decision that set a

legal precedent Precedent is a judicial decision that serves as an authority for courts when deciding subsequent identical or similar cases. Fundamental to common law legal systems, precedent operates under the principle of ''stare decisis'' ("to stand by thin ...

and led to the exclusion of Margaret Singer and her colleague

Richard Ofshe Richard Jason Ofshe (born 27 February 1941) is an American sociologist and professor emeritus of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. He is known for his expert testimony relating to coercion in small groups, confessions, and int ...

as expert witnesses in this and subsequent trials. Wilson, Bryan R.; Cresswell, Jamie (eds.). ''New religious movements: challenge and response'', Routledge 1999, pp. 227–228, Afterwards, Singer and Ofshe twice sued Anthony, as well as the American Psychological Association, the

American Sociological Association The American Sociological Association (ASA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology. Founded in December 1905 as the American Sociological Society at Johns Hopkins University by a group of fi ...

and several other scholars, for

defamation Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

and conspiracy to deprive them of their livelihoods. Both suits were dismissed; in the second the judge granted the defendants a

SLAPP Strategic lawsuits against public participation (also known as SLAPP suits or intimidation lawsuits), or strategic litigation against public participation, are lawsuits intended to censor, intimidate, and silence critics by burdening them with ...

motion, requiring Singer and Ofshe to pay Anthony's and the other defendants' legal costs.Richardson, James T. ''Regulating Religion: Case Studies from Around the Globe'', Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers 2004, pp. 134–135, . Anthony contributed a 100-page chapter on the brainwashing hypothesis to the book '' Misunderstanding Cults'', edited by sociologists

Benjamin Zablocki Benjamin David Zablocki (January 19, 1941 – April 6, 2020) was an American professor of sociology at Rutgers University where he taught sociology of religion and social psychology. He published widely on the subject of charismatic religious mo ...

and Thomas Robbins, in which he criticized the "tactical ambiguity" of brainwashing theorists like Zablocki. In Anthony's view, brainwashing proponents have, in their efforts to resurrect a discredited hypothesis, continually modified key assumptions underlying the concept in order to avoid any possibility of its empirical verification. The chapter argues that "the term brainwashing has such sensationalist connotations that its use prejudices any scientific discussion of patterns of commitment in religious movements."

Reception

David G. Bromley David G. Bromley (born 1941) is a professor of sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA and the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, specialized in sociology of religion and the academic study of new religious mo ...

and Anson Shupe, writing in the ''Encyclopedia of Religion and Society'' (1998), have credited Anthony and his co-author, sociologist Thomas Robbins, with having written "the most articulate critique" of the

anti-cult movement The anti-cult movement, abbreviated ACM and also known as the countercult movement, consists of various governmental and non-governmental organizations and individuals that seek to raise awareness of religious groups that they consider to be ...

's perspective on brainwashing.Swatos, William H.; Kivisto, Peter. ''Encyclopedia of Religion and Society'', Rowman Altamira 1998, p. 62, . Retrieved 2010-06-20. The sociologist James T. Richardson has referred to Anthony's scholarly work on brainwashing as "without peer".Richardson, James T. ''Regulating Religion: Case Studies from Around the Globe'', Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers 2004, p. 145, ; the APA later withdrew its endorsement for "procedural and not substantial reasons".

Death

Anthony died July 24, 2022, at the age of 82.

Publications

Book chapters and articles

* "Brainwashing and Totalitarian Influence", in ''Encyclopedia of Mental Health'', ed. Howard S. Friedman, Academic Press, 1998, , pp. 331–346 (with Thomas Robbins) * "Cults, Brainwashing and Counter-Subversion," ''Annals'' 446(1979):78–90 (with Thomas Robbins) * "Cults in the Late Twentieth Century", in ''Encyclopedia of the American Religious Experience. Studies of Traditions and Movements'', eds. Charles H. Lippy and Peter W. Williams, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York (1988) Vol II,
"Deprogramming, Brainwashing and the Medicalization of Deviant Religious Groups"
''Social Problems'', Vol. 29, No. 3, February 1982 (with Thomas Robbins) * "Getting Straight with Meher Baba: A Study of Drug Rehabilitation, Mysticism, and Post-adolescent Role Conflict", ''

Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion The ''Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion'' (''JSSR'') is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell in the United States under the auspices of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, dedicated to ...

'', 1972 (with Thomas Robbins) * "Law, Social Science and the 'Brainwashing' Exception to the First Amendment," ''Behavioral Sciences and the Law'' 10(1992):5–30 (with Thomas Robbins) * "Pseudoscience versus Minority Religions: An Evaluation of the Brainwashing Theories of Jean-Marie Abgrall", in ''Regulating Religion'', ed. James T. Richardson, Springer, 2004, , pp. 127–149 (with Thomas Robbins) * "Religious Movements and 'Brainwashing' Litigation" in ''In Gods We Trust: New Patterns of Religious Pluralism in America'', eds. Dick Anthony and Thomas Robbins, Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, NJ, (with Thomas Robbins) * "Religious Totalism, Violence, and Exemplary Dualism," in ''Terrorism and Political Violence'' 7(1995):10–50 (with Thomas Robbins) * "Sects and Violence," in ''Armageddon at Waco'', ed. S. A. Wright (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995): 236–259 (with Thomas Robbins) * "Tactical Ambiguity and Brainwashing Formulations: Science or Pseudo-Science?, in '' Misunderstanding Cults'', eds. B. D. Zablocki and Thomas Robbins, University of Toronto Press, 2001, , pp. 215–317 * "The 'Brainwashing' Metaphor as a Social Weapon: A New Conceptual Tool for the Therapeutic State", for a symposium on

deprogramming Deprogramming is a controversial tactic that seeks to dissuade someone from "strongly held convictions" such as religious beliefs. Deprogramming purports to assist a person who holds a particular belief system—of a kind considered harmful by thos ...

held at the annual meetings of the

Society for the Scientific Study of Religion The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (was founded at Harvard University in 1949) was formed to advance research in the social scientific perspective on religious institutions and experiences. The ''Journal for the Scientific Study of ...

, 1977 (with Thomas Robbins and Jim MacCarthy)
"The Limits of Symbolic Realism: Problems of Emphatic Field Observation in a Sectarian Context"
''Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion'', 1973 (with Thomas Robbins and Thomas E. Curtis)
"Theory and Research on Today's 'New Religions'"
''Sociology of Religion'', Sociological Analysis 1978 39(2):95-122; (with Thomas Robbins and James T. Richardson)
"Youth Culture Religious Movements: Evaluating the Integrative Hypothesis"
1975, ''Sociological Quarterly'', Volume 16 Issue 1, Pages 48–64 (with Thomas Robbins and Thomas E. Curtis)

Books

* ''In Gods We Trust: New Patterns of Religious Pluralism in America'', Transaction Publishers, 1990, (with Thomas Robbins) * ''Spiritual Choices: The Problems of Recognizing Authentic Paths to Inner Transformation'', Paragon House, 1987, (with Thomas Robbins and

Ken Wilber Kenneth Earl Wilber II (born January 31, 1949) is an American theorist and writer on transpersonal psychology and his own integral theory, a four-quadrant grid which purports to encompass all human knowledge and experience. Starting publishing ...

)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anthony, Dick 1939 births 2022 deaths 21st-century American psychologists Researchers of new religious movements and cults University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill people