The Wrong Way Home (book)

Infobox Book
name = The Wrong Way Home
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = Book cover, 1994 paperback edition
author = Arthur J. Deikman, M.D.
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United States
language =
series =
subject = cults
genre = non-fiction
psychiatry
publisher = Beacon Press
release_date = September 1994
english_release_date =
media_type = paperback
pages = 208
isbn = ISBN-13 978-0807029152
preceded_by = The Observing Self (book)
followed_by =

"The Wrong Way Home: Uncovering the Patterns of Cult Behavior in American Society", is a book on cult culture within the United States, written by Arthur J. Deikman, M.D.. The book was originally published in hardcover format in December 1990 by Beacon Press, and reprinted in paperback form September 1994. Dr. Deikman is a professor of psychiatry at University of California, San Francisco, and a member of the editorial board of the "Journal of Humanistic Psychology" [ [http://www.ahpweb.org/pub/journal/menu.html JHP website] , [http://www.sagepub.com/editorDetails.nav?contribId=517666 Sage Publications] , Arthur Deikman, Affiliations: School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco.] .

The book is used as part of the curriculum for the course "Cults and New Religious Movements" at St. Francis Xavier University ["Cults and New Religious Movements", Dr. Annette J. Ahern, St. Francis Xavier University, RELS 225/SOCI 226, Section 11.] . It is a cited reference for the article "Self-Sealing Doctrines, the Misuse of Power, and Recovered Memory", by psychologist Linda Riebel [ [http://www.itaa-net.org/TAJNet/articles/riebel-self-sealing.html "Self-Sealing Doctrines, the Misuse of Power, and Recovered Memory"] , Linda Riebel, "Transactional Analysis Journal", vol. 26, no. 1, January 1996, pp. 40-45.] . It is a cited reference in the Encyclopedia of Psychology, and is quoted in the article on cults, where the article asserts that: "Certain types of political groups and terrorist organizations are still other examples of "cults" that defy the common definition of the term." [ [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g2699/is_0004/ai_2699000433 Cults] , Encyclopedia of Psychology.
Dr. Arthur Deikman, clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California at San Francisco, is one of many psychologists who has observed cultic behavior in many areas of society other than in extremist religious groups. In the introduction to his 1990 book, The Wrong Way Home: Uncovering the Patterns of Cult Behavior in American Society, Deikman asserted that "behavior similar to that which takes place in extreme cults takes place in all of us," and suggested that "the longing for parents persists into adulthood and results in cult behavior that pervades normal society."] .

Reviews

The book was reviewed by Robert L. Boyd, Ph.D. in "Social Science Quarterly" ["Social Science Quarterly", 72, (1991):863-864] . It was reviewed in "The Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion", by Larry J. Halford [The Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion March 1992 v31 n1 p108(2).] , in the "Library Journal", by Lucy Patrick.

Patrick wrote in her review: "Although we live in a democracy, cult behavior manifests itself in our unwillingness to question the judgment of our leaders, our tendency to devalue outsiders and to avoid dissent. We can overcome cult behavior, he says, by recognizing that we have dependency needs that are inappropriate for mature people, by increasing anti-authoritarian education, and by encouraging personal autonomy and the free exchange of ideas." [Library Journal Dec 1990 v115 n21 p144(1) Mag.Coll.: 58A2543.] ,

Genevieve Stuttaford wrote in "Publishers Weekly" that: "Although Deikman sometimes stretches the analogy of cult behavior too far, his provocative book uncovers a psychopathology of everyday life in a discerning analysis." [Nov 9, 1990 v237 n45 p52(1) Mag.Coll.: 57H3633. Bus.Coll.: 54U0203.] .

References

ee also

*American culture
*Terrorism
*Destructive cult

External links

* [http://www.deikman.com/ Dr. Arthur Deikman] , author's personal website
* [http://www.cuke.com/Cucumber%20Project/interviews/deikman.html Interviewed at his home by DC on December 21, 1997] , "Crooked Cucumber"
* [http://www.religiousworlds.com/mystic/deikman.html Arthur Deikman on Mystic Experience] , "Mystic Experience and Two Modes of Consciousness", adapted from the work of Arthur J. Deikman, M.D."
* [http://www.imprint.co.uk/online/Deikman.html Article] , "Journal of Consciousness Studies", 1996
* [http://www.humangivens.com/hgi/archive/cults.htm The Human Givens Institute] , "Exploring the Cult in Culture"