In 1971, Dederich stated, as Ofshe noted: we want at the idea of graduate. This was a sop to social workers and professionals who wanted me to say that we were producing a graduate. I always wanted to say to them, A person with this fatal disease will have to live here all of his life. I know damn well if they got out of Synanon they are dead. I wrote that cults are just microcosms of greater societies. Dederich said those who left fell through the open manhole and would post descriptions of their calamities for all to see as a warning if they ever left. You would make Wes Fager proud, I am sure, sadly he is no longer with us. 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. Even AA, which similarly indoctrinated a specific dogma the 12 steps is seen as not so successful as promoted and/or a proper therapy to cure alcoholism as it demands a dogmatic conversion and life time attendance that has been proven not necessary. 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.. Rather, the organizations said they worked, so people believed it. Mental health service. And you quite accurately describe the reason, it was protected. I just imagined Charles Dederich rolling over in his grave at that news. 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. Once again, her counselors said that she was faking when she complained. But I DO know the culture of Synanon. Oh so very funny. And as the classic 1971 Stanford prison experiment demonstrated, creating situations in which the severe treatment of powerless people is rewarded inevitably yields abuse. How all of this occurred is set forth in the first book So Fair a House by Dr. Casriel. Dr. Roger Meyer and psychotherapists Thomas Bratter and Gary Forrest warned about using synanons on kids. : troubledteens. Many who studied Synanon agreed. TTI Survivor - Leviah Rose. still, we had not had a good Republican president since Eisenhower. (c) Nov. 2012. I gave you a ring and was most pleasantly surprised that you answered. How old were you. 1 talking about this. 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. Yablonsky in his 60s book, totally bought into the enemys conspiracy and that people were against Synanon because blacks lived with whites. Ultimately, as stated above, Dederich would testify they never knew how to cure a dope fiend and nobody does. 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. The founder, Charles Dederich, ordered his cult followers to divorce and swap partners, with more than 200 couples complying. *, As with The Seed, at Straight abuse was omnipresentincluding beatings and kidnapping of adult participants. He was constantly accused of being a malingerer and faking it when he complained of being sick and unable to go on. Jollett believes the violence to which adults were subjected has received widespread attention. 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. ), "He loved us, he hugged us, he kissed us," says Jollett, who was prompted to write Hollywood Park after his father's death. But you make many assumptions about me. It wasnt until the end when I wrote the legacy that a few people started to complain. . In the early days of Synanon, the 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. I was not for that idea, because I saw most members as victims. 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. 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 dont think this means we are losing our civil rights as dramatically as you think, because I think most people see through this and are disgusted by it. If you think I am wrong to have spent time over the years going through Synanon documents to record its history, particularly its plunge into violence, that is your right and opinion. Some children were taken to foreign countries, or islands, although foreign countries have done more to stop them than our government. 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. . Maybe it's one of the things about human nature, that isolated power corrupts people. 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 while because it was so small, its influence in non-publicized areas is doubtful. 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. 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. 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 in 1978, he noted, Synanon publicity reported 20,000 people had gone through its doors, they were exiting at even a higher speed. Jollett and his older brother Tony were taken from their parents his father a recovered addict and former convict, his mother an anti-government activist from Berkeley when they were just 6 months old. And with that all being announced on the wire, murder attempts begin. Although I think this is waning some now Movies now are once again about heroes and less about femme fatales. It was far from being just Synanon. I was inducted in late 1976 at the age of 14. The musician was careful in his portrayal of his mother, whom he feared would come across as a one-dimensional villain. They must be lies because you cant live with any other thoughts. I also believed that Synanons many clones, adding doctors, and other proper variations, had established successful drug rehabilitation. Glasser, he wrote, found that eighty six of every hundred admissions to a large residential program terminated themselves against the advise of staff with most terminating within the first 30 days. Synanons most important legacy was to fulfill sociologist Edgar Freidenberg prediction after reading Yablonskys book that the organization was punitive, brainwashed and would ultimately create a dangerous state of mind. 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. He was a great man and kind human being. 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. 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. ", After reconnecting with his father, Jollett who didn't understand what a "mother" and "father" were while living in Synanon finally had a loving, real-life dad and mom. We were mentally ill. Chuck Dederich would not only envy the Money Elan made, but the protection they got. Further, I wrote that the study of cults is studying a microcosm of the greater society. They made people like Bernie Kolb who I loved very much. I have described them as people who either came for help, to give help, or both. 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. I offered the information to Janzen and he didnt want it. In 1984 a federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia awarded Fred Collins, Jr. $220,000 for being falsely imprisoned at Straight.Inc. In what ways are we just wrong? That Young people were beaten, some in public demonstrations. And that you should try to see people the way God sees them. The entirety of my writings say the same thing. "'Ha, ha! 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. WebJan 2010 - Present13 years 2 months United States Im a CEDU Survivor who created & runs the Synanon Survivors Group on Facebook. In conclusion, while the notions in Synanon arose out of Dederichs troubled childhood, I dont think all blame is on Synanonsuch systems existed all throughout history. It was only after the invasion of Iraq and discovery that the administration dangerously burned a spy to get even with for Sen. husband who wrote the administration had no evidence of Iraq weapons of mass destruction when it created a greater attack than 911 itself, that journalist took back their mandate to look for the truth and present that truth the country. Comments here are for input, questions, and providing of facts. Congratulations. And the grant had been administered by the founding director of NIDA who also happened to be the second White House Drug Czar-Robert DuPont. 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. After all why should they not get paid for all that work? I dont have to stay in it anymore. Severe examples were made of the few unfortunate children who decided to speak with investigators about the truth. 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. "In the case of my brother, he became the scapegoat. For us, it was Experience of Contact, thousands of interviews, internal documents, depositions of leaders and a lifelong examination. In law, lawyers too much use the technique of attacking opposing counsel when they cannot attack the facts. Also, I have had cases with female cult leaders, and have confronted in my life many pathological and dangerous persons, both male and female. Synanon was a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center and movement-turned-cult in California that existed from 1958 to 1991. 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. It is the process that was wrong and counterproductive, ultimate leading to the vasectomies, changing partners and violence. 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. And thats it for the idea that Synanon played a role in curing drug addiction. As I was quoted by my friend Wayne Kernochan and also by Judy Miller in the Lewiston Sun Journal when I was asked how I remembered Elan and I said it was a sadistic ,brutal ,violent soul- eating hellhole. .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. WebNeed your help! Others were taken below or in barns to be beaten. First, Susan, good to hear from you again. Let alone, 'Okay, here you go stranger I've never met, take care of my kid. AA, as Synanon did, says one must participate in AA for life and have a religious belief in AA 12 steps. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. Both are real experiences, but which is more important to learn from. For more than a decade, a Tucson nonprofit drug-treatment center I listened to countless game tapes. [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. Were you happy with the violence? He spent 15 years 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. Janzen could have had this dissertation, but he was not looking for truth. Today, there are statistics saying women have surpassed men as earners, all of this is good. They appreciated the honesty of the work. Others who completed the program were absorbed into the organization as low-paid or voluntary staff limited to walking around money. A Violent, Deadly Cult With Forced Abortions and Shades of Scientology FOLLOW THE LEADER San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images He wrote the failure of Yablonsky to see the horror of what he had written raised questions suggesting a lack of humanity in Yablonsky. **, 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. Yet at the same time, the noise Synanon made did wake up people to the idea, not yet existing, that cure was possible. But these ideals were short lived. 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. Its goal was to take it to the context of greater society.I would appreciate you know your feelings. Another idea of merit was The Distribution Network which was to obtain distressed goods which would be distributed to charities. 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. While forced to admit the attack on me, there is no mention of Phil Ritter or Eidson, etc., in his book, Rise and Fall of Synanon (which was same working title I had) rather a statement that the media exaggerated the violence and that there was no violence inside Synanon. That is not ego. see review. The main reason in stopping in 2000 was a telephone call from Rod Janzen asking to confirm the date I was bit by the Snake. 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. You think I didnt experience Synanon, but I did. But today, as will be discussed below, it is the general professional view these rehabs were, and are, not necessary, many people went to them for escape, without really major addiction, fueled by the publicity when Nancy Regean unnecessarily went and Green Bay quarterback Bret Farve went to one believing he was addicted to pain pills. you say the logic is faulty, but give no example and state why? Dinosaur Survivors Leave a Reply Cancel reply. In short Straight took a bad treatment modality, made it worse, and then force their young subjects to endure it. Education website. When he begged to see a doctor, the staff sneered at him and called him a faker and asked him if he were homosexual.. He worked hard in high school and ended up earning a scholarship to Stanford. By example, as compiled by Dr. Ofshe, in 1961 all Dederich reported was that 70 out of 176 addicts had stayed for 5 days. Stop telling me this didn't happen, because this happened.'" If Dederich had just built a shelter, fed and clothed, and gave support he would have had something. I comfort him if he hurts his knee or my daughter when she cries, whatever it is. A recovering alcoholic named Art Barker in 1970 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and run almost entirely by kids for kids. While a credit to Dederichs foresight, it also unfortunately was a feature of his harmful megalomania. (Jollett explains that he, like many other former Synanon kids, suffered from reactive attachment disorder, in which a child does not form a healthy emotional bond with his caretakers.). We were beaten for the slightest infractions of the rules. Nonprofit Organization. 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