''Snapping: America's Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change'' is a 1978 book written by Flo Conway and Jim Siegelman which describes the authors' theory of

religious conversion Religious conversion is the adoption of a set of beliefs identified with one particular religious denomination to the exclusion of others. Thus "religious conversion" would describe the abandoning of adherence to one denomination and affiliatin ...

. They propose that "snapping" is a mental process through which a person is recruited by a

cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...

new religious movement A new religious movement (NRM), also known as a new religion, is a religious or Spirituality, 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 ...

, or leaves the group through

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 ...

exit counseling 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 ...

. Political ideological conversions are also included, with

Patty Hearst Patricia Campbell Hearst (born February 20, 1954) is an American actress and member of the Hearst family. She is the granddaughter of American publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst. She first became known for the events following her 197 ...

given as an example. Two editions of the book were published, the first (1978) by

Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (LWW) is an American imprint (trade name), imprint of the American Dutch publishing conglomerate Wolters Kluwer. It was established by the acquisition of Williams & Wilkins and its merger with J.B. Lippincott Company ...

and reprinted in 1979 by

Dell Publishing Dell Publishing Company, Inc. is an American publisher of books, magazines and comic books, that was founded in 1921 by George T. Delacorte Jr. with $10,000 (approx. $145,000 in 2021), two employees and one magazine title, ''I Confess'', and ...

. A second edition (1995) was printed by Stillpoint Press, a publishing company owned by the authors.Stillpoint Press; 20 Park Ave., New York, NY, United States; Corporate officers: Siegelman, James; Conway Flo. Source: Company Intelligence Database, Thomson Gale; Conway and Siegelman wrote an article in ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

'' and '' Science Digest'' in 1979 and 1982 respectively to advertise and discuss their book and findings.

Concept

Conway and Siegelman describe ''snapping'' as: Snapping has been said to create the effect of an entirely new person, often completely different and unrecognizable. Conway and Siegelman further proposed that a disorder which they named "information disease" was caused by alteration of the neurological pathways of the brain by group

indoctrination Indoctrination is the process of inculcating (teaching by repeated instruction) a person or people into an ideology, often avoiding critical analysis. It can refer to a general process of socialization. The term often implies forms of brainwas ...

and

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 ...

activities.

Scholarly reception

The scholarly reception to the book is mixed. Michael Rogers, writing for ''

Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...

'', believes that the work is important for

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

and

academic libraries An academic library is a library that is attached to a higher education institution, which supports the curriculum and the research of the university faculty and students. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, there are an es ...

Reverend The Reverend (abbreviated as The Revd, The Rev'd or The Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian clergy and Christian minister, ministers. There are sometimes differen ...

Mark L. Middleton, though noting that he does not fully endorse the views of the book, believes its an important contribution to "religious and mental health literature". Brock K. Kilbourne, a

social psychologist Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field of ...

with a Ph.D. from the

University of Nevada, Reno The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is the state's flagship public university and prim ...

, criticized the methodology and analysis in the book and accompanying articles. He argues, through analysis of Conway and Siegelman's data, that there was "no support" for their conclusions, and in some cases the data showed the opposite of what they argued (i.e.

participation might have positive benefits). In a response, Michael D. Langone and Brendan A. Maher argued that Kilbourne's statistical analysis is flawed and that no conclusions can be made, though they concede that Conway and Siegelman have a lack of statistical analysis of their data. In a rejoinder, Kilbourne reasserted his findings. Additionally, Religion scholars James R. Lewis and

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 ...

argue that there are significant methodological problems in research including

anti-cult 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 ...

anti-religious Antireligion is opposition to religion or traditional religious beliefs and practices. It involves opposition to organized religion, religious practices or religious institutions. The term ''antireligion'' has also been used to describe oppos ...

bias, predominance of deprogrammed individuals in the sample, and the fact that some of the people in the sample were receiving therapy while in the clinical trial.James R. Lewis and David G. Bromley
"The Cult Withdrawal Syndrome: A Case of Misattribution of Cause?"
''Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion'' 26, no. 4 (1987): 508–22. Esp. 510n2.

References

{{Authority control 1978 non-fiction books Books about cults Books about religion Works about personality Books about mind control English-language non-fiction books