And thats it for the idea that Synanon played a role in curing drug addiction. According to Department of During these group assaults on individual residents in the hot seat, especially newcomers, any castigation and ridicule appear to come from the whole community of clients. Jollett's father, though not in his life in the beginning, emerges as the hero in the book. As a key distinction between comparing Synanon to America, those in Synanon who tried to warn or criticize were shut down and shoved out. "I make them.". Although I think this is waning some now Movies now are once again about heroes and less about femme fatales. I am very grateful that you have included in writing your blog about Joe Riccis version or interpetation of Synanon. It is the freedom of thought and free speech that gave America the chance to go on and recover from its mistakes. By the 60s the Los Angeles school system had schools (not all) already well integrated and taught anti-bigotry. Commonly employed and widely admired in 12-step groups and treatment., The urge to save humanity is almost always only a false-face for the urge to rule it., Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. So is the eventual years later reverting to a longing for the days of comrades and cause. Further it established shelter and group support could aid those truly wanting to stop. Whatever value Synanon might have had, I believed then, it had been long-lost. Jollett believes the violence to which adults were subjected has received widespread attention. Maia wrote: No fewer than 50 programs can trace their treatment philosophy, directly or indirectly, to an anti-drug cult called Synanon. Yes it was a tough nut to crack and in part due to the protection it recieved. Below is a chart made by Maia in Mother Jones: A. Orange on his website lists interesting quotes: Tough Love: Abuse of a type particularly gratifying to the abuser, in that it combines the pleasures of sadism with those of self-righteousness. Per Ofshe, Dr. Elizabeth Missakian, former Pres. It was far from being just Synanon. Thats why I wrote the history of Synanon because there is so much to learn. Suggest you get my book on Amazonmy life was not limited to Synanon. Ofshe further pointed out Dr. Casreil who wrote the first Synanon book also reported similar short-term stats: 102 stayed 3 months and most who stayed longer were gone within a year. I have the book and am reading it. I was taken there by my mother. 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. For author Mikel Jollett, the frontman for the indie band The Airborne Toxic Event, his book is a "primal scream.". 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. you say the logic is faulty, but give no example and state why? Fatherhood has made him more cognizant of how much trauma he experienced as a child, as it has for other former Synanon kids who have become parents. 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] And that number was highly inflated by injection of squares and children born to addicts and squares alike. You would know that in general I have a higher regard for Synanon people than the public at large. *..*.*. Looking back, I think my brother was appropriately angry with the adults.". 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. He had the addicts psychologically tested and found Synanon did not change people internallythat they were still antisocial. Communist Russia was safer with freedom taken away. No one will be mad at you. I wrote that cults are just microcosms of greater societies. Per Dr. Robert J. Lifton, this is what one would expect from any totalitarianism environment after removal. Further, it is foolish to treat all persons in the same manner. We either do that or we stop. "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. In 1964 a New Jersey Drug Study Commission opted not to give Synanon any funding after reviewing rehabilitation statistics supplied by Synanon Foundation. The founder, Charles Dederich, ordered his cult followers to divorce and swap partners, with more than 200 couples complying. Good luck. Once again, her counselors said that she was faking when she complained. He was a great man and kind human being. But we are not Communist China, Communist Russia or Germanys Nazis. Sure it maybe closed but it still needs to be investigated in the same fashion that Penn state was investigated. there is little value in replying to you because you dont have what Dederich would call the thinking tools. You say there are lies But you dont list them. To me there is good reason why Elan was not on the the map. Another boy froze to death (given no coat or shelter), and the victims even included former Synanon children who were placed in these camps by parents still believing in the Synanon system. First, Susan, good to hear from you again. Aftermaththe Synanon legacy 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. 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. ", 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. One feature of Seed was the Spanking Machine where a childs father must publicly whip his kid before the large peer Group. ), "[Tony] went to rehab at a young age, and I think it scared me," Jollett says. Paul please post this comment and not the other two thank you sir. It gives an unvarnished accounting of the psychopath Joe Ricci who founded the Elan Corporation. 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. The problem is, however, is how to ensure they are taken advantage of. **, 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. None of us were hardcore drug addicts. Anyway, you should learn about ones actual career before you make assumptions about it. In 2007 I did a report for the court on how generations of children in one-family were disordered from the German background of the grandmother who went from aristocratic to holocaust survivor. Oh so very funny. All he knew was that if someone stayed they didnt do drugs. But I, its a marvelous business to watch these assholes come in and fall all over themselves and try bite me in the ass. This is due, in part, to many Synanites having left to form their own lucrative drug rehabilitation companiesa degree in medicine is not a requirement., ***. 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. What you write is not experience of all. Rocker Mikel Jollett's Memoir on Cult Childhood Is 'Primal Scream' While I cop to an ego in this area, my comments to Janzen had nothing to do with it. 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. Unlike Janzen, I was not looking for fans from any groups, but to record the knowledge I obtained so it might benefit others, as well as presenting an interesting read. 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. Jollett says his feelings were not validated by his mother, who instead relied on him for comfort. ), "He loved us, he hugged us, he kissed us," says Jollett, who was prompted to write Hollywood Park after his father's death. 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. All throughout history when the same mix occurs so do the same results. Similarly, there is no evidence that every substance abuser is such for life and can only avoid destruction through one of these programs. The Old Man would testify that he never gave a splitee a single thought from the moment each left. Where you at synanon in 1972-1973? This is not limited to addicts. WebSynanon Museum (no password required) Please fill in both the "User ID" and "Password" entries; If you don't have a User Id and Password yet please Click HERE to Sign up: User 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. 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. Spare the Rod Healing. The example story might be that of Joe Musico and Lance Kenton. He participated in several missions, and arguably would have lived a better life but for his exposure to Synanon. "At that age, my response was to become the super kid. You think I didnt experience Synanon, but I did. Others were taken below or in barns to be beaten. I think he recognized, 'Oh, is this one going to become an addict, too? In my book Synanon was only one chapter. 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 not unique. Its wonderful. God bless you. just state that and agree to the group rules!! Her alleged crimepetty theft. The Cedu Schools developed into an industry of sister schools, clones and copy-cats, that are now a multi-million dollar, international and unregulated business., *.*.. I was inducted in late 1976 at the age of 14. still, we had not had a good Republican president since Eisenhower. It reasoned that success stories generally had little to do with the programs themselves. And I think he saw I might be going down that path, too. He wrote that, High discipline programs usually employ the confrontive Synanon game-a leaderless group encounter session to create aggressive and provocative interchange, using ridicule, cross examination and hostile attack. Seven years before that trial Goldfarb had written a book calling for prison reform using the Synanon-style therapeutic community. 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. For comparisons please get my book Escape: My Life Long War Against Cults. I would say probably every decade my views changed, either up or down, but only in small degrees. Childrens deaths in tough love boot camps include: Michelle Sutton, 15, Summit Quest, Utah, 1990. 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. I have it. He interviewed Richard Ofshe but then without explanation he wrote Ofshes discourses of brainwashing interesting, but not applicable. 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. Eventually, the future could only be Orwellian. Justice For Our Angels. And just how successful were the Synanon imitators? Ramirez set up the synanon-based Phoenix House which hired former Synanite Ted Dibble to manage one of its centers. WebJan 2010 - Present13 years 2 months United States Im a CEDU Survivor who created & runs the Synanon Survivors Group on Facebook. Most of what I wrote was a no comment description in detail of Synanons evolution taken from its own records. 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. 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). 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. 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. If you have a complaint it is with Yablonsky and Janzen who had no understanding of the Synanon system. WebSynanon was a religous community. There were countless communes and entities much larger that took in people of all races. By the mid-80s Straight was operating in seven states. He had beaten me time wise. I was being sincere. "I am not bound by the rules," Dederich said, according to a 1978 PEOPLE story. In 1971, the federal government, through he second White House Drug Czar, Robertq L. Dupont, Jr. MD. 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. 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. Yet it was from this that the miracle was proclaimed. The experiences with the original population of adult addicts still pervade the thinking and functioning of most T.C.s. This program was called MATRIX. If I did not want comments i would not have it set up too comments. But these rules had long been eradicated at Synanon the root of todays confrontational-type therapeutic communities. The evil was he boasted that they would cut off any charity that did not do as Synanon told them to do. 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. All Rights Reserved. My discussion is on the known today dangers of a hatchery (abandonment syndrome) which Susan Richardson wrote about, the psychological affects of attack therapy which can cause psychological damage, including psychotic breaks (which happened at Synanon) and how everyone finally bought into the enemy at the door who were all prejudiced against them and finally reduced Synanon to a state of mind where propaganda ruled over truth, all the ideals were tossed out and a growing comparison to the Manson family was in place. A haunting tale of estrangement, Synanon Kid, is a coming-of-age story of hope, survival, and determination. 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. TTI Survivor - Leviah Rose. Congratulations. first, you say that many agree with what I wrote and others did not, and as you say, these agreements are expected and that some would be vehemently because of the psychological processes of denial. 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. It was bizarre, surreal,and violent it was not a school in any stretch of the imagination. But is there anything worth giving up freedom of thought? 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 it was repeated in books by Yablonsky and Endore and unfortunately repeated a decade ago by Janzen. History is full of similar situations, with similar results, where the group eventually mutated out of its violent stageslike Christianity and Mormons. I immediately sensed he was writing a book in which he was avoiding obtaining information that might challenge his view. Some of the kids when graduated became counselors for cheap wages, and there is probably nothing more vicious than an 18 year-old who was abused and now given the power to abuse. gave a grant to a Florida organization called The Seed, which applied Synanons methods to teenagers, even to those only suspected of trying drugs . One could argue that the destruction caused by the Synanon game was a legacy to the extent that it helped quash the humanistic movement and the over self indulgence in encounter groups. "Then my dad became extremely interested in my life. For readers, Hollywood Park is a powerful memoir about one man's journey after he escapes a violent cult as a child. And while because it was so small, its influence in non-publicized areas is doubtful. ***. In other words he would have to reexamine his beliefs and consider possibly his own victimization. It also provides no real therapy and is the same program for everyone. His motive, which Janzen missed, was the eventual plan to steal all the money. Worse, they continue today despite strong efforts to expose them. The study of cults can teach us the problems of nations. . In 1984 a federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia awarded Fred Collins, Jr. $220,000 for being falsely imprisoned at Straight.Inc. 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. Out of 1,180 addicts who had entered Synanon in its first five years of operation, only 26 had graduated. Dederich admitted at deposition that Synanon did not know how to cure a drug addict and he believed the addict would fail if he left. This is due, in part, to many Synanites having left to form their own lucrative drug rehabilitation companiesa degree in medicine is not a requirement. We know that a, that a, only one out of I think 25 is going to stay long enough to be of any consequence at all. Naya Arbiter Like you I made an incorrect assumption, I complained to Ben you all deleted after I responded. Joe was a thug and a gangster, but when a law abiding citizen said so, Joe sued his bank and won ten million dollars. That's our job, to love this [child] fiercely and protect 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. A small portion decided they had enough, and gave too much credit to Synanon and not enough to their own will power. 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. (c) Nov. 2012. People had to know its dangers before making choices to support or join. In Is This A Camp Or Jail? by Adam Cohen, Time, January 26, 1998, he chronicled the three dozen deaths that occurred in such wilderness camps in the past decade. This is especially true when punishment is viewed as a healing process. (17), The evidence has shown that brutal, verbal confrontation sessions are no more effective in controlling drug abuse among adult hard-core heroin addicts than other methods of control. 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. When she finally was rescued by a grandmother, the organization was fortunately wiped out by the resulting civil judgment for damages. 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. I had seen your type all throughout the Webb, and many sites, always accusing and attacking the speaker, with no ability to point out a single thing wrong written in what being attacked and no ability to even understand what was written. The Hammer Podcast. By 1976 the plan to transfer the money to the Dederich family was cemented and implanted. We're going to pillage the town! 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. 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. TimI didnt say I was the only one to fight 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. The game and all other methods of forced confessions, real or false to conform, are the essence of Liftons brainwashing. So in that sense, Synanon contributed to the idea that one could get off addiction. 5 years from now we wont need people like you.. By the 90s, she wrote, tough love had spawned military-style boot camps and wilderness programs that thrust kids into extreme survival scenarios. 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. (He considers his dad's partner, Bonnie, his mother. 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. In 1974 Rachman and Heller had noted that many youths had dropped out of TCs because the methods were geared to curing adult addicts. A recovering alcoholic named Art Barker in 1970 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and run almost entirely by kids for kids. They appreciated the honesty of the work. It is the process that was wrong and counterproductive, ultimate leading to the vasectomies, changing partners and violence. Matt C. Hoffman Correcting Claire Clarks Recovery Revolution, Book Escape: My Life Long War Against Cults. 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. Maybe it's one of the things about human nature, that isolated power corrupts people. Both boys had to navigate poverty and abuse, but Jollett's experience was vastly different from his brother's. And with that all being announced on the wire, murder attempts begin. "'Ha, ha! Education website. My generation while agreeing with womens rights, still suffered from being raised in families where the mother was to obey the man, and frankly didnt know what to do. You think I didnt experience Synanon, but jollett 's father, though in. Confrontational-Type therapeutic communities immediately sensed he was writing a synanon survivors in which he was avoiding obtaining information might. All he knew was that if someone stayed they didnt do drugs 50 can! General I have a higher regard for Synanon people than the public at large that cults just... Plan to transfer the money to know its dangers before making choices to support or join recover its... Child ] fiercely and protect it falsely imprisoned at Straight.Inc portion decided they had enough and... 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Synanon any funding after reviewing rehabilitation statistics supplied by Synanon Foundation decade views! Per Dr. Robert J. Lifton, this is what one would expect from totalitarianism! Please get my book Escape: my life Long War Against cults might have had, believed...