Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices (Scientology beliefs and practices) created by writer L. Ron Hubbard (1911-1986), starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics. Hubbard characterized Scientology as a religion and in 1953 incorporated the Church of Scientology in Camden (Camden, New Jersey), New Jersey.

Scientology teaches that people are immortal spiritual beings who have forgotten their true nature. Its method of spiritual rehabilitation is a type of counseling known as auditing (auditing (Scientology)), in which practitioners aim to consciously re-experience painful or traumatic events in their past in order to free themselves of their limiting effects. Study materials and auditing courses are made available to members in return for specified donations. Scientology is legally recognized as a tax-exempt religion in the United States and some other countries, and the Church of Scientology emphasizes this as proof that it is a bona fide religion. In other countries such as Germany, France and the United Kingdom, Scientology does not have comparable religious status.

A large number of organizations overseeing the application of Scientology have been established, the most notable of these being the Church of Scientology. Scientology sponsors a variety of social service programs. These include a set of moral guidelines expressed in a brochure called The Way to Happiness, the Narconon anti-drug program, the Criminon prison rehabilitation program, the Study Tech education methodology, a volunteer organization (Volunteer Ministers), and a business management method (World Institute of Scientology Enterprises).

Scientology has been surrounded by controversies since its inception. It has often been described as a cult that financially defrauds and abuses its members, charging exorbitant fees for its spiritual services. The Church of Scientology has consistently used litigation (Legal action) against such critics, and its aggressiveness in pursuing its foes has been condemned as harassment. Further controversy has focused on Scientologys belief that souls ("thetans") reincarnate (reincarnation) and have lived on other planets before living on Earth. Former members say that some of Hubbards writings on this remote extraterrestrial (extraterrestrial life) past, included in confidential Upper Levels, are not revealed to practitioners until they have paid thousands of dollars to the Church of Scientology. Another controversial belief held by Scientologists is that the practice of psychiatry is destructive and abusive (Anti-psychiatry) and must be abolished.