191 METHODS OF RECRUITMENT TO CULTS: THE SOCIAL INFLUENCE PERSPECTIVE Piotr Tomasz Nowakowski - Ph.D., doctor of pedagogy; Assistant Professor at The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin – Off-Campus Faculty of Social Sciences in Stalowa Wola (Poland). Новаковські Пьотр Томаш - доктор наук гуманістичних, Люблінський католицький університет імені Яна Павла II, Стальова Воля (Польща) У статті проаналізовано і типологізовано основні методи рекрутації до сект. Серед основних методів, на які звертає увагу автор, розглянуто такі, як метод емоційного впливу, метод камуфляжу і метод авторитету. Значну увагу приділено перспективі впливу суспільства на процес рекрутування до сект. Автор формулює кілька практичних рекомендацій щодо протидії стратегіям залучення до сект. В статье проанализированы и типологизированы основные методы рекрутирования в секты. Среди основных методов, на которые обращает внимание автор, рассмотрены такие, как метод эмоционального влияния, метод камуфляжа и метод авторитета. Значительное внимание уделено перспективе влияния общества на процесс рекрутирования в секты. Автор формулирует несколько практических рекомендаций относительно противодействия стратегиям привлечения в секты. Key words: cults, typology, methods of recruitment. It is better to prevent than to treat a disease – people working with the young, especially parents and teachers, should be guided by this idea while dealing with difficult but interesting question of cults. Poland has achieved good results in conducting, on a fairly wide scale, prophylactic activities against controversial religious movements. Polish citizens’ knowledge in this sphere has risen since the beginning of the 1990s. On the basis of my research (interviews, observations, analyses of documents), and with specific reference to achievements of such professionals as, for example, Michael D. Langone or Steven Hassan, I make an attempt to formulate a classification of methods used during the process of recruitment to cults. The classification can be useful in the process of prophylaxis while organizing special prophylactic meetings for young people. Its logical and simple structure should cause no troubles in understanding. A certain kind of ‘pathologization’ of religion is characteristic of cult structures; thus it is not surprising that the problem finds its expression in their – not only ethical – methods of recruitment. Trying to generalize a principle, it would be appropriate to mention that people who recruit to cults know that it is impossible to change somebody’s way of thinking at one stroke. Therefore, their general strategy involves a gradual introduction into the group, i.e., they proceed step by step. Let’s imagine the situation: a recruiter, dressed in a long coat with raised collar, comes up to you in the dark evening and says: “Hello, I am a member of a cult. I’d like to recruit you. Will you join us?” That is absurd. He would not tell this. He won’t reveal many other things as well, because it is a standard for recruiters that they do not tell all the truth about their group, but they merely use ‘half-truths’ or ‘quarter-truths’ during their first meeting. They select information precisely and hide their purposes providently, that leads to the situation in which potential adherents are constantly underinformed. In principle, the candidates are told only as much as they are allowed to know. One of the author’s interlocutors, Rafał from Cracow recalls that during his first meeting at the Unification Church he obtained very little information. Afterwards he was learning more and more. He was not allowed to know everything at once. For example at one of the first meetings he asked a question about the relation of the Unification Movement to the dogma of the Holy Trinity, and he received the answer: “This is a subject for a longer discussion. We invite you to the lecture on the Holy Trinity.” In a similar way Dariusz from Lublin reports on his participation in workshops organized by the moonies: “I was even allowed to ask questions during lectures. Later I was, so to say, forbidden to do it. I was told: ‘You will receive the answer during the next lecture, wait a little;’ it was repeated several times. Such a postponement” [1]. What is more, the recruiter obtains personal information about the potential adherent in order to estimate whether he/she will be a valuable ‘acquisition’ for the group or not. When the candidate is assessed as worth being invested in, he/she will still be receiving attention and care by the time he/she commits himself/herself to join the group [2]. At the next step, the author presents three categories of methods of recruitment: – methods of emotional influence, – methods of camouflage, – methods of authority [3].