ANM

The International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) 2017 conference on Cultic Dynamics and Radicalisation took place between 28th June and 1st July in Bordeaux. Delegates were warmly welcomed by former French Prime Minister Alain Juppé, now Mayor of Bordeaux.

The conference was jointly hosted by ICSA, Info-Secte/Info-Cult of Montreal, and Société Française de Recherche et d’Analyse de l’Emprise Mentale (SFRAEM).

 

 

 

Mr Juppé not only arranged for the conference to take place in the Athenée Père Joseph Wresinski, a prominent municipal building, but he also organised a reception for conference delegates in the impressive Hotel de ville, set alongside the even more imposing Cathedrale St-Andre.

ICSA was founded in 1979 as the American Family Foundation, becoming the International Cultic Studies Association in 2004.

 

 

In the nearly 40 years since it’s inception ICSA members have been diligently researching psychological manipulation and abuse in cultic or high-demand groups, alternative movements, and other environments.

 

 

ICSA – Stepping Up to Meet the Global Challenge of Radicalisation

The Association’s unique approach of bringing together former group members, families, helping professionals and researchers, appears to be bearing fruit as governments find themselves increasingly at a loss as to how to deal with radicalisation.

Presentations and research papers dealt with points of similarity and difference between quasi-religious extremism and cultic grooming and indoctrination, high-control groups, and other forms of abuse such as domestic violence. With delegates attending from all over the world, the place was buzzing with different languages, and the developing research into the dismantling of coercive behaviour is truly international.

Overwhelmingly, conference delegates proposed that a major helpful direction for combating radicalisation, learned through years of study of high-demand groups, is to fully harness the experience of former members of extremist organisations, instead of relying solely or mainly on remote academic codification.

The number and diversity of talks at this year’s conference, as well as the support of Mr Juppé, are testament to the solidity of the careful research models of ICSA and other research hubs looking at cultic dynamics, and their relevance to global events.

This relevance was further emphasised during the conference when Italian delegate Christina Caperisi heard that her government has invited her to contribute to its deradicalisation programme.

Alain Juppé, Amazon News Media, ANM, Bordeaux, coercive behaviour, Cults, featured, high-control groups, ICSA, Info-Secte/Info-Cult, International Cultic Studies Association, radicalisation, SFRAEM, Société Française de Recherche et d'Analyse de l'Emprise Mentale.

By ANM

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