A study on how media coverage of cults affects the recovery of former cult members. Via the ICSA.
https://icsatoday.substack.com/p/cults-and-media-stereotypes-does
This study explores how media portrayals of cults affect the mental well-being and recovery of survivors, revealing a significant link between media exposure and self-acceptance.
The ICSA has been working hard to better support former cult members and those who have loved ones stuck in cults. Here's their newsletter recapping their updated website and revamped services.
I've been an ICSA member for many years. It's a very small academic organization that also welcome lay people who have had life experiences with cults. They've been around (under various names) for many decades, originally the publishers of Cultic Studies Journal, which is now split across several publications under various names. I've spoken about Mormonism at their conferences and met people with all kinds of backgrounds.
Their resources include: an academic journal, a magazine for lay people, conferences, a directory of helping professionals, and a back catalogue of all their past publications.
I'm glad to see them becoming more active and increasing their outreach.
#cults #ReligiousTrauma #ICSA #exmo #exmormon #exvie #exvangelical
The International Cultic Studies Association has relaunched their library of the International Journal of Coercion, Abuse, and Manipulation, and their older publications going back 40+ years. This is accessible to everyone, not just members. Which is awesome, as time was when this library was only available to paid members.
They also have a lay-person publication, ISCA Today.
https://library.internationalculticstudies.org
#Cults #Cult #ReligiousTrauma #PTSD #Religion #AcademicFreedom #ICSA
TL;DR: Curiosity about yourself and others can bridge gaps created by divisive political and religious rhetoric.
Kind of interesting, as Lorna Goldberg is one of the cult researchers I originally learned from and look up to. I eventually met her at an ICSA conference way back when, probably a couple of years before this, where I went to speak and because of my lack of academic background, felt like a total nobody outsider. So reading this is a bit meta for me, learning about her feelings of vulnerability and how she views the world is not too different from me.
My thoughts go to how trauma isolates us from each other. This is a facet of Abuse Culture that keeps us from cooperating and learning of each other so we can throw off the abusers in our lives, be they one-on-one or leaders of society. Curiosity is the cure for that, too.
This article is through the psychoanalytic lens, and leans a bit academic, but is readable and thought-provoking.
As you’ve likely heard, this morning the Senate did one of its semi-regular hearings in which it drags tech CEOs in front of clueless Senators who make nonsense pronouncements in hopes of getting a…
Attending the International Conference on Software Architecture #ICSA this week, were they were kind enough to accept my contribution on a half-crazy, half-interesting, all fun way to #teach #software #architecture styles I had last year.
If you're curious, you can check the paper at https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2302.14461
Software Architecture, from definition to maintenance and evolution, is a complex aspect of software development and, consequently, a challenging subject when it comes to teaching it, and learning it. Many research efforts have been devoted to designing teaching approaches, strategies and tools. Most of them, however, focus on the knowledge itself and the ways to convey it to students, rather than on the different learning styles of students themselves. Teaching methods which predominantly rely on verbal and written communication, are very well aligned with some learning styles. However, students with learning styles that benefit more from physical activity or first-hand experience, need to defer to cognitive processes that are less natural to them. In this work, we propose an innovative use of role-playing as teaching strategy for architecture models of reference (i.e. layered, pipe and filter, client-server, etc.). This role-playing of different software architectures, in which students play the part of specific components in the system, intends to complement other classical teaching materials, such as in-person or recorded lectures, lab assignments, or development projects. Addressing all learning styles within a classroom is key to ensure that we favour and foster the students' different learning processes, and give everyone an even playfield in which to best develop their capabilities as Software Architects.
Written resources are also available for cult survivors, or anyone suffering from Religious Trauma, though some may be limited to ICSA members only (and anyone can join!)
https://www.icsahome.com/memberelibrary
#cults #ICSA #IGotOut #Exmo #ExJW #Exvangelical #ReligiousTrauma #SpiritualAbuse
There's a whole wealth of post-cult recovery videos and other information about cults at https://www.icsahome.com/memberelibrary/recordings
#ICSA #IGotOut #Exmo #ExJW #exvangelical #ReligiousTrauma #SpiritualAbuse #Cult #EducationalVideos
Mx. Luna Corbden 🐸
Joe Ortiz
Laura M Castro
Luna Corbden