ABSTRACT
Totalist leaders—charismatic authoritarian persons with a likely disorganized attachment status and a psychopathic personality—engage suitable victims using methods of coercive persuasion or brainwashing within closed and isolating totalist systems. Although author and others emphasize time and again that security of attachment or other personality factors are not a protection against recruitment and conversion to totalist systems, nonetheless differing preexisting attachment statuses may influence a follower’s pathway through such a system. While secure attachment is not a foolproof protection against totalism, nonetheless prior attachment status can be an interesting way to look at the variations in how people move through these oppressive and dangerous systems. Given the strength of the disorganized attachment bond formed by the follower to the group, leaving a totalist group presents extraordinary challenges. The fear arousal aspect of disorganized attachment is the essence of totalist deployability.
