We assumed that, as in the case of addiction disorders, former cult members exhibit vulnerability and protective factors for cult commitment and membership. Thus, the aim of our study was to identify vulnerability factors that are involved in the commitment and in the retention in the group, as well as protective factors that are involved in the departure. We interviewed 31 former cult members, using semi-structured interviews to evaluate their clinical profile, characteristics of the cultic group and their experience in the group. Cult membership and addictive disorders share some characteristics: persistence despite damage, initial psychological relief, occupation of an exclusive place in the thoughts of members, high psychiatric comorbidity prevalence, high accessibility, leading to social precariousness and the importance of familial support when leaving. Three main axes of improvement were highlighted: regulations concerning cults in order to limit their social presence, which appears to be a vulnerability factor for commitment; social and therapeutic follow-up when a member leaves a group so that social precariousness does not become an obstacle to departure; and familial support to maintain a link with the member, as the intervention of a person from outside of the group is an important protective factor for leaving.
Résumé Dans la grande diversité des groupes sectaires, le cas de Jeanne illustre ici, à travers une reconstruction au cours d’une démarche de soins, la place particulière de l’idéalisation dans un processus d’aliénation qui s’est autonomisé progressivement, vis-à-vis duquel un travail de distanciation minimale fut possible, et condition préalable à tout contact thérapeutique. Se dessine ainsi un récit marqué par les enjeux de dépendance et d’emprise pour l’adepte de groupe sectaire, et les ressources toujours surprenantes face à l’ampleur des contraintes internes et externes pour quitter le groupe et retrouver une autonomie.
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