I read the article Biderman’s Chart of Coercion. It gives the process of how cults slowly get people to join and completely agree with them. It starts with isolation where the cults try and make a person believe they are the only ones who will love them and support them. That they need to forsake all their friends and families outside of said cult. Which will then lead that person to have to depend on said cult for everything. If you have no one to turn to besides them then you might not be able to leave. Then they have you monopolize your perception. They start forcing rules and guidelines that in the beginning where bad or you don’t agree with but then you would start to agree with either because others already do or simply start to just not think it’s that serious to not agree and just go along with it. When one doesn’t, they can be publicly humiliated or chastised, which can lead to punishments from the group or its leader. The other steps are making a person feel fear or overwhelmed by not meeting said demands of the cult. Then if you want to leave, they will try and give you the hope or belief that it isn’t that bad or it will get better. Finally devaluing the person so they depend on the cult and feel they have no faith in one’s own capability. I learned how hard it is to even make the attempt to leave. So many factors play on a person’s mental, emotional, and physical health that it can leave one hopeless. If you believe that everything outside is worse than what’s inside then why leave? Then using our natural instincts to socialize against us by isolating them so their own way to socialize is the cult or so they believe, makes leaving even more frightening.
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I believed this was how a cult got people to stick with them no matter the circumstances. The cult would manipulate people in many ways to get them to stay and continue supporting the cult.