Uploaded August 2024 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Understanding the Effects of COVID-19 in the Cult Phenomenon: A Canadian Perspective - Celeste Goguen, Marie-Andrée Pelland
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Disclaimer: This session was delivered for the 2023 ICSA Conference. The speaker of this session does not speak on behalf of ICSA as an organization.
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Abstract: In 2020, the world was turned upside down by a pandemic. Consequently, many people faced immediate side effects that, in certain cases, continued in the long term. These two types of side effects are felt on both individual and social levels. According to Statistics Canada (2022), mental health has declined for both men and women in 2021 compared to data from 2019 (from 67% in 2019 to 61% in 2021). Socially, the pandemic has left its mark, with an increase in police-reported hate crimes (a 37% increase) and a 7% increase in certain crimes, such as sexual assault, between 2020 and 2021 (Statistics Canada, 2022). However, former members of cults were not exempt from facing adversities. How did they experience the past three years, with periods of confinement and health risks? To answer this question, we analyze a part of the in-depth interviews collected during a larger master's degree research on former members' experience with coercive control. Through qualitative interviews conducted with twenty former members (both first and second generation), we aim to shed light on how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced and continues to influence the life trajectory of former members as they navigate a life away from their respective cults. While these individuals have different stories, the same applies to their reactions during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, we will analyze three themes: the reaction to the government's use of scientific knowledge, the immediate effects related to confinement, and their desire to find or recreate the sense of community they experienced within the cult.
Understanding the Effects of COVID-19 in the Cult Phenomenon: A Canadian Perspective - Celeste Goguen, Marie-Andrée Pelland
-
Disclaimer: This session was delivered for the 2023 ICSA Conference. The speaker of this session does not speak on behalf of ICSA as an organization.
-
Abstract: In 2020, the world was turned upside down by a pandemic. Consequently, many people faced immediate side effects that, in certain cases, continued in the long term. These two types of side effects are felt on both individual and social levels. According to Statistics Canada (2022), mental health has declined for both men and women in 2021 compared to data from 2019 (from 67% in 2019 to 61% in 2021). Socially, the pandemic has left its mark, with an increase in police-reported hate crimes (a 37% increase) and a 7% increase in certain crimes, such as sexual assault, between 2020 and 2021 (Statistics Canada, 2022). However, former members of cults were not exempt from facing adversities. How did they experience the past three years, with periods of confinement and health risks? To answer this question, we analyze a part of the in-depth interviews collected during a larger master's degree research on former members' experience with coercive control. Through qualitative interviews conducted with twenty former members (both first and second generation), we aim to shed light on how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced and continues to influence the life trajectory of former members as they navigate a life away from their respective cults. While these individuals have different stories, the same applies to their reactions during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, we will analyze three themes: the reaction to the government's use of scientific knowledge, the immediate effects related to confinement, and their desire to find or recreate the sense of community they experienced within the cult.
