New international interactions caused the development of new generations that, in turn, gave rise to increased cults and cultic activities. Some cults are beneficial to the society while some are harmful and destructive to an individual, their relatives and the community at large. The common traits that can be associated with destructive cults include having a charismatic leader. This group is excluded and opposing traditional ideas, isolation form members who are not of the cult and loyalty to rituals (MacHovec, 1992). Members of a given cult have a total submission to the leader who they believe have special skills, power, and knowledge. For one to be a member of a cult, they should be fully willing to completely obey the leader and be fully loyal to the teachings and rituals. Cults have a significant influence on their members’ social life and phycology. Belonging to a sect affects how one related to their family, friends and the entire society. Cults also influence an individual’s mentality, physical wellbeing, and their behaviour. Destructive cults, therefore, have adverse effects on society.
Members involved in a cult disassociate with their original families. When a member joins a cult, they become engrossed with their newly-found families who are other members in the cult and in so doing, they cut ties with their origins. Most people who join cults come from dysfunctional families. Dysfunctional families could be due to harsh parents, strict rules and less emotional attachments. Such families make a child seek a feeling of love and understanding by other means due to negative emotional development ( Harskins-Winner et al., 2011). Many children who are raised in such families of the poor parent-child attachment end up joining cults. Cults provide such children with a feeling of acceptance acting as a replacement of the original family. In the process of joining the cults, individuals are made to feel like the original family and all people outside the cult as evil while the cult leaders, teachings and individuals are perfect. The lessons compromise the way individuals associate with their families and other non-believers, and they only associate with members of the same cult. Individuals create new groups within the sect, and they develop issues with their families of origin, judging everything about them. With this symbolic interactionism, individuals reflect the nature of their cult by their change in behaviour.
Besides affecting an individual’s relationship, cults also affect the way one associates with the larger society. The relationship between a cult member and the community is destructed since “cults provide isolation from the world and self, induction of a dissociative state, and indoctrination techniques that criticize the non-cult world and reinforce the exclusive closed system” (Robinson, Frye, & Bradley, 1997). Cult’s teachings can make people move to a secluded area without communicating with their friends and family. The followers of the Peoples Temple, for instance, moved to Jonestown, Guyana, a secluded place without notifying their families in America (Nelson Jr., 2006). Cults minimize the communications that their members have with the out world. Cults achieve the control of communication by controlling access to sources of information like books, TV channels and programs, magazines and other media. Since the information that the cult members are allowed to access is censored, then this affects the way members of different cults associate with their families, friends, and the entire society that is outside the cult.
Cults also have an effect on the physical state of their members. The activities that most cults subject to their members make individuals suffer from different physical traits like poor nutrition, insufficient or complete lack of medical attention, hormonal imbalance, delayed response, and poor posture (Robinson et al., 1997). Some cults subject people to long periods of fasting, denying them enough food that needs to sustain their energy levels and dietary needs. Some sects also dictate the diet of their members by convincing them to take only a given variety of food, which is acceptable, and this makes people lack sufficient nutrition needed by the body. Other cults, for instance, People’s Temple, often subject their members to long working hours and short sleeping hours, disregarding their health (Nelson Jr., 2006). Some cults do not allow their members to seek medical attention as they see it as evil. They only trust in divine healing or use of medicines, which has led people to die or live with life-threatening health conditions. The cults make their members believe that their physical wellbeing is not a significant matter to consider, and they should only be worried about serving their cult.
Many cults also abuse their members, and this also affects the physical wellbeing of their members. While in Jonestown, Jones, who was leading People’s Temple, saw that those people who dared question his authority be put in coffin-sized boxes that were underground. In public meetings, members of Jones’ cult were beaten, spanked, and slapped. Subjecting people to such aggressive behaviour and pain affects not only an individual’s physical state but also their mentality. Cults have also led to the loss of lives. Jones convinced his masses to take poison so that they could die in peace. Since followers should not question the authority and the teachings of their leaders, 900 people took poison and died as instructed. Children in cults are also abused physically and mentally, and this can be a cause of dissociative disorders. Jones punished children by ordering them to be suspended with their heads facing down if they showed any signs of missing their homes, stole, or engaged in regular childhood routines. Child abuse and lack of healthy child socialization made children have abnormal development, and they find trouble fitting in society.
The punishments and mistreatments affect the mental health of cult members. Research shows that “former cult members display ego deficits of impaired intellectual functioning, temporary states of altered consciousness, and impaired memory” (Robinson, Frye, & Bradley, 1997). Cults humiliate and shame the members that break any single rule of the cult. The punishments, according to the cults, are a way of making people more reliable and loyal to the cult. Shaming someone has adverse effects on their mental health since it makes someone feel that they are lesser human beings. People lose self-esteem and self-confidence when they are regularly and publicly humiliated. The effects that follow such treatments can lead to depression, suicidal thoughts, and violent actions that affect the individual and the whole society. The teachings and conversion processes also affect the ability of the individual to interact with society when they get out of the cult. Such people have trouble reconnecting with their families and friends, and they need the help of professionals to be able to fit back into society. The way one thinks feels and acts gets altered by the manipulation and alterations that they were subjected to.
Cult involvement also affects a person’s self-development. When one joins a cult, they become so much into the activities of the church until they forget to develop their own
careers and finances. Cults teach that financial wellbeing comes from the supernatural being that they serve; therefore, people should only commit their services to their worship, and all their needs will be met. People are convinced about serving the cult that they go to the extent of living their jobs in the name of dedicating their service to the cult. Ironically, most of the church leaders are rich, and they lead a very classy life from the hard work and the finances that come from their members while the members suffer in poverty. The cults also advise people to channel their money to the service of the cults and wait for blessings in return. The rituals and practices of cults influence the members’ behaviours to do as the leaders say (Haskings-Winner, 2011). Jones, for instance, manipulated members of Peoples Temple to sell their homes and offer the money to the cult. In exchange, they would be taken care of by the church. Cults expect members to give part or all their earnings to the activities or the leadership of the cult. In so doing, people lack the mindset of developing their careers and financial capabilities since they have been convinced that it does not matter and should not be given too much thought.
Cults affect their members’ relationships, way of thinking, and their physical and mental health. Being a member of a cult influences many factors in the society and the psychology of individuals that affects every aspect of their life. Peoples Temple has seen people die in large numbers due to believing in a cult. Different cults keep rising with the rise of generations. Technological advancements have provided means that people can access information about the dangers of joining a cult. However, the same technology has provided a means for the cults to recruit members. Technology has made communication easy. Since many people use the internet, the ults might reduce in numbers, or they can also increase depending on the information people choose to access.