James Richardson (sociologist)

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name = James T. Richardson


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James Richardson. is a Professor of Sociology and Judicial Studies, and the Director of the Master of Judicial Studies Degree Program at the University of Nevada, Reno.cite web |url=http://wolfweb.unr.edu/homepage/jtr/vita.html |title=James T. Richardson for AAUP President |accessdate=2008-01-04 |format= |work=] Richardson specializes in social and behavioral science evidence, Sociology of Religions and New Religious Movements, Sociology of law, and Social movements. He is notably outspoken on high-profile cases such as Elizabeth Smart and Patty Hearst. He is a scientific critic of the "mind control" theories proposed by Robert Lifton, Margaret Singer, and others. [cite web | title=Brainwashing Allegations And The Elizabeth Smart Abduction | url=http://www.cesnur.org/2003/smart_anthony.htm | publisher=www.cesnur.org ]

Education and career

Richardson received his BA in Sociology from Texas Tech University in 1965, MA in Sociology (Literature minor) from Texas Tech University in 1966, Ph.D. in Sociology (Computer Science minor) from Washington State University in 1968, and J.D. from Old College, Nevada School of Law in 1986. He has been an active teacher for 30 years, with most of the time being spent at the University of Nevada, Reno, where he is currently Professor of Sociology and Judicial Studies. He directs the Master of Judicial Studies Degree Program, which has nearly 100 trial judges working on degrees, and some 75 graduates. He is on the faculty for the large Interdisciplinary Social Psychology Doctoral Program, and also teaches in the undergraduate and masters programs in Sociology.

Criticism of Brainwashing

Richardson categorizes brainwashing theories a "pseudoscience", as summarized in writing:

"...…The cultic brainwashing theory has generally been rejected by mainstream academia as a pseudoscientific myth that has been definitively repudiated on the basis of authoritative research on Communist coercive persuasion and also by generally accepted research demonstrating that people convert to off-beat religions through a voluntary process. According to such experts, the brainwashing term and concept are bandied about as if they have some clear meaning, though in fact they lack a precise denotation. There is, however, a definite connotation. The brainwashing explanation tends to be used when someone appears to have made a decision against their best interest, or to have altered their convictions in a seemingly disadvantageous and inappropriate manner. The person is seen as having been manipulated in such a way as to have lost personal autonomy and free will." [cite web | title="Excerpts From: Brainwashing Allegations And The Elizabeth Smart Abduction" | url=http://web.archive.org/web/20070607195058/http://www.religiousfreedoms.org/articles/article_brainwashing_elizabeth_smart.htm (archive) | publisher=www.religiousfreedoms.org ]

Bibliography

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* "Programmed Learning Aid for BASIC Programming Language" (with A. Brady), Richard Irwin Co., 1974; 2d ed., 1981. Also in Spanish.
* "Organized Miracles: A Sociological Study of a Jesus Movement Organization", with M. Stewart and R. Simmonds. Transaction Books, 1979
* "The Satanism Scare", with Joel Best and David Bromley (edited volume), New York: Aldine de Gruyter, 1991

References

External links

[http://www.unr.edu/cla/socpsy/richardson.html UNR home page]