John 'Jack' Gordon Clark (1926–1999) was a
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...
known for his research on the alleged damaging effects of
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 ...
s.
He was the target of harassment from the
Church of Scientology
The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a scientology as a business, bu ...
after he testified against it to the
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
legislature in 1976.
[John Clark, 73, Psychiatrist Who Studied Sects, '']New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', October 18, 1999, Eric Nagourney, "The Church of Scientology objected strongly to Clark's assertions, and the church and Clark battled in court. Clark said the church had engaged in a campaign of harassment against him. In 1988, he settled with the church and received an undisclosed amount of money, but agreed never to discuss the group publicly again."
The ''
Psychiatric Times
''Psychiatric Times'' is a medical trade publication written for an audience involved in the profession of psychiatry. It is published monthly by MJH Associates and is distributed to about 50,000 psychiatrists monthly. The download of the journal ...
'', when naming him 1991 psychiatrist of the year, described him as ''"a quiet, courageous man of conviction, who was fighting an all-too-lonely and unappreciated battle against well-financed, ruthless organizations."''
Works
* Clark, John G. ''Cults.'' Journal of the American Medical Association. 242, 279–281. 1979
* Clark, John G.: ''On the further study of destructive cultism.'' In Halperin (ed.), 363–368
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, John Gordon
1926 births
1999 deaths
Harvard Medical School alumni
Harvard Medical School faculty
American psychiatrists
Critics of Scientology
Clark, John G.
Brainwashing theory proponents