The Wrong Way Home (book)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Book cover, 1994 paperback edition |
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| Author | Arthur J. Deikman, M.D. |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Subject(s) | cults |
| Genre(s) | non-fiction psychiatry |
| Publisher | Beacon Press |
| Released | September 1994 |
| Media type | paperback |
| Pages | 208 |
| ISBN | ISBN-13 978-0807029152 |
| Preceded by | The Observing Self (book) |
| Followed by | Them and Us: Cult Thinking and the Terrorist Threat (book) |
The Wrong Way Home: Uncovering the Patterns of Cult Behavior in American Society, is a book on cult culture within the United States, written by Arthur J. Deikman, M.D.. The book was originally published in hardcover format in December 1990 by Beacon Press, and reprinted in paperback form September 1994. Dr. Deikman is a professor of psychiatry at University of California, San Francisco, and editor of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology[1].
The book is used as part of the curriculum for the course "Cults and New Religious Movements" at St. Francis Xavier University[2]. It is a cited reference for the article "Self-Sealing Doctrines, the Misuse of Power, and Recovered Memory", by psychologist Linda Riebel[3]. It is a cited reference in the Encyclopedia of Psychology, and is quoted in the article on cults, where the article asserts that: "Certain types of political groups and terrorist organizations are still other examples of "cults" that defy the common definition of the term."[4].
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[edit] Reviews
The book was reviewed by Robert L. Boyd, Ph.D. in Social Science Quarterly[5]. It was reviewed in The Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, by Larry J. Halford[6], in the Library Journal, by Lucy Patrick.
Patrick wrote in her review: Although we live in a democracy, cult behavior manifests itself in our unwillingness to question the judgment of our leaders, our tendency to devalue outsiders and to avoid dissent. We can overcome cult behavior, he says, by recognizing that we have dependency needs that are inappropriate for mature people, by increasing anti-authoritarian education, and by encouraging personal autonomy and the free exchange of ideas.[7],
Genevieve Stuttaford wrote in Publishers Weekly that: Although Deikman sometimes stretches the analogy of cult behavior too far, his provocative book uncovers a psychopathology of everyday life in a discerning analysis.[8].
[edit] References
- ^ Sage Publications, Arthur Deikman, Affiliations: School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco.
- ^ "Cults and New Religious Movements", Dr. Annette J. Ahern, St. Francis Xavier University, RELS 225/SOCI 226, Section 11.
- ^ "Self-Sealing Doctrines, the Misuse of Power, and Recovered Memory", Linda Riebel, Transactional Analysis Journal, vol. 26, no. 1, January 1996, pp. 40-45.
- ^ Cults, Encyclopedia of Psychology.
Dr. Arthur Deikman, clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California at San Francisco, is one of many psychologists who has observed cultic behavior in many areas of society other than in extremist religious groups. In the introduction to his 1990 book, The Wrong Way Home: Uncovering the Patterns of Cult Behavior in American Society, Deikman asserted that "behavior similar to that which takes place in extreme cults takes place in all of us," and suggested that "the longing for parents persists into adulthood and results in cult behavior that pervades normal society." - ^ Social Science Quarterly, 72, (1991):863-864
- ^ The Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion March 1992 v31 n1 p108(2).
- ^ Library Journal Dec 1990 v115 n21 p144(1) Mag.Coll.: 58A2543.
- ^ Nov 9, 1990 v237 n45 p52(1) Mag.Coll.: 57H3633. Bus.Coll.: 54U0203.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Dr. Arthur Deikman, author's personal website
- Interviewed at his home by DC on December 21, 1997, Crooked Cucumber
- Arthur Deikman on Mystic Experience, "Mystic Experience and Two Modes of Consciousness", adapted from the work of Arthur J. Deikman, M.D.
- Article, Journal of Consciousness Studies, 1996
- The Human Givens Institute, "Exploring the Cult in Culture"
