The following is my take on one of the cult psychology texts mentioned in The Running Grave, and what we see echoed in the depiction of the UHC in the first 11 chapters. Spoilers to follow, and are written in BLUE.
Disclaimer: I have a doctorate in psychology and taught it at the university level for 23 years. I am also a licensed behavior analyst, and thus have an academic background in the science of behavior change. I am not, however, certified in either clinical or counseling psychology.
The first of two books Prudence recommended to Robin was Steve Hassan's Combating Cult Mind Control. The author has an interesting history: he himself was recruited into the Unification Church as c college student and spent more than two years in the organization. He credits his parents for rescuing him; after Hassan broke his leg in a bad car accident, he was persuaded to come home for a visit, and while his mobility was impaired, his parents brought in a team of "deprogrammers"-- counselors and former Moonies, who, with difficulty, persuaded him to leave.
Hassan is best known for the BITE model of authoritarian control , a four-pronged model that describes the elements a cult will attempt to control in order to break down a recruit's will: Behavior, Information, Thought and Emotion. The strategy is, get control over one of those and control of the others will follow. Looking at the UHC in the preview, we can already see a number of elements of Hassan's model turning up.
- Behavior Control
- Isolation, control of where person's physical reality.
- The UHC has many members isolated at Chapman Farm, but will send them to other centers as needed.
- Kevin and his mother were subject to hard physical labor and largely confined to the farm.
- Will's parents were not allowed to see him in person.
- Control clothing and hairstyles.
- Kevin spoke of having to wear tracksuits, all the time while the leadership wore robes.
- Control of diet.
- The UHC apparently mandates fasting; Will reportedly lost a lot of weight and was "emaciated."
- Financial exploitation or manipulation.
- Will gave large amounts of his trust fund to the UHC.
- Other recruits work long hours for little or no pay.
- Rewards and punishments.
- Kevin reported being tied to a tree overnight as a child.
- Kevin's mother was assigned to worse jobs after Mazu discoevered she was sleeping with Papa J.
- Rape.
- Deidre was reportedly raped by Papa J, then expelled for reporting it,
- Separation of families.
- Children raised by community, relationship with parents is distant. They call parents by first name.
- Information Control
- Deception
- UHC Presentation suggests the church is compatible with a variety of mainstream faiths. Presumably the stranger parts, like worshipping a drowned child, won't be revealed until later.
- UHC claims Mazu was the only person affiliated with the old Aylmerton Community. However, two of their now-deceased "prophets" lived on the property before the commune was shut down.
- Minimize access to non-cult sources of information.
- Will's parents can only communicate with him through hand-written letters.
- Access to education limited for children and dominated by UHC teachings.
- Kevin's mom had to secretly teach them math.
- Compartmentalize information into "Insider" and "Outsider."
- Will was encouraged to dismiss his autism diagnosis.
- Will was encouraged to reject his parents' lifestyle and see them as the enemy.
- Thought Control
- Require members to internalize group doctrine as truth.
- Will's "black and white" fit in well with the UHC doctrine.
- Use of thought-stopping techniques.
- Members are taught to chant to block out words of people who challenge them or question cult doctrine.
- Instead of explaining events rationally (e.g., number 48 on jersey was coincidence), people are encouraged to thinking of it as divine intervention.
- Emotional control
- Manipulate emotions.
- Presentation takes people rapidly from happy, upbeat music and images to tear-jerker stories.
- Instill fear.
- Alexander Graves was so fearful of being outside UHC that he committed suicide.
- Kevin describes being afraid he would die if he left.
- Emotional highs and lows:
- Kevin's mother could be both favored (Papa J's lover) then subject to humiliation and punishment in a short time frame.
- Phobia indoctrination: instilling irrational fears about leaving group or questioning leader.
- Alexander Graves chose to die rather let himself be "deprogrammed."
- Kevin terrified after hearing Papa J accused of rape and says he wished he had never heard.
One of the most interesting bits was the concept of the cult creating an alternative "cult-self" in their recruits that differs from the authentic self. One sign of the cult self is that the person's "eyes will tend to strike family members as glassy, cold or glazed, and will often seem to stare through people." Oddly, we have seen one character described exactly that way, but not one we expect to be involved with the UHC; Robin thinks Charlotte Campbell looks "strangely glassy-eyed and blank" in her press photos, which is an odd thing for Robin to notice given how little she knows of Charlotte. At first glance, it seems impossible to think that Charlotte could be involved in the cult. For one thing, it seems too coincidental that both she and April Wardle would have a connection to the same cult. But, there is one possibility that would take the coincidence factor away/
We know the Edensors got their recommendation of Strike and Robin from the Chiswells. We also know Charlotte and Izzy are friends. We don't know how long the family has been considering a detective or when they might have talked to Izzy about the agency. But, if Izzy knew that Strike was going to be asked to investigate, and told Charlotte, could Charlotte have then sought out the cult herself, in the hopes that Strike would find and rescue her? We don't know if she was aware of the Norfolk commune of Strike's past or could make the connection to the UHC of today. if she did, she would probably know that he wouldn't be able to resist taking the case. We do know that Strike told her aspects of his childhood, like his first visit to see Rokeby, that he never told anyone else, so it is possible she is one of the few, besides Lucy, to know.
I could certainly see Charlotte falling for mind control techniques easier than Robin would. Overall, I think it is very unlikely anything will come of this, but it was worth throwing out the possibility, given the similar descriptions.
In any case, reading this book will definitely inform your reading of TRG. While I purchased and enjoyed the 30th anniversary edition of the book (published in 2018), which includes both updated information and recommendations (Hassan now prefers the term "undue influence" to "mind control" and opposes forced interventions except in life-threatening circumstances), the 1990 version is available online for anyone who wants to take a look.
What other aspects of "cult mind control" are apparent?
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