- Bion, W.R. Experiences in Groups and other Papers. New York: Routledge, Chapman & Hall, 1961. Bion, a psychiatrist who studied group dynamics during wartime, identified many important group dynamics particularly dealing with group therapy issues.

- Bloom, Allan. The Closing of the American Mind. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987. A penetrating look at how modern Western society has impacted our educational system, distorted our values and reinforced false collective images and ideals.

- Bly, Robert. A Little Book on the Human Shadow. New York: Harper Collins, 1988. Only Robert Bly could so effortlessly expose our collective shadow-making with such poetic eloquence. If you've ever sat at the feet of a guru, you need to read this book.

- Bly, ed. The Kabir Book. Toronto: Beacon Press Books, 1977. Want to be totally confused about the spiritual life? Read Kabir's poetry.

- Booth, Leo. When God Becomes a Drug, Breaking the Chains of Religious Addiction and Abuse. Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher, 1991. Booth, an Episcopal priest, exposes the dark side of 12-Step programs, showing how they become cult-like groups that trap individuals. He also shows how people become religious addicts.

- Breggin, Peter R. and Ginger R. Breggin. Talking Back to Prozac; What Doctors Aren't Telling You About Today's Most Controversial Drug. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994. Here's an enlightening look at the social consequences of Prozac and similar drugs.

- Campbell, Joseph. An Open Life. eds. P. Cousineau and S. Brown. New York: Harper Collins, 1989. One of our most eminent 20th Century mythologists, Campbell breaks down the ancient walls religious groups have erected between peoples, nations and cultures. If you want to extricate yourself from ideologically-bound thinking, read Joseph Campbell's many excellent books.

- Campbell, The Hero's Journey. ed. P. Cousineau. New York: Harper Collins, 1990. Campbell explains this classic mythology in practical terms as it applies to one's life.

- Campbell, The Hero With a Thousand Faces. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1949. A great collective deprogramming book for religious addicts.

- Canetti, Elias. Crowds and Power. New York: The Noonday Press (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), 1962. Canetti explains different types of behavior peculiar to crowds and how different types of crowds create often bizarre reactions in individuals.

- Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1962. A strong reminder of the still-deadly power exerted by big business groups who profit from pesticides and other chemicals that are known to be damaging our environment.

- Crossen, Cynthia. Tainted Truth; The Manipulation of Fact in America. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994. The author shows how the masses are manipulated by statistics designed to change public opinion and perceptions.

- Erikson, Erik H. The Life Cycle Completed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1982. Erikson explains the developmental stages of life, which gives one an understanding of why people are more vulnerable to particular type of groups at certain age levels.

- Frankl, Viktor. Man's Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1984. Our search for meaning in an often chaotic and cruel world can lead to involvement in a destructive group. Frankl, a psychologist, survived Auschwitz and developed important ideas about what gives meaning to life.

- Fromm, Erich. The Sane Society. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1955. A scary commentary about the consequences of leading robotic collective lives.

- Fu Feng, Gia and Jane English. (Trans.), Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching. New York: Vintage Books, 1972. Some timeless wisdom about life, groups, politics and what doesn't work.

- Fuller, R. Buckminster. Ideas and Integrities. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1963. A scientist, philosopher and inventor, Fuller explains the real roots of integrity in society and exposes a lot of anti-earth, anti-people belief systems.

- Fuller, Critical Path. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1981. What to expect if we humans don't get our act together fast!

- Fuller, Synergetics: Explorations in the Geometry of Thinking. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1975. How science impacts and connects to our world view, and some alternative ways to change how we perceive the universe in and around us.

- Gordon, James. The Golden Guru, the Strange Journey of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. New York: Penguin Books, 1987. A good book by a former member of the Rajneesh group, who explains how Rajneesh, transitioned into a cult leader.

- Gross, Martin. A Call For Revolution, How Washington is Strangling America¾and How To Stop It. New York: Ballantine Books, 1993. If you would like some facts and figures about our cult-like political scene, read this book.

- Guggenbuhl-Craig, Adolf. Power in the Helping Professions. Dallas: Spring Publications, 1971. Craig describes the destructive dynamics often found in psychotherapy and counseling, whether client and therapist or in a group setting.

- Guiley, Rosemary E. The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft. New York: Facts on File, 1989. For those who would like to know some real history about Christianity and how it has terrorized and exterminated women for centuries.

- Guinier, Lani. The Tyranny of the Majority, Fundamental Fairness in Representative Democracy. New York: The Free Press, 1994. A fresh look at some alternative ideas about our democracy, and how it falls short of its ideals.

- Hassan, Steven. Combatting Cult Mind Control. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press, 1988. One of the best books about the psychological effects of mind-control as exemplified in religious cults.

- Hillman, James. A Blue Fire. New York: Harper Collins, 1989. Mr. Hillman is a refreshing, archetypal psychologist, renegade who will inspire you to think differently from the common herd.

- Hillman,Revisioning Psychology. New York: Harper Collins, 1976. The title says it all: how psychology can become user and planet-friendly.

- Hillman, Suicide and the Soul. Dallas: Spring Publications, 1976. Hillman provides some excellent views on the desire to self-destruct and how our society impacts these ideas.

- Hoffer, Eric. The True Believer; Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements. New York: Harper & Row, 1951. Before you join anything, read this remarkable book. You'll think twice before merging with the crowd.

- Hubner, John. and Lindsey Gruson. Monkey on a Stick, Murder, Madness, and the Hare Krishnas. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers, 1988. Again, the title says it all. A great expose of this movement.

- James, William. The Varieties of Religious Experience. New York: Penguin Books, 1982. Required reading for those who think they're the only ones who have "seen the light."

- Johnson, David and Jeff Van Vonderen. The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse. Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1991. A good book about spiritual cults, but you have to watch out for author intrusion with his religious beliefs which influence his writing.

- Johnson, Robert. Owning Your own Shadow: Understanding the Dark Side of the Psyche. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1991. An important book with some good approaches to understanding how the shadow side of human nature can be faced and understood.

- Jung, Carl G. Aion, Researches into the Phenomenology of the Self. Trans. R.F.C. Hull. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1969. Carl Jung's books are an excellent resource for understanding the individual's struggle with collective forces in the world. This book explores the relationship between the "Self" and the collective.

- Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections, Ed. Aniela Jaffe; trans. R. & C. Winston. New York: Vintage, 1961. Jung's autobiography, and a great introduction to his work.

- Jung, The Undiscovered Self. Trans. R.F.C. Hull. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1976. Another excellent book on the perennial struggle between the individual and the collective world.

- Keen, Sam. Faces of the Enemy: Reflections of the Hostile Imagination. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1986. Keen clearly explains the group dynamics and thinking in back of enemy-making. An important book for understanding group dynamics.

- Keen and Anne Valley-Fox, Your Mythic Journey. Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher, 1989. This book will help you find your own unique path. Filled with interesting self-help exercises.

- Koestler, Arthur. The Ghost in the Machine. New York: Random House, 1976. A classic about social and cultural influences on the individual.

- Kotkin, Joel. Tribes: How Race, Religion and Identity Determine Success in the New Global Economy. New York: Random House, 1993. The title suffices here. I think it is a worthwhile book for your library.

- Kramer, Joel, and Diana Alstad. The Guru Papers, Masks of Authoritarian Power. Berkeley, Calif.: North Atlantic Books/Frog Ltd., 1993. You'll really enjoy this book, particularly if you've been in any Eastern-style group.

- Leedom, Tim C., ed. The Book Your Church Doesn't Want You To Read. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 1993. With a title like that, how can you not read it? I did and was further amazed by some of our religious history.

- Lifton, Robert J. The Protean Self, Human Resilience in an Age of FragmentaTtion. New York: Basic Books, 1993. Lifton's work may be one of the most important contributions in modern times about the techniques of mind-control
and thought reform. This particular book looks at human development of the self and the social forces that impact it. A very good exploration of "fundamentalism."

- Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: a Study of "Brainwashing" in China. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1989. Highly recommended to precisely understand how thought reform works.

- Lutyens, Mary. Krishnamurti: the Years of Fulfillment. New York: Avon Books, 1983. A fascinating expose of a spiritual cult by the appointed guru himself.

- Lutz, William. Double Speak, From "Revenue Enhancement" to "Terminal Living." New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1989. How our collective forces pervert our language and cover up the real meaning of events.

- McNeill, Daniel. and Paul Freiberger. Fuzzy Logic, the Discovery of a Revolutionary Computer Technology and How It is Changing Our World. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993. A fun look from a scientific slant at how we can change our attitudes about rigid perfectionism and mechanical thinking.

- McWilliams, Peter. Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do; The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in a Free Society. Los Angeles: Prelude Press, 1993. McWilliams' book is a real eye-opener about the effects on our society of "consensual crime."

- Life 102: What to Do When Your Guru Sues You. Los Angeles: Prelude Press, 1994. McWilliam's personal experience in a religious cult. A very entertaining book!

- Milkman, Harvey and Stanley Sunderwirth. Craving for Ecstasy, the Consciousness and Chemistry of Escape. New York: Lexington Books, 1987. A scientific exploration of the desire to escape reality, applicable to groups also.

- Miller, Alice. Drama of the Gifted Child, the Search for the True Self. Trans. R. Ward. New York: Basic Books, 1981.

- Miller, For Your Own Good, Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence. New York: The Noonday Press, 1983.

- Thou Shalt Not Be Aware, Society's Betrayal of the Child. New York: Meridian, 1984. Miller's books provide many plausible developmental explanations for our vulnerability to destructive groups and organizations.

- Mithers, Carol L. Therapy Gone Mad; The True Story of Hundreds of Patients and a Generation Betrayed. New York: Addison-Wesley, 1994. Believe it or not, here is a book about a real psychotherapy cult.

- Nelson, Shirley. Fair Clear and Terrible, the Story of Shiloh, a Strange Fragment of American History. Latham, NY: British American Publishing, 1989. An excellent true story about a turn-of-the-century fundamental Christian religious cult by a former member.

- Orwell, George. 1984. New York: New American Library,1949. Orwell's classic is becoming more fact than fiction. There are many ominous parallels to modern destructive political groups.

- Peck, M. Scott. People of the Lie, the Hope for Healing Human Evil. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1983.

- Peck, The Different Drum, Community and Making Peace. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987. Peck's work is valuable if one can get past his recent conversion to Christianity. It's difficult to describe a lion that has swallowed you.

- Peele, Stanton. Diseasing of America, Addiction and Treatment Out of Control. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1989. This author makes a strong case for our over-medication as a society.

- Pratkanis, Anthony. & Elliot Aronson Age of Propaganda: the Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasion. New York: W.H. Freeman and Company, 1992. An excellent book on the psychology of persuasion and the media.

- Rogers, Carl. A Way of Being. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1980. A book about what it means to be human and an excellent exploration of creating healthy relationships in groups.

- Samuels, Andrew. The Political Psyche. London: Routledge, 1993. An intellectual, but worthwhile study of political influences on the individual psyche.

- Schaef, Anne W. and Diane Fassel. The Addictive Organization. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1988.

- Schaef, When Society Becomes an Addict. New York: Harper Collins, 1987. Schaef's books look at how social groups develop addictive behaviors.

- Schmookler, Andrew Bard. Fool's Gold: the Fate of Values in a World of Goods. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1993.

- The Illusion of Choice: How the Market Economy Shapes our Destiny. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993. Mr. Schmookler's work will give you some profound insight into the market economy and how, in its present form, it functions as a destructive system.

- Von Franz, Marie Louise. Projection and Re-collection in Jungian Psychology, (W.H. Kennedy, Trans.). La Salle, IL: Open Court Publishing, 1980. A great book by an eminent Jungian analyst describing how psychological projection works in a religious/spiritual context.

- Whitmyer, Claude., ed. In the Company of Others: Making Community in the Modern World. Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher, 1993. An edited compilation of essays on community.

- Wright, Lawrence. Remembering Satan: A Case of Recovered Memory and the Shattering of an American Family. New York: Alfred A. Knoph, 1994. This book illustrates the dangers of the modern "witch hunt" mind set.

- Yalom, Irvin. The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy. New York: Basic Books, 1985. A classic textbook on group therapy with excellent guidelines for professionals and non- professionals.

- Zweig, Connie and Abrams, Jeremiah., eds. Meeting the Shadow, the Hidden power of the Dark Side of Human Nature. Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc., 1991. An edited compilation of articles. One of the best books around to help someone who has just left a destructive religious or spiritual group.

JOURNALS:

- The Cultic Studies Journal, Editor: Michael D. Langone, Ph.D. Published by AFF, P.O. Box 2265, Bonita Springs, Florida 33959-2265. A very good journal about cults and their influence on our society.

- The Journal of Psychohistory. Editor: Lloyd deMause; 140 Riverside Drive, Suite 14H, New York, NY 10024, Tel. 212-799-2294. 3 Henrietta St., London WC2E 8LU England, Tel. 071-240-0856 This journal provides excellent articles on the history of groups: political, social and ethnic, and how they have impacted world events.

ARTICLES:

- Berghold, Joe. "The Social Trance: Psychological Obstacles to Progress in History." The Journal of Psychohistory, 19, No. 2 (Fall 1991): pp. 221-243. Berghold points out the consequences of our "collective enchantment" and its effects on social progress.

- Callahan, Jean. "Leaving the Ashram." Common Boundary, July/Aug., 1992, pp. 32-39. An excellent true story about the difficulty of leaving an Eastern-style cult.

- Conway, Flo and Jim Siegelman, "Information Disease, Have Cults Created a New Mental Illness?" Science Digest, Jan. 1982, pp. 86-92, 165-170. A look at how religious cults cause mental illness.

- Godwin, Robert. "On the Function of Enemies." The Journal of Psychohistory 22, No. 1 (Summer 1994): p. 91. How we create enemies and how our collective enemy-making as refashioned history.

- Kline, Joe. "Looking for Enemies." The Journal of Psychohistory, 22, No. 1 (Summer 1994): p. 29. Another very good article on the creation of enemies throughout history.

- Lotto, David G. "On Witches and Witch Hunts: Ritual and Satanic Cult Abuse." Journal of Psychohistory 21, No. 4 (Spring 1994): p. 383. A look at the possible psychological-historical causes for these events.

- "Psychological Manipulation and Society." Cultic Studies Journal, 8 (1991): pp. 91-254. A good article about the social impact of cults.

- Schwartz, Lita. "The Historical Dimension of Cultic Techniques of Persuasion and Control." The Cultic Studies Journal, 1 (1991): pp. 37-46. Describes historical background of mind control techniques.

- Singer, Margaret T. "Thought Reform Programs and the Production of Psychiatric Casualties." Psychiatric Annals, 20 (1982): 188-193. Ms. Singer, a psychologist, writes about destructive cult dynamics and how they function.

ASSOCIATIONS:

- The American Family Foundation (A.F.F.) AFF's is a secular, nonprofit research center and educational organization founded in 1979. AFF's mission is to study psychological manipulation and cultic groups, to educate the public and professionals, and to assist those who have been adversely affected by a cult experience. For more information and resources available through AFF, call or write: A.F.F., P.O. Box 2265, Bonita Springs, Florida 34133, Tel. 212-533-5420, e-mail: aff@worldnet.att.net, Web Site: http://www.csj.org

- reFOCUS A forum and network for ex-members of cults, high demand groups and cultic relationships. They publish an excellent newsletter about post-cult recovery. For more information call or write: reFOCUS, P.O. Box 2180, Flagler Beach, FL 32136-2180, Tel. 904-439-7541, e-mail: carol2180@aol.com. Web Site: http://www.nwrain.net/~refocus