Several models are emerging to explain the relationship between regulatory or other external pressures on NRM's and deviant behavior by NRM's. One model is epitomized by Richardson's (1985b) argument that the initial organizational patterns of NRM's tend to be "deformed" by the interaction of internal pressures of various kinds and external pressure often related to environmental hostility and regulatory contingencies. The abusive or exploitative patterns of NRM's are often associated with the subsequent "deformed" structure. This perspective contrasts with the emphasis of Ofshe (1980b, 1986) and Wallis (1988) on the initial privileges and immunities of NRM's which supposedly encourage deviance and that may ultimately elicit hostility and retaliation. The middle ground between these perspectives is the feedback model of deviance amplification (Hampshire and Beckford, 1983; Robbins, 1986a; Wallis, 1977) which delineates a spiraling process of mutually interdependent and escalating recriminations by an increasingly hostile and persecutory environmental structure. Quasi-historical analyses have compared contemporary cult controversies with prior episodes involving various religious groups now established in American society.