Saul V. Levine (born 1938) is a Canadian psychiatrist and author. Levine is a professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto and a senior psychiatrist at the "Hospital for Sick Children". He is department head of psychiatry at Sunnybrook Medical Center in Toronto, Canada.
Levine's book Radical Departures is cited in The Canadian Encyclopedia article on "New Religious Movements"The Canadian Encyclopedia, James H. Marsh, editor, original material from 1985, on internet 2001, regularly updated, article: "New Religious Movements", subsection: "The Brainwashing-Deprogramming Controversy", 2006 Historica Foundation of Canada.University of Toronto psychiatrist Saul V. Levine made a study of deprogramming in his book Radical Departures (1984). He concluded that as a means of changing people's views it was not only a failure but positively dangerous. These conclusions were supported by other scholars who provided civil libertarians, religious leaders in established churches and members of new religions with evidence against the practice of deprogramming. As a result it gradually fell into disrepute..
Levine is the author of several books, including Radical Departures: Desperate Detours to Growing Up, The Child in the City, Youth and contemporary religious movements: Psychosocial findings, and Tell Me It's Only a Phase! A Guide for Parents of Teenagers.
The Child in the City is cited in the book Children in Danger: Coping with the Consequences of Community Violence, by James Garbarino, Nancy Dubrow, Kathleen Kostelny, and Carole Pardo, and also in the book Weaving a Tapestry of Resistance: The Places, Power, and Poetry of a Sustainable Society , by Sharon E. Sutton.
Levine's book Radical Departures is cited in The Canadian Encyclopedia article on "New Religious Movements"The Canadian Encyclopedia, James H. Marsh, editor, original material from 1985, on internet 2001, regularly updated, article: "New Religious Movements", subsection: "The Brainwashing-Deprogramming Controversy", 2006 Historica Foundation of Canada.University of Toronto psychiatrist Saul V. Levine made a study of deprogramming in his book Radical Departures (1984). He concluded that as a means of changing people's views it was not only a failure but positively dangerous. These conclusions were supported by other scholars who provided civil libertarians, religious leaders in established churches and members of new religions with evidence against the practice of deprogramming. As a result it gradually fell into disrepute..
Levine is also the author of several scholarly articles, as noted below.
Views on Cults and New Religious Movementsmoreless
Levine published several articles about "cults" and new religious movements. In an article titled Life in Cults published in Marc Galanter's 1989 Cults and New Religious Movements, Levine asserts that the Divine Light Mission, the Hare Krishna, Unification Church, Children of God were viewed by society as cults and held in lower esteem than the "remarkable array" of groups sometimes called "cults." He writes that outsiders perceive financial exploitation as "one of the most pernicious and malevolent aspects" of these groups, particularly when "the leaders live in ostentation and offensive opulence." He advocates prosecution and even persecution of groups if there are doubts about the illegal or criminal intent or practices of such groups, but advocates tolerance for all manner of "intense group belief systems", as long as laws are not broken.
Radical Departures: Desperate Detours to Growing Up, March 1986, Harvest Books, ISBN 0156757990 , ISBN 978-0156757997
The Child in the City, June 1979, University of Toronto Press, ISBN 0802063373 , ISBN 978-0802063373
Tell Me It's Only a Phase! A Guide for Parents of Teenagers, Olympic Marketing Corp, June 1987, ISBN 0139031472 , ISBN 978-0139031472
Youth and contemporary religious movements: Psychosocial findings, 1976, Canadian Psychiatric Association, ASIN B0007AZZLC
Articles
"Alienated Jewish Youth and Religious Seminaries--An Alternative to Cults?", Saul L. Levine, Adolescence, v19 n73 p183-99 Spring 1984
"Youth and Contemporary Religious Movements: Psychosocial Findings", Saul V. Levine & Nancy E. Salter, 21(6) Canadian Psychology Association Journal 411-20 1976
"Radical Departures", Saul V. Levine, Psychology Today, August 1984, 27.
"Brief Psychotherapy with Children: A Preliminary Report", Alan J. Rosenthal and Saul V. Levine, Am J Psychiatry 1970 127: 646-651
"Brief Psychotherapy with Children: Process of Therapy", Alan J. Rosenthal, M.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, Calif. 94305, Saul V. Levine, M.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Staff Psychiatrist, the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Am J Psychiatry 128:141-146, August 1971, American Psychiatric Association
"Life in the Cults" in Cults and New Religious Movements: A Report of the American Psychiatric Association, ed. Marc Galanter (Washington DC: American Psychiatric Association, 1989).
"The Urban Commune: Fact or Fad, Promise or Pipe Dream", Saul V. Levine, et al., 1971, Toronto University, ERIC #: ED067571
"Teenage Sexuality and Sex Education: Identifying Problems and Solutions", S. Ziegler, V. Young, S.V. Levine - 1984 - Centre for Urban and Community Studies, University of Toronto