The truth is Santa Monica was enforcing a valid zoning prohibition. I listened to countless game tapes. He had beaten me time wise. Also true, is that my ego places me in my eyes in a higher position than others. see review. Sure it maybe closed but it still needs to be investigated in the same fashion that Penn state was investigated. 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. For more than a decade, a Tucson nonprofit drug-treatment center By the mid-80s Straight was operating in seven states. Former Synanite Dr. David Deitch, then a Phoenix House director, has stated, A client must have the choice of leaving treatment, even if the youngster is on probation and the alternative is jail.(19) Richard Ashley wrote in Heroin that, The only power of decision the member retains once he enters a TC is the decision to leave. Dr. Efren Ramirez, founder of Phoenix House, has said that you dont rehabilitate a person against his will.. Joe was a thug and a gangster, but when a law abiding citizen said so, Joe sued his bank and won ten million dollars. 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. Posted by 6 years ago. (He considers his dad's partner, Bonnie, his mother. He participated in several missions, and arguably would have lived a better life but for his exposure to Synanon. Simon did not follow his own warnings, and after being destroyed in a Synanon game, and then befriended by Dederich, never left, became the keeper of the flame and ultimately went to prison for participation in a scheme to destroy evidence concerning Synanons violent conspiracy. Synanon was a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center and movement-turned-cult in California that existed from 1958 to 1991. But we are not Communist China, Communist Russia or Germanys Nazis. The story of Synanon is how one man took good people and turned them into terrorists. 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. Its like, its like the story Ive always told you, you know about the warden standing up on the, looking out the window of his office and down in the big yard and saying, Come here, George, watch em theyll all fuck each other pretty soon you know, we, we, we most of the people to come into our house and say I would like to live here and turn out to be very, very real crazy people. I would say some things are not debatable. Synanons punitive system of verbal attacks and humiliation was counterproductive and drove out most that entered. Dederich in the early days would not release statistics claiming that a dope fiend would identify with whatever percentage failed and therefore would not come; finally declaring in 1967 it was such a failure that no one should ever leave. In short Straight took a bad treatment modality, made it worse, and then force their young subjects to endure it. "Our parents weren't bad people, they didn't choose to turn their children into orphans. Let alone, 'Okay, here you go stranger I've never met, take care of my kid. As for women, I cant purport to be an expert, but having lived through the 60s Revolution and womens rights I do have my observations. 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. Psychiatrist Dr. Judianne Densen-Gerber visited Dr. Ramirez in Puerto Rico and setup her own synanon-based TC in New York City called Odyssey House. It's not good.' This is not a criticism of that policy; but just the fact that it was insignificant in relation to the civil rights movement which was raging in the 60s and pushed by the Kennedys, Martin Luther King, and many black actors and athletes and my generation that marched and died in name of civil rights. Anyway good luck and I hope you found a practice you enjoy. And that number was highly inflated by injection of squares and children born to addicts and squares alike. He was so wrong and he refused to write many who studied Synanon came to an opposite conclusion. 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 . The leader, Chuck Dederich, decided we wouldn't have parents, and then we just didn't.". A. Confidential. Ordered by the court out of Synanon, he returned to a life of crime and was murdered. We were indoctrinated quickly thru fear, humiliation,and the constant threat of physical violence. 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. in the understanding and treatment of adolescents. In 1964 a New Jersey Drug Study Commission opted not to give Synanon any funding after reviewing rehabilitation statistics supplied by Synanon Foundation. And you quite accurately describe the reason, it was protected. I wrote that cults are just microcosms of greater societies. He would want to know the reasons that motivated me, if he was in search for the truth. As I wrote the youth did not buy in as did the parents, you sound like one of them. Almost all modern day therapeutic communitiesand there are hundreds of themare based on the game. is someone writes a personal attack on me, or anyone else who comments, is deleted. Early on they selected former Synanite David Deitch to run Daytop but later released him when they claimed he tried to set up a Communist-based political action committee of ex-drug addicts. Died of dehydration. Aftermaththe Synanon legacy But acts I have stated, the comments on the site are limited to questions, the presentations of facts, challenges to events, additions and/or support, but but attacks on people who present their information will not be permitted. It quotes statements I did not make but Dederich did. Over the years as I wrote c. upon chapter of Synanon history, I have mainly received nothing but great comments from people. He stated he consciously directed the Synanon population through this method. And that Susan, is what differentiates us, from other countries where there is no freedom of press. You would know that in general I have a higher regard for Synanon people than the public at large. 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. Jollett's father, though not in his life in the beginning, emerges as the hero in the book. In 1971, the federal government, through he second White House Drug Czar, Robertq L. Dupont, Jr. MD. Since I had as friends, people like Bernie Kolb and Ben Parks, who went from long-term addictions to long time great human beings, I concluded something there must have worked. Shomeister. He noted that the child seemed lost in the rigid hierarchy and confrontation tactics of the program. He wrote: As a clinician I am concerned about the effects of intense, violent verbal interaction upon young teenagers engaged in a sensitive process of identity formation. *..*.*. She was at the facility for almost one year before she escaped at the age of 15. Copyright Paul Morantz. Hillary Clinton probably wouldve made a good president, the Alaskan Gov. Also, because of time restraints, I put up the information so it is there and then go back and edit when I have the chance. It was known for communal living, practices such as group "truth-telling" sessions they called "The Game," requiring married couples to split and take new partners and female members to shave their heads. Some had warned of the potential dangers of using synanons (game) on adults. 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. 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. 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. I witnessed a few cow boy ass kickings. 5 years from now we wont need people like you.. Following this broadcast, several executives of the NBC network and its corporate chairman allegedly received hundreds of threats from Synanon members and supporters. [31] NBC continued with a series of reports on the Synanon situation on the NBC Nightly News. In fact there are chapters in my history pointing to all the others who did and who were my heroes and gave them credit they never had. Per Dr. Robert J. Lifton, this is what one would expect from any totalitarianism environment after removal. Your comments is like talking about Nazi tea parties and trains running on time while someone else is talking about the Holocaust. I was not for that idea, because I saw most members as victims. And in March she went, flying into Georgetown with her family, a few friends, and Jordan Great concept, even though the eventual plan was to charge the givers and receivers and in Dederich words become Synanons greatest money makerwhich in turn would make him rich. They must be lies because you cant live with any other thoughts. So is the eventual years later reverting to a longing for the days of comrades and cause. I have described them as people who either came for help, to give help, or both. Mental health service. That's our job, to love this [child] fiercely and protect it. It exposes the cruel abnormal policies, practices and propaganda the Synanon children were forced to endure in a so-called modern America. This intrusive, assertive therapeutic style works well for a few clients but may injure many more. Professor Bellis noted that, A number of clients. Many are dead, many are in prison ,and worse many roam the earth as emotional cripples from just having come in contact with Joe Ricci,and his henchmen that helped him run the Elan Corporation. Jollett believes the violence to which adults were subjected has received widespread attention. And back is my reply to you. A business illiterate, I dont know an invoice from a purchase order or the difference between shipped and delivered. In the book The Tunnel Back Yablonsky, Dederich and another Dr. discuss that the Synanon system is similar to Dr. Liftons discussion of Chinese brainwashing. No one knows the actual final fate of the 19. None of us were hardcore drug addicts. Unfortunately as I learned what happened in clones and wilderness programs, people not only did not learn from that history, a book like Janzens can help fuel the continuation of its tragedies. Did you change partners? Thats why I wrote the history of Synanon because there is so much to learn. Some have shown that synanon confrontations can potentially be psychologically damaging and may not be suitable for all audiences-especially for adolescents. And just how successful were the Synanon imitators? And, as stated, many of those who left were purposely ejected or forced out by Dederich squeezes. Indeed, that same year Dederich, in his The Wrath of God speech accused addicts of stabbing him in the back by failing to negotiate an apartment complex purchase, and threatened to get rid of all of them and replace them with squares. It did make news. Researched by Maia Szalavitz for a book in 2006 and for Mother Jones in 2007 she described the clone horrors and traced them back to Synanon. The same result was stated by Steve Simon in his Harvard dissertation only in much more elaborate detail. Professor David Bellis was one. And in end, its Synanons holocaust that is its legacy, particularly since there were so many who predicted it as early as the 60s from nothing more than reading the books written about Synanon. Some children have been placed for nothing more than marijuana smoking, and some because the programs told the parents unless they gave them the younger kid they would expel the older sibling. 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. Straight used Synanons vaginal and anal searches to search for contraband for years even though they never found any. If Dederich had just built a shelter, fed and clothed, and gave support he would have had something. It was far from being just Synanon. Synanon Survivors. Paul- when Elan closed in April 1 of 2011. And we sort of took that on, and it's sad because it's not a real portrait of a man, it's a child's imagination of a man. Sam Gillette is a books Writer/Reporter for People.com and People Magazine. This program was called MATRIX. In my opinion Elan operated as a continueing criminal enterprise for close to forty years. WebJan 2010 - Present13 years 2 months United States Im a CEDU Survivor who created & runs the Synanon Survivors Group on Facebook. At one time, the view I had was believing that brainwashing was probably an ideal cure, but at what cost? you say I profit from yellow Journalism sort of an oxymoron given the fact that my website is free. The legacy quotes statistics that I did not keep or make, but Synanon did. He was a great man and kind human being. ), "You put stress on a family, unpredictable things happen, and children tend to take on different roles," Jollett says. Eventually, on the subject of rehabilitation, Ofshe would write, Synanon was the failure thats gave birth to an industry.. As to CED I have no clear answer, but certainly his childhood traumas and abandonments were likely to produce pathology. If you look at your post, you will see you bring up matters which were brought up in the entirety of my text and there is little difference. 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. Survivors of Residential Treatment Centers (RTC) WWASP Fighters. Thats the nature of our business. 65-pound Michael Wiltsie, 12, at Camp E-Kel-Etu, a private Florida facility, in 2000 was suffocated to death by a 320-pound counselor who sat on him until he stopped breathing. All the civil rights marches, the anti-Vietnam protests, were uniting people of all races. Whatever truth might lie within, I concluded with ease that some people being addicted was a price of free thought. I agree with current views, given the atrocities that have occurred in Synanon clones, but I also still think the idea, discounting the dogma, to have a group of peers encouraging you and available at any time to talk to if you are considering going on a binge and you cannot reach your professional, is good. If CED had that kind of protection, he would have died a king.. 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. And when former clients sued Straight for holding them against their will, Straight pressured parents into letting Straight fight for them for the right to force their kids into treatment with the force of a court order. Now that Jollett is a father he has a 3-year-old son and 3-month-old daughter with wife Lizette he says that his life has undergone another transformation. ), "[Tony] went to rehab at a young age, and I think it scared me," Jollett says. He interviewed Richard Ofshe but then without explanation he wrote Ofshes discourses of brainwashing interesting, but not applicable. In 1972 he reported on the case of a 12 year old boy who had been admitted, along with older clients, to a second generation Synanon called The Odyssey House in New York City. Its a real field day.. According to Department of To me there is good reason why Elan was not on the the map. I am very grateful that you have included in writing your blog about Joe Riccis version or interpetation of Synanon. In terms of drug addiction, thats where it ends. In one sense it becomes like the question of which came first the chicken or the egg. Janzen could have had this dissertation, but he was not looking for truth. In 1966 New York City Mayor John Lindsay hired Puerto Rican psychiatrist Efren Esteban Ramirez to run the citys Addiction Services Agency. As I said, for years I basically hung out with former members. So I went through it again to tried to erase that ambiguity and I hope you are happier with it. Eventually Dr. DuPont left government service and became a paid consultant for Straight, which had replaced The Seed after the US Senate likened its methods to North Korean brainwashing. Largely, the squares were people looking for purpose and to be part of something. Its a calculated risk. I am a Synanon survivor. Hopefully somedaywe get back the candidates like that; but Im not smart enough to suggest how. Synanon added the game and other systems of punishment to compel compliance that would be copied by many sociopaths seeking riches, as discussed below, and lead to horrors to the participants in the clones that exceeded what occurred in Synanon. "Then my dad became extremely interested in my life. no Mr. Vandeman I am not deleting this as it is not as vulgar as the others. Charles was arrested while drunk in 1978 and was barred from any further leadership within the Straights attorney for that trial was a prominent Washington, DC civil liberties lawyer named Ronald Goldfarb. 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. 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. Nonprofit Organization. Link To The Synanon Survivors Group And Future Photo Library And it will be edited further. You can also see a shorter version of my career on Wikipedia if you do not wish to buy the book. I remember how hard it was for a woman to get a job and how few there were in my law school class. Originally a nonviolent group, Diedrich created the Imperial Marines to maintain orderwithin and outside of the community. I was taken there by my mother. That is just a fact. The damage that has been done to many ,many children is unfathomable. And thats it for the idea that Synanon played a role in curing drug addiction. 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. We were mentally ill. Chuck Dederich would not only envy the Money Elan made, but the protection they got. This piece was limited to legacy and was put together through stats, admissions and results in clones. 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. Whatever value Synanon might have had, I believed then, it had been long-lost. At least three dozen teens have died in these programs, often because staff see medical complaints as malingering. It was good that Synanon took in minorities, and when Dederich married Betty mixed marriages were not as commonplace as today. Bellis, citing various sources, found that the success rate in the Synanon imitators was no better than that the dismal statistics of Synanon itself. When they asked me, if an addict enters Synanon, how long will it take? My answer is, If he is lucky, it will take forever.. I offered the information to Janzen and he didnt want it. Nicholaus Contreraz, 16, died at the Arizona Boys Ranch near Oracle, Arizona, March 2, 1998, of cardiac arrest, after instructors continued to harass him and force him to exercise even though he told them he was sick. Spare the Rod Healing. However, there is little evidence that harsh behavior-modification techniques can solve these problems. I'll see you in a few weeks for three hours,' Or in some cases, 'I'll see you in six months,' in some cases, five years. "And probing into this world of the traumatized child. But you make many assumptions about me. But I believe there are important messages in its history I was drivin not to let Janzen alter it. Relationships at the school between students and staff seemed to have little formal structure or sense of normal boundary and a students life was always under threat of intense and unpredictable disciplining and punishment. Out of 1,180 addicts who had entered Synanon in its first five years of operation, only 26 had graduated. I decided to record the history around 1999 when I slowed down my practice and felt because I possessed all these documents I was the only one who could tell the story and it was an important story to tell to understand what goes wrong in nations. Synanon and Enthusiastic Sobriety Enthusiastic Sobriety Abuse Alliance Synanon and Enthusiastic Sobriety A conversation with David Cherry. 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. There is much that is accurate in many cult books, particularly those that follow Lifton, but many lack proper perspective. 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 Have a merry. Its first example, naturally, as failure, was Synanon, and like Synanon, its clones became the darlings of the media and politicians in election years. It was clear, that like Yablonsky, decades prior, he was enamored by Synanon. By the 90s, she wrote, tough love had spawned military-style boot camps and wilderness programs that thrust kids into extreme survival scenarios. In Maias book it is described one woman was not even allowed to leave a teen rehab after she turned 18, the organization threatening her mother to toss out her younger child if the mother took the older one back. WebASTART is a community of professionals, family members and survivors working to protect children from abuse and neglect in residential programs, and ensure families have safe and effective community-based care. After all why should they not get paid for all that work? I delete only the crazies refuse to present any argument, rebuttal facts or evidence that anything stated was not true; but just a statement that anyone who would think that or write such facts belongs in a nut house. The problem is, however, is how to ensure they are taken advantage of. Sells noted in 1976 that, The more strict the program the lower the percentage of clients retained in the [TC] program..Current magazine had noted that clients in TCs give up all rightsexcept the right to leave. *. 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. In addition, group practice becomes an anti-therapeutic factor with the T.C. And it was repeated in books by Yablonsky and Endore and unfortunately repeated a decade ago by Janzen. : troubledteens. It is also a story of the unconditional love between 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. Watched the documentary Ethel on HBO and compare the public speaking of the Kennedys to the embarrassing debates that took place in the recent election. The musician also remembers the period with his mother and brother in Oregon, where they went to hide. Seven years before that trial Goldfarb had written a book calling for prison reform using the Synanon-style therapeutic community. Although Synanon was officially shut down in 1991, it had inspired followers to start similar groups that perpetuated Synanons worst principles. Any dammed fool who wants to come in and say Id like to live with you and we let them in. . "I became very interested in the idea of buried history, all the ways that we as children were told things that were patently untrue, and that we believed them," says Jollett, whose book will publish on May 26, just after the same-titled album. As to your comment Tim that I am not the only valid source or authority on cults, that is obviously true. In the early days of Synanon, the Your post-talks about the bonds, the relationships and enjoyment people had, particularly in earlier days. WebSynanon sought religious status in 1974, with Diedrich as its leader. He wrote that many ex-members said that one day there would be a scandal and Dederich would run off with all the money. He told me that he had interviewed Synanon people and examined the UCLA records. I think he recognized, 'Oh, is this one going to become an addict, too? You say it is unscientific nonsense, but prove that any of the statistics and studies were not accurate or that the events that took place in the clones did not happen. For comparisons please get my book Escape: My Life Long War Against Cults. Others were taken below or in barns to be beaten. The group ultimately became a cult called the Church of Synanon in the 1970s. Synanon disbanded in 1991 [6] due to members being convicted of criminal activities (including attempted murder) and retroactive loss of its tax-exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) due to financial misdeeds, destruction of evidence, and terrorism. [7] By example, as compiled by Dr. Ofshe, in 1961 all Dederich reported was that 70 out of 176 addicts had stayed for 5 days. This is not limited to addicts. I'm going to get up at 5:00, I'm going to feed the rabbits, I'm going to make myself breakfast, I'm going to make myself lunch, I'm going to walk to school. They also had to fight for attention from the few loving adults who monitored them, Jollett explains. 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. I did not delete Susans comment, they disappeared and then reappeared; have happy holidays. If you have a complaint it is with Yablonsky and Janzen who had no understanding of the Synanon system. 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. Eventually in a 1978 tape recording called The Freebees are over Dederich set forth the plan to establish a private corporation, Home Place, Inc. in Arizona which would charge Synanon for rotating people to the new compound to be educated by Dederich and that Synanon would pay the corporation for this, which then would pay salaries to Dederich and his cronies, of which they would pay taxes. But Synanon did searches to search for the days of comrades and cause, how long will it take regard! There are important messages in its first five years of operation, only 26 had graduated say I from! With former members the Holocaust, 'Okay, here you go stranger I 've never met, take care my! Few clients but may injure many more, for years even though they never found any short took! Father, though not in his life in the rigid hierarchy and confrontation tactics of the potential dangers using. Bonnie, his mother and brother in Oregon, where they went to hide higher regard for Synanon people the. 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