Editors
Editor-in-Chief
Jackie Johnson, DSW, LCSW-R, is the Executive Director of ICSA and the Editor-in-Chief of IJCAM. A licensed clinical social worker with a certification in forensic social work, Dr. Johnson earned her Associate of Arts in Humanities at Dutchess Community College, Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at Bard College, Master of Science in Social Work at Columbia University, and her Doctor of Social Work in Clinical Practice and Leadership at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Prior to becoming Executive Director of ICSA, Dr. Johnson served as Chief of Treatment Services for the NYS Office of Children and Family Services, Deputy Commissioner for the Dutchess County, NY, Department of Behavioral and Community Health, and Regional Clinical Services Manager for Gateway Community Service Board in Brunswick, GA. Dr. Johnson is a second-generation survivor, having spent 43 years with Jehovah’s Witnesses. In her private practice, she focuses on assisting indoctrinated individuals find freedom from systems of control or coercive groups and relationships. Dr. Johnson's research interests include the cognitive development and epistemology of female cult and abuse survivors.
Managing Editor
Navah Chestnut serves as the Managing Editor for the International Journal of Coercion, Abuse, and Manipulation, and as the Marketing Technology Specialist for the International Cultic Studies Association. Navah also studies English and Rhetoric at the University of Louisville in pursuit of a Master’s degree. Publications include an undergraduate honors thesis titled Gender Performance in ‘Cult’ Conversion Narratives: The Twelve Tribes and an upcoming chapter titled “Race, Hate, and Culture in the Twelve Tribes: Epistemologies of Power and the Curse of Ham” in the collection titled The Rhetorics of Southern Place (ed. Dr. Jennifer Beech and Dr. Heather Palmer). When Navah is not working, she enjoys reading and writing fiction and poetry and playing with her cat, Lewis.
Spanish Language Editor
Carmen Almendros, PhD, is Associate Professor in the Biological and Health Psychology Department at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain. She is on ICSA’s Board of Directors, and is International Journal for Coercion, Abuse, and Manipulation, Co-Editor. She published a book and several articles on psychological abuse in group contexts, cult involvement, leaving cults, and psychological consequences of abusive group membership. Her research interests also include the study of parental discipline and psychological violence in partner relationships. She is principal researcher of a project entitled: Psychological abuse, influence and adaptation to violence in partner relationships, which was financed by the Comunidad de Madrid and Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. She was the 2005 recipient of ICSA’s Margaret Singer Award, given in honor of her research into the development of measures relevant to cultic studies.
French Language Editor
Marie-Andrée Pelland, PhD, full professor and director of the sociology and criminology Department, Université de Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. She is also Vice-president of Info-Cult She received her doctorate from the School of Criminology of the Université de Montréal. Her dissertation is entitled, Allegations of Illegal Conduct: Effect on Social Reality of a Community of Canadian Polygamous Mormons.
Marie-Andrée Pelland, PhD, est professeure agrégée et directrice du département de sociologie et de criminologie de l’Université de Moncton au Nouveau-Brunswick, Canada. Elle est également vice-présidente d’Info-Secte. Elle a obtenu son diplôme de 3e cycle de l’École de criminologie de l’Université de Montréal. Ses travaux traitent de la question de l’effet des conflits avec la société sur le fonctionnement des groupes religieux minoritaires. Sa thèse s’intitule : « Allégations d’entorse aux lois : Effets sur la réalité sociale d'un groupe de mormons polygames canadiens ».
English Language Editor
Rod Dubrow-Marshall, PhD, MBPsS, is a Professor of Psychology and is a Programme Leader (MSc Psychology of Coercive Control) in the Directorate of Psychology and Public Health and is Visiting Fellow in the Criminal Justice Hub and Connected Lives, Diverse Realities Research Group, in the School of Health and Society at the University of Salford, UK. Rod is a Social Psychologist who has been researching the psychology and aetiology of undue influence and cults or extremist groups for over twenty years, and he has developed the Totalistic Identity Theory as an evidence-based theory to explain and tackle ideological extremism and ideologically driven violence. He is also an active researcher in a variety of other areas including organizational behaviour and healthiness, the social psychology of identity and prejudice, and public policy and education. A graduate member of the British Psychological Society, Rod is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Cultic Studies Association and is also Chair of the ICSA Research Committee and Network and he is co-Editor of the International Journal of Cultic Studies (since its inception in 2010). In 2006, he was awarded The Herbert L. Rosedale Award, jointly with Dr. Paul Martin, for their psychological research on undue influence. Rod co-founded the Re-Entry Therapy Information and Referral Network (RETIRN) UK in 2004 with Dr Linda Dubrow-Marshall, where he serves as a consultant in helping individuals and families who have been adversely affected by destructive or damaging cults and other extremist and high demand/manipulative groups or relationships. He operates out of offices in Pontypridd, Wales and Buxton, Derbyshire, UK (please also see www.retirn.com). Rod has also served on more than a dozen Governing Boards of Schools, Colleges and Universities over the last two decades and he is currently a governor and director of the Akaal Primary School in Derby and is also a longstanding member of the Board of the homelessness charity the Wallich (headquartered in Cardiff, Wales). In addition, he is a member of the Board of Directors of the Buxton International Festival and is Chair of the Board of the Preston Guild Link charity (in Lancashire, UK) which is fundraising for the next Preston Guild cultural festival in 2032! Rod is also an experienced senior leader and manager in higher education having served for 15 years in the roles of Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Derby, Pro Vice-Chancellor at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and as Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of South Wales and Dean of Applied Social Sciences and Humanities at Buckinghamshire New University.
English Language Editor
Stephen Kent, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology, University of Alberta, teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on the sociology of religion and the sociology of sectarian groups. He has published articles in numerous sociology and religious study journals. His 2001 book, From Slogans to Mantras: Social Protest and Religious Conversion in the Late Vietnam War Era, was selected by Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries as an Outstanding Academic Title for 2002. In 2012 he received The Margaret Thaler Singer Award for advancing the understanding of coercive persuasion and undue influence from the International Cultic Studies Association.