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. When she finally was rescued by a grandmother, the organization was fortunately wiped out by the resulting civil judgment for damages. He was so wrong and he refused to write many who studied Synanon came to an opposite conclusion. ", Jollett continued to struggle with past traumas as a young teen and adult. Both boys had to navigate poverty and abuse, but Jollett's experience was vastly different from his brother's. Podcast. 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. And that Susan, is what differentiates us, from other countries where there is no freedom of press. Books have steadily been written stating the same, perhaps the best was Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids by Ms. Maia Szalavitz. Many who studied Synanon agreed. While a credit to Dederichs foresight, it also unfortunately was a feature of his harmful megalomania. 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. Ultimately, as stated above, Dederich would testify they never knew how to cure a dope fiend and nobody does. Totalitarianism societies in the end always end in abuse and a we vs. they war concept. 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. "I am not bound by the rules," Dederich said, according to a 1978 PEOPLE story. You would know that in general I have a higher regard for Synanon people than the public at large. 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. In my opinion Elan operated as a continueing criminal enterprise for close to forty years. I wrote that cults are just microcosms of greater societies. I offered them to him but he declined. There is much that is accurate in many cult books, particularly those that follow Lifton, but many lack proper perspective. Further, while brainwashing might be a form of keeping a person from drugs, leaving all decision making to the masters was a recipe for disaster. If it had ended there, Synanons legacy would be far different and it would probably still be there. For comparisons please get my book Escape: My Life Long War Against Cults. If you want to really learn of how the inner controls were, you can contact me to get his depositions. For those, as stated above, there is no doubt Synanon served as Ofshe stated, a realistic shelter while they got their act together. Dr. Roger Meyer and psychotherapists Thomas Bratter and Gary Forrest warned about using synanons on kids. 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. To me there is good reason why Elan was not on the the map. Also Santa Monica acted because Synanon did not have a license to treat anyone. 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. *..*.*. Prove that all the Synanon documents directing kidnappings, beatings and murder did not exist. If you examine the full context, Janzen avoided anything that might lead him to information contrary to the views he wanted to present. 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. Also, I have had cases with female cult leaders, and have confronted in my life many pathological and dangerous persons, both male and female. It quotes statements I did not make but Dederich did. Survivors of Residential Treatment Centers (RTC) WWASP Fighters. For us, it was Experience of Contact, thousands of interviews, internal documents, depositions of leaders and a lifelong examination. WebNeed your help! Sam Gillette is a books Writer/Reporter for People.com and People Magazine. The authorities closed it down. All Rights Reserved. Even if the system had worked, the price was too high free will. It was like, 'Nothing ever gets to me. I listened to countless game tapes. see review. There were countless communes and entities much larger that took in people of all races. By 1975 Barker had opened four expansion Seeds, but in 1974 both houses of the US Congress had investigated and made the brainwashing charges., Wrote Fager: Despite the fact that the only way Synanon Church could keep addicts off drugs was to keep them at Synanon foreverthat is Synanon was a cultand despite Synanons sordid pastSynanon was a violent cultthe idea of the Game became the basis for a new breed of therapy where the addict himself helps in his own recovery just as Chinese thought reform students help in their own recovery. You think I didnt experience Synanon, but I did. And thats it for the idea that Synanon played a role in curing drug addiction. This is especially true when punishment is viewed as a healing process. Learning of all the horrors and deaths that occurred in the clones over the past decades I only wish I had, as you accuse a single career in criticizing Synanon. I suppose if they werent why Id have to find another business. They appreciated the honesty of the work. Maybe it's the leader's fault. I'm not doing that. As a key distinction between comparing Synanon to America, those in Synanon who tried to warn or criticize were shut down and shoved out. That is just a fact. The damage that has been done to many ,many children is unfathomable. After 30 years of pondering, I came full circle and realized that sociologist Richard Ofshe had analyzed it right from the start. I find I edit better after I posted and edited this one about 5 times so far. Jollett believes the violence to which adults were subjected has received widespread attention. And the reason was it all fell into one mans hands who was ill and toyed with people by his own admission to make them do what they did not want to do. I asked him how he could write a book on Synanon without ever interviewing the person who fought it. Straights attorney for that trial was a prominent Washington, DC civil liberties lawyer named Ronald Goldfarb. And back is my reply to you. Thank you again Paul for taking my call back in May of 2011,and for taking an interest in the Elan cult. "I can't tell you how many times a day I pick up my kid. Or a person could just stop. I use a voice recognizing system and then I have to go back and edit many times. Stop telling me this didn't happen, because this happened.'" 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. The study of cults can teach us the problems of nations. This intrusive, assertive therapeutic style works well for a few clients but may injure many more. Professor Bellis noted that, A number of clients. They didn't know," he says. Here we go!' What is known about the early days, was that the older joiners were more likely to stay than the younger, and its initial opening success per Ofshe reflected that then the current age of entry was 34 or older; they were people who had a strong desire to remove themselves from the demanding regime of an addict/criminal life. On my site, the chapter on Chapter Chucky rising, I tried to set forth how those early times, and the German ideology, were part of the story and evolution of Dederich. And in March she went, flying into Georgetown with her family, a few friends, and Jordan As I said in the beginning, my views changed at different times, and it was only upon reading of what happened at the clones was my view finally shaped. He interviewed Richard Ofshe but then without explanation he wrote Ofshes discourses of brainwashing interesting, but not applicable. Zones are designed to separate business from residential, etc. 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. For more than a decade, a Tucson nonprofit drug-treatment center Further it established shelter and group support could aid those truly wanting to stop. Such people probably would be happier in a small environment with given friends, lovers, jobs and a sense of purpose, where most needs are fulfilled. **, 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. He wrote that many ex-members said that one day there would be a scandal and Dederich would run off with all the money. 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. Suggest reading the fall of series. It can be found on Amazon. ", It wasn't until the boys moved in with their father a tall, Italian man who awed them with stories about once hiding a shotgun under his trench coat that the once-distant dad became more than just a mythological figure. Ex-members have no idea how close they all came to being arrested for conspiracy of RICO violations. Neither AA, Synanon, or those that followed, were based on any scientific studies. And I think he saw I might be going down that path, too. ), "He loved us, he hugged us, he kissed us," says Jollett, who was prompted to write Hollywood Park after his father's death. Correcting Claire Clarks Recovery Revolution, Book Escape: My Life Long War Against Cults. 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. He stated he consciously directed the Synanon population through this method. When I asked if he had studied brainwashing he said he had not. 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. If Dederich had just built a shelter, fed and clothed, and gave support he would have had something. 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. Perhaps worse, was Dederichs friendship with Caesar Chavez wherein CED convinced Caesar to live like a rich man on La Paz and import the game which led to mutiny and the downfall of the UFW. Largely, the squares were people looking for purpose and to be part of something. In terms of drug addiction, thats where it ends. 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. Worse, they continue today despite strong efforts to expose them. 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. There just a, lots of them down in the Bank of America building in San Francisco, Pacific Union club, various law offices throughout the country, the streets, the ghettos, the penitentiaries. And that was great. I'm going to rise up above all this kind of stuff, and I'm going to take care of everyone. Sincerely 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. Mental health service. you say the logic is faulty, but give no example and state why? I am a Synanon survivor. 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. . The leader, Chuck Dederich, decided we wouldn't have parents, and then we just didn't.". It still such a bracing business that I like to stay in it. The Hammer Podcast. 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. 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. If you have a complaint it is with Yablonsky and Janzen who had no understanding of the Synanon system. "He was just this big, masculine, Italian, strong guy that loved his boys. Looking back, I think my brother was appropriately angry with the adults.". I have the book and am reading it. (Joe Ricci was a former Daytop student who went on to found his own program for troubled youth in Maine called Elansee below.) What lies did we believe wholeheartedly?". In discussing the aftermath, I tried to explain that my views differed at different times as I received new and different information. 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. Severe examples were made of the few unfortunate children who decided to speak with investigators about the truth. But Farve had the money so he could be self indulgent. That is why the health department took action in 1977. 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.. The entirety of my writings say the same thing. Chosen Survivors, regia di Sutton Roley (1974) Inn of the Damned, regia di Terry Bourke (1975) Aquila grigia il grande capo dei Cheyenne (Greyeagle), regia di Charles B. How old were you. Because he had lived for so long surrounded by yes people, he had no understanding how others would see his actions and thus was very open in admitting what he did, including that violence could not happen unless he approved it. I further told him that UCLA records were selective and I alone had Synanons internal documents which tells another story. Despite this, despite the warnings of so many other notables, despite Art Barkers total lack of credentials and less than admirable past, The Seed received a $1.8 million U.S. government grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) soon after it opened. And while it may be true that economics was a motivation, economics are part of the motivation for everyone on these issues. Casriel teamed up with Father William OBrien to form Daytop Village which today is one of the largest therapeutic communities in the world. Bellis, citing various sources, found that the success rate in the Synanon imitators was no better than that the dismal statistics of Synanon itself. But he ruled them out as heretics, not ever once, as did Janzen, do, as Deep Throat suggested to the Watergate investigators: follow the money.. Eventually, the future could only be Orwellian. But I also concluded that Synanon would always be dangerous because of the nature of the Synanon game. If CED had that kind of protection, he would have died a king.. Some have shown that synanon confrontations can potentially be psychologically damaging and may not be suitable for all audiences-especially for adolescents. Worse, when others, like Dr. Casriel, who formed Daytop, decided to use the Synanon approach modified, they did not understand the effect of age and desire in the Synanon flashes of success and further the danger of its approach as described by Simon and Friedenberg. A business illiterate, I dont know an invoice from a purchase order or the difference between shipped and delivered. Aaron Bacon, 16, North Star Expeditions, Utah, March 1994, was beaten and tortured, thirsted and starved to death, as well as denied medical treatment for a fatal condition. Phoenix House is one of the biggest TCs today. [Chuck] Dederich [Synanons founder], an exile from A.A., is credited with being the genius behind the TC [therapeutic community] movement and Leon Brill acknowledges in The Clinical Treatment of Substance Abusers that the original therapeutic community directed by ex-addicts was Synanon though others, he writes, such as Daytop Village, Odyssey House and Phoenix House in New York City have used psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers and other professionals as part of their staff; in an article for Substance Abuse: Clinical Problems and Perspectives written in 1981, Deitch and Zweben acknowledge that Synanon is the progenitor of the present-day therapeutic communities., As Fager summarized: Almost all modern day therapeutic communitiesand there are hundreds of themare based on synanons. Your comments is like talking about Nazi tea parties and trains running on time while someone else is talking about the Holocaust. I offered the information to Janzen and he didnt want it. The evil was he boasted that they would cut off any charity that did not do as Synanon told them to do. As to CED I have no clear answer, but certainly his childhood traumas and abandonments were likely to produce pathology. And while in 1978, he noted, Synanon publicity reported 20,000 people had gone through its doors, they were exiting at even a higher speed. He also forced women to have abortions and almost 200 men had vasectomies after Dederich forbade any more children. And just how successful were the Synanon imitators? Once the population bought that, Dederich had complete power by threat of expulsion which he continually exercised out right or by squeezes.. Posted by 6 years ago. Synanon was discredited in the late 1970s and 1980s as its violent record was exposed. Anybody. 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. This was Synanon had its worse, andit is not permitted here. 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.