COERCIVE PERSUASION - Captivation
This phase is fundamental in the process of assimilation. At the same time that a feeling of belonging is being created, a slight frustration is triggered as well: the initiate should start to feel that he has not yet reached the degree of friendship displayed by the others. This emotional lack reinforces the feeling of missing something on the intellectual plane. There is, at this stage, an inability to grasp all the mysteries of the system and a dissatisfaction with not having all the elements that enable the older members to demonstrate their calm and flourishing lives. Consequently, the ground is prepared: the CC will start the emotional and intellectual handling that should lead to full conversion.
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COERCIVE PERSUASION - Captivation
At this stage, the process of assimilation is based not on rationality but on emotional dynamics. The feeling of belonging to the group is transmitted by ceremonies in the course of which the new recruit is welcomed and flattered in front of everyone. He has the illusion that everyone is looking forward to meet him. The ritual of initiation, where a climate of mutual support prevails, corresponds to this strategy. The newcomer must get the feeling that he is participating in a collective energy. Then he will be more disposed to start a intellectual search in order to give more solid bases to his new identity.
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Reklam
COERCIVE PERSUASION - The Process of Assimilation
For J. G. Clark and M. D. Langone, there are three successive degrees in the process of coercive persuasion: persuasion, conversion and indoctrination. Rodriguez Carballeira proposes a different sequence, making it possible to establish a parallel between McGuire’s analysis on persuasion and his own work on coercive persuasion. McGuire describes five stages in the process of persuasion: caution; comprehension; acceptance; retention; action. Carballeira holds with the following five stages: seduction; inveiglement; conversion; indoctrination; action. The stages are not rigorously distinct in chronology. On the contrary, they are overlapping phenomena. They mix, fade and reappear, recombining progressively throughout the process of assimilation according to the resistance exhibited by the subject. The CC can hold back during one phase and emphasize another, sometimes even starting the process over again with an earlier stage that was not fully completed. The essential difference between traditional persuasion and coercive persuasion is the cult’s need to annihilate the individual quickly, by crushing any inclination toward criticism and analysis.
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