Inquiry into the recruitment methods and impacts of cults and organised fringe groups

Impacts | Psychological harm

Most people reported a combination of psychological coercion, emotional abuse, and social isolation. They reported that their involvement in a cult or high‑control group completely changed their beliefs and behaviours.

Many people with personal experiences described overcoming indoctrination as ‘waking up’. They explained how their indoctrination had prevented them from gaining higher education, developing critical thinking skills, or learning how to function outside of the cult or high‑control group. Those detailing experiences of people close to them described a complete loss of their friend or family from their lives.

"One of the worst parts is that I lost my mother. Before she joined the cult, she used to be a warm, caring person who was kind and friendly. She was someone that I could always confide in and who would be my shelter during a storm. She turned into someone who was hateful. Someone I didn’t recognise. Someone I couldn’t confide in. Someone who was not my mother."

"They literally became a puppet and you could see the lights go out as they were totally drawn into the cult through subtle manipulative cruelty."

Indoctrination was often deeper for people who were born into cults or high‑control groups, where messaging was reinforced during key childhood development points by parents and their community. They reported experiencing a lack of connection to the world outside of the group.

"I see that growing up inside this group has wired my brain for very black and white thinking. I am having to learn what I love and hate, because I had no choices for the past 13 years."

"When I started researching the organisation, I had a mental breakdown. This is largely because you know that in waking up from the indoctrination there is no way out. They say you are free to leave, but you aren’t really."

81.7% of people identified there was pressure to remain in the group or fear of punishment if they left. For most, the threat of disfellowship and/or excommunication, followed by mandatory shunning, was the main pressure to stay in the cult or high‑control group.

Leaders of cults and high‑control groups were reported to threaten and enforce strict rules, and instruct members to cut all contact with those who disobeyed. This often extended to family units, with parents shunning their own children, and vice versa. Many people linked this practice to a broader sense of isolation from family and friends.

Apocalyptic beliefs were also reported to have been used to pressure people to remain in a cult or high‑control group. In these circumstances, members were taught that leaving meant they would perish with the rest of the world. People described how such beliefs shaped their everyday lives, making pursuing anything outside of the group—higher education, meaningful work, financial stability or relationships—purposeless.

Many people who responded to the questionnaire reported long‑term psychological impacts, including trauma, anxiety, Complex Post‑Traumatic Stress Disorder, depression and shame. People attributed these impacts to their experiences in cults and high‑control groups, including where they faced emotional abuse, coercive behaviours and prolonged fear within and outside of the group.

"Even though I am free too now... I still feel trapped by their rules and like they’re all hanging over me."

Impacts | Physical harm

Almost one third of people reported experiencing physical violence and/or sexual abuse within cults and high‑control groups. They identified that physical violence was primarily used as a threat or tool to pressure members to remain within cults or high-control groups. Children were most frequently reported as the victims, with many groups supporting physical punishment to correct perceived ‘bad’ behaviour and to shape the desired behaviours of group members.

Some people reported experiencing or knowing other members who had been sexually abused by other group members, with women more frequently reported as victims.

People noted that incidents of physical and sexual abuse within the group, including instances of child abuse, went largely unreported to authorities. Some groups had their own internal reporting and punishment processes that excluded external involvement from legal or judicial authorities. These pocesses reflected gender biases, with women who reported sexual assault within the group, commonly not taken seriously, diminished or even blamed for their assault.

Sleep deprivation was identified by people as making them more susceptible to indoctrination or complete devotion to the group. Some described how activities such as forced labour, mandatory study or attendance at group services, left them getting only a few hours of rest a night.