Many of these, however, were more like resorts for the rich and famous and charged $30,000 a month. Synanon was a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center and movement-turned-cult in California that existed from 1958 to 1991. How everyone went along who stayed is the legacy of Synanon and a lesson in human behavior and warnings of the danger of secluded societies. You would know that in general I have a higher regard for Synanon people than the public at large. But generally, as to your comment, my book was not in disagreement. 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. After all why should they not get paid for all that work? 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. In 1966 New York City Mayor John Lindsay hired Puerto Rican psychiatrist Efren Esteban Ramirez to run the citys Addiction Services Agency. And with that all being announced on the wire, murder attempts begin. This was Synanon had its worse, andit is not permitted here. Almost all modern day therapeutic communitiesand there are hundreds of themare based on the game. Professor David Bellis was one. ), "He loved us, he hugged us, he kissed us," says Jollett, who was prompted to write Hollywood Park after his father's death. Paul- when Elan closed in April 1 of 2011. Dederich said free choice in the hands of an addict was like a gun in the hands of a baby. **, 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. At one time, the view I had was believing that brainwashing was probably an ideal cure, but at what cost? I'm not doing that. This was written before he joined. It did make news. I use a voice recognizing system and then I have to go back and edit many times. For comparisons please get my book Escape: My Life Long War Against Cults. When she finally was rescued by a grandmother, the organization was fortunately wiped out by the resulting civil judgment for damages. 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. 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. The belief that Synanon was a breakthrough, as stated, was mainly because of its public speaking bureau. 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. While Synanons bragging of curing drug addiction was far off from reality, its public relations system did promote the concept that drug addiction was not impossible to overcome as many had thought when Synanon was conceived. According to Department of Suggest you get my book on Amazonmy life was not limited to Synanon. He wrote that many ex-members said that one day there would be a scandal and Dederich would run off with all the money. 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. It's not good.' I was taken there by my mother. 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. Its wonderful. 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. *.*..*. 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. Let alone, 'Okay, here you go stranger I've never met, take care of my kid. Mental health service. . That for about a period of 7 years most of my friends were ex synanon members. WebNeed your help! The monster that now existed had to be stopped. "I can't tell you how many times a day I pick up my kid. WebSynanon eventually unraveled in a series of assaults and attempted murder. 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. . Aftermaththe Synanon legacy By then only 1000 out of the 12,000 claimed to have entered were there and leaving was defined as failure. He wrote the failure of Yablonsky to see the horror of what he had written raised questions suggesting a lack of humanity in Yablonsky. 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. But he was tapped for his past violent tendencies and unleashed like Russell Crowe in L. But the "abuse of children was absolutely swept under the rug, ignored, gaslit to hell," he says. Or a person could just stop. After 30 years of pondering, I came full circle and realized that sociologist Richard Ofshe had analyzed it right from the start. it would be interesting to see you rewrite a summary of what I wrote so it could be judged whether or not you understood it. Also Santa Monica acted because Synanon did not have a license to treat anyone. We were beaten for the slightest infractions of the rules. Here we go!' 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. What is this thing that you think you're doing? That is not ego. "And probing into this world of the traumatized child. standing in line at a supermarketI get it reading the rags past the time. 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. As messages here seem to disappear and reappear per you request I am repeating it. Jollett, 45, tells PEOPLE about the abuse he and many other children experienced while growing up in the "school" of the infamous Synanon cult. Per Ofshe, Dr. Elizabeth Missakian, former Pres. But they have settled now, particularly, as stated below, as I slowly learned the results of so many of the Synanon clones, which resulted in so much death and brutality. The sicker he became, the more he was tormented and tortured by the staff. 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. 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. Severe examples were made of the few unfortunate children who decided to speak with investigators about the truth. After Bush lied to us and caused mass distraction in Iraq that outdid 9/11, this country was much like a cult which is expected to happen when one is subjected itself to terrorism. And that number was highly inflated by injection of squares and children born to addicts and squares alike. I have it. I suppose if they werent why Id have to find another business. However, there is little evidence that harsh behavior-modification techniques can solve these problems. Synanon, a drug rehabilitation program turned violent cult founded by Charles Dederich Sr. in the late 1950s in California in part spawned the troubled teen industry, organizers claim. It quotes statements I did not make but Dederich did. I further told him that UCLA records were selective and I alone had Synanons internal documents which tells another story. I was being sincere. .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. Similarly, there is no evidence that every substance abuser is such for life and can only avoid destruction through one of these programs. I also believed that Synanons many clones, adding doctors, and other proper variations, had established successful drug rehabilitation. That is why the health department took action in 1977. 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. Were they all out to get rich at the sadistic treatment of others, or was this end in part of natural consequence of using such a punitive system, as suggested by the Stanford experiment on role playing of prisoners and guards? The article listed more; interesting the largest number of abusive clones were in Arizona, where several juvenile probation officers had became visitor/participators in Synanon and recommended Synanon to officials and courts even though Marin County juvenile probation had stopped all sending of kids to Synanon and returning runaways. Simon, also using the Lifton model, concluded there was a danger in observing Synanon through participation because one could be caught up in the brainwashing. And that Susan, is what differentiates us, from other countries where there is no freedom of press. I responded to him that the media never knew the extent of the actual violence and as far as violence inside Synanon, how many incidents would you like to know about? Later I sent him a copy of the History of Synanon violence with over 80 incidents and he never responded nor did I hear from him again, nor did he ever apologize to the public for writing a book in which he intentionally avoided the actual evidence. One either plays the game and is rewarded with privilege and favorable discharge, or one splits from the program. All the civil rights marches, the anti-Vietnam protests, were uniting people of all races. Please buy the book. Sincerely And it is no wonder that almost everywhere Synanon went, Dederich picked a location that was out of zone in which he knew they would be kicked out of, allowing him to claim outrage and obtain sympathy and donations. . She was at the facility for almost one year before she escaped at the age of 15. Jollett believes the violence to which adults were subjected has received widespread attention. But, Ms. Szalavitz writes, the shuttered programs simply changed their names and reopened, often with the same staff, in the same stateeven in the same building. lawyer magazine paul Morantz on you tube. If CED had that kind of protection, he would have died a king.. Hopefully somedaywe get back the candidates like that; but Im not smart enough to suggest how. If you have a complaint it is with Yablonsky and Janzen who had no understanding of the Synanon system. Everyone fell in line behind Bush as he made fun of the French or anyone who disagreed, even stating the cult mantra, you are either with us or against us. But when Bush burned a spy to take revenge on a Sen. who spoke out, the media woke up and with it so did the country. Dr. Casriel in 1963 reported that of 62 people located of 160 entries, 19 were graduates, while 43 remained inside Synanon. Barker had been arrested at age 16 for burglary and when he was 18 he was charged with assault and robbery, for which he joined the Army a few days later and then went AWOL. there were a lot of people in the early days who left because of the way Dederich was taking it, and its too bad the idea grew out of person with such a tortured past. 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. ), "[Tony] went to rehab at a young age, and I think it scared me," Jollett says. The problem of these programs was it was believed it was justified to use any means, denying human and civil rights and treating people who didnt need treatment; all this done without any proof that behavior modification programs ever worked. Originally a nonviolent group, Diedrich created the Imperial Marines to maintain orderwithin and outside of the community. 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. No one will be mad at you. Thank you again Paul for taking my call back in May of 2011,and for taking an interest in the Elan cult. 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. .It is also clear that the psychological effects of this modality upon different age groups have not been adequately studied., In 1974 Arnold Rachman and M. Heller warned about using the Game with kids when they wrote: There is a serious shortcoming within the theory and the practice of the T.C. 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. Such people probably would be happier in a small environment with given friends, lovers, jobs and a sense of purpose, where most needs are fulfilled. Communist Russia was safer with freedom taken away. A haunting tale of estrangement, Synanon Kid, is a coming-of-age story of hope, survival, and determination. But there wont be any room for the kind of people you are now. 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