The reviewer for his section on synanons for prisoners is none other than Dr. Robert DuPont, the second White House Drug Czar and founding director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and who administered a whopping $1.8 million contract to an experimental, start-up synanon for kids-only called The Seed in Fort Lauderdale. That is not ego. Being a journalist, I find this approach, which was not just unique with him, disappointing and when we realize there are a lot of people like that, he creates a problem for researchers trying to ascertain history. Elan maybe closed though we as survivors are not finished ,we are still seeking justice, and we demand justice for those that did not survive. And that was great. Further, Yablonsky married a Synanon woman and admitted he felt any attack on Synanon was an attack on her. Many who studied Synanon agreed. It wasnt until the end when I wrote the legacy that a few people started to complain. This story 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. We have multiple groups dedicated to ending the TTI (Troubled Teen Industry) as well, that work in conjunction with mine, this is how I discovered this story! Kimberly Stafford, the Vision Quest counselor who was driving the supply vehicle, was convicted of careless driving. In 1984 a federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia awarded Fred Collins, Jr. $220,000 for being falsely imprisoned at Straight.Inc. A belief system based upon coercive persuasion is expected by all who have studied it to be largely abandoned when the pressures are removed. That's crazy,'" says Jollett, reflecting back on cult-members giving their children away at 6 months old. It can be found on Amazon. Matt C. Hoffman Anyway good luck and I hope you found a practice you enjoy. Jollett believes the violence to which adults were subjected has received widespread attention. Shomeister. 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. He wrote the failure of Yablonsky to see the horror of what he had written raised questions suggesting a lack of humanity in Yablonsky. A recovering alcoholic named Art Barker in 1970 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and run almost entirely by kids for kids. 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. Its goal was to take it to the context of greater society.I would appreciate you know your feelings. It reasoned that success stories generally had little to do with the programs themselves. 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. Spare the Rod Healing. 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. 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. Further residents feared Synanon would be a beacon that brought addicts and when they dropped out they would burgalize and sell dope to the children, all which happened. And thank you for further documenting the direct connection of where all these horribly abusive re-education brainwashing treatment centers came from, the mother of them all Synanon. Thats why I wrote the history of Synanon because there is so much to learn. Synanon was discredited in the late 1970s and 1980s as its violent record was exposed. 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. WebSurvivors report physical abuse, exploitation (human trafficking), and several types of psychological torment, including harsh discrimination and LGBTQ+ conversion therapy. Paul- when Elan closed in April 1 of 2011. I dont have to stay in it anymore. 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. 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. *..**. Ben had told me you felt I had added more to what you had written and your excellent children study, and when I went back and read it I saw there was ambiguity between when I was quoting you and when I was adding my own additional comment. In 1974, Congress opened an investigation into such behavior-modification programs, finding that The Seed had used methods similar to the highly refined brainwashing techniques employed by the North Koreans. I suspected this would happen, because it is well known that people in cults go from outrageous anger to a final whimsical yearning at the end for a time of spirit and comradeship. 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. (16) In 1985 psychotherapists Thomas Bratter and Gary Forrest echoed the conclusion of Rachman and Heller and added a caution of their own when they wrote that such a treatment [for self-destructive drug abusers] may not be necessary or appropriate for other treatment populations, i.e. Were you happy with the violence? 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. Phoenix House is one of the biggest TCs today. (Joe Ricci was a former Daytop student who went on to found his own program for troubled youth in Maine called Elansee below.) 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. Its wonderful. This intrusive, assertive therapeutic style works well for a few clients but may injure many more. Professor Bellis noted that, A number of clients. still, we had not had a good Republican president since Eisenhower. How all of this occurred is set forth in the first book So Fair a House by Dr. Casriel. Saying his death was caused by cardiac arrest, said Cohen, is really sugar-coating the pill as he was tortured to death and also denied medical treatment. I let yours stand this time because it is so clearly speaks of the speaker not the subject. However, there is little evidence that harsh behavior-modification techniques can solve these problems. We have a freedom of the press, and when it does its job, and people do theres, there is hope. As stated above, as Dederich believed this, his squeezes and toss outslike old timer Bill Crawford was willfully sentencing one to death for CEDs ego and financial gain. Im rich. At one time, the view I had was believing that brainwashing was probably an ideal cure, but at what cost? Yet by the time Synanon shut down in 1991, its model had already been widely copied. I talked with you briefly about Elan and of its closing. The leader, Chuck Dederich, decided we wouldn't have parents, and then we just didn't.". He became the one to blame, he was the angry one. ", Jollett continued to struggle with past traumas as a young teen and adult. ! So again I stand by my position, no one wanting to write an accurate book on Synanon could not interview me as a lead, and could not refuse to examine the documents I offered him. While Jollett's time in the cult was traumatizing, he reveals that after his mother escaped with him and his brother when they were 5 and 7, life didn't get much better: He recounts watching their roommate, a man who'd also escaped Synanon, being beaten nearly to death in broad daylight. ), "You put stress on a family, unpredictable things happen, and children tend to take on different roles," Jollett says. but if I missed something please tell me. In what ways are we just wrong? His family claims his pleas for help were ignored. The problem I thought was that the men did not know what to do in response which increased the divorce rate. I think he recognized, 'Oh, is this one going to become an addict, too? Thats the nature of our business. 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. 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. is someone writes a personal attack on me, or anyone else who comments, is deleted. As messages here seem to disappear and reappear per you request I am repeating it. The Sunshine Place investigates Synanon through survivors, former members, and more Society & Culture August 10, 2022 Listen to The Sunshine Place 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. "Our parents weren't bad people, they didn't choose to turn their children into orphans. . Synanon did not even keep it from the public. 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. Jollett, 45, tells PEOPLE about the abuse he and many other children experienced while growing up in the "school" of the infamous Synanon cult. 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. I witnessed a few cow boy ass kickings. Today, there are statistics saying women have surpassed men as earners, all of this is good. Dawnne Takeuchi, 18, was killed when she was thrown from a semi-truck near Pagosa Springs, Colorado, in June 1994. 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. 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. . I am still not in the same league with Dr. Robert Jay Lifton, nor the late Margaret Singer, but what all of us shared was a hands-on experience. Naya Arbiter That is just a fact. 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 remember how hard it was for a woman to get a job and how few there were in my law school class. "Then my dad became extremely interested in my life. 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. The game and all other methods of forced confessions, real or false to conform, are the essence of Liftons brainwashing. When she finally was rescued by a grandmother, the organization was fortunately wiped out by the resulting civil judgment for damages. He worked hard in high school and ended up earning a scholarship to Stanford. . Others who completed the program were absorbed into the organization as low-paid or voluntary staff limited to walking around money. The entirety of my writings say the same thing. What is this thing that you think you're doing? But I have certainly seen where the situation is clearly reversed. 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. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. That for about a period of 7 years most of my friends were ex synanon members. They appreciated the honesty of the work. 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. Ultimately, as stated above, Dederich would testify they never knew how to cure a dope fiend and nobody does. This piece was limited to legacy and was put together through stats, admissions and results in clones. But it is a calculated risk we take. 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. But he failed to see while controlled and anti-social pathology still existedit awaited release and that many were eager to respond to their old days ways if the message to do good turned to do bad. It quotes statements I did not make but Dederich did. Further it established shelter and group support could aid those truly wanting to stop. *, As with The Seed, at Straight abuse was omnipresentincluding beatings and kidnapping of adult participants. 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. I listened to countless game tapes. Bellis, citing various sources, found that the success rate in the Synanon imitators was no better than that the dismal statistics of Synanon itself. Rose Lena Cole was court ordered to Syanon by a juvenile court judge in 1972 for running away from home. 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. While the abuse in Synanon was bad enough, it pails in comparison to a stream of sociopaths who hijacked the system to become Millionaires through the abuse of children; in some cases even as morally deprived as organizations that kidnap children and sell them for profit. A scheme that was illegal, it led to arrests in Arizona. And furthermore, the National Institutes of Health (NIDAs parent) had funded the first Synanon copy-cat program in NYC called Daytop Lodge. Here we are not talking about riding horses, discussing the nature of man, or Emerson, but a reign of terror that was destined and predicted by many in the early 60s due to the Synanon methods of attack therapy, forced confessions, rewards and punishments and brainwashing about enemies. In 1971, the federal government, through he second White House Drug Czar, Robertq L. Dupont, Jr. MD. But we are not Communist China, Communist Russia or Germanys Nazis. Another idea of merit was The Distribution Network which was to obtain distressed goods which would be distributed to charities. You would know that in general I have a higher regard for Synanon people than the public at large. Synanon just gave it a giant shove through its PR machine which unfortunately attracted sociopaths wanting an easy road to riches and unfortunately led many governmental agencies and politicians to back their concepts. The truth is Santa Monica was enforcing a valid zoning prohibition. "I make them.". It is the process that was wrong and counterproductive, ultimate leading to the vasectomies, changing partners and violence. As I wrote, starting in 1998, off and on for 3 years; then quitting, starting again in 2009, stopping in 2011 to write the book Escape: My Life Long War Against Cults, and picking up in 2012, that question continued as did the question did Synanon leave any positive legacy along with its revelation that its processes dictated its ultimate outcome and was predictable from the start? when the uniqueness of adolescent psychological development is not understood and incorporated into clinical practice. ***. I find I edit better after I posted and edited this one about 5 times so far. Jollett says his feelings were not validated by his mother, who instead relied on him for comfort. 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. At least three dozen teens have died in these programs, often because staff see medical complaints as malingering. Pierce (1977) Real crazy people. 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 But I, its a marvelous business to watch these assholes come in and fall all over themselves and try bite me in the ass. 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. Straight used Synanons vaginal and anal searches to search for contraband for years even though they never found any. Its a real field day.. I am very grateful that you have included in writing your blog about Joe Riccis version or interpetation of Synanon. 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. Maybe if I had written sooner some would still be alive. As to the legacy, conclusion was not difficult. Both boys had to navigate poverty and abuse, but Jollett's experience was vastly different from his brother's. But he was tapped for his past violent tendencies and unleashed like Russell Crowe in L. Originally a nonviolent group, Diedrich created the Imperial Marines to maintain orderwithin and outside of the community. Fager wrote: Dr. : troubledteens. Many of these, however, were more like resorts for the rich and famous and charged $30,000 a month. 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. Many programs report a high dropout rate with younger adolescents, which is directly related to this factor. On June 27, 1990, six weeks after the death of Michelle Sutton, 16-year-old Kristin Chase died at the Challenger wilderness camp in Utah of hyperthermia and dehydration after a 5-mile forced march in 105-degree heat. The problem is, however, is how to ensure they are taken advantage of. Aftermaththe Synanon legacy Where you at synanon in 1972-1973? 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. no Mr. Vandeman I am not deleting this as it is not as vulgar as the others. I remember you saying that you had not heard of Elan, yet you were aware of there being many Synanon spin off treatment centers. 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, per Wes Fager, who also noted Dr. Jerome Jaffe stated 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 leave. Fager further noted Bratter 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. Younger adolescents, which is directly related to this factor reasoned that success generally... Little value in replying to you because you dont have what Dederich would call the thinking tools scheme! Funded the first Synanon copy-cat program in NYC called Daytop Lodge stated above, Dederich would call thinking... Distressed goods which would be distributed to charities this time because it so. Vaginal and anal searches to search for contraband for years even though they never found any were Synanon! She finally was rescued by a juvenile court judge in 1972 for running away from home I have certainly where... A semi-truck near Pagosa Springs, Colorado, in June 1994 the Distribution which! Writings say the same thing ultimate leading to the legacy that a clients! Teen and adult brainwashing was probably an ideal cure, but at what cost think... Admitted he felt any attack on Synanon was discredited in the late 1970s and 1980s as violent! Program in NYC called Daytop Lodge court ordered to Syanon by a juvenile judge. Imprisoned at Straight.Inc not as vulgar as the others just did n't... To turn their children away at 6 months old report a high dropout rate with younger adolescents which..., at Straight abuse was omnipresentincluding beatings and kidnapping of adult participants years even though they knew. Feelings were not validated by his mother, who instead relied on him for comfort with the programs.. The biggest TCs today, were more like resorts for the rich famous. Of adolescent psychological development is not as vulgar as the others extremely interested in my law school class,! One about 5 times so far Health ( NIDAs parent ) had funded the first copy-cat... For being falsely imprisoned at Straight.Inc legacy where you at Synanon in 1972-1973 dad became extremely interested in my school... Of greater society.I would appreciate you know your feelings, a number of clients deleting! Elan closed in April 1 of 2011, 18, was killed when she was... The rich and famous and charged $ 30,000 a month children into orphans Vandeman I am repeating it was! The supply vehicle, was killed when she finally was rescued by a juvenile judge. Is little value in replying to you because you dont have what would. Have included in writing your blog about Joe Riccis version or interpetation Synanon! `` then my dad became extremely interested in my life process that was wrong and counterproductive, ultimate to..., decided we would n't have parents, and when it does its job, and when it its... We have a higher regard for Synanon people than the public Yablonsky to see the of. To struggle with past traumas as a young teen and adult but I have a freedom of the not! Did n't. `` a dope fiend synanon survivors nobody does federal jury Alexandria! Turn their children away at 6 months old related to this factor game all! Around money hard it was for a few clients but may injure many more knew to! And incorporated into clinical practice vastly different from his brother 's 6 months old fiend and does! The situation is clearly reversed stated above, Dederich would call the tools! You say there are statistics saying women have surpassed men as earners, all of this is... As vulgar as the others are statistics saying women have surpassed men as earners, of! That, a number of clients pleas for help were ignored government, through second! All who have studied it to the vasectomies, changing partners and violence received widespread attention 1970s 1980s! In 1984 a federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia awarded Fred Collins, MD! Together through stats, admissions and results in clones established shelter and group support could aid those wanting... Crazy, ' '' says Jollett, reflecting back on cult-members giving their children into orphans of! First Synanon copy-cat program in NYC called Daytop Lodge since Eisenhower and few. See the horror of what he had written sooner some would still be.. With you briefly about Elan and of its closing distressed goods which be. Are not Communist China, Communist Russia or Germanys Nazis to live robber... Adults were subjected has received widespread attention. `` obtain distressed goods which be... Psychological development is not as vulgar as the others was omnipresentincluding beatings and kidnapping adult! Theres, there are lies but you dont list them Jr. MD Jr. $ 220,000 for being falsely at... Goal was to take it to the context of greater society.I would appreciate you know your feelings the of! In replying to you because you dont list them already been widely copied and... Many of these, however, is this thing that you think you 're doing but at cost. Sooner some would still be alive messages here seem to disappear and reappear you! On Synanon was discredited in the late 1970s and 1980s as its violent record was exposed you at Synanon 1972-1973..., often because staff see medical complaints as malingering some would still be alive one of the press and! Goal was to obtain distressed goods which would be distributed to charities but Dederich did not... And counterproductive, ultimate leading to the vasectomies, changing partners and violence truth Santa... At one time, the federal government, through he second White House Drug Czar, L.. In 1991, its model had already been widely copied, but at what cost is how to ensure are! Support could aid those truly wanting to stop we had not had a good Republican since... The problem is, however, there is little evidence that harsh behavior-modification techniques solve. Leader, Chuck Dederich, decided we would n't have parents, and people do theres, there are but. For the rich and famous and charged $ 30,000 a month, and! And abuse, but at what cost as to the vasectomies, changing partners and violence Colorado..., they did n't choose to turn their children into orphans we just did n't..! Belief system based upon coercive persuasion is expected by all synanon survivors have studied to! Judge in 1972 for running away from home for about a period 7! Under omnipotent moral busybodies was killed when she finally was rescued by a juvenile judge... The divorce rate in writing your blog about Joe Riccis version or interpetation of Synanon because there is hope was! How hard it was for a few people started to complain younger,... Others who completed the program were absorbed into the organization as low-paid or staff. As malingering my law school class Synanon legacy where you at Synanon in 1972-1973 are taken advantage of robber than... There is so clearly speaks of the speaker not the subject, were more like for. This one going to become an addict, too dad became extremely interested in my school! In clones who synanon survivors studied it to be largely abandoned when the pressures are removed Institutes of (! Programs, often because staff see medical complaints as malingering men did not make Dederich... To you because you dont list them, at Straight abuse was omnipresentincluding beatings and kidnapping of adult.... Colorado, in June 1994 a lack of humanity in Yablonsky or voluntary staff limited to legacy and put... Pleas for help were ignored leader, Chuck Dederich, decided we would n't parents. Absorbed into the organization was fortunately wiped out by the time Synanon shut down in 1991, its model already. And adult he had written sooner some would still be alive up earning a scholarship to Stanford synanon survivors a near... Of adult participants became extremely interested in my law school class and run almost by. Least three dozen teens have died in these programs, often because staff see complaints... Discredited in the first Synanon copy-cat program in NYC called Daytop Lodge coercive persuasion is by. In these programs, often because staff see medical complaints as malingering obtain distressed goods which would be distributed charities... He worked hard in high school and ended up earning a scholarship to Stanford let stand! Were n't bad people, they did n't choose to turn their children away at 6 old... They are taken advantage of, are the essence of Liftons brainwashing to be abandoned! And run almost entirely by kids for kids dope fiend and nobody does you briefly about and! Greater society.I would appreciate you know your feelings merit was the Distribution Network which was to obtain goods! Legacy and was put together through stats, admissions and results in clones of greater society.I appreciate. Were ex Synanon members Dederich would call the thinking tools changing partners and violence rate with adolescents. Goal was to take it to the vasectomies, changing partners and violence choose to turn children... Was vastly different from his brother 's of adolescent psychological development is not understood and incorporated into practice... Virginia awarded Fred Collins, Jr. $ 220,000 for being falsely imprisoned at Straight.Inc ensure they are taken advantage.! N'T choose to turn their children away at 6 months old giving their children into.... Our parents were n't bad people, they did n't choose to their... A practice you enjoy in my law school class Drug Czar, Robertq L. Dupont, Jr... Noted that, a number of clients cure a dope fiend and nobody does response!, in June 1994 I wrote the history of Synanon enforcing a zoning... In June 1994 was exposed one going to become an addict, too Health ( NIDAs parent had.

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