Disclaimer

ACE: Authority, Cult & Exit was created by Tina Koziol at Ceraluna Labs for teaching, study and research into authority, commitment and the cost of leaving. It is meant for students, teachers, researchers and curious readers who want to compare historical cases with one consistent method.

Every profile in the database summarises published scholarly works and major journalistic accounts. The key works for each case are listed at the end of its profile, and the works behind the method are listed on the Sources page. Where scholars disagree, the profile sets out both sides under “Where scholars disagree” and notes contested evidence under “Caveats”.

Every case in the database concerns a leader who has died or a movement whose founding period has ended. ACE describes those historical periods only. It makes no statement about present-day members, successor organisations or people who were once involved.

The ACE Score and its parts come from this project’s own framework, Closure–Debt–Vector. It is a synthesis of scholarly ideas, rather than an established or independently validated academic scale. Each score is an informed, structured reading of the historical record using the published scoring guide, and reasonable people may read the same evidence differently.

The ACE Score is an index from 0 to 100. It is not a percentage, a probability or a measure of anyone’s character.

Inclusion in ACE does not classify a leader or movement as a cult, and it does not say that any person or group acted unlawfully. A high rank on the Fanatical Leadership Board describes the grip a system had on its followers, not a moral verdict.

Live profiles for people who are not in the database are written automatically by our Model Engine. They are not reviewed by us, they can contain mistakes, and they are always labelled with the date they were generated. The engine declines requests about private individuals and follows strict even-handed rules for living people and elected politicians.

Nothing on this site is legal, psychological, medical or religious advice. If you or someone close to you is affected by a high-control group, please contact a qualified professional or a recognised support organisation.

We take accuracy seriously. If you find a factual error, a misread source or a missing scholarly view, please write to [contact e-mail address] with the profile name and, where possible, a published source. We review every request and correct confirmed errors.

Works are referenced for the purposes of scholarship, criticism and teaching. Titles and short attributions are used to identify sources; all rights in those works remain with their authors and publishers.