8.2 /10 1 Votes
Country United States Publication date 1978 ( 2005 ) Pages 380 ( 365 ) Genre Psychology | 4.1/5 Goodreads Language English Media type Paperback Originally published 1978 Page count 380 (365) OCLC 3844238 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Publisher 1st ed. Lippincott,
2nd printing Dell,
2nd ed. Stillpoint Press Subjects Religious conversion, Mind control Similar Cult books, Psychology books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Snapping: America's Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change is a 1978 book which describes the authors' theory of religious conversion. They propose that "snapping" is a mental process through which a person is recruited by a cult or new religious movement, or leaves the group through deprogramming or exit counseling. Political ideological conversions are also included, with Patty Hearst given as an example.
Contents
Two editions of the book were published, the first (1978) by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; and reprinted in 1979 by Dell Publishing; and a second edition (1995) by Stillpoint Press, a publishing company owned by the authors.
Concept
Conway and Siegelman describe snapping as:
"an experience that is unmistakably traumatic ... Sudden change comes in a moment of intense experience that is not so much a peak as a precipice, an unforeseen break in the continuity of awareness that may leave them detached, withdrawn, disoriented - and utterly confused."
Snapping has been said to create the effect of an entirely new person, often completely different and unrecognizable.
Information disease
Conway and Siegelman further proposed that a disorder which they named "information disease" was caused by alteration of the neurological pathways of the brain by group indoctrination and mind control activities.