Janja Lalich ( born 1945) is an American sociologist and writer. Lalich is an expert on cults and

coercion Coercion involves compelling a party to act in an involuntary manner through the use of threats, including threats to use force against that party. It involves a set of forceful actions which violate the free will of an individual in order to i ...

charismatic authority In the field of sociology, charismatic authority is a concept of organizational leadership wherein the authority of the leader derives from the personal charisma of the leader. In the tripartite classification of authority, the sociologist Max We ...

, power relations,

ideology An ideology is a set of beliefs or values attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely about belief in certain knowledge, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones". Form ...

and

social control Social control is the regulations, sanctions, mechanisms, and systems that restrict the behaviour of individuals in accordance with social norms and orders. Through both informal and formal means, individuals and groups exercise social con ...

. She is a professor emerita of

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

at the California State University, Chico.

Early life and education

The daughter of Serbian immigrants, Lalich was born in 1945. Lalich has 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 ...

in Human and Organizational Systems from

Fielding Graduate University Fielding Graduate University (previously Fielding Graduate Institute and The Fielding Institute) is a Private university, private Postgraduate education, graduate-level university in Santa Barbara, California. It offers postgraduate and doctoral ...

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...

. Beginning in the 1970s, Lalich spent around ten years as part of a radical Marxist-Leninist group, the Democratic Workers Party, which she later came to view as 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 ...

. Lalich recalls that during her time in the group she stored questions and doubts in the back of her mind, unable to express them. Lalich became a high-ranking member of the group working long hours with little contact outside the immediate members. She claims that ex-members were harassed and attacked and that she felt increasingly threatened. Eventually, the group dissolved and she was able to leave.

Career

Lalich is a professor in the sociology department of California State University, Chico, and has contributed several articles to

academic journals An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. They serve as permanent and transparent forums for the dissemination, scr ...

on the subject of cults and

religions Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural, t ...

. After her experiences in a radical political group that she identifies as a cult, she founded the Center for Research on Influence and Control. In her work, she describes the main features of a " totalistic" control group or cult: "They 'espouse an all-encompassing belief system', 'exhibit excessive devotion to the leader', 'avoid criticism of the group and its leader', and 'feel disdain for non-members'." Lalich went on to write several books on the subject of cults, including her best known book, '' Bounded Choice'' (2004), based on Heaven's Gate. As a recognized international authority in the field, Lalich has also appeared in several court cases as an

expert witness An expert witness, particularly in common law countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, is a person whose opinion by virtue of education, training, certification, skills or experience, is accepted by the judge as ...

on coercive control or

undue influence Undue influence (UI) is a psychological process by which a person's free will and judgement is supplanted by that of another. It is a legal term and the strict definition varies by jurisdiction. Generally speaking, it is a means by which a person ...

. In 2007, Lalich was awarded the Margaret L. Singer Award: "for advancing the understanding of coercive persuasion, undue influence, and psychological manipulation" by the

International Cultic Studies Association The International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) is a non-profit educational and anti-cult organization. It publishes the ''International Journal of Coercion, Abuse, and Manipulation'', "ICSA Today", and other materials. History ICSA was fo ...

Bibliography

* '' Captive Hearts, Captive Minds'' * '' Cults in Our Midst'' * '' Crazy Therapies'' * '' Misunderstanding Cults'', contributor * ''Take Back Your Life'' * ''Escaping Utopia: Growing Up in a Cult, Getting Out, and Starting Over''

References

External links

YouTube - Why do people join cults? - Janja Lalich , TED-Ed
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YouTube - Former Cult Member Answers Cult Questions From Twitter , Tech Support , WIRED
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lalich, Janine 1945 births Living people Researchers of new religious movements and cults Critics of new religious movements American people of Serbian descent People from Chico, California California State University, Chico faculty American women sociologists American sociologists Mind control theorists 21st-century American women academics 21st-century American academics Former Marxists 21st-century American women scientists