Faculty Bibliography

This project was designed to study the psychological nature of compliance with unusual behavioral norms among members of a charismatic religious sect. Three hundred twenty-one members of the Unification Church had been placed into marital engagement a year previously in a highly unusual fashion: their partners were assigned to them by the group's leader as part of a religious ritual. The abrogation of contemporary norms for mate selection was not associated with increased psychological distress. Church-related life experiences, however, were perceived as being of considerable psychological impact. Multiple regression analyses further revealed that the vulnerability of respondents to perceived life disruption was relived by their affiliation to the sect. This 'relief effect,' associated with social and religious ties to the sect, apparently reinforces compliance with the group's behavorial norms, particularly since the manner of reinforcement is integrated into the social structure of the group

Of 66 persons who left the Unification Church (the 'Moonies'), twenty-three (36%) reported that they had had serious emotional problems after leaving. After an average of 3.8 years, however, the former members studied here had apparently achieved a stable adjustment. Most of them retained a notable fidelity toward the sect and its beliefs, but those who had been 'deprogrammed' had more negative views and themselves had coerced other members to leave. The author examines the impact of group membership on individual development and looks at departure in relation to the psychopathology, such as depression and paranoid ideation, that may emerge

Presents an approach based on learning theory that is designed to enhance the effectiveness of psychotherapy for patients who abuse alcohol and other drugs. Until recently, psychotherapy has been thought to have only limited effectiveness in the treatment of alcohol and drug abuse. The proposed model of conditioned abstinence is used to clarify 2 characteristic clinical phenomena in addictive illness: the considerable vulnerability to relapse and the loss of control over quantity consumed. Techniques for extinguishing the conditioned cues that underline these phenomena are discussed. It is contended that certain conditioned drinking or drug abuse behaviors can be extinguished if the appropriate extinguishing stimulus is presented in a systematic way. By means of guided recall in a psychotherapeutic context, clients can become aware of the sequence of action of the CS and can label the CS themselves. Clinical examples are provided to illustrate various applications of this approach.