Waco Report:
REPORT TO THE JUSTICE AND TREASURY DEPARTMENTS
regarding law enforcement interaction with
the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas
submitted by Nancy T. Ammerman
September 3, 1993
*** ONLINE VERSION ***
The following report and recommendations are based largely on oral briefings
conducted on July 1-2 {{1993}} at the Justice Department, as well as on August 3
{{1993}} at the Treasury Department and at the FBI Training Academy at Quantico
{{Virginia}}. In addition, I have had access to a number of other sources. We
were supplied with background information on many of the persons in the
Investigative Support Unit, and I was supplied with a list of the experts
consulted with academic colleagues and have reviewed a good deal of the academic
literature on New Religious Movements. Various political and lobbying groups
have sent me information. I talked with Glenn Hilburn at Baylor {{University}},
and I spent two hours with Pete Smerick and Gregg McCrary at the FBI Academy.
I do not pretend that this represents a full accounting of what happened at
Waco. Rather, what follows attempts to assess the nature and quality of the
expert advice available to the agencies involved in this situation and to make
some suggestions about how that advice might better be utilized in the future.
I. WHAT INFORMATION SOURCES WERE AVAILABLE IN THE WACO AFFAIR?
A. THE BUREAU OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, AND FIREARMS. In the months that led up to
the February 20 attempted "dynamic entry" at the Branch Davidian compound, the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) apparently failed to solicit any
social science background information about the nature of the group with which
they were dealing. BATF has no internal behavioral science division and did not
consult with any other behavioral science persons within the government. Nor did
they consult with outside persons in religious studies, sociology of religion,
or psychology of religion. There were, for instance, persons in the Baylor
University Department of Religion who had studied this particular group for much
of its history; they were not consulted. Investigators reviewing the Waco
incident have repeatedly told us that BATF simply did not consult with anyone
who might be considered "expert" on this group or groups like it.
In their attempt to build a case against the Branch Davidians, BATF did
interview persons who were former members of the group and at least one person
who had "deprogrammed" a group member. Mr. Rick Ross, who often works in
conjunction with the Cult Awareness Network (CAN), has been quoted as saying
that he was "consulted" by the BATF. My suspicion is that he was merely one
among many the BATF interviewed in its background checks on the group and on
Koresh. However, it is unclear how information gained from him was evaluated.
The Network and Mr. Ross have a direct ideological (and financial) interest in
arousing suspicion and antagonism against what they call "cults." These same
persons seem to have been major sources for the series of stories run by the
Waco newspaper, beginning February 27. It seems clear that people within the
"anti-cult" community had targeted the Branch Davidians for attention.
Although these people often call themselves "cult experts," they are certainly
not recognized as such by the academic community. The activities of the CAN are
seen by the National Council of Churches (among others) as a danger to religious
liberty, and deprogramming tactics have been increasingly found to fall outside
the law. At the very least, Mr. Ross and any ex-members he was associated with
should have been seen as questionable sources of information. Having no access
to information from the larger social science community, however, BATF had no
way to put in perspective what they may have heard form angry ex-members and
eager deprogrammers.
B. THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION.
1. OUTSIDE CONSULTANTS. After the failed raid, handling of the crisis passed to
the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). They had a much broader array of
information available, although they still failed to consult a single person who
might be recognized by the social science community as an expert on the Branch
Davidians or on other marginal religious movements (sometimes called "cults").
The official list of outside experts consulted, compiled by the investigative
team, includes three persons in the field of psychiatry who have been regular
consultants to the FBI on other cases (Murray Myron, Syracuse University; Joseph
Krofcheck, Yarrow Associates; Park Dietz, University of California San Diego).
From my conversations with the persons in the National Center for the Analysis
of Violent Crime (NCAVC) who worked with the negotiators at Waco, I believe that
these three persons were the most frequently consulted experts throughout the
siege. Dietz assisted in writing the profile of Koresh. Others apparently
assisted in recommending strategies to the negotiators and tacticians.
It is unclear which of these consultants (if any) recommended the psychological
warfare tactics (Tibetan chants, sounds of rabbits dying, rock music, flood
lights, helicopters hovering, etc.). None of the persons associated with NCAVC
with whom I have talked claims to have favored these tactics, but no one was
willing to say who recommended them or how the decisions was made to use them.
Three other persons were apparently called in for specific, limited,
consultations. Because he was examining the children who were leaving the
compound, Bruce Perry, a Baylor Medical School psychiatrist, was consulted. A
pastor in Virginia (Douglas Kittredge) was consulted on one occasion, offering
assistance in interpreting the scriptural references being used by Koresh. And
CBN talk show host Craig Smith was consulted regarding the airing of the Koresh
tape.
Finally, one person in religious studies was consulted by the Bureau -- Glenn
Hilburn, chair of the Religion Department at Baylor. He was contacted about one
week after the initial raid and was asked especially for help in interpreting
Koresh's ideas about the "seven seals." He offered the negotiators basic tools
for interpreting scripture (a set of commentaries and concordances) and
consulted with them on a number of occasions about various biblical
interpretations. While Hilburn is a reputable scholar in church history, he
would never claim to be an expert on the Davidians or on other marginal
religious movements. He often offered to help the Bureau get in touch with
others who might offer such expertise, but he was not asked to do so. For
instance, Prof. Bill Pitts, also of the Baylor faculty, had studied the history
of the Davidians, but was not consulted by the FBI. Nor did they seek Prof.
Hilburn's help in locating others, outside the Baylor faculty, who might help.
In my judgement, this list of outside consultants is sorely wanting. The
psychiatrists who were most intimately involved are undoubtedly experienced in
helping the FBI understand "the criminal mind." This however, was a very
different situation, and we have no evidence that any of these men had
background or experience in dealing with a high-commitment religious group. The
only experts in religion that were consulted lacked the kinds of expertise
necessary for understanding the dynamics of marginal religious movements.
One of the dilemmas faced by the Waco negotiators was the problem of assessing
the potential helpfulness of outside experts. Agents on the scene in Waco
described their situation as information overload. One person referred to the
thread of "fax meltdown." Not only were they receiving constant information
about the situation as it unfolded, they were also being bombarded with offers
of help form all sorts of unknown sources. Many of these were judged to be
"crack pots." Others were probably legitimate and potentially helpful persons.
However, the persons on the scene had no way to evaluate this information. With
no one in the scholarly community at their disposal to help evaluate the
credentials and experience of these persons, they were forced simply to discount
everything they received.
CONCLUSIONS. Since the BATF consulted no outside experts and the FBI consulted
only a limited roster, both agencies were then relying primarily on their own
internal capabilities. As we have seen, BATF has no internal behavioral science
personnel. As a result, all of their planning was based on building up a legal
case against the group and planning a para-military type assault on the
compound. In that atmosphere, I believe, it became easy to lose sight of the
human dynamics of the group involved, to plan as if the group were indeed a
military target. It also discouraged the BATF from seeking other forms of
intervention in the group. Quite simply, the agency pursued the line of action
-- armed assault -- for which they were best equipped. If they had been better
equipped to pursue interventions based on human science advice, they might have
acted differently.
2. INTERNAL ADVICE. The FBI, on the other hand, did have solid Behavioral
Science advice available internally. The Behavioral Science Services unit,
especially its Investigative Support Unit, at the NCAVC, houses a number of
people with considerable working knowledge of marginal religious groups. For
instance, Gregg McCrary, in the Criminal Investigative Analysis subunit, is
well-informed in this area and was on the scene in Waco throughout much of the
siege. While no one there would be considered and "expert" by the usual
standards of scholarship (academic credentials and publication, that is),
several have done sufficient reading to have a good basic knowledge of the
nature of religious groups. They know that religious beliefs have to be taken
seriously, and they know that it takes more than understanding an individual
personality to understand the dynamics of a group. They could benefit from
additional training and from access to reliable outside experts (about which I
will say more below), but they had the basic social science knowledge they
needed to analyze this situation.
In the early days of the siege, Pete Smerick (along with outside consultant Park
Dietz) put together a profile of David Koresh and of the group. They used
materials gathered by the BATF , but knew they should weigh carefully the
reports from former members.
Based on that assessment, Smerick (with Special Agent Mark Young) wrote on March
5, {{1993}} in a memo to his superiors (the Special Agents in Charge at Waco and
people in headquarters in Washington D.C.),
. . . For years he [Koresh] has been brainwashing his followers for this battle
[between his church and his enemies], and on February 28, 1993, his prophesy
came true. As of March 5, 1993, Koresh is still able to convince his followers
that the end in near {{sic}} and, as he predicted, their enemies will surround
them and kill them. In traditional hostage situations, a strategy which has been
successful has been negotiations coupled with ever increasing tactical presence.
In this situation, however, it is believed this strategy, if carried to excess,
could eventually be counter productive and could result in loss of life.
Every time his followers sense movement of tactical personnel, Koresh validates
his prophetic warnings that an attack is forthcoming and they are going to have
to defend themselves. According to his teachings, if they die defending their
faith, they will be saved.
On March 7, {{1993}} Smerick and Young listed the psychological warfare tactics
available to the FBI, but cautioned that these options "would also succeed in
shutting down negotiations and convince Koresh and his followers that the end is
near." On March 8, {{1993}} the same pair cautioned that the Mt. Carmel compound
was for the Davidians sacred ground, something they were likely to defend
against the intrusions of people they considered evil (the federal government).
Summarizing the arguments of people using primarily "criminal" or psychological
categories to explain Koresh, they wrote,
It has been speculated that Koresh's religious beliefs are nothing more than a
con, in order to get power, money, women, etc., and that a strong show of force
(tanks, APC's, weapons, etc.) will crumble that resolve, causing him to
surrender. In fact, the opposite very well may also occur, whereby the presence
of that show of force will draw David Koresh and his followers closer together
in the bunker mentality," and they would rather die than surrender.
They go on to detail the way the FBI actions are playing into the prophetic
scheme of Koresh, warning that "we may unintentionally make his prophecy [death,
or the "forth seal"] come true, if we take what he perceives to be hostile or
aggressive action." They note that "mass suicide ordered by Koresh cannot be
discounted." Then, following their logic through to its conclusion, they point
out that "one way to take control away from him is to do the opposite of what he
is expecting.
Instead of moving towards him, we consider moving back. This may appear to be
appeasement to his wishes, but in reality, it is taking power away form him. He
has told his followers that an attack is imminent, and this will show them that
he is wrong."
It is my belief that this understanding of Koresh's ideas was basically accurate
and that their assessment of his likely behavior was on target. While outside
experts might have refined this picture and added nuance to the assessment, the
basic direction of the FBI's own behavioral analysts was sound.
II. HOW WAS BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE ADVICE UTILIZED IN WACO?
Clearly the advice of these agents was not heeded. Why? The answer to that
question takes us first to the structure of the command and second to the
culture and training of the Bureau itself.
Most basically, people representing the Behavioral Sciences Unit were out-ranked
and out-numbered. Within the command structure, people from the Hostage Rescue
Team carried more weight than people who were negotiators. In addition, it is
evident that people form the tactical side were simply trusted more and more at
home with the Special Agents in Charge (SACs) in Waco.
As I understand it, the SACs for this operation were chosen on the basis of
proximity, not on the basis of any special training or experience for an
operation like this. Understandably, their primary skills are in the
apprehension of criminals and in the management of personnel. Under normal
circumstances, they can count on key assistance in apprehension of criminals
form their SWAT teams and from Hostage Rescue Teams, and predictably they
listened most closely to people who spoke the language of forceful tactics. This
was the territory in which they were most comfortable, possibly the direction in
which they perceived the most potential rewards. There was an understandable
desire among many agents in Waco to make Koresh and the Davidians pay for the
harm they had caused. Arguments for patience or unconventional tactics fell on
deaf ears.
Those ears were deaf for a number of reasons, many of which have to do with the
training and culture of the Bureau. In all likelihood, these SACs had had no
behavioral science training since their very early days as agents. And then,
they were very unlikely to have heard anything about religious belief systems of
{{sic}} group dynamics. Their entire professional world has been constructed
(understandably) around understanding and out-maneuvering criminals. They think
(again, understandably) in terms of individual behavior (hence the near
exclusive focus on Koresh, rather than on the group) and on criminal wrong-doing
(hence the label sociopath for someone seen as dangerously at odds with
society's norms. Little, if anything, in their previous experience prepared them
for the kind of situation Mt. Carmel presented them.
The tendency to discount the influence of religious beliefs and to evaluate
situations largely in terms of a leader's individual criminal/psychological
motives is, I believe, very widespread in the Bureau. In our initial briefings
with Daniels, Johnson, Wright, Noesner, and Uteg, the consensus around the table
was that when they encountered people with religious beliefs, those beliefs were
usually a convenient cover for criminal activity. While they were willing to
consider that this case might have been different, they were still not convinced
that Koresh was anything other than a sociopath who had duped some people into
helping him carry out aggressive criminal activity. They continued to refer to
the people in the compound as hostages, failing to recognize the free choice
those people had made in following Koresh.
Behavior science advice, then, failed to get an adequate hearing. In the culture
of the law enforcement community, neither training nor experience prepares
agents for taking behavioral scientists seriously. And in the crisis situation,
behavioral scientists are out-ranked and outnumbered. As a result, those in
charge dealt with this situations if it were one more familiar to them -- a
criminal committing illegal acts for personal gain for whom the threat of force
is a significant deterrent.
III. WHAT, IN HINDSIGHT SHOULD THE BATF AND THE FBI HAVE TAKEN INTO
CONSIDERATION IN DEALING WITH THE BRANCH DAVIDIANS?
1. THEY SHOULD HAVE UNDERSTOOD THE PERVASIVENESS OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIMENTATION
AND THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT OF GROUPS OF THE DAVIDIANS TO PRACTICE THEIR RELIGION.
On that score, they might have benefitted by reading Jon Butler's Awash in a Sea
of Faith: Christianizing the American People (Cambridge: Harvard University
Press, 1990), in which he gives a detailed portrait of the breadth of religious
belief and practice in early America. Catherine Albanese's America: Religion and
Religions (Wadsworth, 1992) does the same up through the present. We have simply
been very religious people, and there have always been new and dissident
religious groups challenging the boundaries of toleration.
And alongside all that religious fervor and experimentation has been our First
Amendment guarantee of religious liberty. Only when there is clear evidence of
criminal wrong-doing can authorities intervene in the free exercise of religion,
and then only with appropriately low levels of intrusiveness. For a critical
look at the regulatory issues raised by new and marginal religious groups, an
article by David Bromley and Thomas Robbins, "The Role of Government in
Regulating New and Nonconventional Religions" (Pp. 205-241 in The Role of
Government in Monitoring and Regulating Religion in Public Life, edited by James
Wood and Derek Davis. Waco, Texas: Baylor University Press, 1992) might have
proven helpful to agents planning a raid on the Waco compound.
2. THEY SHOULD HAVE UNDERSTOOD THAT NEW OR DISSIDENT RELIGIOUS ARE OFTEN "MILLENNIALIST"
OR "APOCALYPTIC."
That is, they forsee the imminent end of the world as we know it an the
emergence of a new world, usually with themselves in leadership roles. Among the
many books and articles that would have helped agents understand such beliefs
are Paul Boyer's When Time Shall Be No More: Prophecy in Modern American Culture
(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1992); Susan J. Palmer and Natalie Finn's
1992 article "Coping with Apocalypse in Canada: Experiences of Endtime"
(Sociological Analysis 53(4, winter):397-415); and Roy Wallis's edited book
Millennialism and Charisma. (Belfast: Queen's University, 1982), especially the
chapters by Balch and by Wallis.
3. THEY SHOULD HAVE UNDERSTOOD THAT THE USUAL FATE OF NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS IS
QUIET EXTINCTION THROUGH NATURAL CAUSES.
Only a fraction of those that begin survive as a group more than a few years,
and even smaller fraction make it through the crisis that is precipitated by the
natural death of the leader. For helpful background on factors in the success
and failure of such groups, I would suggest the articles by Stark and by Wilson
in David Bromley and Phillip Hammond's edited volume The Future of New Religious
Movements (Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press, 1987).
4. THEY SHOULD ALSO HAVE UNDERSTOOD THAT NEW GROUPS ALMOST ALWAYS PROVOKE THEIR
NEIGHBORS.
By definition, new religious groups think old ways of doing things are at best
obsolete, at worst evil. Their very reason for existing is to call into question
the status quo. They defy conventional rules and question conventional
authorities. Not surprisingly, then, new groups often provoke resistance. A
number of social scientists have examined the relationship between marginal
religious groups and the surrounding society. Among the most helpful are Charles
Harper and Bryan F. Le Beau's 1993 article, "The Social Adaptation of Marginal
Religious Movements in America." (Sociology of Religion 54(2, summer):171-192);
James T. Richardson's 1993 article "Definitions of Cult: From
Sociological-Technical to Popular-Negative" (Review of Religious Research 34(4,
June):348-356); and the book Richardson edited with Joel Best and David G.
Bromley, The Satanism Scare (New York: Aldine de Gruyter, 1991). These sources
help to put groups like the Cult Awareness Network in context. Such groups are
organized "anti-cult" responses that make predictable charges (such as child
abuse and sexual "perversion") against groups that are seen as threatening. It
is important to see that new religious groups are usually more threatening to
cherished notions about how we all ought to order our lives than to our physical
well being.
The corollary to their provocation of neighbors is that they themselves are
likely to perceive the outside world as hostile. This almost always takes the
form rhetoric condemning the evil ways of non-believers, and that rhetoric can
sometimes sound quite violent. It may also be supplemented by rituals that
reinforce the group's perception that they are surrounded by hostile forces
(thus reinforcing their own sense of solidarity and righteousness). It is at
least possible that rhetoric about the BATF as the Davidians' arch-enemy, the
purchase of guns, and practicing with those guns served just such rhetorical and
ritual purposes. That is, as the group talked about the evils of the federal
government and went through the ritual motions of rehearsing a confrontation
with their enemies, they may have been reinforcing their own solidarity more
that they were practicing for an anticipated actual confrontation. The irony, of
course, is that their internal group rhetoric and ritual did eventually come
true.
5. THEY SHOULD ALSO HAVE UNDERSTOOD TAT MANY NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS DO INDEED
ASK FOR COMMITMENTS THAT SEEM ABNORMAL TO MOST OF US, AND THOSE COMMITMENT DO
MEAN THE DISRUPTION OF "NORMAL" FAMILY AND WORK LIVES.
Most of us are accustomed to seeing religion as relevant only to portions of our
lives, with wide areas of decision-making (from marriage partners to what we do
at work) kept neatly out of the reach of religious authorities. However,
throughout much of the world and throughout much of human history, such neat
divisions have not been the norm. People have lived in tightly-knit communities
in which work, family, religion, politics and leisure (what there was of it)
fell under one domain. Taking the long view, _not_ belonging to such a community
is more abnormal than belonging to one. No matter how strange such commitments
may seem to the rest of us, they are widely sought by millions of people. A
number of social scientists have written accounts of everyday life in such
religious groups, and those accounts can help readers to understand the sense of
coherence and belonging that outweigh, for the believers, any freedom of choice
they give up. One such recent book is David Van Zandt's Living in the Children
of God (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991).
6. THEY SHOULD ALSO UNDERSTAND THAT THE VAST MAJORITY OF THOSE WHO MAKE SUCH
COMMITMENTS DO SO VOLUNTARILY.
The notion of "cult brainwashing" has been thoroughly discredited in the
academic community, and "experts" who propagate such notions in the courts have
been discredited by the American Psychological Association and the American
Sociological Association. While there may be real psychological needs that lead
persons to seek such groups, and while their judgment may indeed be altered by
their participation, neither of those facts constitutes coercion.
A review of the legal issues surrounding allegations of brainwashing can be
found in James Richardson's 1991 article, "Cult/Brainwashing cases and freedom
of religion" (Journal of Church and State 33:55-74). Alternate views on the
process of joining (and leaving) new religious movements can be found in David
Bromley and Anson Shupe's 1986 article, "Affiliation and Disaffiliation: A Role
Theory of Joining and Leaving New Religious Movements" (Thought 61:197-211);
Stuart Wright's Leaving Cults (Washington: Society for the Scientific Study of
Religion, 1987); and Eileen Barker's award-winning 1984 book The Making of a
Moonie: Choice or Brainwashing? (Oxford: Blackwell).
7. THEY SHOULD HAVE UNDERSTOOD THE ABILITY OF A RELIGIOUS GROUP TO CREATE AN
ALTERNATIVE SYMBOLIC WORLD.
Ideas about "logic" as we know it simply do not hold, but that does not mean
that the group has no logic. The first dictum of sociology is "Situations
perceived to be real are real in their consequences." No matter how illogical or
unreasonable the beliefs of a group seem to an outsider, they are the real facts
that describe the world through the eyes of the insider.
8. THE AGENTS COULD HAVE UNDERSTOOD THAT "CHARISMA" IS NOT JUST AN INDIVIDUAL
TRAIT, BUT A PROPERTY OF THE CONSTANTLY-EVOLVING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A LEADER
AND FOLLOWERS.
The leader is a prophet only so long as members believe him (or her) to be so.
And those beliefs are sustained by the constant interplay between events and the
leader's interpretation of them. So long as the leader's interpretations make
sense of the group's experience, that leader is likely to be able to maintain
authority. These interpretations are not a fixed test, but a living, changing
body of ideas, rules, and practices. Meaning emerges daily in the interaction of
sacred texts (in this case the Bible), events, and the imagination of leader and
followers. Only in subsequent generations are religious prescriptions likely to
become written orthodoxies.
Among the sources that might have helped in understanding charisma is Timothy
Miller's edited book, When Prophets Die: The Postcharismatic Fate of New
Religious Movements (Albany: SUNY Press, 1991). In his introductory essay in
that volume, J. Gordon Melton writes that the first generation of a new group is
"a time of experimentation and rapid change. The leader must discover the right
elements to combine inn a workable program, generate solutions to unexpected
obstacles, choose and train capable leaders, and elaborate upon the initial
ideas or vision that motivated the founding of the group. . . . The group
formally or informally gives feedback in the form of approval or disapproval of
the leader's actions. The most successful leaders are continually adjusting and
reacting to that feedback" (p. 11). Other essays in the book examine the
relationship between groups and their charismatic founders, from the Shakers to
the Moonies.
Understanding that the relationship between leaders, followers, and practices is
a fluid one might have led agents to take more seriously the possibility of
suggesting alternative apocalyptic interpretations to Koresh. Such a strategy
was suggested (and attempted) by Houston theologian Phillip Arnold and
University of North Carolina professor James Tabor. In "The Waco Tragedy: An
Autobiographical Account of One Attempt to Avert Disaster" (forthcoming in From
the Ashes: Making Sense of Waco, edited by James R. Lewis and published by
Rowman and Littlefield), Tabor writes that after considerable study of the
interpretations being offered by Koresh, they concluded that alternative
scenarios -- still within his system of symbols -- were possible. They hoped
that he might reinterpret the "little season" of Revelation 6:11 as an extended
period of time, that he might see himself as the writer of the "little book"
mentioned in Revelation 10:11 -- and, most importantly, that he might use those
reinterpretations to ask for a delay while he wrote down his insights about the
seven seals.; Koresh's response to their radio broadcast and tape indicated that
he indeed had taken up this interpretative possibility and had begun to work on
a book. In a letter sent out on April 14, he said that "as soon as I can see
that people like Jim Tabor and Phil Arnold have a copy, I will come out and then
you can do your thing with this beast." That he was indeed working on such a
book is demonstrated by the existence of a computer disk brought out by one of
the survivors who had been typing for him on the day before the fire.
Ironically, it was the actions of the FBI on April 19 that evidently forced
Koresh to return to his earlier interpretation of the texts -- namely that the
next event in the unfolding prophetic calendar would be death for his group,
rather than a delay while he wrote his book.
8. AND, OF COURSE, AS SOON AS THE POSSIBILITY OF MASS MARTYRDOM BECAME EVIDENT,
THEY SHOULD HAVE REVIEWED THE EVENTS OF JONESTOWN.
There, too, an exceptionally volatile religious group was pushed over the edge,
inadvertently, by the actions of government agencies pushed forward by
"concerned families." The best account of the Jonestown tragedy is John R.
Hall's 1987 book, Gone from the Promised Land: Jonestown in American Cultural
History (New Brunswick: Transaction). Also helpful is David Chidester's 1988
account of the religious dynamics of the People's Temple, Salvation and Suicide:
An Interpretation of Jim Jones, the People's Temple and Jonestown (Bloomington,
Ind.: Indiana UniversityPress).
9. FINALLY, THEY SHOULD HAVE UNDERSTOOD THAT ANY GROUP UNDER SIEGE IS LIKELY TO
TURN INWARD, BONDING TO EACH OTHER AND TO THEIR LEADER EVEN MORE STRONGLY THAN
BEFORE.
Outside pressure only consolidates the group's view that outsiders are the
enemy. And isolation decreases the availability of information that might
counter their internal view of the world. In this case, the federal government
already enjoyed a particularly condemned place in the groups world view. Taking
that fact seriously might have changed the minds of federal agents who argued
that using outside negotiators is always a mistake. Persons other that federal
agents might have been able to assume a genuine third-party position in this
case, translating and mediating between Koresh and the outside world. It is
ironic to note that one similar situation the FBI could point us to, in which
they successfully negotiated a peaceful surrender, involved the use of an
outside negotiator.
In this case, federal negotiators had a difficult time convincing Koresh to take
them seriously. But even when they did, their talking strategies were constantly
undermined by the actions of the tactical teams. Any success negotiators had in
winning the group's confidence was completely undermined by continuing
application of tactical pressure. IF such pressure had been a specific response
to a specific failure of Koresh to respond to negotiating proposals, it might
have had some coherent psychological effect. However, such was never the case.
Pressure form the encroaching tanks, psychological warfare tactics, and the
like, continually worked at cross-purposes with the negotiating strategies. The
outside pressure only increased the paranoia of the group and further convinced
them that the only person they could trust was Koresh.
IV. WHAT OUTSIDE EXPERTS MIGHT THEY HAVE CONSULTED?
I am attaching to this report a copy of a letter form the Society of the
Scientific Study of Religion which includes several names and addresses of
people recognized by that academic organization as experts on new, marginal, and
high-commitment religious groups. I am also including in that appendix several
additional names of persons whose research I have found helpful.
In addition, to help in locating experts and in locating experts and in
evaluating the credentials of volunteer "experts," law enforcement agencies can
turn to the American Sociological Association, the American Psychological
Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the Association for the
Sociology of Religion, or the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion.
V. CONCLUSIONS.
Knowing these things might not have changed the outcome in Waco. It is unclear
to me whether any negotiation strategy could have succeeded in getting most or
all of the members to leave the compound. However, paying attention to these
basic facts about the nature of religious groups would at least have enabled
federal agents to have a clearer picture of the situation they were in. They
were not in a hostage rescue situation. They were in a tragic stand-off with a
group for whom they were already the enemy foretold to destroy them. In order
for this sort of thinking to become available in future situations, several
modes of access seem important.
1. BASIC TRAINING. The training for all agents should include units in the
behavioral sciences and units that give attention to the nature of political and
religious groups. These units should emphasize both the rights of such groups to
exist and the characteristics of high-commitment groups that may be relevant to
future efforts at law enforcement. Such units should be aimed not so much
tomaking every agent an expert as at sensitizing agents to the complex human
dimensions of the situations in which they may find themselves. When they hear
behavioral scientists advising them later, it will not be the first time they
have heard such voices in the law enforcement community.
2. ADVANCED TRAINING. Incidents like Waco are, fortunately, relatively rare. Not
everyone in federal law enforcement needs to be an expert on such situations.
However, it appears that there is a need for a standing group of specialists in
managing this sort of crisis. Rather than turning to whoever happens to be the
local SAC, the FBI (and similar federal agencies) should have a small corps of
crisis managers available. These persons should have received advanced training
both in the various tactical measures at their disposal and in the insights
available to them from the behavioral sciences.
3. TRAINING AND EXPERTISE FOR OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES. An expanded Behavioral
Sciences unit, perhaps not lodged in a single agency, might make a broader pool
of behavioral science information available on a regular basis to all federal
law enforcement agencies. I was particularly struck by the fact that ATF has no
such unit. No one ever had the responsibility of imagining what the people of
the compound were like, how they might be thinking, etc. With dozens of federal
law enforcement agencies, it would not be cost effective to set up behavioral
science units in each one, but all of them need such expertise available to
them.
4. A BROADER POOL OF "EXPERTS" WHO CAN BE CONSULTED. Not all sorts of expertise
are needed all the time. But agencies should not be caught in a moment of crisis
wondering who to call and how to assess the credentials of those who call them.
It is essential that behavioral scientists inside federal law enforcement and
behavioral scientists in the academic community forge expanded working ties.
People in law enforcement have for too long distrusted the "ivory tower"
position of academics who do not have to make "real world" decisions. They have
too long insisted that only someone who is really an insider to law enforcement
can give them advice. For their part, academics have for too long discounted the
experience and wisdom of persons working in law enforcement because it did not
come in standard academic packages. It is my sense that this incident provides
an opportune moment for overcoming both those problems. Law enforcement people
are more aware than ever of the need for additional insight and training,
academics are more aware of their obligation to the public.
That new cooperation might take a number of forms. The various training
facilities for federal law enforcement might host a series of consultations in
which a small group of academics and a small group of agents working together
for 2-3 days on problems and potential problems facing law enforcement.
Academics, for their part, might organize sessions at annual professional
meetings at which such questions are raised and to which law enforcement people
are invited. In addition, people teaching in the various academies should be
encouraged to read more widely and to draw in outside experts whenever possible.
Such on-going collaboration would have the benefit of acquainting the two
communities with each other so that each would be better prepared of cooperation
in a time of crisis.
Most concretely, it is essential that federal law enforcement develop and
expanded list of experts on which it can call. These people need not be on
contract. They simply need to be people the agencies already know to be
legitimate, reliable, and willing to cooperate with them. The sorts of
activities I am suggesting above would aid in the development of such a list. In
addition, the various professional associations could also be helpful. It is
essential that persons in federal law enforcement use this occasion to think
pro-actively about the kinds of situations they are likely to encounter in the
future and to seek out _now_ the expertise they will need in confronting those
situations.
VI. A LAST WORD.
Finally, the presence of expert knowledge is of no use if behavioral scientists
are kept marginal to the actual decision-making being done. For knowledge about
human behavior to have any effect, scientists must be involved early and often.
They must have at least as much "clout" in a situation as the person commanding
the firepower. And, it is my sense that it may be important for the behavioral
scientists to have some autonomy, to be something of an outside eye. Once a team
of enforcement persons has begun to formulate a plan for dealing with a group,
that plan is likely to take on a life of its own. The same dynamics that hold
the religious group together also hold the enforcement group together. They are
as determined to stick together against their "enemy" as is the group they are
facing. Having a built-in "yellow flag" can sometimes avoid catastrophe.
{{ APPENDIX A }}
SSSR: Society for the Scientific Study of Religion
Edward C. Lehman, Jr., _Executive_Secretary_
Department of Sociology
SUNY BrockportBrockport, New York 14420
716/395-5664, FAX: 716/395-2172
April 29, 1993
The Honorable Janet Reno,
U.S. Attorney General
Main Justice Building
10th and Constitution Ave., N.W.
Room 5111
Washington, DC 20530
Dear Attorney General Reno:
I am writing to you in behalf of the members of the Society for the Scientific
Study of Religion (SSSR). We are a scholarly organization composed mostly of
social and behavioral scientists affiliate with colleges and universities in the
United States and abroad. SSSR enjoys the participation of our members primarily
on the basis of their mutual interest in studying religious institutions and
religious experiences within the rigorous constraints of a scientific
perspective. (The enclosed fliers tell a little more about who we are.)
We share your revulsion over the tragic events involving the Branch Davidian
community near Waco, Texas. And we were glad to hear that you intend for your
offices to learn more about cults and other new religious movements in the
United States. That is the main purpose in my writing you today.
It is clear since the fire that media have been exploiting the situation for
their own purposes. In pursuing their stories, they have interviewed and
otherwise presented the opinions of a variety of persons identified as
authorities on the subject of cults and sects mostly in the United States. Many
of these persons consulted as "experts" represent a very narrow perspective on
such groups and movement, i.e. the frame of reference of the anti-cult movement.
We want you to know that there are important other perspectives from which to
examine such groups and their activities.
Some of our members can be of great help to you in the process of developing
greater understanding of sects and cults. Several social scientists who
participate in SSSR have devoted major portions of their scholarly activity to
analyses of particular groups as well as religious movements in general. I
believe those individuals can bake a significant contribution to your search for
information and especially for perspective on those groups. Should you wish to
take advantage of their knowledge and insight, you might contact one or more of
the persons listed below. The list of names is not exhaustive, but it does
include most of the leading scholars working in this area. They can provide
names of other persons should you wish to have that information.
Nancy T. Ammerman - September 3, 1993
Professor David G. Bromley
Department of Sociology
Virginia Commonwealth Univ.
Richmond, VA 23284
Professor J. Gordon Melton
Institute for Study of American Religion
Box 9070
Santa Barbara, CA 93190-0709
Professor James T. Richardson
Department of Sociology
University of Nevada
Reno, NV 89557
Professor Anson Shupe
Department of Sociology
Indiana Univ.-Purdue Univ.
Fort Wayne, IN 46805
Professor Jeffrey K. Hadden
Department of Sociology
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA 22901
Professor Stuart A. Wright
Department of Sociology
Lamar University
P.O. Box 10026, Lamar Station
Beaumont, TX 77710
Professor Arthur L. Greil
Alfred University
Box 545
Alfred, NY 14802
Professor Rodney Stark
Department of Sociology, DK-40
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195
Dr. Thomas Robbins
College Apts. 8-A
427 4th St. SW
Rochester, MN 55902
Dr. William Simms Bainbridge
Director, Sociology Program
National Science Foundation
1800 G. St., N.W., Room 336
Washington, DC 20550
(phone 202/357-7802)
The study of new religious movements is also quite active in the
United Kingdom and elsewhere. Two persons in England who are especially
knowledgeable about such groups are:
Professor Eileen Barker
Department of Sociology
London School of Economics
Houghton Street
Aldwych
London WC2A 2AE
Professor James Beckford
Department of Sociology
University of Warwick
Coventry CV4 7AL
United Kingdom
It may also interest you to know that the British Government has
established an office devoted to dealing with possible problems in dealing with
sects and cults. They are explicitly organized to consult with these scholars
studying sect and cult phenomena in order to take advantage of their insights
when a need arises. I suspect that either Professor Barker or Professor Beckford
could give you more detailed information about that structure.
Finally, I would invite your attention to three prominent scholarly journals
that regularly publish articles reporting research on sects, cults, and new
religious movements. They are:
The Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (published by our society --
SSSR)
Sociology of Religion (published by the Association for the Sociology of
Religion)
The Review of Religious Research (published by the Religious Research
Association)
These journals can be found in virtually any university library.
Again, we are pleased that you plan to direct the Justice Department to obtain
more information and perspective on sects, cults, and other religious movements.
I think you will find the resources named above to be very helpful in that
quest. Please contact me if you think I can be of assistance.
Sincerely,
/E. C. Lehman, Jr./
Edward C. Lehman, Jr.
Executive Secretary
ECL:l
{{ APPENDIX B }}
Additional experts on new and marginal religious groups:
Prof. Robert Balch
Department of Sociology
University of Montana
Missoula, MT 59801
Prof. John R. Hall
Department of Sociology
University of California, Davis
Davis, CA 95616
Prof. Gillian Lindt
Columbia University
50 W. 106 St., #PH-A
New York, NY 10025
Dr. Larry Shinn
V.P. for Academic Affairs
Bucknell University
Lewisburg, PA 17837
Prof. Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi
Psychology Department
University of Haifa
Haifa, Israel 31999
Susan J. Palmer
Dawson College
5134 Jeanne Mance
Montreal H2V 4K1
Canada