Article (Academic): Malignant Narcissism, L. Ron Hubbard, and Scientology’s Policies of Narcissistic Rage (2008)

ABSTRACT ¹

In this article, we argue that Scientology’s founder, L. Ron Hubbard, likely presented a personality disorder known as malignant narcissism, and then we establish that this disorder probably contributed to his creation of organizational policies against perceived enemies that reflected his narcissistic rage. We illustrate our argument by discussing Hubbard’s creation of an internal Scientology organization called the Guardian’s Office, which carried out a sustained and covert attack against a Scientology critic, Paulette Cooper. This attack, and the Scientology policies that Hubbard created to ‘handle’ critics like her, demonstrate how Hubbard translated narcissistic rage into organizational policies that loyal members enacted on his behalf. By using psychological insights about the leader’s personality, and then showing how that personality translated into socially deviant and sometimes criminal policies and actions by his organization, we hope to encourage criminologists to examine other groups by applying similar theories.

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