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To believers, the Moonies offer truth, enlightenment and the spiritual unification of the world. To critics it’s an evil form of bondage, where vulnerable young people are reduced to a mental condition where they can only follow the orders of the organisation.

Eileen Barker set out to discover the truth behind the headlines. Do people choose to become Moonies or are they brainwashed? The Moonies also seemed an excellent case study to explore the wider sociological issue of the relationship between the individual and society.

In first part of the programme she talks about the two years it took to get access to the Moonies, how she operationalised the concept of brainwashing and her multiple research methods. She also explains why she chose overt as opposed to covert observation, and the various stages a researcher goes through to move from passive to active observer.

In her discussion of her analysis of the Moonies Barker explains how she examined and rejected both the brainwashing hypothesis and the idea that those who join the Moonies are a distinct group of vulnerable people. Instead, she found a much more complicated path to people becoming Moonies.

In the final part of the programme, Barker talks about her views of the book 15 years later and how it led to a much wider interest in the growing field of new religious movements. We also visit INFORM, an organisation set up by Eileen Barker as a result of her study, to provide people with information about religious movements.

This programme will be relevant to those studying religion, culture and research methods or doing coursework.