Janja Lalich

Janja Lalich ( born 1945) is an American sociologist and writer. Lalich is an expert on cults and coercion, charismatic authority, power relations, ideology, and social control. She is a professor emerita of sociology at the California State University, Chico.

Early life and education The daughter of Serbian immigrants, Lalich was born in 1945. Lalich has a PhD in Human and Organizational Systems from Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, California.

Career Lalich is a professor in the sociology department of California State University, Chico, and has contributed several articles to academic journals on the subject of cults and religions. After her experiences in a radical political group that she identifies as a cult, she founded the Center for Research on Influence and Control. In her work, she describes the main features of a "totalistic" control group or cult: "They 'espouse an all-encompassing belief system', 'exhibit excessive devotion to the leader', 'avoid criticism of the group and its leader', and 'feel disdain for non-members'."

Lalich went on to write several books on the subject of cults, including her best known book, Bounded Choice (2004), based on Heaven's Gate. As a recognized international authority in the field, Lalich has also appeared in several court cases as an expert witness on coercive control or undue influence.

In 2007, Lalich was awarded the Margaret L. Singer Award: "for advancing the understanding of coercive persuasion, undue influence, and psychological manipulation" by the International Cultic Studies Association.