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Essay written by C.L. O'Connor The controversy surrounding new religious movements seems to be foremost concerned with whether or not the members of these religions come of their own freewill or if they convert as a necessary and inevitable response to advanced coercion, or “brainwashing” techniques employed by the cult leaders. The concept of brainwashing came into popular existence in the 1950’s as the result of attempts to try and explain the behaviour of …

…Cited and Consulted Dawson, L.L. (1998). Comprehending cults. Don Mills: Oxford University Press. Dawson, L.L. ed. (1996). Cults in context. Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press. The Brainwashing Controversy. (19 Oct 1999) http://cti.itc.virginia.edu/~jkh8x/soc257/cultsect/brainwashing.htm (29 May 2000). Brainwashing and the Cults: The Rise and Fall of a Theory. (10 Dec 1999) http://www.cesnur.org/testi/melton.htm (2 June 2000). Paloutzian, R.F. (1996). Invitation to the psychology of religion. (2nd ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.