Michael Langone

Michael D. Langone (born 1947) is an American counseling psychologist who specializes in research about cultic groups and psychological manipulation. He is executive director of the International Cultic Studies Association, and founding editor of the journal Cultic Studies Journal, later the Cultic Studies Review.

Langone is author and co-author of two books and several articles. He first joined the International Cultic Studies Association (then the American Family Foundation) in 1981.

Career
Langone received his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from University of California, Santa Barbara in 1979, where he was a Regents Fellow for three years, and he began his work in cults in 1978. Langone defines a cult as "a group or movement exhibiting a great or excessive devotion or dedication to some person, idea, or thing, and employing unethically manipulative techniques of persuasion and control designed to advance the goals of the group’s leader, to the actual or possible detriment of members, their families, or the community". Langone joined the American Family Foundation in 1981, the organization later changed its name to the International Cultic Studies Association.

In 1984 he became the editor of the American Family Foundation's house publication, Cultic Studies Journal. The journal ceased publication in 2001 and was replaced with Cultic Studies Review as an online journal with triennial print editions.

Theories
In his book Recovering from Cults, Langone writes that cults "need not be religious in nature but may be psycho-therapeutic, political, or commercial". In his writings, Langone argues that new religions conflict with traditional American beliefs and have to be considered objectionable for that reason, stating that he makes no apologies "for evaluating cults in terms of fundamental American values, which I have imbibed, examined and accepted."

The former American Family Foundation, headed by Langone, is described as offering the most public support for the mind-control theory through its Cultic Studies Journal. The theory is seen by researchers as a propaganda device used by the anti-cult movement to rationalize the persecution of minority religious groups.