''Snapping: America's Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change'' is a 1978 book written by Flo Conway and Jim Siegelman which describes the authors' theory of religious conversion. They propose that "snapping" is a mental process through which a person is recruited by a

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

or new religious movement, or leaves the group through deprogramming or exit counseling. Political ideological conversions are also included, with

Patty Hearst Patricia Campbell Hearst (born February 20, 1954) is the granddaughter of American publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst. She first became known for the events following her 1974 kidnapping by the Symbionese Liberation Army. She was found a ...

given as an example. Two editions of the book were published, the first (1978) by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins and reprinted in 1979 by

Dell Publishing Dell Publishing Company, Inc. is an American publisher of books, magazines and comic books, that was founded in 1921 by George T. Delacorte Jr. with $10,000 (approx. $145,000 in 2021), two employees and one magazine title, ''I Confess'', and ...

. A second edition (1995) was printed by Stillpoint Press, a publishing company owned by the authors.Stillpoint Press; 20 Park Ave., New York, NY, United States,; Corporate officers: Siegelman, James; Conway Flo. Source: Company Intelligence Database, Thomson Gale; Conway and Siegelman wrote an article in '' Playboy'' and '' Science Digest'' in 1979 and 1982 respectively to advertise and discuss their book and findings.

Concept

Conway and Siegelman describe ''snapping'' as: Snapping has been said to create the effect of an entirely new person, often completely different and unrecognizable. Conway and Siegelman further proposed that a disorder which they named "information disease" was caused by alteration of the neurological pathways of the brain by group indoctrination and mind control activities.

Scholarly reception

The scholarly reception to the book is mixed. Michael Rogers, writing for ''

Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...

'', believes that the work is important for public and academic libraries.

Reverend The Reverend is an style (manner of address), honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and Minister of religion, ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and c ...

Mark L. Middleton, though noting that he does not fully endorse the views of the book, believes its an important contribution to "religious and mental health literature". Brock K. Kilbourne, a social psychologist with a Ph.D. from the University of Nevada, Reno, criticized the methodology and analysis in the book and accompanying articles. He argues, through analysis of Conway and Siegelman's data, that there was "no support" for their conclusions, and in some cases the data showed the opposite of what they argued (i.e.

participation might have positive benefits). In a response, Michael D. Langone and Brendan A. Maher argued that Kilbourne's statistical analysis is flawed and that no conclusions can be made, though they concede that Conway and Siegelman have a lack of statistical analysis of their data. In a rejoinder, Kilbourne reasserted his findings. Additionally, Religion scholars James R. Lewis and

David G. Bromley David G. Bromley (born 1941) is a professor of sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA and the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, specialized in sociology of religion and the academic study of new religious movements ...

argue that there are significant methodological problems in research including anti-cult or

anti-religious Antireligion is opposition to religion. It involves opposition to organized religion, religious practices or religious institutions. The term ''antireligion'' has also been used to describe opposition to specific forms of supernatural worship ...

bias, predominance of deprogrammed individuals in the sample, and the fact that some of the people in the sample were receiving therapy while in the clinical trial.James R. Lewis and David G. Bromley
"The Cult Withdrawal Syndrome: A Case of Misattribution of Cause?"
''Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion'' 26, no. 4 (1987): 508–22. Esp. 510n2.

References

1978 non-fiction books Books about cults Books about religion Works about personality Books about mind control {{reli-book-stub