Misunderstanding cults: searching for objectivity in a controversial field

Preface  Caveat  Introduction:  Finding a Middle Ground in a Polarized Scholarly Arena Benjamin Zablocki and Thomas Robbins  PART ONE: HOW OBJECTIVE ARE THE SCHOLARS? *'O  Truant Muse': Collaborationist!! and Research Integrity Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi* Balance and Fairness in the Study of  Alternative Religions Thomas Robbins* Caught Up in the Cult Wars: Confessions of a Canadian Researcher Susan ]. Palmer* Pitfalls in the Sociological Study of Cults Janja  Lalich  PART TWO: HOW  CONSTRAINED ARE THE PARTICIPANTS? * Towards a Demystified and Disinterested Scientific Theory of Brainwashing Benjamin Zablocki* Tactical Ambiguity and Brainwashing  Formulations: Science or Pseudo Science Dick Anthony* A Tale of Two Theories: Brainwashing and  Conversion as Competing Political Narratives  David Bromley* Brainwashing Programs in The Family/Children of God and Scientology Stephen A. Kent* Raising Lazarus: A Methodological Critique of  Stephen Kent's Revival of the Brainwashing Model Lome L. Dawson* Compelling Evidence: A Rejoinder to Lome Dawson's Chapter Stephen A. Kent PART THREE: HOW CONCERNED SHOULD SOCIETY BE? * Child-Rearing Issues in Totalist Groups  Amy Siskind* Contested Narratives: A Case Shady of the Conflict Between a New Religious  Movement and Its Critics Julius H. Rubin* The Roots of Religious Violence in America  Jeffrey Kaplan Appendix Contributors