Need your help! It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. Per Ofshe, Dr. Elizabeth Missakian, former Pres. .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. 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. WebSurvivors report physical abuse, exploitation (human trafficking), and several types of psychological torment, including harsh discrimination and LGBTQ+ conversion therapy. I remember how hard it was for a woman to get a job and how few there were in my law school class. S. B. Also Santa Monica acted because Synanon did not have a license to treat anyone. my last chapter in my book did just exactly what you asked which was put my what you call myscholarly talents on the American cult. Kenton, through no fault of his own, was placed in the Synanon school by square musician parents and at age 18 became the youngest member of the Imperial Marines. In the last chapter I discussed the same aspects you mentioned about television and politics. Her alleged crimepetty theft. 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. The Cedu schools (one in California, and one in Idaho) were each located in a mountain wilderness, and students soon discovered that they were teenage captives, without identification or money, in an imposing geography they could not easily or safely negotiate or escape. The leader, Chuck Dederich, decided we wouldn't have parents, and then we just didn't.". A haunting tale of estrangement, Synanon Kid, is a coming-of-age story of hope, survival, and determination. Neither AA, Synanon, or those that followed, were based on any scientific studies. gave a grant to a Florida organization called The Seed, which applied Synanons methods to teenagers, even to those only suspected of trying drugs . Yet it was from this that the miracle was proclaimed. 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. Information from former members of the cult quickly identified two of Synanons Imperial Marines as suspects in the snake-attack. 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. That for about a period of 7 years most of my friends were ex synanon members. It was a gift. ", "It wasn't like Godfather, it was like Pirates of Penzance," Jollett explains. 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. Died of dehydration. 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. I would say some things are not debatable. Maybe it's the leader's fault. In 1971, the federal government, through he second White House Drug Czar, Robertq L. Dupont, Jr. MD. Synanons punitive system of verbal attacks and humiliation was counterproductive and drove out most that entered. This is especially true when punishment is viewed as a healing process. Prove that all the Synanon documents directing kidnappings, beatings and murder did not exist. it would take a few generations for this to work out. The real origins of the Cedu schools remained hidden from the students, their parents and much of the staff until years after their graduation or departure. 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., ***. Unfortunately, came the imitators who sold the idea it was rehabilitative and copied it leading to a much greater list of damaged individuals than Synanon could ever achieve. There were countless communes and entities much larger that took in people of all races. Worse, they continue today despite strong efforts to expose them. Joe Ricci, the owner, survived the state of Illinois pulling residents out because of the abuse and beat them in court. A 15-year-old boy died from a staph infection at a Colorado wilderness program. And, as stated, many of those who left were purposely ejected or forced out by Dederich squeezes. Indeed, that same year Dederich, in his The Wrath of God speech accused addicts of stabbing him in the back by failing to negotiate an apartment complex purchase, and threatened to get rid of all of them and replace them with squares. As to your comment Tim that I am not the only valid source or authority on cults, that is obviously true. 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 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. Good luck. I was also impressed by stories I was told about the early days and when the Synanon website first started it had lot of anger expressed towards Dederich. Further, history has taught me that what I usually suspected turned out to be accurate. I am very grateful that you have included in writing your blog about Joe Riccis version or interpetation of Synanon. Its goal was to take it to the context of greater society.I would appreciate you know your feelings. Pierce (1977) Synanon is only one chapter. 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. 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! Thats why I wrote the history of Synanon because there is so much to learn. No one will be mad at you. 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. Vision Quests leader was convicted of smuggling cocaine. 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. 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. Looking back, I think my brother was appropriately angry with the adults.". Sometimes I think women are more revenge orientated, but it probably still comes down to the individual. You wont be here. People had to know its dangers before making choices to support or join. Students quickly found themselves in a new, strange, uncomfortable and often frightening world of intense group relationships and heightened, invasive and violent group therapies. 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. 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. Also true, is that my ego places me in my eyes in a higher position than others. Synanon Industries August 23, 2022 2. 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. Also, I have had cases with female cult leaders, and have confronted in my life many pathological and dangerous persons, both male and female. Although Synanon was officially shut down in 1991, it had inspired followers to start similar groups that perpetuated Synanons worst principles. And while it may be true that economics was a motivation, economics are part of the motivation for everyone on these issues. Ramirez set up the synanon-based Phoenix House which hired former Synanite Ted Dibble to manage one of its centers. 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. In his final letter to his mother, he wrote, They found my weakness and I want to go home.. Justice For Our Angels. 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. He had the addicts psychologically tested and found Synanon did not change people internallythat they were still antisocial. Further, Yablonsky married a Synanon woman and admitted he felt any attack on Synanon was an attack on her. 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. I further told him that UCLA records were selective and I alone had Synanons internal documents which tells another story. Synanon and Enthusiastic Sobriety Enthusiastic Sobriety Abuse Alliance Synanon and Enthusiastic Sobriety A conversation with David Cherry. you might also want to watch Cal. Let alone, 'Okay, here you go stranger I've never met, take care of my kid. For more than a decade, a Tucson nonprofit drug-treatment center But these ideals were short lived. 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