Enquiry into the Practice and Effects of Scientology
Report by
Sir John Foster, K.B.E., Q.C., M.P.
Published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London
December 1971.Contents
? Introduction
? 1. THE BACKGROUND TO THE ENQUIRY
? (a) The Press
? (b) Parliament
? (c) Enquiries into Scientology abroad
? (i) Australia
? (ii) New Zealand
? (iii) Canada
? (iv) South Africa
? (v) Rhodesia
? 2. FORM AND SCOPE OF THE ENQUIRY
? (a) Principles
? (b) Practice
? 3. WHAT IS SCIENTOLOGY?
? (a) The Founder
? (b) Organisation in the United Kingdom
? (c) Finances
? 4. THE THEORIES OF SCIENTOLOGY
? (a) Content
? (b) Classification
? 5. THE PRACTICES OF SCIENTOLOGY
? (a) Recruitment
? (b) Contract
? (c) Processing
? (d) Children
? 6. THE EFFECTS OF SCIENTOLOGY ON ITS FOLLOWERS
? 7. SCIENTOLOGY AND ITS ENEMIES
? 8. DISCRIMINATION AGAINST SCIENTOLOGY IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
? (a) By Government Departments
? (b) By local authorities
? (c) In the private sector
? 9. SCIENTOLOGY AND THE LAW
? (a) Therapy and claims to cure
? (b) The privileged position of religious bodies
? (c) Miscellaneous
Appendices
? I. Bibliographies
? II. Glossary of Scientology terms
? III. Correspondence with the Home Office.The Foster Report
CHAPTER 1:
The Background to the Enquiry
(a) The Press
10. So far as I can ascertain, the Press in the United Kingdom first showed interest in Scientology in late 1960, when the headmistress of a private school in East Grinstead, who was undergoing a course in Scientology, was reported to be taking pupils of hers aged between 7 and 11 through an exercise in which they were asked to imagine that they were dead and turning to dust, as a result of which one small boy was said to have fainted.
11. Scientology did not become a matter of major concern for the Press again until the summer of 1966, when one of the national daily newspapers reported extensively on "The Case of the Processed Woman". From late 1967 onwards, Scientology received increasing adverse publicity in the Press. Much of this led to proceedings for libel: a schedule supplied to me by the Scientologists' Legal Officer at East Grinstead states that the Scientology Organisations started 29 libel actions in the English Courts between 1966 and 1970, but many of these are now described as "more or less inactive". One of them, in which the Scientologists sued Mr. Geoffrey Johnson-Smith, MP for what he said about them on television, has recently come to trial. Although I have seen from the newspapers that the Scientologists lost, I have not followed this trial, nor read any transcripts or reports.
(b) Parliament
12. The first mention of Scientology in Parliament came in a question put down by Lord Balneil for
7th February 1966, when he asked the then Minister of Health -
"Whether he will initiate an Inquiry into the scope and practice in this country of so-called Scientology, and the practice of psychology for fee or reward by persons who have no medical or psychological qualifications".
Mr. Kenneth Robinson replied: -
"I am prepared to consider any demand for an inquiry, but I have not had one yet. I am aware that extravagant claims are made on behalf of Scientology, which are not generally accepted, and for my part would advise anyone who is considering a course of this kind to go to his doctor first." (2) When the question of an Inquiry into Scientology was again raised in the House on 5th December
1966, Mr. Robinson replied -
"I do not think any further inquiry is necessary to establish that the activities of this organisation are potentially harmful. I have no doubt that Scientology is totally valueless in promoting health and, in particular, that people seeking help with problems of mental health can gain nothing from the attentions of this organisation." (3)
13. On 6th March 1967, Scientology was the subject of the Motion for the adjournment of the House and on that occasion came in for severe criticism from a number of Members. Replying to the debate. Mr. Robinson said: -
"I do not want to give the impression that there is anything illegal in the offering by unskilled people of processes intended in part to relieve or remove mental disturbance. The law places no barrier against this, provided that no claim is made of qualified medical skill and the scientologists do not claim this. What they do, however, is to direct themselves deliberately towards the weak, the unbalanced, the immature, the rootless and the mentally or emotionally unstable; to promise them remoulded, mature personalities and to set about fulfilling the promise by means of untrained staff, ignorantly practising quasi-psychological techniques, including hypnosis. It is true that the scientologists claim not to accept as clients people known to be mentally sick, but the evidence strongly suggests that they do". (4)
"I am satisfied that the condition of mentally disturbed people who have taken scientology courses has, to say the least, not generally improved thereby ....
"I have not had evidence that scientology has been directly and exclusively responsible for mental breakdown or physical deterioration in its adherents in this country. I nevertheless intend to go on watching the position.
"My present decision on legislation may disappoint the hon. Members, but I would like to remind them that the harsh light of publicity can sometimes work almost as effectively. Scientology thrives on a climate of ignorance and indifference." (5)
"What I have tried to do in this debate is to alert the public to the facts about scientology, to the potential danger in which anyone considering taking it up may find himself, and to the utter hollowness of the claims made for the cult.
"I hope that the debate will be widely reported, so that the views of the House on the activities of scientologists may be known to all." (6)
14. However, by July 1968 the attitude of the authorities to Scientology had changed, and on the
25th of that month Mr. Robinson made the following announcement in the House of Commons by way of written answer to a Parliamentary question -
"During the past two years, Her Majesty's Government have become increasingly concerned at the spread of Scientology in the United Kingdom. Scientology is a pseudo-philosophical cult introduced into this country some years ago from the United States and has its world headquarters in East Grinstead. It has been described by its founder, Mr. L. Ron Hubbard, as "the world's largest mental health organisation".
On 6th March 1967, scientology was debated in the House on a Motion for the Adjournment, when I made it clear that my Rt. Hon. Friend the Home Secretary and I considered the practice of scientology to be potentially harmful to its adherents. Since the Anderson Report on Scientology
(published in 1965 in the State of Victoria, Australia), coupled with the evidence already available in this country, sufficiently established the general undesirability and potential dangers of the cult, we took the view that there was little point in holding another enquiry.
Although this warning received a good deal of public notice at the time, the practice of scientology has continued, and indeed expanded, and Government Departments, Members of Parliament and local authorities have received numerous complaints about it.
The Government are satisfied, having reviewed all the available evidence, that scientology is socially harmful. It alienates members of families from each other and attributes squalid and disgraceful motives to all who oppose it; its authoritarian principles and practice are a potential menace to the personality and well-being of those so deluded as to become its followers, above all, its methods can be a serious danger to the health of those who submit to them. There is evidence that children are now being indoctrinated.
There is no power under existing law to prohibit the practice of scientology; but the Government have concluded that it is so objectionable that it would be right to take all steps within their power to curb its growth.
It appears that scientology has drawn its adherents largely from overseas, though the organisation is now making intensive efforts to recruit residents of this country. Foreign nationals come here to study scientology and to work at the so-called College in East Grinstead. The Government can prevent this under existing law (the Aliens Order), and have decided to do so. The following steps are being taken with immediate effect:
(a) The Hubbard College of Scientology, and all other scientology establishments, will no longer be accepted as educational establishments for the purposes of Home Office policy on the admission and subsequent control of foreign nationals;
(b) Foreign nationals arriving at United Kingdom ports who intend to proceed to Scientology establishments will no longer be eligible for admission as students;
(c) Foreign nationals who are already in the United Kingdom, for example as visitors, will not be granted student status for the purpose of attending a scientology establishment;
(d) Foreign nationals already in the United Kingdom for study at a scientology establishment will not be granted extensions of stay to continue these studies;
(e) Work permits and employment vouchers will not be issued to foreign nationals (or Commonwealth citizens) for work at a scientology establishment;
(f) Work permits already issued to foreign nationals for work at a scientology establishment will not be extended.
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Home Secretary and I have amassed a considerable body of evidence about the activities of the cult in this country, in particular its effects on the mental health of a number of its clients, and its treatment of those who attempt to leave the movement or who oppose it in any way. We shall continue to keep a close watch on the situation and are ready to consider other measures, should they prove necessary". (7)
15. From then until January 1969, eight further questions on the subject of Scientology appeared on the Order Paper.
16. Finally, on 27th January 1969, the then Secretary of State for the Social Services, Mr. Richard Crossman, announced the setting up of the present Inquiry. (8)
(c) Enquiries into Scientology abroad
(i) Australia
17. The first country to conduct an enquiry into Scientology was the Australian State of Victoria. Scientology first came to the attention of the authorities there in about 1961. In the succeeding years, its practices and effects became a matter of concern for the Chief Commissioner of Police, the Mental Health Authority (a statutory body constituted under the Victorian Mental Health Act), the University of Melbourne and the Australian Medical Association. Following a series of articles in a Melbourne newspaper, Scientology was debated in the Victorian Legislative Council in November
1963, and this in turn led to the appointment, by an Order in Council made on 27th November of that year, of a Board of Enquiry to "enquire into, report upon, and make recommendations concerning Scientology as known, carried on, practised and applied in Victoria". The person appointed to constitute the Board was Mr. Kevin Victor Anderson, Q.C., a distinguished leader of the Melbourne Bar, who has since been elevated to the Victorian Supreme Court Bench.
18. For the form of his Enquiry, Mr. Anderson chose the procedure adopted in Great Britain for a full-scale Tribunal of Enquiry: all parties with any interest in the proceedings were represented by Solicitors or Counsel, all evidence was given on oath, with full opportunities to all parties to cross-examine witnesses, and with few exceptions the evidence was given in public. As with a British Tribunal of Enquiry, Counsel (Mr. Gordon Just) was appointed to assist the Board, instructed by the Crown Solicitor of Victoria.
19. The thoroughness of the Anderson Enquiry may be judged from the fact that its sittings occupied 160 days, 151 witnesses were heard, the transcripts of whose evidence covered 8,920 pages with nearly four million words, and in addition many thousands of documents were put in. At one time or another, 11 different parties were represented before the Board. The Board's Report, presented on 28th September 1965, occupies 173 printed foolscap pages, together with 19 appendices,
20. The Report (which for brevity I shall call "the Anderson Report") proved to be wholly unfavourable to Scientology: -
"Scientology is evil; its techniques evil; its practice a serious threat to the community, medically, morally and socially, and its adherents sadly deluded and often mentally ill." (9)
"Scientology is a grave threat to family and home life. As well as causing financial hardship it engenders dissension, suspicion and mistrust amongst members of the family. Scientology has caused many family estrangements.
The Board has been unable to find any worth-while redeeming feature in Scientology." (10)
"(Scientology is a) fabric of falsehood, fraud and fantasy." (11)
Other quotations from the findings of the Anderson Board will be found later in this Report.
21. Following upon the presentation of the Anderson Report, the Victorian legislature passed the Psychological Practices Act, 1965. This provides for the registration of all psychologists with a newly created Psychological Council, and restricts the practice of psychology for fee or reward, the /use of the word "psychologist" or similar expressions and certain kinds of related advertising and holding out, to persons so registered. It also restricts the practice of hypnotism, and makes it a criminal offence to demand or receive, "directly, or indirectly, any fee or reward ... for or on account of or in relation to the teaching practice or application of Scientology" or to hold oneself out "as being willing to teach Scientology". Further, it provides for the seizure and delivery up to the Attorney-General of all scientological records.