SOCIAL/Group Aspects of Behaviour
CON-Tricks & Scams
Cult-Related Links

 

Beliefs, Thoughts, Behaviour
Con-Tricks, Scams, Deception
Cult-related Links

 

 

 

BELIEFS, THOUGHTS & BEHAVIOUR

WE ALL get persuaded on occasion, perhaps to buy something that we either do or don't need - the 'right' kind of advertising obviously does pay.  At least we know where to get hold of something should the inspiration or need arise.  Ever wonder where the inspiration or 'need' comes from?  Does it necessarily benefit you, apart from that buzz and the hole in your pocket.

RESEARCH shows how people in groups tend to be rather more willing to take risks.  That doesn't mean that everyone takes more risks, or even feels like it.  It is simply that there is a way of showing a reasonable statistical difference between one state of affairs (making a decision on one's own), and facing the same decision with a group of others people.

YOU MIGHT be surprised how much that appears in our newspapers is simply a press release or write-up about someone's research, which may or may not be applicable to normal daily life.  It could, by a small stretch of the imagination, be designed to influence you to a way of thinking.

DID YOU know that behaviour follows thought?  Whose thoughts - what you read, what someone whom you trust tells you, what everyone else in the workplace thinks, what your partner thinks?  This may sound like empty rhetoric and that is for you to decide.  But would you want constant party political broadcasts, rousing marches, football crowds?

DO YOU want sometimes to flop in front of the tv and let it all happen around you?  It lifts you out of your everyday life, the daily struggle to work when you don't feel like it, the chores, getting the car fixed.  It's like a holiday, and we all need a breather.  You're happy to let the show go on and that might just be when your defences are down (hence all those ads?).

FINE - because you know there's advertising.  But what if you're uneasy about something, on the tv/ off the tv, what your mate says, what your boss says?  Why do you think there is emphasis today on being assertive, standing up for yourself, getting advice because you don't fit a particular niche?  Indeed it could be good for you.  It could also be good for the people who are paid to promote ideas via books, seminars, group meetings to foster a feeling of support, and so on.

EVERYONE has to earn a living?  Everyone can do their own thing?  It's free and it's helpful?  Could there be a hidden agenda, getting your mates involved, giving a donation, getting you to buy books, encouraging you  to feel a need to seek help or comfort - at financial or human cost?  We are all human:  you may feel OK with yourself or at least you get by.  You can build on that by yourself or with friends you trust.

BE AWARE that some people may not be what they seem.  Some may simply want you to believe what they believe, or they say what you might want to hear.  Something to watch out for would be a double-standard (which can be deliberate or not) where the stated objective may be perhaps an ideal to follow, but the intent may be raising money or having a form of control over others.

AS A GUIDE,
if you are in a relationship or a group and you feel like questioning something or changing your mind but you meet opposition, perhaps it is time to examine things further.  There is a natural amount of give-and-take in many situations.  We all have our various likes and dislikes, our comfort zones and our discomforts.

KEEP LOOKING UNTIL YOU FIND WHAT YOU NEED
Everyone is different


Topaz Postline do not necessarily endorse all Links and information appearing on this Site.
The point behind much of our work is that - people should be free to make their own choices!

 

 

CON-TRICKS, Scams, Deception

BBC TV have been running 'The Real Hustle' in 2009, information at www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006m8mf
If you can watch videos you can see the Top 30 voted Hustles at www.bbc.co.uk/realhustle/besthustles/

Books you might find useful are:

'Conned: Scams, Frauds & Swindles' by James Morton & Hilary Bateson
'The Con Artist Handbook, the Secrets of Hustles & Scams' by Joel Levy
'The Art of Deception' by Kevin D Mitnick & William L Simon
'More Scams from the Great Beyond' by Peter Huston
'The Sting - True Stories of the World's greatest Conmen' by Nigel Blundell
'The Tourist Trap - when Holiday turns to Nightmare' by Patrick Blackden

'The Book of Tells' by Peter Collett
'The Call of the Weird - Travels in American Subcultures' by Louis Theroux
'The Dilbert Principle' by Scott Adams
'A Mind of its Own - How your Brain Distorts & Deceives' by Cordelia Fine
'The Psychology of Self-Deception' by Daniel Goleman
'Tricks of the Mind' by Derren Brown
'Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic'

'Decoding Advertisements - Ideology & Meaning in Advertising' by Judith Williamson
'Emotional Design - Why we love (or hate) everyday things' by Donald A Norman
'Stack & Sway - the new Science of Jury Consulting' by Neil J Kressel & Dorit F Kressel
'Techniques of Persuasion' by J.A.C. Brown
'We Know What You Want - How they change your Mind' by Martin Howard
'The Want Makers' by Eric Clark

Some people may genuinely believe
in what they are telling you (top of Page)

Logical Fallacies - errors of reasoning or argument -
use a Search Engine or www.logicalfallacies.info/
which categorises fallacies of relevance, ambiguity, or presumption

Social Engineering for strategies from the computer environment, and used more generally, to gain information or manipulate

Nidotherapy - changing someone's environment rather than trying to change them

Dissing has become a part of life, whether that means discounting someone, disrespecting, discrediting,
disregarding, dismissing; or being rude or unsupportive

Look at Advertising, Public Relations, Salesmanship, Anthropology, Stage Magic

 
People with Home Problems
Missing from Home/ Runaways

Group, Family & Other Pressures

MISSING FROM HOME or Runaways


BBC Website at www.bbc.co.uk/headroom
How to ‘Unwind Your Mind’ (some needs Java & Flash)
or click at top left of their Website for Text Only
Contacts for Help - plenty of LINKS

Myth Buster section explains some common Mental Health ‘myths’ or misunderstandings

‘Missing Live’ TV - People say why they missing

See
Moodscape to create your own online Animation

~ ~ ~

MISSING PEOPLE - Free TEXT for young Runaways
Text to 80234 : Freefone 24-hour Helpline 0808 800 70 70
You can Email too – See www.missingpeople.org.uk

ACTION for CHILDREN help families through difficult periods - See Website for text and relevant information on their animated TV ads - www.actionforchildren.org.uk

 

 

CULTS & GROUPS

GROUPS in general, including family relationships or work places, even interaction with an individual, can have a very strong effect, and it can be difficult to see things for what they are, and to get help and understanding.

Management or other techniques may include the concept of 'winning hearts & minds':  To get people to change how they behave, you first change how they think about something, perhaps by gaining their trust or dependence.   Coercive behaviour does not have to be obtrusive or jarring.  It can be subtle or desirable, or at worst seem harmless - which makes it harder to see or get others to see. 

Click HERE If you are in a situation of domestic violence or a coercive relationship, or are facing issues with bullying or harassment.

 

CULT-RELATED LINKS are provided as a possible starting point. 
Please bear in mind that people working in this field may have different opinions and approaches, so just take on board what is useful:

http://www.freedomofmind.com  Steven Hassan's website, author of 'Combatting Cult Mind Control: Guide to Protection, Rescue, and Recovery from Destructive Cults" (1988) and 'Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves' (2000).

http://www.rickross.com   Primary signs that a group might be a 'cult' and how to get out of one.
Book List on page http://www.rickross.com/reference/books/reading_list.html

International Cultic Studies Association site with much useful information on how cults operate and their effects:  http://www.icsahome.com

FECRIS European site with worldwide links:  http://www.fecris.org

'Cults and Families' by Doni Whitsett & Stephen A Kent: overview of cult-related issues: families in cults, parental roles, impact cult leaders have on families, destruction of family intimacy, child abuse, impact on cognitive, psychological and moral development, health issues.  Download from http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/~skent/cults.html

Cult Dynamics article at http://www.skeptictank.org/hs/cultdyn.htm

Cults, Sects & Heresies free downloadable course http://eomtc.com/cults/ (donations appreciated)

Cults & Sects Bibliography booklist http://www.robibrad.demon.co.uk/bibcult.htm

Social Identity Theory provides useful insights into groups and cult-like behaviours

Out of Character Behaviour website is at Toukanalia http://toukanalia.blogspot.com

Groups, Cults, Indoctrination, Exiting click HERE

'Doc Matrix' Flash animations on Cults, Beliefs, Social Pressures, Missing from Home/Runaways - http://ideation.i8.com :
For some aspects of coerciveness in counselling or psychotherapy visit Trubbles website at http://trubbles.t35.com

Cults and SRA comments click HERE

Social Dynamics of Cult Ritual Abuse click HERE

'The Secret World of Cults: Inside the Sects That Take Over Lives'  by Jean Ritchie
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-World-Cults-Religion-Exposed/dp/020716990X

'Sinister Forces Book Three: The Manson Secret' by Peter Levenda

'Ritual Abuse in the Twenty-First Century: Psychological, Forensic, Social & Political Considerations' (2008) Ed. Randy Noblitt & Pamela Perskin Noblitt.  (Also available from Amazon when it is back in stock) http://www.rdrpublishers.com

'Speak of the Devil: Tales of satanic abuse in contemporary England' by J. S. La Fontaine
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Speak-Devil-Satanic-Contemporary-England/dp/0521629349/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217238004&sr=1-2

'Forensic Aspects of Dissociative Identity Disorder' Ed. Adah Sachs & Graeme Galton (Available
from Amazon UK and Karnac Books)

 

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