Ford Green

Ford Green, a lawyer involved with anti-cult litigation, speaks primarily about the dynamics that can go wrong in unhealthy guru/student relationships. Very often he contends, this relationship is marred by both the unhealthy projections of the student and the unhealthy narcissism of the guru. Students come to the relationship with a deep sense of inadequacy, a feeling that something is missing in their lives, and desire that the guru help them. Unhealthy gurus are looking for ego gratification and often have power issues. They prey on the vulnerability of their students and are consequently destructive both to themselves and their students.

Some warning signs that the relationship is unhealthy are:

1. Whether the guru misleads the student about the group’ s purpose
2. Whether the guru interprets what the student thinks
3. Whether the guru denigrates the student’s interpretations;
4. Whether students are segregated within the community; Isolation, removes a person from their normal reference points and puts them in an environment that is controlled by the group.
   
5. Whether they are isolated from society and deprived of sleep and protein
6. Whether they are allowed dissension
   
7. Whether they are subjected to peer pressure.
8. In unhealthy groups, reinforcement to group norms and behaviors are stressed,
9. Fear and guilt are used as manipulative tools to get a student to adhere to the group ideals. Students who find themselves in this environment and are coming from a deep neediness for external validation are easily manipulated and brainwashed.