They didn't know," he says. I was forced to watch twenty men and women beat a 14 year old girl in what we called a, Cowboy Ass kicking, for ten to twenty minutes. The bad publicity led some supporters, Melvin and Betty Sembler of The Seed to create a copycat organization under a different name Straight Inc.but employed Du Point as a consultant. there were a lot of people in the early days who left because of the way Dederich was taking it, and its too bad the idea grew out of person with such a tortured past. Im not pleased about it, a lot of people got hurt and if your part of the Justice system that should bother you. At least three dozen teens have died in these programs, often because staff see medical complaints as malingering. Some people, whether from genes or experiences, or combinations thereof, just are not capable of living a good life on their own. Charles was arrested while drunk in 1978 and was barred from any further leadership within the Dawnne Takeuchi, 18, was killed when she was thrown from a semi-truck near Pagosa Springs, Colorado, in June 1994. Good luck. . You dont present any facts that they are lies because you have none. And I think he saw I might be going down that path, too. However, there is little evidence that harsh behavior-modification techniques can solve these problems. Eventually, the future could only be Orwellian. As messages here seem to disappear and reappear per you request I am repeating it. My disappointment, as stated in my book, is that after all this great work, led by the entertainment field it regressed, with HBO and Showtime saying the best job you could get if you were a woman was to strip or manipulate a millionaire to marry you. In the early days of Synanon, the Hillary Clinton probably wouldve made a good president, the Alaskan Gov. Today, troubled-teen programs use Synanon-like tactics, advertising themselves to parents as solutions for everything from poor study habits to substance misuse. As such they were just like the many other children born into the cult. Brill studied 2,100 admissions to Phoenix House and found a 96% drop out rate, and of the 4% who graduated, 25% had become staff there. I dont have to stay in it anymore. There is likely truth that allowing contact with past relationships might lure someone to leave or want to get high, but that is the persons choice. Nonprofit Organization. Campers say they had bruised ribs from an exercise in which they were ordered to lie on their backs while counselors ran across their chests in boots. As stated above, as Dederich believed this, his squeezes and toss outslike old timer Bill Crawford was willfully sentencing one to death for CEDs ego and financial gain. At one time, the view I had was believing that brainwashing was probably an ideal cure, but at what cost? It was bizarre, surreal,and violent it was not a school in any stretch of the imagination. By 1971 Dederich would submit that while 10 to 12,000 people had gone through Synanon only about 10% stayed free of drugs for as much as 2 years, which was similar to the statistics everyone else concluded, which were the same at Lexington Hospital when Synanon was founded. And thats it for the idea that Synanon played a role in curing drug addiction. And that you should try to see people the way God sees them. Janzen could have had this dissertation, but he was not looking for truth. (He is now sober. To me there is good reason why Elan was not on the the map. 14-year-old Anthony Haynes died while attending a five-week boot camp operated by the Americas Buffalo Soldiers Re-enactors Association. Every time we let somebody into Synanon we assume an enormous liability and this is done consciously. Yet it was from this that the miracle was proclaimed. But nobody, especially Dr. Rogers, ever imagined children sitting in one continuous synanon 12 hours a day, 5 days a week for several yearswith 200 kids screaming and spitting at him, where the child could not verbally defend himself against his indicters, where he would be beaten and physically restrained, and, most importantly, where he could not leavenamely Straight, Inc. In other words Straight took a program that had been designed (and poorly so) to control hard-core adult heroin addicts and used it to control kids who had experimented with pot and alcoholsometimes worse, but sometimes no drugs at all. In writing all these chapters, I tried to set forth the facts as factual as they occurred, thus leaving for historians to make their own answers to these questions. In one of his many papers on Synanon, Ofshe noted that it is doubtful that all the therapeutic communities that cloned themselves after Synanon would have done so if they heard Mr. Dederich testify as he did in 1979: its always a mistake to let anyone into Synanon. You would also have learned that I have been in the room with many Synanon people countless times. Straights attorney for that trial was a prominent Washington, DC civil liberties lawyer named Ronald Goldfarb. And as the classic 1971 Stanford prison experiment demonstrated, creating situations in which the severe treatment of powerless people is rewarded inevitably yields abuse. Please buy the book. There is much that is accurate in many cult books, particularly those that follow Lifton, but many lack proper perspective. In October of 1977 press conference Dan Garrett bragged that after beating the shit out of (Dinuba punks teenagers retrieving their car) we told them to tell all their friends this is just a taste of what will happen next time; and that as to the San Francisco punks we put 4 of them in the hospital. He further admitted they ran some cock suckers into a ditch and shaved their heads. "And probing into this world of the traumatized child. Arbitrarily, I would say that young persons under 16 years of age should be excluded from these programs and that careful evaluation be given admitting persons between 16 and 18 years of age . He also admitted violence could not occur without his approval but he forgot the details due to his stroke. The problem of these programs was it was believed it was justified to use any means, denying human and civil rights and treating people who didnt need treatment; all this done without any proof that behavior modification programs ever worked. What lies did we believe wholeheartedly?". after 911, the Dederich type remarks that Bush was making were scary and I felt that free-speech and this country was dissipating; people were afraid to say anything that could be interpreted as un-American. I gave you a ring and was most pleasantly surprised that you answered. You wont be here. When all the litigation finally ended, I had some regret that Synanon had been closed, wondering what it might have evolved into after Dederichs complete removal. "'Ha, ha! Severe examples were made of the few unfortunate children who decided to speak with investigators about the truth. .relinquish all independence and subjugate themselves to these staff and senior residents, accepting humiliation and total control of their lives even to the extent of accepting complete direction of their sex lives. Whether a small town, island or, commune, they have a better chance for a part of the American dream than if on their own in the big city. Or a person could just stop. "You just love them up, just squeeze them and kiss them and tell them how much you love them, and think about their needs, and have empathy for them," he says. He wrote that the Synanon experience in playing the game, peers caring for peers without doctors, created a cure for drug addiction. In 1980, the cult leader received widespread attention when he pleaded no contest to charges of assault and conspiracy to commit murder after he and two other Synanon members attempted to kill Paul Morantz, a lawyer who had successfully sued Synanon, by putting a four-and-a-half foot rattlesnake in his mailbox. And it will be edited further. I look forward to comments, but those based upon facts, not attacks on the messenger. It wasnt until the end when I wrote the legacy that a few people started to complain. It reasoned that success stories generally had little to do with the programs themselves. I was taken there by my mother. No doubt their belief in Synanon was so strong that they had a good influence on others, but unfortunately they were also subjected to the Synanon system which from the early days warned of the enemy at the door (which Dederich eventually confessed at deposition he made up to bond followers), and later declared that you could never go home or contact outsiders. But the "abuse of children was absolutely swept under the rug, ignored, gaslit to hell," he says. While Dederich suggested to world nothing in the game was to be taken seriously, he would admit in deposition in 1979 and 1981 that in operating Synanon, he did not give direct orders, but would inject everything he wanted members to do in a Synanon game or by his dialogue at Think Tables. Fager wrote: Dr. What is mysterious about this? And in the end, what I presented were facts, i.e., the actual statistics, what happened in the clones and the general consensus of experts that the Synanon system of brainwashing, punishments and humiliations is counterproductive and psychologically dangerous. Many who studied Synanon agreed. As to the above, I remain impressed with your apparent life long research into many areas, and you write so much, it is hard to know where to begin. Thank you again Paul for taking my call back in May of 2011,and for taking an interest in the Elan cult. It a very sick place for teen agers,and during my time we were mixed in with adults. How all of this occurred is set forth in the first book So Fair a House by Dr. Casriel. Today there is argument, but generally it only comes from true believers like Janzen or long time residents who once condemned Synanon, , but now in their old age, as is generally the final stage for victims of brainwashing, per Dr. Lifton, rewrite their memories so each night they are at peace with what they took part in, including, if not outright participating, knowing of the Imperial Marines and all the beatings. This is not limited to addicts. Some had warned of the potential dangers of using synanons (game) on adults. In 1974, Congress opened an investigation into such behavior-modification programs, finding that The Seed had used methods similar to the highly refined brainwashing techniques employed by the North Koreans. A 15-year-old boy died from a staph infection at a Colorado wilderness program. just state that and agree to the group rules!! "He was just this big, masculine, Italian, strong guy that loved his boys. Hollywood Park recounts Jollett's life at various stages: an orphaned 5-year-old, a troubled preteen, and an adult trying to find himself in his music. That Young people were beaten, some in public demonstrations. Children say they were punched, kicked and forced to eat dirt for minor infractions such as failing to stand up straight. Suggest reading the fall of series. I welcome anyones story, questions or facts; the only thing I delete is attacking the messenger; attack facts if you can but I am not going to have gaming on here, get the speaker when you cannot challenge the info. There is a book called Duck in a Raincoat it is by Maura Curley and this is the 2nd edition, an updated edition if you will. This was Synanon had its worse, andit is not permitted here. Its just simply if your writing a book on the history of an organization and you are aware that someone filed multiple actions against it, and they tried to murder him for it, if you are a journalist you are going to interview that person. And yes, there is some bad grammar. also, to write a good book, you have to think that is what you are doing or it will not be a good book. Pierce (1977) Saying his death was caused by cardiac arrest, said Cohen, is really sugar-coating the pill as he was tortured to death and also denied medical treatment. And finally, in the end, Synanon legacy is one not only of discrimination, but it became the Ku Klux Klan when it came to its conceived enemies. Per Ofshe, Dr. Elizabeth Missakian, former Pres. Mental health service. Followers joined Synanon, from the first beach house location in Santa Monica that expanded to San Francisco, Oakland, all across California, and the nation. Thousands of people joined and the organization acquired millions of dollars in assets. If CED had that kind of protection, he would have died a king.. Dr. Jerome Jaffe, the first White House Drug Czar, had written the foreward to Dr. Meyers book which had called for caution in the use of synanon-style screaming matches against kids. A business illiterate, I dont know an invoice from a purchase order or the difference between shipped and delivered. Almost all modern day therapeutic communitiesand there are hundreds of themare based on the game. This was written before he joined. Here we are not talking about riding horses, discussing the nature of man, or Emerson, but a reign of terror that was destined and predicted by many in the early 60s due to the Synanon methods of attack therapy, forced confessions, rewards and punishments and brainwashing about enemies. Further, history has taught me that what I usually suspected turned out to be accurate. First, while our government says that all people are equal the fact is they are not born equal. Kids were assaulted and restrained without cause and all the rest. Further it established shelter and group support could aid those truly wanting to stop. The robber barons cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience., *..*.*. Your post-talks about the bonds, the relationships and enjoyment people had, particularly in earlier days. Jollett believes the violence to which adults were subjected has received widespread attention. Rather than a commune wonderfully described by Yablonsky and Janzen as reforming criminals, it made criminals out of non-criminals, and took former reformed criminals to a higher level of criminal violence. One either plays the game and is rewarded with privilege and favorable discharge, or one splits from the program. For more than a decade, a Tucson nonprofit drug-treatment center I suppose if they werent why Id have to find another business. A scheme that was illegal, it led to arrests in Arizona. We let, we let crazy people into the door and we dont discriminate. Her alleged crimepetty theft. According to Department of After Bush lied to us and caused mass distraction in Iraq that outdid 9/11, this country was much like a cult which is expected to happen when one is subjected itself to terrorism. Dederich said free choice in the hands of an addict was like a gun in the hands of a baby. But I wrote my book Escape: My Life Long War Against Cults with the view of writing the only book anyone need read on the subject. I'm going to rise up above all this kind of stuff, and I'm going to take care of everyone. I offered the information to Janzen and he didnt want it. Synanon was the first therapeutic community devoted to the treatment of the drug addicted according to the Encyclopedia of Drugs and Alcohol, which is edited by the first White House Drug Czar; Dr. Jerome Jaffe Synanon is the prototype of the drug-related therapeutic community-a community where the addict surrenders all aspects of his life, except one-the right to leaveBratter and Forrest write that In less than a quarter of a century, the American self-help residential therapeutic community has come to span the globe. Synanon was a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center and movement-turned-cult in California that existed from 1958 to 1991. And of course, this was what was best in early Synanon, i.e., peers to talk to and help if the craving starts; also support when kicking cold turkey, food and a roof. they were supposed to be about love, while men were about war. AA, as Synanon did, says one must participate in AA for life and have a religious belief in AA 12 steps. In the early days of Synanon, the age of most addicts who stayed were older, as Ofshe noted, and tired of life on the wild side. I responded to him that the media never knew the extent of the actual violence and as far as violence inside Synanon, how many incidents would you like to know about? Later I sent him a copy of the History of Synanon violence with over 80 incidents and he never responded nor did I hear from him again, nor did he ever apologize to the public for writing a book in which he intentionally avoided the actual evidence. Free choice is an American ideal, and we sacrifice for it, to preserve it, because as a nation we believe it is our greatest freedom. In contrast, Jollett's goals as a parent are simple. see review. Forty four years later, with Joe dead and Elan closed down survivors are still searching for someone in a position of authority to admit that what happened there was abuse. (c) Nov. 2012. Experience indicates that when these counselors use an especially intrusive, aggressive approach, frequently debasing and harshly confronting clients, they may do more harm than good. He had beaten me time wise. Founded in 1958, Synanon sold itself as a cure for hardcore heroin addicts who could help each other by breaking new initiates with isolation, humiliation, hard labor, and sleep deprivation. Oaks and Spokes. And just how successful were the Synanon imitators? Elan generated very large tax revenues for the state of Maine. The Sunshine Place investigates Synanon through survivors, former members, and more Society & Culture August 10, 2022 Listen to The Sunshine Place Enjoyment people had, particularly those that follow Lifton, but many lack proper perspective I gave you ring... What cost a purchase order or the difference between shipped and delivered Culture August,! The Synanon experience in playing the game, peers caring for peers without doctors, created cure! 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