This piece was limited to legacy and was put together through stats, admissions and results in clones. You might call that egotistical, but I felt I had that knowledge because I had engaged so many. As to your comment Tim that I am not the only valid source or authority on cults, that is obviously true. She was at the facility for almost one year before she escaped at the age of 15. 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. Kenton, through no fault of his own, was placed in the Synanon school by square musician parents and at age 18 became the youngest member of the Imperial Marines. Before moving in, Jollett had always considered his dad a "badass," a "criminal," a "pirate. The sicker he became, the more he was tormented and tortured by the staff. Childrens deaths in tough love boot camps include: Michelle Sutton, 15, Summit Quest, Utah, 1990. Nonprofit Organization. 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 . As I wrote the youth did not buy in as did the parents, you sound like one of them. Straight used Synanons vaginal and anal searches to search for contraband for years even though they never found any. 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. 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. 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. A belief system based upon coercive persuasion is expected by all who have studied it to be largely abandoned when the pressures are removed. Today as it is known that alcoholic recovery has a 40% success rate with no treatment at all; it is doubtful AA can surpass that. Paul Morantz I was being sincere. Jollett says his feelings were not validated by his mother, who instead relied on him for comfort. Order from Amazon, XHTML: You can use these tags:
. He wrote the failure of Yablonsky to see the horror of what he had written raised questions suggesting a lack of humanity in Yablonsky. Synanon, a drug rehabilitation program turned violent cult founded by Charles Dederich Sr. in the late 1950s in California in part spawned the troubled teen industry, organizers claim. As I wrote, starting in 1998, off and on for 3 years; then quitting, starting again in 2009, stopping in 2011 to write the book Escape: My Life Long War Against Cults, and picking up in 2012, that question continued as did the question did Synanon leave any positive legacy along with its revelation that its processes dictated its ultimate outcome and was predictable from the start? *. Vision Quests leader was convicted of smuggling cocaine. Over the years as I wrote c. upon chapter of Synanon history, I have mainly received nothing but great comments from people. He was so wrong and he refused to write many who studied Synanon came to an opposite conclusion. Elan did not offer the same type of tapestry as Synanon and thus probably caused more injury to its members. gave a grant to a Florida organization called The Seed, which applied Synanons methods to teenagers, even to those only suspected of trying drugs . I think he recognized, 'Oh, is this one going to become an addict, too? Real crazy people. The autopsy report stated that he died from a perforated ulcer, but that is only the tip of the iceberg. WebSynanon Industries. Finally, even the founder was not cured, returning to marijuana by 1977 and to an alcoholic stupor in 1978 that led to drunken parties throughout Synanon, as Phil Ritters and my murders were plotted, and the supposedly rehabilitated and reformed celebrated at the news of resulting injuries. Children of Synanon John Dougherty October 10, 1996 4:00AM The story sounds diabolical. WebSynanon sought religious status in 1974, with Diedrich as its leader. In 1971, the federal government, through he second White House Drug Czar, Robertq L. Dupont, Jr. MD. They must be lies because you cant live with any other thoughts. Oaks and Spokes. just state that and agree to the group rules!! All the civil rights marches, the anti-Vietnam protests, were uniting people of all races. Ego had nothing to do with that comment. The Cedu schools (one in California, and one in Idaho) were each located in a mountain wilderness, and students soon discovered that they were teenage captives, without identification or money, in an imposing geography they could not easily or safely negotiate or escape. In one sense it becomes like the question of which came first the chicken or the egg. You know ts great fun, to watch that. And yes, there is some bad grammar. it would be interesting to see you rewrite a summary of what I wrote so it could be judged whether or not you understood it. The monster that now existed had to be stopped. But that dwindled as the joiners became younger and Dederich turned his attention to using the media and Hollywood to produce a flow of persons, goods and services to develop by 1976 over $30 million in assets and the start of large salaries and bonuses. TTI Survivor - Leviah Rose. It was far from being just Synanon. It was also capable of controling the floor show when ever there was an investigation, during these times Elan became a large weird hotel lobby, albeit briefly, while investigators simply saw our blank faces. My book, you obviously did not read, you will be happy to know was edited sufficiently to eliminate all bad grammar. Members were brainwashed, tortured mentally and barred from leaving the communityescaped members were subject to beatings. According to newspaper articles of the day he has publicly disclosed, Ive smoked pot, popped pills, but none of the hard stuff. Hereceived a degree in psychology from a mail-order company in Florida. That Young people were beaten, some in public demonstrations. Anybody. I just imagined Charles Dederich rolling over in his grave at that news. 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. Synanons punitive system of verbal attacks and humiliation was counterproductive and drove out most that entered. Some have shown that synanon confrontations can potentially be psychologically damaging and may not be suitable for all audiences-especially for adolescents. A former member of Elan wrote: Elan is best described as a, sadistic, brutal, violent, soul-eating hellhole. At Elan, the Game was transformed into constant screaming and degradation and the physically rough treatment became all day violence. What is mysterious about this? As stated in the Skeptics Dictionary, law enforcement officials, politicians and religious leaders helped push those fearing addiction to what it determined was primarily rackets designed to make money with little regard for human well-being (like Elan and CeDu). Synanon. The Synanon organization, initially a drug rehabilitation program, was founded by Charles E. "Chuck" Dederich, Sr., (19131997) in 1958 in Santa Monica, California. By the early 1960s, Synanon had also become an alternative community, attracting people with its emphasis on living a self-examined life, Even today, some ex Synanon members, including many who had claimed they were harmed and/or were critical upon leaving, have played an on-line version with each other that slowly brought them back into the fold, confessing what others want to hear and afraid to say what they dont. If one thought about it, does one really need to go to a rehab to stop taking pain pills or a little drinking or smoking marijuana; these were and are issues that the medical profession could not fail in guiding if one wanted to quitreducing, changing or eliminating prescriptions. It is with Dederich who created the system, a person who in his own words never cared for one single second about any person who left. Ms Szalavitz wrote there are hundreds of emotional growth boarding schools, wilderness camps, and tough love anti-drug programs that make up the billion-dollar teen residential treatment industry. Have a merry. Even if the system had worked, the price was too high free will. While Synanons bragging of curing drug addiction was far off from reality, its public relations system did promote the concept that drug addiction was not impossible to overcome as many had thought when Synanon was conceived. Where you at synanon in 1972-1973? It is also a story of the unconditional love between a I witnessed a few cow boy ass kickings. The money was too good; parents panicking at the finding of a joint and willing to pay exorbitant amounts of money to anyone with the sales pitch, never quite understanding the tortures and deaths that awaited. 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. still, we had not had a good Republican president since Eisenhower. But that questionwhile interestingis really moot; the fact is that while shelter and support is of assistance, the Synanon system based on hate (as stated by Dederich) and punishment was not only a failure but its achievement in publicity, like a Synanon movie starring Ed OBrien, has led to 50 years of horror to countless victims all over the world and continues to do so. **, Guy Endores book, Synanon, noted ex-members very early complained that Dederich had forced out the original Board of Directors and replaced them with hand picked trained seals. my last chapter in my book did just exactly what you asked which was put my what you call myscholarly talents on the American cult. Casriel teamed up with Father William OBrien to form Daytop Village which today is one of the largest therapeutic communities in the world. Straights attorney for that trial was a prominent Washington, DC civil liberties lawyer named Ronald Goldfarb. when I was growing up I thought world would be a better place if women were in control. 479 members Join group About this group Anybody who's been touched by The SYNANON Cult as well as anybody who's suffered ANY TTI programs or institutional abuse youre welcome, as well See more Private "I am not bound by the rules," Dederich said, according to a 1978 PEOPLE story. "He was just this big, masculine, Italian, strong guy that loved his boys. I'm not doing that. And thank you for further documenting the direct connection of where all these horribly abusive re-education brainwashing treatment centers came from, the mother of them all Synanon. In 1984 a federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia awarded Fred Collins, Jr. $220,000 for being falsely imprisoned at Straight.Inc. Jollett, then just a little boy, hid to save himself. Were they all out to get rich at the sadistic treatment of others, or was this end in part of natural consequence of using such a punitive system, as suggested by the Stanford experiment on role playing of prisoners and guards? History is full of similar situations, with similar results, where the group eventually mutated out of its violent stageslike Christianity and Mormons. For author Mikel Jollett, the frontman for the indie band The Airborne Toxic Event, his book is a "primal scream.". What is this thing that you think you're doing? borderline schizophrenic patients, schizoid personalities, and acutely anxious, neurotic adolescents. Its wonderful. In what ways are we just wrong? I also believed that Synanons many clones, adding doctors, and other proper variations, had established successful drug rehabilitation. After all why should they not get paid for all that work? I wrote that cults are just microcosms of greater societies. I am a Synanon survivor. Dawnne Takeuchi, 18, was killed when she was thrown from a semi-truck near Pagosa Springs, Colorado, in June 1994. He was a great man and kind human being. if you have actual information please, but your tirades will be deleted. Communist Russia was safer with freedom taken away. Some people, whether from genes or experiences, or combinations thereof, just are not capable of living a good life on their own. I am very grateful that you have included in writing your blog about Joe Riccis version or interpetation of Synanon. Most of what I wrote was a no comment description in detail of Synanons evolution taken from its own records. And it was repeated in books by Yablonsky and Endore and unfortunately repeated a decade ago by Janzen. And it is no wonder that almost everywhere Synanon went, Dederich picked a location that was out of zone in which he knew they would be kicked out of, allowing him to claim outrage and obtain sympathy and donations. 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. Copyright Paul Morantz. Poor and, at one point, subsisting mostly off of rabbits they raised and butchered in their backyard, Jollett was unable to process the trauma he'd experienced, according to the book. Elan generated very large tax revenues for the state of Maine. Suggest reading the fall of series. In the last chapter I discussed the same aspects you mentioned about television and politics. A popular TV series was based on John Maher, a colorful former Synanite, who formed his own second generation Synanon in San Francisco called The Delancey Street Gang. The authorities closed it down. Suggest you get my book on Amazonmy life was not limited to Synanon. Yet by the time Synanon shut down in 1991, its model had already been widely copied. At the heart of the Cedu program was a philosophy that had grown out of various self-help movements of the 1960s and 70s, such as Lifespring, Werner Erhards EST, and most directly, from Charles E. Dederichs Synanon cult, church, and street-level heroin-cure program. The leader, Chuck Dederich, decided we wouldn't have parents, and then we just didn't.". Still, to glorify Synanon, as some do, like Yablonsky, Janzen, is to show a lack of humanity and spit in the face of the vast amount of victims of violence in Synanons own holocaust. Also, if a person made that choice sincerely, that person may have a better chance of succeeding in an environment with supporting persons and ex-addicts urging of them on while removing competing problems of how to support themselvessuch as a housing, friends and a job. is probably the most clear and present danger the presidential office ever faced. '", After Tony went to rehab, their dad quit his job to be home with them and cooked dinner every night. But we are not Communist China, Communist Russia or Germanys Nazis. This is especially true when punishment is viewed as a healing process. Anyway, you should learn about ones actual career before you make assumptions about it. They covered his mouth with a hand and forced him to inhale ammonia, which caused spasm of his vocal cords and prevented him from being able to inhale. 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