1st Edition

Psychiatry and the Cults An Annotated Bibliography

By John A. Saliba Copyright 1987
    644 Pages
    by Routledge

    644 Pages
    by Routledge

    Originally published in 1987, this title was compiled in response to the concern, in some segments of society, about the presence of new religious movements in the West in the second half of the twentieth century. There are lots of psychological questions surrounding cults and the influence they have over their members. These questions have been operative in the accumulation of this annotated bibliography, which was intended primarily as a reference guide for psychiatrists and counsellors who advise cult members, ex-cult members and their bewildered parents, and lawyers who use psychiatric arguments in the courts.

    Acknowledgements.  Preface: The Nature and Scope of this Study.  Introduction: The Debate on the Cults in Current Psychiatric and Psychological Literature: An Assessment  1. Sources for the Study of Psychiatry and the Cults  2. Psychiatry and the Cults in Historical Perspective  3. Psychiatric and the Cults in Cross-Cultural Perspective  4. Current Psychological and Psychiatric Studies on the New Cults.  Author Index.  Subject Index.

    Biography

    John A. Saliba is a Maltese-born Jesuit priest, a professor of religious studies at the University of Detroit Mercy and a noted writer and researcher in the field of new religious movements. Saliba has advocated a conciliatory approach towards new religions. He has argued that membership in such movements can serve as a temporary haven for young adults in a formative stage of their lives, and is not necessarily detrimental. He has been critical of the brainwashing concept espoused by the anti-cult movement.