Glossary of coercive control terms

Definition: French criminal offence sanctioning the exploitation of a person in a state of psychological or physical subjection to lead them to a seriously harmful act.

Article 223-15-2 of the French Penal Code. Reinforced by the About-Picard law of 2001, specifically targeting cult-related abuses: it sanctions the fraudulent exploitation of a person's state of psychological or physical subjection. Penalties up to 3 years imprisonment and €375,000 fine, increased when committed by an organised group.

Definition: Framework for analysing mental coercion developed by Steven Hassan, structured along four axes: Behavior, Information, Thoughts, Emotion.

Framework proposed by Steven Hassan in Combating Cult Mind Control (1988). The BITE model inventories control techniques exerted by a group or individual on followers across four dimensions: Behaviour control (schedule, finances, habits), Information control (filtering, dissimulation, discrediting outside sources), Thought control (internal language, suspension of critical thinking, totalising doctrine), Emotion control (guilt, fear, ostracism). Used in post-coercion therapy.

Definition: Group whose internal rules, doctrine or operations are deliberately hidden from outside members or new entrants.

Opacity is a MIVILUDES warning sign. It can take several forms: doctrines revealed in stages, tacit rules, undocumented hierarchy, opaque financial management. It serves two simultaneous purposes: locking in progressive engagement (“you can't know before you're inside”) and preventing external criticism.

Definition: Progressive psychological domination of a person or group over an individual, reducing their free will and locking them into dependence.

Coercion is never immediate — it progresses by stages: initial seduction and validation, emotional dependence and indoctrination, isolation and control. It exploits legitimate needs (meaning, belonging, recognition) and turns them against the person. It is recognised by the convergence of indicators, not a single sign. Exiting coercion is a long process.

Definition: In French law, harm to persons or social cohesion resulting from the use of pressures or techniques aimed at placing a person in a state of subjection.

Operational definition from MIVILUDES: “action aimed at exploiting a person's vulnerability or manipulating them without their knowledge, through a situation of psychological coercive control”. French law targets behaviour and harm — never individual beliefs. It is the convergence of indicators (multiplicity and duration of signals) that qualifies coercion, not an isolated sign.

Definition: Analytical method qualifying a sectarian deviance by the convergence and duration of multiple signals, not by an isolated criterion.

Central principle of MIVILUDES's approach. No single signal is enough to characterise sectarian deviance — it is the coherent accumulation, over time, of multiple observable signals (isolation, financial control, healthcare rupture, child indoctrination, etc.) that tips a situation. This method protects against hasty qualifications and enables documented analysis.

Definition: Technique of concealing the true objectives or nature of a group during first contact to facilitate engagement.

Typical form: wellness workshops or neutral-themed conferences acting as entry points to a belief system or structured movement. Miracle promises (healing, success, balance), foot-in-the-door techniques, group's true identity revealed late — all MIVILUDES warning signs.

Definition: Process by which a person gradually leaves a closed belief system or coercive group and rebuilds their identity.

Deconversion is neither a single event nor a one-off decision. It is a multi-phase process: doubt, cognitive dissociation, gradual withdrawal, effective exit, reconstruction. The exit phase is often harder than entry — it involves grieving the community, fearing ostracism, and rebuilding a frame of reference.

Definition: Charismatic figure exercising total and exclusive authority over a group, presented as the bearer of a unique truth or power.

The guru's authority comes from a founding narrative (revelation, spiritual election, hidden knowledge) that cannot be discussed. They concentrate decisions, control internal information, and typically organise guilt or fear around questioning their word. This figure is a MIVILUDES warning sign (“authoritarian and opaque group”).

Definition: Set of techniques aimed at influencing a person's decisions, beliefs and behaviour by reducing their critical thinking.

Covers techniques documented in social psychology: foot-in-the-door, sustained cognitive dissonance, informational isolation, emotional load, internal language. Different from ordinary influence by its systematic nature, its intent to reduce a person's autonomy, and its duration of exposure. The corresponding French legal term is “fraudulent abuse of the state of subjection”.

Definition: Interministerial Mission for Vigilance and Combat against Sectarian Deviance (France), attached to the Ministry of the Interior.

Created in 2002, MIVILUDES observes sectarian deviances, advises public authorities, receives reports and publishes educational references. It does not fight religions: its scope is strictly that of observable behaviours and harm. Its secretariat receives reports from individuals (anonymity possible).

Definition: Organised exclusion of a person by their group of belonging, used as a pressure or punishment tool.

Ostracism takes very concrete forms: rupture of all bonds (family, friends, partner) with anyone leaving the group, professional blacklisting in some circles, collective silence. It is one of the main brakes on exiting coercion, because the leaving person simultaneously loses their community, their reference points, and sometimes their material framework.

Definition: Therapeutic and social process to regain autonomy, reference points and bonds after exiting a coercive group.

Recovery covers several planes simultaneously: psychological (traumas, post-cult syndrome, meaning reconstruction), social (new relationships, sometimes rupture with family still in the group), material (housing, work, finances), legal (recovery of funds, criminal complaint if offences). Follow-up by a therapist trained in coercive dynamics is recommended.

Definition: Set of psychological symptoms observed in people who have left a coercive group (anxiety, dissociative disorders, loss of reference points).

Described notably by Margaret Singer (Cults in our midst, 1995) and discussed in social psychiatry. Common symptoms: flashbacks, diffuse anxiety, sleep disorders, identity emptiness, decision-making difficulties, fear of public sphere. Support by a therapist trained in these mechanisms significantly improves recovery trajectory.

Definition: Characterised state of a person under coercion whose free will is altered, legally recognised in French law.

The “state of psychological or physical subjection” is a constitutive element of the offence of fraudulent abuse of weakness (French Penal Code article 223-15-2). It is medically and legally characterised by deep alteration of judgement, emotional or cognitive dependence, and reduction of free will. Its characterisation generally requires expert assessment.

Definition: Process by which an individual or professional sends to MIVILUDES, the police or social services facts evocative of sectarian deviance.

Reporting is neither a criminal complaint nor a final act. It feeds public watch and can, by convergence with other reports, trigger an investigation. It is confidential. MIVILUDES, 119 (children at risk), the public prosecutor or the gendarmerie can be recipients depending on the nature of the facts.

Definition: Stage of physically and symbolically leaving a coercive group, with or without public rupture.

Distinct from deconversion (the full process), the exit is the event (or sequence of events) when a person stops practices, cuts organisational ties, or self-excludes. It can be discreet (“silent exit”) or marked (public statement, complaint). Successful exit almost always requires a safety net prepared upstream.