Editing International Cultic Studies Association

{{Short description|Anti-cult organization}}
{{Use American English|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox organization
| name                     = International Cultic Studies Association
| image                    = Cultic_Studies_Association_logo.jpg
| formation                = {{start date and age|1979}}
| founder                  = Kay Barney
| headquarters             = [[Savannah, Georgia]], United States
| leader_title             = Executive Director
| leader_name              = Jacqueline Johnson, DSW
| leader_title2            = President
| leader_name2             = Debby Schriver
| website                  = {{url|internationalculticstudies.org}}
}}

The '''International Cultic Studies Association''' (ICSA), formerly the '''American Family Foundation''' (AFF), is a non-profit educational and [[Anti-cult movement|anti-cult]] organization. It publishes the ''International Journal of Coercion, Abuse, and Manipulation'', ''ICSA Today'', and other materials.

==History==
The American Family Foundation (AFF) was founded by Kay Barney in 1979 in [[Lexington, Massachusetts]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Gallagher |first=Eugene V. |author-link=Eugene V. Gallagher |title=New Religions: Emerging Faiths and Religious Cultures in the Modern World |last2=Willsky-Ciollo |first2=Lydia |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |year=2021 |isbn=978-1-4408-6237-3 |volume=1 |location=Santa Barbara |pages=293–294 |language=en |chapter=International Cultic Studies Association, The (The American Family Foundation)}}</ref> It was one of a few anti-cult groups founded in this period,{{sfn|Nathan|Snedeker|1995|p=36}} and one of several dozen disparate parents' groups founded in the late 1970s by concerned parents.<ref name="ChryssidesWilkins2006">{{cite book |author1=George D. Chryssides |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HgFlebSZKLcC&pg=PA360 |title=A Reader in New Religious Movements: Readings in the Study of New Religious Movements |author2=Margaret Wilkins |date=2006 |publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-8264-6168-1 |page=360 |access-date=12 December 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Langone|first1=Michael|title=History of American Family Foundation|url=http://www.icsahome.com/articles/history-of-american-family-foundation|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024034729/http://www.icsahome.com/articles/history-of-american-family-foundation|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 24, 2014|access-date=10 January 2015}}</ref> Barney's daughter had joined the [[Unification Church]], and he came to see her relationship with it as alarming and controlling; he sought to learn more and therefore counteract its influence.<ref name=":4" /> The American Family Foundation was conservative in orientation.{{sfn|Nathan|Snedeker|1995|p=238}}<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Fister |first=Barbara |date=May 2003 |title=The Devil in the Details: Media Representation of "Ritual Abuse" and Evaluation of Sources |journal=Simile: Studies in Media and Information Literacy Education |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=1–14 |doi=10.3138/sim.3.2.001 |doi-broken-date=2025-10-12 |issn=1496-6603|doi-access=free }}</ref> 

For a time the AFF was affiliated with the Citizens’ Freedom Foundation (CFF) which later became the [[Cult Awareness Network]] (CAN).<ref name=":4" /><ref name="clark">{{cite book|author=Peter Clarke|title=Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DouBAgAAQBAJ|date=2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-49970-0}}</ref> They were the two biggest anti-cult organizations in the United States.<ref name=":4" /> However, unlike CAN, the AFF largely did not engage with freelance [[deprogrammers]], whose acts were often illegal. Instead the AFF mostly engaged with psychologists and other professionals concerned by cults.<ref name=":4" /> For its first few years, it focused largely on trying to convince various levels of governments to take up legal action against cult groups; after several years of failure, they abandoned this route and decided to instead focus on education by 1984.<ref name=":4" /> It functioned as the "academic arm" of the [[anti-cult movement]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Pendergrast |first=Mark |title=The Repressed Memory Epidemic: How It Happened and What We Need to Learn from It |date= |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media]] |year=2017 |isbn=978-3-319-63374-9 |location=Cham |page=322 |language=en}}</ref> 

They promoted the idea of satanic groups connected to "satanic ritual abuse" as part of the [[Satanic panic]].{{sfn|Nathan|Snedeker|1995|p=238}}{{sfn|Lewis|Tøllefsen|2016|p=219}} They had a "Task Force on Satanism",{{sfn|Richardson|Best|Bromley|1991|p=209}} and sold a "Satanism information packet" that checked for a "ritual abuse behavioral checklist" and included miscellaneous news clips on allegedly satanic crimes.{{sfn|Richardson|Best|Bromley|1991|p=209}}{{sfn|Nathan|Snedeker|1995|p=238}}{{sfn|Lewis|Tøllefsen|2016|p=219}} Their periodicals also ran articles on the topic,{{sfn|Lewis|Tøllefsen|2016|p=219}} and editors of their periodicals expressed a belief in ritual abuse.<ref name=":1" /> Believers in Satanic ritual abuse referred to the AFF to help survivors of the alleged practice.<ref name=":0" />{{sfn|Nathan|Snedeker|1995|pp=238–239}} At this time they were also connected to the [[False Memory Syndrome Foundation]].{{sfn|Nathan|Snedeker|1995|p=238}} 

They have historically given out the [[John G. Clark]] Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Cultic Studies.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=November 1990 |title=People |journal=The APA Monitor |volume=21 |issue=11 |page=52}}</ref> They had the "Center of Destructive Cultism" as an arm of the main organization.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Anthony |first=Dick |author-link=Dick Anthony |date=December 1999 |title=Pseudoscience and Minority Religions: An Evaluation of the Brainwashing Theories of Jean-Marie Abgrall |journal=[[Social Justice Research]] |language=en |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=421–456 |doi=10.1023/A:1022081411463 |issn=0885-7466}}</ref> In 1999, its executive director was [[Michael Langone]].<ref name=":2" /> It also developed links with [[Christian countercult movement|Christian counter-cult movements]] such as the [[Christian Research Institute]].<ref name="clark" /> In December 2004, it changed its name from the American Family Foundation to International Cultic Studies Association, to reflect a more international orientation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cult Info Since 1979 – Name Change 2004 |url=https://www.icsahome.com/aboutus/name-change |access-date=2022-08-01 |website=www.icsahome.com |language=en-US}}</ref>{{sfn|Chryssides|Zeller|2014|pp=8, 171}}<ref name=":4" /> Different cult monitoring organizations coordinate through the ICSA.{{sfn|Chryssides|Zeller|2014|p=171}} They host conferences, including an annual international meeting.<ref name=":4" />

== Publications ==
The AFF/ICSA has published a variety of periodicals throughout its existence.<ref name=":4" /> The American Family Foundation's first magazine was ''The Advisor'', launched in 1979.<ref name=":4" /> From 1982 to 1983 they also had the ''Cultic Studies Newsletter.'' In 1984 they were replaced by ''The Cult Observer'' and the ''Cultic Studies Journal.''<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=ICSA - Online Library |url=https://www.icsahome.com/elibrary/memberelibrary |access-date=2026-02-26 |website=www.icsahome.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":4" /> The editor of the ''Cultic Studies Journal'' was for a time [[Michael Langone]].<ref name=":1" /> They also published ''AFF News''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chryssides |first=George D. |author-link=George D. Chryssides |title=A Reader in New Religious Movements |last2=Wilkins |first2=Margaret Z. |publisher=[[Continuum (publisher)|Continuum]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-8264-6167-4 |location=New York |pages=360–369 |chapter=American Family Foundation}}</ref>

In 2001, publication of the ''Cultic Studies Journal'' and ''The Cult Observer'' ceased, and the AFF began publishing the ''Cultic Studies Review'' as an online journal with triennial print editions.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Langone|first1=Michael|title=Introduction to Inaugural Issue|journal=Cultic Studies Review|date=2002|volume=1|issue=1|page=5}}</ref><ref name=":4" /> In 2005, the final AFF published edition of ''Cultic Studies Review'' was released. Subsequent editions were published by the International Cultic Studies Association until 2010.<ref>{{cite journal |date=2010 |editor1-last=Wehle |editor1-first=Dana |editor2-last=Madsen |editor2-first=Libbe |title=Untitled |journal=Cultic Studies Review |volume=9 |issue=1}}</ref> They have published the ''ICSA Today'' magazine since 2010.<ref name=":4" />

In 2010, the first print and online editions of the ''International Journal of Cultic Studie''s were published.<ref name="IJCS11">{{cite journal|author1=Carmen Almendros|author2=Dianne Casoni|author3=Rod Dubrow-Marshall|title=About the International Journal of Cultic Studies|journal=International Journal of Cultic Studies|date=2010|volume=1|issue=1}}</ref><ref name=":4" /><ref name="Dole">{{Cite journal | last1 = Dole | first1 = A. A. | title = Book review | doi = 10.1007/BF00987757 | journal = Journal of Religion & Health | volume = 28 | issue = 3 | pages = 245–246 | year = 1989 | s2cid = 40318380 }}</ref> The journal ceased in 2019. In 2020, they launched the ''International Journal of Coercion, Abuse, and Manipulation''.<ref name=":3" /> 

== Reception ==
The former AFF's participation in the [[Satanic panic|hysteria over Satanism]] has been criticized.{{sfn|Nathan|Snedeker|1995|p=238}}{{sfn|Lewis|Tøllefsen|2016|p=219}}<ref name=":1" /> Writer [[Debbie Nathan]] called the American Family Foundation a "conservative group that distrusts nonmainstream religions", and criticized their accusations that such groups broke up "traditional families" and their belief in Satanic ritual abuse.{{sfn|Nathan|Snedeker|1995|p=238}} [[James T. Richardson]] wrote that they were one of several anti-cult groups at this time to "mix their usual message about brainwashing and mind control in religious cults with a heavy dose of atrocity tales and myths about satanism".{{sfn|Richardson|Best|Bromley|1991|p=209}} Scholars [[George D. Chryssides]] and [[Benjamin E. Zeller]] wrote that while material from its earlier journals and material under the AFF had been sometimes criticized, its material from the ''International Journal of Cultic Studie''s was better regarded and included contributions from well-known academics.{{sfn|Chryssides|Zeller|2014|p=8}}

Bryan Edelman and [[James T. Richardson]] state that [[China]] has borrowed heavily from Western [[anti-cult movement]]s, such as ICSA, to bolster their view of non-mainstream religious groups, and so the support campaigns of oppression against them.<ref name="Edelman">{{Cite journal
|title=Imposed limitations on freedom of religion in China and the margin of appreciation doctrine: a legal analysis of the crackdown on the Falun Gong and other "evil cults"
|first1=Bryan
|last1=Edelman
|first2=James T.
|last2=Richardson
|journal=Journal of Church and State
|volume=47
|issue=2
|year=2005
|page=243
|doi=10.1093/jcs/47.2.243}}</ref> In a previous article Richardson and Marat S. Shterin said that Western anti-cult organizations, including the CSA, had been a source of anti-cult material in [[Russia]].<ref name="Richardson2000">{{Cite journal |last1=Richardson |first1=James T. |last2=Shterin |first2=Marat S. |year=2000 |title=Effects of the Western anti-cult movement on development of laws concerning religion in post-Communist Russia |journal=Journal of Church and State |volume=42 |issue=2 |page=247 |doi=10.1093/jcs/42.2.247 |quote=}}</ref>

In their book ''Cults and New Religions: A Brief History'', sociologists [[Douglas E. Cowan]] and [[David G. Bromley]] describe the ICSA as a "secular anticult" organization. They claim that the ICSA provides no indication of how many of its cult characteristics are necessary for a group to be considered "cultic," and that the checklist creators do not adequately define how much of certain practices or behaviors would constitute "excessive," nor do they provide evidence that any of the practices listed are innately harmful. Cowan and Bromley also state that the ICSA’s list is so broad that even mainstream religious movements such as [[Buddhism]], [[Evangelicalism|Evangelical Protestantism]], [[Hinduism]], and the [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic Church]] could fall within the criteria.<ref name="Cowan">Cowan, Douglas E. and Bromley, David G. ''Cults and New Religions: A Brief History''. Blackwell Publishing. 2009. pp. 4, 219–222. {{ISBN|978-1-4051-6128-2}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Cult Information Centre]]
* [[Dialogue Ireland]]
* [[Decult Conference]]
* [[European Federation of Centres of Research and Information on Sectarianism]]
* [[Info-Cult]]
* [[MIVILUDES]]
* [[The Family Survival Trust]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

=== Works cited ===
* {{Cite book |title=The Bloomsbury Companion to New Religious Movements |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]] |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-4411-9005-5 |editor-last1=Chryssides |editor-first1=George D. |editor-link=George D. Chryssides |location=London |language=en |author-mask=2 |editor-last2=Zeller |editor-first2=Benjamin E. |editor-link2=Benjamin E. Zeller}}
* {{Cite book |title=The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements: Volume II |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-19-046617-6 |editor-last=Lewis |editor-first=James R. |editor-link=James R. Lewis (scholar) |location=New York |pages=210–221 |language=en |chapter="Satanic Ritual Abuse" |editor-last2=Tøllefsen |editor-first2=Inga B.}}
* {{Cite book |last=Nathan |first=Debbie |author-link=Debbie Nathan |title=Satan's Silence: Ritual Abuse and the Making of a Modern American Witch Hunt |last2=Snedeker |first2=Michael |publisher=[[BasicBooks]] |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-465-07180-7 |location=New York |language=en}}
* {{Cite book |editor-last1=Richardson |editor-first1=James T. |editor-link=James T. Richardson |editor-last2=Best |editor-first2=Joel |editor-link2=Joel Best |title=The Satanism Scare |editor-last3=Bromley |editor-first3=David G. |editor-link3=David G. Bromley |publisher=[[Aldine de Gruyter]] |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-202-30378-9 |location=Hawthorne |language=en}}

{{Opposition to NRMs}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Anti-cult organizations]]
[[Category:International organizations based in the United States]]
[[Category:International religious organizations]]
[[Category:Organizations based in Florida]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1979]]
[[Category:1979 establishments in Massachusetts]]