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| Cult Awareness Network | |
|---|---|
| Name | Cult Awareness Network |
| Type | Nonprofit advocacy group |
| Founded | 1978 |
| Dissolved | 2000 (original organization) |
| Successor | CAN, Inc. (reestablished 1990s/2000s) |
| Headquarters | United States |
| Founder | Pauline Bailey |
| Key people | Rick Ross; Steven Hassan; Paul Proctor |
| Focus | Anti-cult activism |
Cult Awareness Network
The Cult Awareness Network was an American nonprofit organization established to provide information about and assistance regarding allegedly harmful groups, especially new religious movements and Scientology. Founded in 1978, it became a visible node in networks of antipathy around Unification Church, Heaven's Gate, and Branch Davidians, while intersecting with advocacy by figures linked to American Psychological Association debates, deprogrammers, and legal contests such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigations into mass-casualty incidents.
The organization grew from local citizen groups in the late 1970s responding to concerns about Unification Church proselytism, influenced by activists associated with Patricia Pulling and American Family Foundation. Early alliances connected to researchers at Boston University and commentators appearing on NBC News and ABC News, with ties to regional coalitions confronting groups including Order of the Solar Temple, Aum Shinrikyo, and The Family International. As the network expanded, prominent antipathy involved practitioners like Rick Ross and consultants such as Steven Hassan, who engaged with families, clergy from denominations like Roman Catholic parishes and Southern Baptist Convention, and advocates from organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League.
CAN articulated a mission to offer information, referral, and support for families concerned about alleged coercive persuasion and mind control techniques, maintaining hotlines, directories, and educational materials. It published reports and newsletters referencing research by scholars at University of California, Berkeley, Harvard University, and sociologists examining groups like Rajneesh movement and Transcendental Meditation. The organization coordinated with clinicians associated with American Psychiatric Association and counselors from networks including National Association of Social Workers; it sponsored conferences featuring speakers who had criticized groups such as Scientology and Eat the Rich (as cultural referent), and provided referrals to deprogramming consultants like Louis Jolyon West associates and civil libertarians from think tanks like Brookings Institution.
The group faced sustained criticism from religious freedom advocates, scholars of new religious movements such as Eileen Barker and J. Gordon Melton, and civil liberties organizations including American Civil Liberties Union. Critics accused it of promoting surveillance tactics and endorsing coercive interventions similar to those used by deprogrammers like Ted Patrick, and questioned its reliance on contested concepts endorsed in debates at American Psychological Association conferences. High-profile disputes involved Scientology campaigns opposing CAN, media battles with figures from Time (magazine) and The New York Times, and scholarly rebuttals published by researchers linked to University of California, Santa Barbara and Brandeis University.
CAN became enmeshed in litigation, including defamation and civil conspiracy suits involving prominent parties such as Steven Hayes-adjacent cases and actions brought by families subjected to forced interventions. Notably, it was named in suits brought by Church of Scientology affiliates and was implicated in a jury award in a case involving deprogrammer Rick Ross, which precipitated bankruptcy proceedings. Courts addressed issues related to free speech, RICO-style allegations, and liability for referrals to private actors. Litigation intersected with bankruptcy filings and asset seizures overseen by federal bankruptcy courts and commentators from United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit covered appeals.
Following adverse judgments and financial pressures, the original nonprofit declared bankruptcy and its name and resources were purchased in litigation involving entities associated with Church of Scientology. The original hotline and office infrastructure dissolved amid media coverage by Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post, while new organizations claiming the same name or similar missions emerged, including groups with leadership linking to individuals formerly associated with Rick Ross and newer advocacy coalitions that sought relationships with clinicians at Johns Hopkins University and legal scholars from Georgetown University Law Center. Reestablished entities adopted different emphases, with some shifting toward legal advocacy and others toward consumer protection models akin to Better Business Bureau operations.
The organization's controversial history shaped public discourse on deprogramming, religious liberty, and the regulation of new religious movements. Its archives and case files were cited in scholarship by academics such as Eileen Barker and J. Gordon Melton, debated at panels convened by American Academy of Religion and Sociological Association conferences, and influenced policy dialogues involving lawmakers in bodies like the United States Congress. The saga contributed to legal precedents concerning third-party liability, informed journalism in outlets including The New Yorker and Time (magazine), and left a contested legacy referenced in studies at Harvard Law School and Yale Law School on the balance between advocacy and civil liberties.
Category:Organizations established in 1978