City Research Online City, University of London Institutional Repository Citation: Walsh, Y,S. (2009). A Qualitative Exploration of Cultic Experience in Relation to Mental Health Difficulties. (Unpublished Doctoral thesis, City, University of London) This is the accepted version of the paper. This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. Permanent repository link: https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/17666/ Link to published version: Copyright: City Research Online aims to make research outputs of City, University of London available to a wider audience. Copyright and Moral Rights remain with the author(s) and/or copyright holders. URLs from City Research Online may be freely distributed and linked to. Reuse: Copies of full items can be used for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge. Provided that the authors, title and full bibliographic details are credited, a hyperlink and/or URL is given for the original metadata page and the content is not changed in any way. City Research Online: http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/ [email protected] A Qualitative Exploration of Cultic Experience in Relation to Mental Health Difficulties Yvonne Susan Walsh Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Counselling Psychology City University School of Social Sciences August 2009 Table of Contents .................................................................................... Page No Table of Contents... ................................................................................................2 List of Figures, Diagrams and Tables.....................................................................10 Table of Appendices..............................................................................................11 Acknowledgements ..............................................................................................12 Permission Statement:...........................................................................................13 Abstract..................................................................................................................14 Chapter 1 Introduction, the Context for the Research, Defining the Groups to be Studied, and the Research Questions ...................................15 1 Introduction: the Author’s Perspective ................................................15 2 The Context for the Research.............................................................17 2.1 Elements of Risk to Group Members and the Wider Society ..................17 2.2 Evidence of Risk to the Wider Society....................................................18 3 The Research Questions....................................................................20 4 The Format of this Thesis...................................................................22 4.1 The Structure of this Thesis....................................................................23 5 Some Definitions ................................................................................24 5.1 The Designation of the Groups to be Studied.........................................24 5.2 Cult and Culture .....................................................................................25 5.2.1 An Anthropological Exploration..........................................................25 5.2.2 Applying an Anthropological Definition................................................27 5.2.3 Cultures or Sub-Cultures ....................................................................28 5.3 Cults.......................................................................................................30 5.4 Cults in Relation to the Nature of Religion ..............................................30 5.5 Summary of the Primary Definition of Groups Studied in this Thesis ......31 5.6 Psychosocial and Psychological Processes ...........................................32 6 Summary of Chapter ..........................................................................33 2 Chapter 2 Methodological Approach ................................................................35 1 Research Methods within Counselling Psychology Research.............35 1.1 Responsibility for Challenging Contemporary Definitions of Evidence ....35 1.2 Studying the Groups Investigated here as Separate Cultures.................36 1.3 An Appropriate Research Paradigm .......................................................38 2 Using Grounded Theory .....................................................................39 2.1 Differentiating between Glaser’s Classical Grounded Theory and Strauss and Corbin’s Grounded Theory ..............................................................39 2.2 Constructivist Grounded Theory .............................................................40 2.3 The Choice of which Grounded Theory to use for this Research............41 2.4 Using Classical Grounded Theory ..........................................................42 4 The Data Set: All Is Data ....................................................................43 4.1 The Researcher’s Knowledge and Experience as Data..........................44 4.2 Using the Researchers Internal Data......................................................45 4.3 Researcher’s Biographical Note ............................................................46 4.4 Researcher’s Prior Work on this Topic ...................................................47 4.5 Choice of Texts for this Study.................................................................49 4.6 A Developmental Choice of Data............................................................49 4.7 A Glossarial Note on Glaser’s Typology of Data.....................................50 5 How the Theory Emerges...................................................................50 5.1 Transforming the Data............................................................................51 6 Summary of Chapter.............................................................................52 7 An Addendum to this Section ......................................................................53 Chapter 3 Using Classical Grounded Theory to Develop a Grounded Theory of the Psychosocial Processes within the Groups Studied Here ..55 1 The Context for the Study...................................................................55 1.1 Criticism Levied Against Previous Research into Psychosocial Processes within the ‘Cultic’ Experience ................................................55 1.2 Addressing this Criticism ........................................................................55 2 Rationale for the Selection of the Texts Used in this Study.................56 3 Ethical Considerations Concerning Data Selection.............................57 4 Data Used in this Study ......................................................................58 3 4.1 Nine Original Sources of Data ................................................................59 4.2 Further Sources of Data .........................................................................61 5 The Emergent Categories...................................................................62 5.1 The First Category: Configuration...........................................................66 5.1.1 Fulfilling a Mission ..............................................................................66 5.1.2 Characteristics....................................................................................67 5.1.3 Structure.............................................................................................68 5.1.4 Summarising the Meta-Category Configuration ..................................69 5.2 The Second Meta-Category: Trancendency ...........................................69 5.2.1 Special People in a Special Group .....................................................70 5.2.2 Special Rules .....................................................................................71 5.2.3 Special Knowledge.............................................................................72 5.2.4 Special Powers...................................................................................74 5.2.5 Summarising the Meta-Category Transcendency ...............................74 5.3 The Third Meta-Category: Reciprocation................................................75 5.3.1 Responsibility .....................................................................................75 5.3.2 Leadership .........................................................................................76 5.3.3 Each One Teach One.........................................................................77 5.3.4 Summarising the Meta-Category: Reciprocation.................................78 5.4 The Fourth Meta-Category: Opposing Forces ........................................79 5.4.1 Hope...................................................................................................79 5.4.2 Fear....................................................................................................80 5.4.3 Summarising the Meta-Category: Opposing Forces ...........................80 5.5 The Fifth Meta-Category: Ascendancy ...................................................81 5.5.1 Indoctrination......................................................................................81 5.5.2 Obedience..........................................................................................82 5.5.3 Conformity..........................................................................................83