What is a cult? Why do they emerge? Who joins them? And why do tragedies such as Waco and Jonestown occur? This reader brings together the voices of historians, sociologists, and psychologists of religion to address these key questions about new religious movements. \\Looks at theoretical explanations for cults, why people join and what happens when they do. \\Brings together the best work on cults by sociologists, historians, and psychologists of religion. \\A broad-ranging, balanced and clearly organized collection of readings. \\Includes coverage of topical issues, such as the 'brainwashing' controversy, and cults in cyberspace. \\Section introductions by the editor situate the nature, value, and relevance of the selected readings in context of current discussions.\Show More \Show Less.

The scientific study of religion? You must be joking! / Eileen Barker -- The continuum between "cults" and "normal" religion / James A. Beckford -- Three types of new religious movement / Roy Wallis -- Cult formation: three compatible models / William Sims Bainbridge and Rodney Stark -- False prophets and deluded subjects: the nineteenth century / Philip Jenkins -- The new spiritual freedom / Robert Wuthnow -- Who joins new religious movements and why: twenty years of research and what have we learned? / Lorne L. Dawson -- The joiners / Saul Levine -- The process of brainwashing, psychological coercion, and thought reform / Margaret Thaler Singer -- A critique of "brainwashing" claims about new religious movements / James T. Richardson -- Constructing cultist "mind control" / Rhomas Robbins -- The apocalypse at Jonestown / John R. Hall -- "Our terrestrial journey is coming to an end": the last voyage of the Solar Temple / Jean-François Mayer -- Women in new religious movements / Elizabeth Puttick -- Women's "cocoon work" in new religious movements: sexual experimentation and feminine rites of passage / Susan J. Palmer -- Why religious movements succeed or fail: a revised general model / Rodney Stark -- New religious and the internet: recruiting in a new public space / Lorne L. Dawson and Jenna Hennebry.