Jan Groenveld

Jan Groenveld (1945 - 22 October 2002) was a former member of the Mormon Church and the Jehovah's Witnesses. She spent a total of fifteen years in these organizations before leaving them in 1975. After her negative experiences in these organizations, she resolved to make more information about what she saw as "cults" available to the general public.

Her personal experiences involving these groups were featured in Richard Guilliatt's book, Talk of the Devil.

Groenveld coined the often quoted phrase: The most dangerous lie is that which most closely resembles the truth.

Education

 * BSc, psychology, University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia

Helped affected individuals
Groenveld first began providing information about what she referred to as cults to the public and helping affected individuals in 1979. In 1980, she founded the Freedom In Christ ministry, whose purpose was to counsel former members of controversial groups, and provide information about coercive religious sects.

Jan founded the Cult Awareness and Information Centre (CAIC), in 1990. Groenveld's CAIC website was started in 1991, with an original size of 500 kilobytes. Groenveld first met Steven Hassan in 1993, when she brought him to Brisbane, Australia from the United States for a seminar. Hassan educated Groenveld as to the serious potential for doubt and lack of veracity in satanic ritual abuse stories.

Groenveld's name eventually became well-known as an educator and campaigner against so-called cults and controversial religious sects. Groenveld's Cult Awareness and Information Centre was listed with her name as a resource in Marlene Winell's book, Leaving the Fold. "Jan Groenveld" is a prohibited term on the Church of Scientology's internet filters, software it gives its members to filter out critical information on the internet. See Scientology versus the Internet.

Cited as "cult expert"
In 1999 an Australian publication interviewed Groenveld on the likelihood that more destructive cults would show up in their country. The publication titled Groenveld a "cult specialist'" and two other Australian publications titled her a "cult expert." She warned the publication about a cult called the Twelve Tribes Mission, believing them to possess militant tendencies. She warned: "There are people out there all over the place who would like to be another Jim Jones", referring to the Peoples Temple cult suicide.

Groenveld's definition of a cult was cited as "any group which has a pyramid type authoritarian leadership structure with all teaching and guidance coming from the person at the top. The group will claim to be the only way to God...and will use thought reform or mind control techniques to gain control and keep their members."

Groenveld's work has also been cited in Snow's Deadly Cults: The Crimes of True Believers.

Death
Jan died in October 2002, and was survived by her husband Simon and five sons.

Articles

 * It Hurts, Jan Groenveld
 * Recovery from Mind Control, Cult Involvement, Jan Groenveld, Cult Awareness and Information Centre
 * Cult Dynamics: Social Psychology and Group Dynamics, Jan Groenveld
 * The Art of Persuasion: Telling it Like it Is, Jan Groenveld, 1985
 * Parable of the New Soap, Jan Groenveld, Computers For Christ
 * Stages in Recovery
 * Identifying a Cult
 * Healthy vs. Unhealthy (Toxic) Faith, Jan Groenveld, 1996
 * Totalism in Today's Cults, Jan Groenveld, 1994
 * Eight Marks of Mind Control, Cult Awareness and Information Centre
 * Totalism and Group Dynamics, 7 May 1999, ''Cult Awareness and Information Centre

Presentations

 * There are No Wasted Years, Pioneers in Ministry, audio CD