You have raised some VERY good points Mel. I can understand why survivors would speak out against AARC if their families were still believers in the program.
I don't understand why they wouldn't speak out though if their parents were not involved with AARC.
There are very, very few youth who go in without parents or who's parents are kicked out yet they are trapped inside. However, I can tell you things I've observed and reason's I've been given by survivors.
Some people are just more likely to become programmed and not doubt the program, like for instance the people who make nasty posts here all the time defending Dean Vause. That's based on their personality, and also how vulnerable they are at the time they enter the program. If you are vulnerable, have no idea what your beliefs are in life, feel lost or alone, and are eager for people to accept you, then you are more likely to try to do everything you can do to get your group and staff to approve of you. Think about how many vulnerable 13 or 16 year olds you know who just want people to like and accept them.
Now for those who are NOT programmed and don't have family involved, you still have these things:
1) A HUGE mistrust in the system. You don't know who is connected to AARC, and who will tell on you. You've seen all these big fundraising events and so on, and it's hard to know who out there is for AARC and who will actually listen to you.
2) The fear of severing your relationship with your AARC family - in whom has been crucial to your survival. For every 1 person who you feel may have nearly killed you, there are 3 more who you feel you wouldn't have survived it without them. Those people are very important to you. We ALL had to mistreat one another, but we learn to see past that and become attached to each other despite that.
3) You don't want to "fight" or "sit in your shit". These are things we are programmed to believe. If we "fight" we are not being accepting. If we tell someone we were wronged we are blaming others for our problems and being whiners. That is so deeply engraved into AARC clients, and even though you may not follow AARC's ways and want nothing to do with them, it is very hard to shake that awful psychology from your head!
4) You just want to get away from it, and you fear that getting involved with something legally connected to AARC will put you back into the fight with them. That is the same reason why so many survivors read these forums but rarely post on the boards. They don't want to hear a response from the staff and feel like they're in a Rap again.
5) Having done egressive therapy in Rap's has done psychological damage to you. Recalling the abuses in AARC out loud is similar to giving "incidents" in Rap, and you fear you'll be emotional while giving a statement. You don't want to be in that vulnerable and scary place again.
5) You fear that that authorities will harm you the way that AARC did.
6) You are ashamed of it and you don't want to be seen as abnormal. You don't want sympathy.
This list can go on and on. My sister for one will only speak about it occasionally. She remembers some unusual details and then has completely blocked out the rest.
We are talking about youth who have undergone a traumatic experience and who are taught to be afraid of support. Think of how many incest victims never turn in their abuser. The more personal work I've done to be able to speak about AARC like this, the more I've realized it's a very similar shame to sex abuse victims. And I can say that it is all a bunch of bull. There is no awful fate out there for people who speak up about it.
