Through extensive interviews with one hundred six young (median age twenty-one and a half years) members of nine religious "fringe groups," the author attempts to clarify the psychological reasons for joining such cults as well as the effect on young people of being members. He finds that these people were all unhappy and alienated before joining, though he finds little evidence of serious psychopathology. It seems that many group members benefited from conversion in the sense that they felt much better, although the author finds a "closed-mindedness" among them. He concludes that, rather than simply "joining the chorus of diatribe" against religious cults, we should instead encourage alternatives for youth in our society.