Coercive Organizations: Dangerous Groups

  We usually think of a cult as a religious or spiritual group whose members live apart from society and to which only misfits or people with serious mental problems belong. However, these types of groups, often known as coercive organizations, are much closer to all of us than you might think. Indeed, we’re all susceptible to falling into their traps. Much in the same way that everyone, under certain circumstances, is extraordinarily vulnerable to persuasion. A coercive organization isn’t considered as such based on the ideology it promotes, but on the behavior of its members and the dynamics that…