Benjamin Zablocki | |
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| Born | Benjamin David Zablocki (1941-01-19)January 19, 1941 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Died | (2020-04-06)April 6, 2020 (aged 79) New Jersey, U.S. |
| Occupation | Professor ofSociology |
| Academic background | |
| Education | (BA), (PhD) |
| Alma mater | Johns Hopkins University |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Sociologist |
| Sub-discipline | |
Benjamin David Zablocki (January 19, 1941 – April 6, 2020) was an American professor ofsociology atRutgers University where he taughtsociology of religion andsocial psychology. He published widely on the subject ofcharismatic religious movements,cults, andbrainwashing.
Born inBrooklyn,New York on January 19, 1941,[1] Zablocki received hisB.A. inmathematics fromColumbia University in 1962 and hisPh.D. in social relations from theJohns Hopkins University in 1967, where he studied withJames S. Coleman.
Zablocki was the Sociology department chair atRutgers University. He published widely on the sociology of religion.[2][3][4]
Zablocki defined a cult as “an ideological organization held together by charismatic relationships and demanding total commitment”[5] and advocated what he termed “the brainwashing hypothesis.”[6] Other scholars, Zablocki noted, commonly mistakebrainwashing for both a recruiting and a retaining process, when it is merely the latter.[7] This misunderstanding enables critics of brainwashing to set up a straw-man, and thereby unfairly criticize the phenomenon ofbrainwashing.[7] For evidence of the existence of brainwashing, Zablocki referred to the sheer number of testimonies from ex-members and even ex-leaders of cults.[8] Zablocki further alleged that brainwashing has been unfairly "blacklisted" from the academic journals of sociology of religion, and such blacklisters receive funding from alleged cults and engage in corrupt practices.[6]
Zablocki died April 6, 2020, at the age of 79, of cancer. His last words were "I love you, I love you, Ice Cream."[1]
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