Understanding systematic abuse
High-control environments can create conditions in which systematic abuse flourishes. When organisations control members’ daily lives, relationships, information and freedom of expression, individuals may become increasingly dependent on those exercising authority. Where effective governance, safeguarding, whistleblowing protections and independent oversight are also absent, exploitation and abuse can continue with impunity.
Despite decades of research into cults, sects and high-control organisations, significant gaps remain in our understanding of their prevalence, membership, societal costs and the mechanisms that enable systematic abuse.
These gaps are partly maintained by organisational secrecy. Some high-control groups conceal membership numbers, finances, internal rules, teachings, ceremonies and activities, sometimes even from their own members. They may operate through multiple names or connected entities, making their full scale and activities difficult to establish. Researchers, survivors and critics may also face intimidation, discrediting campaigns or attempts to obstruct independent scrutiny.
Such practices can conceal wrongdoing from outsiders while reinforcing internal narratives that portray external criticism as persecution, potentially strengthening group loyalty and discouraging dissent.
ISAJO takes no position on religious beliefs or organisational ideologies. Our concern is with coercive control, exploitation and abuse, regardless of the organisation in which they occur.
Priorities for further research
We have identified four areas where further research could strengthen understanding, prevention and accountability.
1. Mapping high-control organisations worldwide
Documenting geographical distribution, membership estimates, organisational characteristics and connections between groups, including those operating under different names. Open-source research could help establish a clearer picture of their scale and activities.
2. Membership patterns and experiences
Understanding who joins, stays and leaves high-control organisations, including demographics, recruitment, motivations, experiences of coercion and barriers to leaving. Such research could challenge stereotypes and inform prevention strategies.
3. The societal costs of systematic abuse
Investigating the economic and social consequences of abuse, including mental healthcare needs, family separation, lost education and employment, coerced labour, financial exploitation and costs borne by public institutions.
4. Prevention, accountability and recovery
Evaluating effective approaches to organisational governance, safeguarding, whistleblowing, legislative reform, survivor support, family restoration and perpetrator rehabilitation.
Research integrity and independence
Independent research into high-control organisations must be able to withstand scrutiny, including scrutiny of researchers’ own methodologies, funding and potential conflicts of interest.
ISAJO supports transparent methodologies, independent verification and meaningful inclusion of survivor perspectives. Research should examine organisational practices and their consequences without prejudice towards religious beliefs or minority groups.
ISAJO’s contribution
ISAJO brings a survivor-informed perspective to the study of systematic abuse, particularly the relationship between coercive control, organisational structures and accountability. We welcome engagement with researchers across sociology, psychology, criminology, law, public health and related disciplines to advance understanding and prevention.