An Inquiry into Sectology

As one of the forms of man's social life, sects have always had their own complexities and mysteries. The closed atmosphere of a sect and vagueness of its domain and beliefs prevents outside observers from understanding the depth of its beliefs and teachings and provide not ample opportunity for having preliminary information on its views. The reports given by converts are the only relatively reliable resource in this regard. Even if these reports are true, they are mixed with a sense of anger and hatred hidden behind the different layers of these accounts and are distant from the neutrality which a scientific report is expected to have. On the other hand, modern psychology which studies behavior and has philosophical approaches in its traditional form greatly contributes to the acquaintance with the hidden and unspoken layers of sects. In our country, the study made about sects generally focuses on analyzing and criticizing the sects in terms of their theological and ideological aspect and little trace is found of the covert and overt aspects of behavior, mechanisms and teachings of sects in these studies. The present paper seeks to study some of these aspects and the role which psychology has sects.