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ABSTRACT: This essay evaluates the use of the term "high demand group" as a substitute for the term "cult." While "high demand group" seems more precise than the word "cult," a review of the literature suggests the two terms are synonymous. The term originated in the 1972 book Why Conservative Churches Are Growing: A Study in the Sociology of Religion , by Dean M. Kelley. Kelley used the phrase "high demand movements" as an ideal type for explaining sociological phenomena. By 1979, the term was being used by the anticult movement as a more persuasive substitute for the word "cult." With this shift, the term "high demand groups" was used to describe a putatively objective phenomenon rather than as a way of organizing the data. Because the term "high demand" emerged out of sociological and economic studies, it carries an air of authority and expertise. By using this term, it is possible to conceal the prejudice engendered in the word "cult" while simultaneously making an appeal to expertise.
Joseph P. Laycock (Thu,) studied this question.