Michael Langone

Langone received his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from University of California, Santa Barbara in 1979, where he was a Regents Fellow for three years, and he began his work in cults in 1978.{{rp|x}} Langone defines a cult as "a group or movement exhibiting a great or excessive devotion or dedication to some person, idea, or thing, and employing unethically manipulative techniques of persuasion and control designed to advance the goals of the group’s leader, to the actual or possible detriment of members, their families, or the community".[http://www.csj.org/studyindex/studycult/cultqa1.htm Cults Questions and Answers] Langone, Michael, 1988 {{Dead link|date=August 2022}} Langone joined the American Family Foundation in 1981, the organization later changed its name to the International Cultic Studies Association.

In 1984 he became the editor of the American Family Foundation's house publication, Cultic Studies Journal.{{Cite journal |last1=Langone |first1=Michael |title=To the reader |journal=Cultic Studies Journal |date=May 1984 |volume=1 |issue=1 |page=3}} The journal ceased publication in 2001 and was replaced with Cultic Studies Review as an online journal with triennial print editions.{{Cite journal |last1=Langone |first1=Michael |title=Introduction to Inaugural Issue |journal=Cultic Studies Review |date=2002 |volume=1 |issue=1 |page=5}}

In his book Recovering from Cults, Langone writes that cults "need not be religious in nature but may be psycho-therapeutic, political, or commercial".{{Cite book |editor1-last=Langone |editor1-first=Michael D. |title=Recovery from cults : help for victims of psychological and spiritual abuse |date=1994 |publisher=W.W. Norton |location=New York |isbn=978-0393701647 |page=introduction |url=https://archive.org/details/recoveryfromcult00mich }} In his writings, Langone argues that new religions conflict with traditional American beliefs and have to be considered objectionable for that reason, stating that he makes no apologies "for evaluating cults in terms of fundamental American values, which I have imbibed, examined and accepted."{{Cite book |last=Anthony |first=Dick |author-link=Dick Anthony |title=Misunderstanding Cults: Searching for Objectivity in a Controversial Field |title-link=Misunderstanding Cults |publisher=University of Toronto Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-8020-8188-9 |editor-last=Zablocki |editor-first=Benjamin |editor-link=Benjamin Zablocki |page=303 |language=en |chapter=Tactical Ambiguity and Brainwashing Formulations: Science or Pseudo-Science? |editor-last2=Robbins |editor-first2=Thomas |editor-link2=Thomas Robbins (sociologist)}}

The former American Family Foundation, headed by Langone, is described as offering the most public support for the mind-control theory through its Cultic Studies Journal.{{Cite book |author1=Anson D. Shupe |author-link1=Anson D. Shupe |author2=William A. Stacey |author3=Susan E. Darnell |title=Bad Pastors: Clergy Misconduct in Modern America |url=https://archive.org/details/badpastors_xxxx_2000_000_7460925 |url-access=registration |year=2000 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=978-0814781470 |page=[https://archive.org/details/badpastors_xxxx_2000_000_7460925/page/n186 173]}} The theory is seen by researchers as a propaganda device used by the anti-cult movement to rationalize the persecution of minority religious groups.{{Cite journal |first1=Dick |title=Pseudoscience and Minority Religions: An Evaluation of the Brainwashing Theories of Jean-Marie Abgrall |journal=Social Justice Research |last1=Anthony |s2cid=140454555 |year=1999 |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=421–456 |issn=0885-7466 |doi=10.1023/A:1022081411463}}

• {{Cite book |editor1-last=Langone |editor1-first=Michael D. |title=Recovery from Cults : Help for victims of psychological and spiritual abuse |date= 1994 |publisher=W.W. Norton |location=New York |isbn=978-0393701647 |url=https://archive.org/details/recoveryfromcult00mich }}
• {{Cite book |last1=Ross |first1=Joan Carol |last2=Langone |first2=Michael D. |title=Cults : what parents should know : a practical guide to help parents with children in destructive groups |date=September 1989 |publisher=Carol Pub. Group |location=New York |isbn=978-0818405112}}
• {{Cite web |last1=Langone |first1=Michael D. |title=Clinical Update on Cults |url=http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/articles/clinical-update-cults |website=psychiatrictimes.com |access-date=February 19, 2015 |date=July 1, 1996}}
• {{Cite journal |last1=Langone |first1=Michael D. |title=Working with cult-affected families. |journal=Psychiatric Annals |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=194–198 |date=April 1990 |doi=10.3928/0048-5713-19900401-07 }}

• Anti-cult movement
• List of cult and new religious movement researchers
• Recovering from Cults: Help for Victims of Psychological and Spiritual Abuse

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20180813074211/http://www.icsahome.com/elibrary/peopleprofiles Profile – International Cultic Studies Association]

{{Opposition to NRMs}}

{{New Religious Movements}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Langone, Michael D.}}

Category:Living people

Category:21st-century American psychologists

Category:Researchers of new religious movements and cults

Category:Critics of new religious movements

Category:1947 births

Category:Mind control theorists

Category:20th-century American psychologists