synanon survivors

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. By the 60s the Los Angeles school system had schools (not all) already well integrated and taught anti-bigotry. And you quite accurately describe the reason, it was protected. Society would have to catch up with Dederich on his ideas of dieting, exercise, and no smoking. This was written before he joined. Some children were taken to foreign countries, or islands, although foreign countries have done more to stop them than our government. It was like, 'Nothing ever gets to me. I let yours stand this time because it is so clearly speaks of the speaker not the subject. Im rich. Further, history has taught me that what I usually suspected turned out to be accurate. Rocker Mikel Jollett's Memoir on Cult Childhood Is 'Primal Scream' Good luck. still, we had not had a good Republican president since Eisenhower. Those who chose to reject his ideas were removed. I also believed that Synanons many clones, adding doctors, and other proper variations, had established successful drug rehabilitation. As I said, I would say the same of Janzen. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. For comparisons please get my book Escape: My Life Long War Against Cults. Margo, you say you are a successful attorney. Its a calculated risk. They appreciated the honesty of the work. The methods the religious community used to break down the members are still used in rehab facilities across the United States. For those, as stated above, there is no doubt Synanon served as Ofshe stated, a realistic shelter while they got their act together. When Michelle ran out of water, a counselor told the other hikers not to share, and joked that Michelles parched mouth was so white it looks like youve been eating marshmallows. After complaining she couldnt see, Michelle collapsed and died of dehydration. Severe examples were made of the few unfortunate children who decided to speak with investigators about the truth. A. Confidential. Ordered by the court out of Synanon, he returned to a life of crime and was murdered. I have it. But it is mans nature to flock together and unfortunately war with each other. But we are not Communist China, Communist Russia or Germanys Nazis. Dederich said free choice in the hands of an addict was like a gun in the hands of a baby. 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. *..**. 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., ***. A haunting tale of estrangement, Synanon Kid, is a coming-of-age story of hope, survival, and determination. Did you change partners? Your comments is like talking about Nazi tea parties and trains running on time while someone else is talking about the Holocaust. And in the end, what I presented were facts, i.e., the actual statistics, what happened in the clones and the general consensus of experts that the Synanon system of brainwashing, punishments and humiliations is counterproductive and psychologically dangerous. It gives an unvarnished accounting of the psychopath Joe Ricci who founded the Elan Corporation. 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. 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. WebJan 2010 - Present13 years 2 months United States Im a CEDU Survivor who created & runs the Synanon Survivors Group on Facebook. Now theres a little room for you now. It can be found on Amazon. S. B. Sidney Poitier did more for race relations in one movie than most of the world combined. I had gotten your phone number from Ben Parks. We're going to pillage the town! Where you at synanon in 1972-1973? As to the legacy, conclusion was not difficult. Many have the support of state agencies, because of the past publicity for Synanon, unaware of what happened in California and assuming therefor these programs worked. The robber barons cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience., *..*.*. 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. As to the above, I remain impressed with your apparent life long research into many areas, and you write so much, it is hard to know where to begin. Still, to glorify Synanon, as some do, like Yablonsky, Janzen, is to show a lack of humanity and spit in the face of the vast amount of victims of violence in Synanons own holocaust. He noted that the child seemed lost in the rigid hierarchy and confrontation tactics of the program. He wrote: As a clinician I am concerned about the effects of intense, violent verbal interaction upon young teenagers engaged in a sensitive process of identity formation. Children say they were punched, kicked and forced to eat dirt for minor infractions such as failing to stand up straight. Further, it is foolish to treat all persons in the same manner. 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. In short Straight took a bad treatment modality, made it worse, and then force their young subjects to endure it. Once the population bought that, Dederich had complete power by threat of expulsion which he continually exercised out right or by squeezes.. He had beaten me time wise. Whatever value Synanon might have had, I believed then, it had been long-lost. "I think the insight for me was I always loved her, she just wasn't very good at loving me. Sometimes I think women are more revenge orientated, but it probably still comes down to the individual. Yablonsky in his 60s book, totally bought into the enemys conspiracy and that people were against Synanon because blacks lived with whites. Mental health service. Have a merry. Others reported in 1973 that the Synanon absorbing members was retention, not rehabilitation, a result found unfortunately in many of the Synanon clones, which Synanon bragged 2,400 existed. "I can't tell you how many times a day I pick up my kid. 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. He also forced women to have abortions and almost 200 men had vasectomies after Dederich forbade any more children. The medical examiners office said Haynes died of complications from dehydration and near-drowning dehydration after being made to stand in the sun for up to five hours, the near-drowning from being left in a motel bathtub, where he had been taken to cool him off. And that was great. Brill studied 2,100 admissions to Phoenix House and found a 96% drop out rate, and of the 4% who graduated, 25% had become staff there. 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. Today there is argument, but generally it only comes from true believers like Janzen or long time residents who once condemned Synanon, , but now in their old age, as is generally the final stage for victims of brainwashing, per Dr. Lifton, rewrite their memories so each night they are at peace with what they took part in, including, if not outright participating, knowing of the Imperial Marines and all the beatings. Comments here are for input, questions, and providing of facts. You wont be here. Were you happy with the violence? "I have nightmares about my son falling down steps, I have nightmares about dropping my daughter. 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. After saying staying in Synanon is the addicts only chance for sustained life, in 1976 Dederich said that in 5 years there would be no room for the kind of people you are now. After all why should they not get paid for all that work? Synanon is only one chapter. It exposes the cruel abnormal policies, practices and propaganda the Synanon children were forced to endure in a so-called modern America. 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. A popular TV series was based on John Maher, a colorful former Synanite, who formed his own second generation Synanon in San Francisco called The Delancey Street Gang. In the early days of Synanon, the Children of Synanon John Dougherty October 10, 1996 4:00AM The story sounds diabolical. In contrast, Jollett's goals as a parent are simple. And that you should try to see people the way God sees them. Vision Quests leader was convicted of smuggling cocaine. By then only 1000 out of the 12,000 claimed to have entered were there and leaving was defined as failure. He found that at Odyssey House only 25% of admissions stay more than 30 days, that the rate is down to 9.7% after six months, 5.6% at 1 year, and 2.8% after 18 months; the programs required length of stay to graduate.. 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., *.*.. 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. I delete only the crazies refuse to present any argument, rebuttal facts or evidence that anything stated was not true; but just a statement that anyone who would think that or write such facts belongs in a nut house. 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. For us, it was Experience of Contact, thousands of interviews, internal documents, depositions of leaders and a lifelong examination. Tony, always angry as a child, sank into addiction at an early age and went to rehab. Kimberly Stafford, the Vision Quest counselor who was driving the supply vehicle, was convicted of careless driving. Synanon was not unique. standing in line at a supermarketI get it reading the rags past the time. when I was growing up I thought world would be a better place if women were in control. This program was called MATRIX. I would say some things are not debatable. Dr. Roger Meyer, a professor of psychiatry at Boston University, and formerly the Acting Chief of the Center for Studies of Narcotics and Drug Abuse at NIMH, was one of the first to question the wisdom of subjecting kids to the brutality of the Synanon Game. 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. Bringing Luis Home September 26, 2022 10. And that Susan, is what differentiates us, from other countries where there is no freedom of press. Im so grateful, thankful & PROUD of everyone who made this happen!!! Gina Score, 14, at the state-run juvenile prison camp at Plankinton, South Dakota, 1999 was run to death. Following this broadcast, several executives of the NBC network and its corporate chairman allegedly received hundreds of threats from Synanon members and supporters. [31] NBC continued with a series of reports on the Synanon situation on the NBC Nightly News. Synanon just wasnt that big enough to be an influence. The entirety of my writings say the same thing. I have countless books of interviews and depositions. 1 talking about this. ), "You put stress on a family, unpredictable things happen, and children tend to take on different roles," Jollett says. You say it is unscientific nonsense, but prove that any of the statistics and studies were not accurate or that the events that took place in the clones did not happen. Margo I agree I looked at every branch. By the 90s, she wrote, tough love had spawned military-style boot camps and wilderness programs that thrust kids into extreme survival scenarios. He wrote the failure of Yablonsky to see the horror of what he had written raised questions suggesting a lack of humanity in Yablonsky. Many programs report a high dropout rate with younger adolescents, which is directly related to this factor. 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. Its goal was to take it to the context of greater society.I would appreciate you know your feelings. And in March she went, flying into Georgetown with her family, a few friends, and Jordan Probably still comes down to the context of greater society.I would appreciate you your... Made of the NBC network and its corporate chairman allegedly received hundreds of from... 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