(by Massimo Montinari) Seven, pseudosette, psychosette, "confraternities", "castes", all expressions of aggregation phenomena of more or less young subjects who decide to celebrate the exaltation of their "guru", for some of their "leader". A mixture of organizations that are not always secret, sometimes masked by the name of "associations" that know what is legitimate and exportable but who, going to investigate, clumsily disguise their speculative and almost always extortional purposes towards affiliates and their families. 'origin.
In Italy there are about 500 "spiritual communities" operating in the area, but making an exact estimate of the number of people who are part of a "sect", sometimes called "caste", in our country is almost impossible; those "communities" that are not frankly spiritual but which idolize success, individual personality, easy profit cannot be calculated, adopting strategies of subjugation of the adepts with consolidated methods of "mental manipulation".
In this bewildered world, which has lost its points of reference (like the family, the state, the church, moral values, respect for man and the sacredness of life), the proliferation of sects or pseudo-sects had an easy life so much dto constitute a real social alarm for which the police or the investigating bodies find themselves unprepared, with their hands tied.
The victim
Wanting to deepen this investigation as a journalist, doctor and member of the law enforcement agencies, I consider it essential to initially describe the figure of the "victim", who falls as the primary subject in the finalist structure of the sect. The purpose is represented by the destruction of man and imposes fundamental steps: a) indoctrination, b) proselytism, c) closure towards the outside.
Having for years started a journalistic investigation to try to shed light on these phenomena in Italy - for which books, countless investigative and news articles have been written, trials have been celebrated and judicial reports have made the sensationalism of the moment - I always came to the first subject: the victim. Of this the psychological profiles have been described, but the element that has allowed to create the sensationalism is the description of the crime, of the brutality of the same, which has allowed the sale of copies of books or newspapers, only to then be wrecked of the media always leaving that halo of mystery.
The caste and the brothers
A definition of "caste" or "group" was proposed during a conference sponsored by the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, by the Family American Foundation and the Johnson Foundation:
* ... A group or movement that exhibits great or excessive devotion or dedication to some person, idea or thing, unethical and that uses techniques of manipulation, persuasion and control (e.g. isolation from old friends and family, debilitation , the use of special methods to increase suggestibility and submission, pressure from powerful groups, information management, the suspension of individuality or critical judgment, the promotion of the group's total dependence and the fear of leaving it and so on) with which aims to promote the objectives of the leaders of the group, due to the action or possible prejudice of the members, their families or communities ". (1986)
This definition, accepted by medical psychiatric researchers, I believe is resolving many doubts, so much so that the structuring of the sect or "caste" is articulated according to already recognized schemes.
The sects have the ability to blend in well, in fact at the beginning they present themselves as a reassuring and protective group; the "fratelli”, Represent for the victim the new family which therefore becomes the only point of reference, the new life. Therefore it is very difficult to distinguish reality from illusion. It is complex, if not impossible, to understand that you have been plagiarized.
How the victim is chosen
La victim it is scrupulously chosen and each sect, or "caste", is oriented towards subjects who can satisfy the interests of their "leader" or "guru". The "leader" is the spiritual, doctrinal, scientific leader of a group of adepts belonging to a medium-high socio-cultural level, generally inserted in the university or financial sphere, belonging to wealthy families or inserted in the social sphere that truly represent the " portfolios ”of the group. The "guru", on the other hand, is the spiritual or doctrinal leader of adepts belonging to a medium-low socio-cultural level and the aim is similar, represented by the obtaining of funds useful for the purposes of the sect.
There are few real experts in the study of this rampant phenomenon in Italy, among which we remember Flavia Piccinni e Carmine Gazzanni, who conducted extensive journalistic investigations published in highly documented texts and articles. Another expert is Professor Lorita Tinelli, professor of General Juvenile and Penitentiary Criminology at the University of Bari and president of the CESAP (Center for Psychological Abuse Studies) which is one of the most important scholars of the spiritual, religious and mental plagiarism sects.
The expert said in an interview: «Il June 1, 1999, together with a colleague psychologist and other people interested in the phenomenon of psychological abuse, we founded CeSAP, an ONLUS association that soon distinguished itself nationally as a reference point for victims of abuse in totalitarian and law enforcement systems investigating these organizations. But also for the media that often draw from our information for investigative programs on the sectarian phenomenon. Over the years we have followed several degree theses and we have trained many trainees by partnering with some universities, including Padua, Chieti and Bari. We have also published and translated several articles, making scientific and informative contributions on topics still little known in Italy. In the meantime, CeSAP has become part of a European federation of sectarian scholars, FECRIS, together with another Italian association, FAVIS, which gathers the families of the victims of the sects. For some years now, our association has been part of the FECRIS board and has been represented, through the current president, on the scientific committee. CeSAP also has its own scientific committee made up of national and international experts»(Source: http://www.legginoci.it/2018/11/13/lorita-tinelli-cesap-io-minacciata-continuamente-dalle-sette-lobiettivo-e-screditarmi/).
Meaning of sect
The threats received by the teacher and his collaborators were numerous, enough to induce the intervention of the police, parliamentary questions, requests for intervention from the Order of Psychologists; but all this has not served as it has been shown that talking about "sects" in Italy is not "good and right thing".
It is important to clarify the meaning of "sect", Which derives from the Latin"secate"(Meaning to separate) and"sequor"(Meaning to follow). So a sect is configured as a closed group, who does not like the comparison with the surrounding world, privileging absolutely the credibility and listening to the internal doctrine emanated by a charismatic leader (often he is the founder), for which there is a true cult of personality. The charismatic leader, regardless of whether man or woman, is experienced as the custodian of an absolute Truth and in the name of the same emanates provisions and "laws" which are often in contrast with those of the wider environment. This charismatic profile today finds proselytes in different sections of the population, from the lower to the higher classes, so much so that it has also taken hold in some Italian university contexts where university "associations" or "schools of thought" have replaced the families of origin of affiliates with promises of easy careers and rich earnings.
The indoctrinamneto e isolation
Indoctrination represents the first step taken by the "caste" or by the "sect", which describes a new way to follow to reach power, social visibility, gain. These goals find easy proselytes in young people, strongly disoriented by social life, not firmly rooted in the strength of the family or the church. The web, with its groups and chat, has become one of the vehicles of rapid access and selection of victims, often reached in young people's aggregation environments or in universities, where careerism and success are more likely to find preferential lanes.
The "leader" generally carefully builds a pyramidal control network with indissoluble hierarchies, illustrating a new world, in which illusion and reality travel hand in hand and the victim imagines a resolution of their problems, often adolescent, which are managed and exploited by the group. The latter, therefore, slowly and progressively replaces his family and old friends.
The victim gradually undergoes a transformation of his own behavior: he changes his habits, drives away old friends and family members to join the "group" which becomes the welcoming and captivating "new family". When someone wants to quickly change someone else's behavior and attitude, he uses a psychology of "practical type"; videos available on the web are also used, often produced by self-styled psychologists or psychotherapists who strongly influence the chosen victim, remotely manipulated, who for ease of access and for the free of charge of the "professional service" accepts the teachings / guide elaborated in the movie, experiencing an introspective suggestion that does not allow her to consult real professionals who could well analyze the problem.
Sometimes it was possible to document that the victims had consulted a psychologist or self-styled person, who would have ordered them to move away from the family member believed to be the cause of their own inconvenience. In some cases the "psychologist consultant" is a "sorceress", "fortune teller", "seer", to whom the victim turned to the indication of other adepts, sometimes on the indication of the same family members already included in this esoteric / mystical context . This second case occurs when there is already a disturbed family member (generally in families experiencing bloody separations), in which one of the parties uses the victim to carry out his revengeful purposes towards the ex partner, conditioning his children. In this case, the subject becomes a double victim, both of the family member (vendetta dispenser), and of the sect or "caste" in which it was inserted.
Indoctrination also presupposes isolation: the subjects must be separated from all social support, from their social background, from their families, from their family environment, from their friends. They are removed from their workplace, from school to be subsequently introduced into a new context. Victims must be enabled to manage the development of new behaviors; for example, in some sects or "castes" it is very important to carry out an absolute check on the information that reaches the neophyte, and this occurs by checking e-mail, telephone calls, telephone or letter messages. People who indoctrinate must use these methods to gain total control over all possible incoming information. In doing so, they make use of a very subtle process. Any access to the bonds of the past is therefore completely severed.
Even the contacts that family members try to obtain with their children who have left their homes are filtered by "adept guides" who intervene and guide the answers, both for web messages and for e-mails. In fact, in the responses received from family members, phrases not attributable to their children emerge.
What constantly emerges is the search for money, while information on the "new life" is provided with people who value and from whom they are loved.
Undoubtedly the fear of "lose a child”Easily conditions the emotional / emotional state of the parents, who appear available to provide the required economic subsistence. A real moral blackmail towards the family members, who yield, day after day, to all the requests of the child until compromising the real estate assets.
The victims transfer all the information of the family members to the "caste", useful for implementing an extortion and management plan for the entire family aimed solely at finding economic resources or social inputs. It is not uncommon to find, during the investigations, the transfer of family property documents, habits, family secrets, images and lifestyles to the group's followers. This "intelligence" work is carried out by the victim when he is still present in the nucleus of the family of origin and when he therefore has free or easy access to the documents kept in the house.
Generally the main aim is represented by the "family patrimony", and the more conspicuous, the greater the bond that the cult's followers establish with the victim, who in this case does not feel such, but is lovingly supported by the "new caring family ".