------------------------------------------------------------------- F.A.C.T.Net, Inc. (Fight Against Coercive Tactics Network, Incorporated) a non-profit computer bulletin board and electronic library 601 16th St. #C-217 Golden, Colorado 80401 USA BBS 303 530-1942 FAX 303 530-2950 Office 303 473-0111 This document is part of an electronic lending library and preservational electronic archive. F.A.C.T.Net does not sell documents, it only lends them according to the terms of your library cardholder agreement with F.A.C.T.Net, Inc. =====================================================================  Bio on Margaret SingerTEXTMSWD_LuujMARGARET THALER SINGER Margaret Singer is an Advisory Board Member of Factnet and is listed as "scientific advisor." Her credentials, however, have been discredited by her own profession: The American Psychological Association found her work to lack scientific merit. Several courts have forbidden Singer to testify as an "expert witness" because, as one court stated, "her coercive persuasion theory did not represent a meaningful scientific concept." United States vs Steven Fishman. The APA formally dismissed Singer's ideas in the 1980s after she and her AFF associates had formed a task force within the APA on "deceptive and indirect methods of persuasion and control". This task force submitted its report to the Board of Social and Ethical Responsibility for Psychology of the APA. The task force's report was rejected by the Board in May of 1987. The APA stated that "In general, the report lacks the scientific rigor and evenhanded critical approach needed for APA imprimatur." The APA Board, which consulted two independent experts in arriving at their conclusion, warned the task force members not to imply that the APA in any way supported the positions they had put forward. Singer is an advisory board member of Cult Awareness Network (CAN) and American Family Foundation (AFF), both of which rely on her theories to cover their attacks on new religions with a veneer of "science." But the overwhelming majority of experts and scholars have also found Singer's "brainwashing" ideas to be wholly unscientific. They share the view of Professor Harvey Cox, Professor of Divinity at Harvard University, that "The term 'brainwashing' has no respectable standing in scientific or psychiatric circles, and is used almost entirely to describe a process by which somebody has arrived at convictions that I do not agree with." (John T. Biermans: The Odyssey of New Religions Today). Prior to its rejection of Singer's report, the APA had already endorsed a position contrary to Singer's "coercive persuasion" theory in an amicus brief before the California Supreme Court in Molko v. Holy Spirit Association (the Unification Church). The foreword to the amicus brief contained a stinging comment clearly aimed in Singer's direction and forecasting the repudiation that the APA would later deal to Singer: "But APA believes that this commitment to advancing the appropriate use of psychological testimony in the courts carries with it a concomitant duty to be vigilant against those who would use purportedly expert testimony lacking scientific and methodological rigor." Blind to this lack of support from her colleagues, Singer continued to sell her services as an "expert" witness and was permitted to testify in the case of Kropinsky v. World Plan Executive Council. However, in August 1988, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals overturned the case, citing the lack of acceptance of Singer's theories: "Kropinski failed to provide any evidence that Dr. Singer's particular theory, namely that techniques of thought reform may be effective in the absence of physical threats or coercion, has a significant following in the scientific community, let alone general acceptance." Singer's Theories an Attempt to Collect Damages In 1989, Singer's status received another blow in the decision of the Fourth Appellate District Court of Appeal of California, in the case of Robin George v. International Society for Krishna Consciousness of California. Singer was hired to testify that Robin George had been "brainwashed" into joining the Hare Krishna movement. The Appellate Court dismissed her testimony, finding it an attempt to bolster a civil litigant's attempt to collect damages: "... Robin's brainwashing theory of false imprisonment is no more than an attempt to premise tort liability on religious practices the Georges find objectionable. Such a result is simply inconsistent with the First Amendment." In 1990, U.S. District Court Judge D. Lowell Jensen in US v. Fishman reviewed in detail the status of Singer's ideas, including voluminous submissions on her behalf. Judge Jensen then barred her from testifying, concluding that her views were not generally accepted within the scientific community both as to merit and to methodology: "The evidence before the court...shows that neither the APA [American Psychological Association] nor the ASA [American Sociological Association] has endorsed the views of Dr. Singer and Dr. Ofshe [a sociologist and AFF director] on thought reform. The APA found that Dr. Singer's report lacked scientific merit and that studies supporting its findings lack methodological rigor." In 1991, the US District Court in DC in the case Patrick Ryan v. Maharishi Yogi, despite applying the less rigorous civil standard than the criminal standard that was applied in other cases, still found that Singer's expert testimony had failed to gain substantial acceptance within the scientific community. Judge Oliver Gasch refused to allow Singer to testify. Singer and AFF colleague Richard Ofshe (a sociologist whose theories have also been rejected by the American Sociological Association (ASA)) sued the APA and the ASA. They alleged these two organizations had conspired to discredit them. But on August 9, 1993, a federal judge threw their suit out of court. Their complaint had stated that Judge Jensen's ruling injured their careers. Judge Lawrence M. McKenna, in dismissing the suit, described this contention as "absurd" and noted that Jensen had thoroughly reviewed available evidence before arriving at his conclusions. The flaws and bias in Singer's writings had been noted as far back as 1976, when Dr. Richard M. Bailey submitted a critique of a stylistic study that Singer had done of Patty Hearst. He found that the research methods she used to arrive at her conclusions were completely unprofessional: "A. Dr. Singer's analysis does not derive from either of the accepted disciplines for stylistic analysis.... B. Her self-devised criteria are demonstrably inadequate and are applied with astonishing indifference to the criteria of clear research methodology and potential replicability." Mark Pope Member, Church of Scientology  ================================================================= If this is a copyrighted work, you are acknowledging by receipt of this document from FACTNet that on the basis of reasonable investigation, you have not been to obtain a copy elsewhere at a fair price, and that you are and will abide by the following copyright warning. 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