Sociologist Janja Lalich's book "Bounded Choice: True Believers and Charismatic Cults," has been released by the University of California Press. Lalich, a professor at California State University, Chico, is a writer, consultant and specialist in the study of cults and psychological manipulation and abuse.

Since the 1990s, Lalich has been sought by the national and local press, most recently in relation to Salt Lake City kidnap victim Elizabeth Smart, who was returned to her home in March 2003 after nine months in captivity. This past April, she was asked to comment on the massacre in Fresno of family members of Marcus Delon Wesson.

Lalich is founder and education director of Community Resources on Influence and Control, a research and resource center providing information and education to the public and to individuals and families who have had experience with cults, and the co-author of three other books: "Cults in Our Midst," "'Crazy' Therapies: What Are They? Do They Work?" and "Captive Hearts, Captive Minds: Freedom and Recovery from Cults and Abusive Relationships."

Lalich's new book explores why intelligent people submerge themselves in organizations that demand total control over their lives and personalities. Her research culminated in a new model for examining such closed or "self-sealing" systems and a new theory to explain how the combination of ideology, social structure and commitment constrains the choices of true believers.

Lalich's theory of "bounded choice" suggests that intelligent and "normal" people who enter groups that often offer the promise of a more perfect world slowly give up their autonomy and choice under the influence of a charismatic leader. A charismatic leader alone, however, is not necessarily sufficient to the creation of a cult. Her theory presents a four-part framework that offers a more complete look at the factors that affect the relinquishment of self-determination.

Lalich's discussion includes in-depth interviews with cult devotees as well as reflections on her own experience as a member of a leftist political group. She develops a new approach for understanding how charismatic cult leaders are able to dominate their devotees. She shows how members are led into a state of "bounded choice," in which they make seemingly irrational decisions within a context that makes perfect sense to them.

In addition to illuminating the cult phenomenon in the United States and around the world, "Bounded Choice" can also shed light on the mentality of those true believers who take extreme or violent measures in the name of a cause.

"Given the current state of affairs and all the terrorist activity, it would serve us well, I believe, to strive for an understanding of terrorists as true believers. They are more than just crazed fanatics, and Osama bin Laden is more than just a diabolical leader. These people are guided by deeply held beliefs, and many function within strictly structured contexts," said Lalich. "I am hoping that my work-and my bounded choice model-will contribute one more piece to the puzzle of charismatic commitments and the actions of true believers."

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