• Stephen A. Kent, PhD

    Canada   Dr. Stephen A. Kent is Professor of Sociology at the University of Alberta, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on the sociology of religion and sectarian groups. He has published extensively in academic journals related to sociology and religious studies. His book, From Slogans to Mantras: Social Protest and Religious Conversion in the Late Vietnam War Era (2001), was selected as an Outstanding Academic Title by Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries. In 2012, he received the Margaret Thaler Singer Award from ICSA for advancing the understanding of coercive persuasion and undue influence.   Selected publications

    • From slogans to mantras: Social protest and religious conversion in the late Vietnam War era. Kent, S. A. (2001). Syracuse University Press.

    Canada
    • From slogans to mantras: Social protest and religious conversion in the late Vietnam War era. Kent, S. A. (2001). Syracuse University Press.

Late twentieth-century psychoanalytic interpretations of sects and cults: Weston La Bare, Norman Cohn, & E. P. Thompson

Volume 1, 2020

Stephen A. Kent, PhD
This article revisits the role of classical psychoanalysis in early studies of sectarian and cultic groups. Highlighting works by La Barre, Cohn, and Thompson, it argues that despite its limitations, Freudian theory offered valuable interpretive

Introduction to the IJCAM Special Edition: Comparative reflections on scientology and NXIVM

Volume 2, 2021

Stephen A. Kent, PhD
This article explores potential influences of Scientology on NXIVM and its founder, Keith Raniere. Drawing on accounts from former members and critics, it highlights key similarities between the two groups while offering preliminary interpretations and

The grooming of children for sexual abuse in religious settings: Unique characteristics and select case studies

Volume 3, 2022

Susan Raine, PhD
This article examines how religious authority, obedience, and spiritual fear enable child sexual grooming, using cross-faith case studies to show how abuse dynamics in religious settings differ from secular contexts.

The narcissistic messiah: Personality disorder, Sun Myung Moon, and its legacy in the Unification hurch

Volume 8, 2025

Stephen A. Kent, PhD
This article explores how cults shape behavior through gradual persuasion, not sudden brainwashing—revealing the psychology behind belief, conformity, and control.