Benjamin Zablocki


Benjamin Zablocki was an American professor of sociology at Rutgers University where he taught sociology of religion and social psychology. He published widely on the subject of charismatic religious movements, cults, and brainwashing.

Early life and education

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Zablocki received his B.A. in mathematics from Columbia University in 1962 and his Ph.D. in social relations from the Johns Hopkins University in 1967, where he studied with James S. Coleman.

Career

Zablocki was the Sociology department chair at Rutgers University. He published widely on the sociology of religion.
Zablocki was a supporter of what he called 'the brainwashing hypothesis'. Other scholars, Zablocki notes, commonly mistake brainwashing for both a recruiting and a retaining process; it is merely the latter, however. This misunderstanding enables critics of brainwashing to set up a straw-man, and thereby unfairly criticize the phenomenon of brainwashing. For evidence of the existence of brainwashing, Zablocki refers to the sheer number of testimonies from ex-members and even ex-leaders of cults. Zablocki further alleges that brainwashing has been unfairly "blacklisted" from the academic journals of sociology of religion. Such blacklisters, Zablocki asserts, receive lavish funding from alleged cults and engage in "corrupt" practices.

Selected works

Books