I'm not doing that. And the grant had been administered by the founding director of NIDA who also happened to be the second White House Drug Czar-Robert DuPont. Hopefully somedaywe get back the candidates like that; but Im not smart enough to suggest how. That is just a fact. I was not for that idea, because I saw most members as victims. If it had ended there, Synanons legacy would be far different and it would probably still be there. Ofshe who had been allowed inside Synanon to study it contacted Dave Mitchell in 1978 to ask if he was serious about investigating Synanon because violence could not occur randomly under Synanons controls and can only occur at direction of management (later admitted by Dederich at deposition). Podcast. Most of what I wrote was a no comment description in detail of Synanons evolution taken from its own records. There just a, lots of them down in the Bank of America building in San Francisco, Pacific Union club, various law offices throughout the country, the streets, the ghettos, the penitentiaries. 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. I would say some things are not debatable. 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. In my book Synanon was only one chapter. 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., ***. Studies found that Synanons encounter groups could produce lasting psychological harm and that only 10 to 15 percent of the addicts who participated in them recovered. [Chuck] Dederich [Synanons founder], an exile from A.A., is credited with being the genius behind the TC [therapeutic community] movement and Leon Brill acknowledges in The Clinical Treatment of Substance Abusers that the original therapeutic community directed by ex-addicts was Synanon though others, he writes, such as Daytop Village, Odyssey House and Phoenix House in New York City have used psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers and other professionals as part of their staff; in an article for Substance Abuse: Clinical Problems and Perspectives written in 1981, Deitch and Zweben acknowledge that Synanon is the progenitor of the present-day therapeutic communities., As Fager summarized: Almost all modern day therapeutic communitiesand there are hundreds of themare based on synanons. 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. by ", "It wasn't like Godfather, it was like Pirates of Penzance," Jollett explains. Synanon Industries August 23, 2022 2. Kids were assaulted and restrained without cause and all the rest. 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. 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. Shomeister. Suggest reading the fall of series. In 1980, the cult leader received widespread attention when he pleaded no contest to charges of assault and conspiracy to commit murder after he and two other Synanon members attempted to kill Paul Morantz, a lawyer who had successfully sued Synanon, by putting a four-and-a-half foot rattlesnake in his mailbox. ), "You put stress on a family, unpredictable things happen, and children tend to take on different roles," Jollett says. 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. Now, if it is not very God damn profitable, I would go into another business. He also admitted violence could not occur without his approval but he forgot the details due to his stroke. Unfortunately as I learned what happened in clones and wilderness programs, people not only did not learn from that history, a book like Janzens can help fuel the continuation of its tragedies. Since I had as friends, people like Bernie Kolb and Ben Parks, who went from long-term addictions to long time great human beings, I concluded something there must have worked. 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. 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. In context, my conversation with Rod Janzen, as he certainly knew of me, and if he was a true journalist, he would have had to interview me to follow all leads. Yes it was a tough nut to crack and in part due to the protection it recieved. Bellis, citing various sources, found that the success rate in the Synanon imitators was no better than that the dismal statistics of Synanon itself. 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. A small portion decided they had enough, and gave too much credit to Synanon and not enough to their own will power. In 1984 a federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia awarded Fred Collins, Jr. $220,000 for being falsely imprisoned at Straight.Inc. Information from former members of the cult quickly identified two of Synanons Imperial Marines as suspects in the snake-attack. It was a gift. Both boys had to navigate poverty and abuse, but Jollett's experience was vastly different from his brother's. Most program lingo IS Synanon lingo! "Sometimes I think about this book as this primal scream, this assertion: 'This happened. But I DO know the culture of Synanon. We either do that or we stop. And they didn't do that.". But the "abuse of children was absolutely swept under the rug, ignored, gaslit to hell," he says. "Mary Karr likes to say, 'You have to write about difficult relationships with great love.' From Musicos past, one can infer antisocial makeup, but when he came to Synanon he was able to function and had acceptance, something he probably could not otherwise obtain. The entirety of my writings say the same thing. I had gotten your phone number from Ben Parks. (c) Nov. 2012. WebSynanon Industries. 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. Those who chose to reject his ideas were removed. If you look at your post, you will see you bring up matters which were brought up in the entirety of my text and there is little difference. Sometimes I think women are more revenge orientated, but it probably still comes down to the individual. He interviewed Richard Ofshe but then without explanation he wrote Ofshes discourses of brainwashing interesting, but not applicable. 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. But I believe there are important messages in its history I was drivin not to let Janzen alter it. Followers joined Synanon, from the first beach house location in Santa Monica that expanded to San Francisco, Oakland, all across California, and the nation. Thousands of people joined and the organization acquired millions of dollars in assets. This issue obviously needs further elaboration and research, but there are suggestions that there are age limits below which this form of treatment is contraindicated. 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. The autopsy report stated that he died from a perforated ulcer, but that is only the tip of the iceberg. *..*.*. For Jollett, experiencing his dad's love was a life-changing experience. It was like, 'Nothing ever gets to me. 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. Synanons advertising of its few success stories was so convincing that many professionals like New York psychiatrist Dan Casriel had become convinced of the Games efficacy. Sure it maybe closed but it still needs to be investigated in the same fashion that Penn state was investigated. And thats it for the idea that Synanon played a role in curing drug addiction. Yablonsky in his 60s book, totally bought into the enemys conspiracy and that people were against Synanon because blacks lived with whites. It still such a bracing business that I like to stay in it. He told me he was completing a book on Synanon. Also Santa Monica acted because Synanon did not have a license to treat anyone. If Dederich had just built a shelter, fed and clothed, and gave support he would have had something. Bringing Luis Home September 26, 2022 10. Charles was arrested while drunk in 1978 and was barred from any further leadership within the In 1971, the federal government, through he second White House Drug Czar, Robertq L. Dupont, Jr. MD. you might also want to watch Cal. 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. 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. Thats the nature of our business. Did you change partners? Thats why I wrote the history of Synanon because there is so much to learn. 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. Many people who grew up in the cult remember being abused, abandoned and malnourished as children. There were countless communes and entities much larger that took in people of all races. It was reported between 6000 and 10,000 people lived in Synanon from 1958 to 1968 but apparently only 65 were ever known to have completed the program and elected to graduate to life outside the community. God bless you. People had to know its dangers before making choices to support or join. I am very aware of the early philosophies of Synanon. The example story might be that of Joe Musico and Lance Kenton. Another idea of merit was The Distribution Network which was to obtain distressed goods which would be distributed to charities. The story of Synanon is how one man took good people and turned them into terrorists. In conclusion, while the notions in Synanon arose out of Dederichs troubled childhood, I dont think all blame is on Synanonsuch systems existed all throughout history. 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. 9. 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