145. Burton-Bradley, Burton G. "The New Guinea Prophet: Is the Cultist Always Normal?" Medical Journal of Australia 1 (3) part 1, 1970: 124-29.

Advances the unarguable position that leaders of "bizarre social movements" may be psychotic. [As a side note, Burton-Bradley provides a sketch of the Lyndon B. Johnson Movement on New Hanover in 1964, which was prepared to buy the president of the US to lead the island.] However, this quickly leads him to the untenable position that they all are insane, a conclusuion not supported by his own work with New Guinea natives committed to his care.

[The key to Burton-Bradley's diagnosis is the assertion that these patients are "unable" to conform to the expectations of their culture, but Burton-Bradley gives us no reason to suppose that they are in fact unable, though he implies that there are several good reasons why they might not want to, which is quite different.] Burton-Bradley finds that his diagnoses are valid cross culturally [and there is no reason to claim that these cult leaders were not at the very least spectacular nuisances to non-believing members of their communities].

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