Young people in the wake of sects

Exclusively young people as a target group In the wake of the sects As of: October 27th, 2026 • 5:00 a.m

Young people feel particularly burdened by the ongoing crises. Research by team.recherche from SWR shows how sects try to exploit this. One expert speaks of “golden times for sects.”

"Love bombing of death" - this is how Sandra Pfander remembers her slide into the Shincheonji sect. The then 19-year-old felt trapped during the Corona pandemic and developed an interest in the Bible. She says she looked for an exchange in Christian Instagram chat groups and met a supposed friend who invited her to a Bible course. These courses were apparently intended to gradually introduce her to the teachings of Shincheonji - without the name of the group being openly mentioned.

Internal material from Shincheonji has been provided to SWR's team.recherche from various sources. These also include videos in which followers are apparently trained to make targeted contacts via social media and to lead people to such Bible courses. “I think this covert proselytizing is problematic in that young people in particular, who are on the search, are highly ideologized without them initially knowing what they are actually getting themselves into,” warns Oliver Koch, worldview representative at the Evangelical Church. Shincheonji Frankfurt leaves specific questions about the allegations unanswered.

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Is Shincheonji an isolated case or are young people particularly the focus of cults? The times of ongoing crises at least seem favorable for such groups, because younger people feel significantly more burdened by crises than older people. This is shown by a representative survey by the opinion research institute infratest dimap on behalf of the SWR's team.recherche.

In it, 69 percent of those surveyed between the ages of 18 and 34 stated that they currently felt very or very stressed due to crises, such as economic uncertainty or war. Across all age groups, the proportion was just 58 percent. Around one in three people in the young age group also stated that they were searching for meaning or for support or community more than a few years ago.

Sociology professor Claudia Neu also explains that many young people have not coped psychologically well with the corona pandemic and are unsettled by ongoing crises. Loneliness and the feeling of not being taken seriously when it comes to worries and needs are much more pronounced among young people than among other age groups. Among other things, Neu researches loneliness among young people in Germany. She expresses concern that young people are becoming the focus of such groups and even speaks of "golden times for cults": Social media offers them completely new opportunities, namely "to broadcast directly into the children's room, 24/7".

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Apparently Scientology Stuttgart also uses this. The organization has been running a TikTok account since 2024. With young hosts, staging tailored to the target group and a direct approach, her videos address topics such as war, lack of motivation and self-doubt and invite you to free coaching and workshops at Scientology in Stuttgart. Scientology Germany states in writing that there is no organizational strategy to recruit psychologically vulnerable young people.

The spokesman for the Hamburg State Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Daniel Perband, is concerned about Scientology Stuttgart's strategies on social media: "It worries us that Scientology resorts to these strategies because we then have to fear that new members will actually be won by Scientology." The State Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Hamburg continues to classify the Scientology organization in the Hanseatic city as “secure extremists” and is monitoring them.

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution stopped monitoring Scientology as an independent phenomenon a few months ago. However, efforts against the free democratic basic order that emanated from this potential would continue to be pursued.

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In a survey by SWR's team.recherche, almost half of the advice centers on this topic reported that teenagers and young adults had become more focused on sects and sect-like groups in the past five years - often via social media.

The Protestant Church's ideological representative, Oliver Koch, sees one reason for this in an increasingly secularized society in which the ability to classify things is decreasing - especially among young people. At the same time, we are dealing with “an increasing market of different meaning providers”. Young people can no longer correctly classify these contexts in terms of content and theology, warns Koch.

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Who helps those affected who get caught up in sects and sect-like groups? In Germany, offers of help, such as advice centers on the subject of sects, come primarily from the churches: there are more than 30 contact persons nationwide. State-funded counseling centers only exist in six federal states. Two of them don't even have full positions. Other federal states refer to general offers, such as child and youth welfare or democracy and anti-extremism projects. Some federal states declare that they are not observing an increasing demand for advice - partly because they do not document the demand.

Upon request, the Federal Ministry for Education, Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth stated that there is a comprehensive system of support and advice services in Germany. The federal government carries out information and educational work. The financing of sectarian advice is a matter for the states.

The deputy chairwoman of the Green parliamentary group, Misbah Khan, criticizes this. These are closed systems that not only place psychological stress on and isolate those affected, but are also “socially dangerous”. "That's why it's not enough to say that the churches take care of it," said Khan. It calls for a basic picture of the social situation in the context of sects and sect-like groups and also sees the federal government as having a duty to finance preventative measures.

This topic in the program: The First | In the wake of the sects - This is how Shincheonji, Scientology and Co. want to seduce you | Oct 27, 2026 | 5:00 amtagesschau.de | In the wake of the sects | Oct 27, 2026 | 05:00 am