‘Cults can target anyone’

Cult leader Jim Jones committed suicide alongside 918 of his followers in 1978. Image: PBS

It took just four days for Londoner Ian Haworth to be brainwashed into joining a cult and he warns that it can happen to anyone, not just those living alone in big cities like London, as commonly thought.

“It’s a myth that only vulnerable people are at risk. Cults can target practically anyone,” says the 62-year-old communications consultant, who defines a cult as, “a group that removes free will in recruiting people.”

In 1978, while living in Toronto, Haworth was recruited by therapy group PSI Mind development Institute after taking part in a street survey. Answering a member’s questions prompted him to enroll on a four-day programme with the group to quit smoking.

“On Thursday I was bored to tears by the whole affair but by Sunday I was completely brainwashed, gave them all my money, handed in my notice at work and was prepared to dedicate my life to the group.”

Many cults target a person via their interests, goals or fears and those enlisted alongside Haworth included a congressman who had signed up to improve his communication skills and a nurse who wanted to help her patients.

Once members were recruited, group leaders used a number of techniques to make them susceptible to brainwashing, such as starvation and sleep deprivation. Another key technique often used by cults is that of ‘love bombing’, where an artificial sense of unconditional love is created, only to be taken away if someone questions the group or disobeys orders.

Hawarth admits that as a member he tried to recruit others into the cult, “we were also told to target those middle class and upwards and to stay away from ‘space cadets’ meaning anyone who was odd in any way or had a peculiar hairstyle. They said they wanted motherhood and apple pie.”

However, media attention around the cult, and in particular, an expose for the Toronto Star by Londoner Sidney Katz, made Haworth realise that he had been brainwashed.

“I hadn’t yet been programmed against the media so I was open to that suggestion,” says Haworth. “Sidney helped me out tremendously and gave me access to all of his research. That’s when I discovered that the truth was much worse than what was written in that article.”

The US Jonestown disaster two months later, which saw 918 cult members commit suicide, prompted Haworth to raise awareness about the issue and get involved with Canadian organisations helping cult victims.

“Just looking at those poor families lying face down in the mud, I thought: ‘That could have been me’. There was such a media frenzy at the time so I stood up and told my story.”

Concerned that no one was doing the same in the UK, he returned to London to set up the Cult Information Centre (CIC), which provides help for cult victims and pushes the problem into the media agenda by giving interviews and liaising with the press.

However, the risk of being sued by cults who have financial and legal backing has had a chilling effect on the media, which often does not have the funds to defend libel cases.

“I’ve given some major stories involving really heavy duty stuff and it never goes to print because the journalists are too scared. Unfortunately, it sends out a message to these groups that what they’re doing to the media does work.”

Haworth’s work as director of the CIC has made him a target of animosity for the groups that he raises concerns about and he has been sued several times.

“I’ve been bankrupted as a result of libel action but people have also phoned me and told me that my end is near,” he says. “Others have published material to try and smear me, for example, by equating my work with that of the Nazis.”

Although the CIC receives thousands of calls a year from those recruited by cults or their loved ones asking for help, Haworth points out that it is equally important to warn society about the risks that such groups pose to ordinary members of the public.

“The problem is growing – it has to be – because each cult is recruiting people who go out to recruit more people and solicit funds. The only thing that will offset this is awareness through the media.”

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