Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > Synanon
Where are the Synanon Ex-Members?
DannyB II:
--- Quote from: "jeremiahleahy" ---At sixteen years of age I was closer to death than life . For reasons that have substance but which will for purposes of this communication enain private, I had quickly progressed in an addictive abuse of drugs to fully qualify as a candidate for
what turned out to be the life saving experience pf a six year stay in Synanon.
It was on April 1, 1968 when I entered Synanon . I was sixteen years od and one of a small group of teenagers that had managed to fuck up their lives enough to belong in this hard core drug treatment program .
When I arrived Synanon was a Two to Three year program from which residents graduated . The recidivism rate of these "graduates"was high. So high in fact that in 1969 Charles Dederich, the Founder of Synanon declared that Synanon was no longer a two to three year program but, rather was a lifestyle that wasa lifelong for anyone that wanted to enjoy it;s benefits , Thus , an addict that entered Synanon and then left would fall into a status of persona non gratis and would be subject to a series of humiliating experiences to regain a degree of acceptability. These "splitees" never really regained the status of a kind of citizenship which other residents enjoyed ..
For me , I spent the first year or so of my stay trying to adapt to this very strange way of life and attempting to understand where , if at all, I fit in .
That first year was difficult , terrifying and at the same time
a boundless amount of good times and discovery . I spent a large part of my tine in the water of the Pacific Ocean at Santa Monica California surfing . The physical environment was centered at a Monolithic beach club called the Club Del Mar (before Synanon took over) It was a grand old hotel /club complete with Ballroom , several lounge areas and a large living room Their was an indoor olympic sized pool and a complete health club
My job (everyone had a job ) was to teach the children of the older residents to surf .
I was , for the first time in my life , in the presence of extremely charismatic people who had risen in this quirky place to positions of leadership . One such figure I came to respects and admire was Jack Hurst. Jack was a natural born leader . He was smart , egocentric , and xenophobic . Once he believed in something it was difficult to sway him . He was and remains one of the most decent men I have ever known .He is gone now having died several years ago but I will always remember him with respect , He was a key figure in turning my Synanon Experience into a positive thing . Many of the young men that were in Synanon at the time I was admired Jack . So much so that we would imitate his mannerisms in terms of speech, dress, body language and posture . Odd, but we did .
In my first year I was what was called a rage rat . I and many just like me were full of generalized rage . We cut it loose in the Synanon game ,. So much has been written about the game that I will defer to these other reports rather than trying to re-report about it . Suffice to say that the game sharpened ones communication skills , ability to think fast on your feet and your ability to take punishing attacks without falling apart . It was an uncensored conversation that was frightening and fun , angry and tender , emotive and intellectual .
After the first year I had come to feel generally committed to Synanon's view of the world . I stayed 5 more years , got married and eventually came to work as a kind of valet on Charles Dederich's personal staff , I left in 1974 to pursue a college education and , to eventually attend and graduate law school
I did these things because Synanon gave me a safe environment to mature in..
After I left , Synanon shifted into the more radical behavior that got it in trouble . Several years after leaving I was invited back to visit . I had become an Attorney and thus a kind of local boy makes good . When I went back the adventure was laced with fond nostalgia , but also was rich with the realization that you cant go home again . I had grown beyond the limitations of the Synanon Lifestyle . I will never . however . deny the incalculably able help I received from having lived that lifestyle for six very important years .
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I, actually understand fully. Not hard to trade one family for another, especially if the first was painful.
Shadyacres:
I graduated from what I think was the first Synanon offshoot, in '95, it was called RAP and opened in D.C. in 1970. ( http://www.rapinc.org/index.html ) Around 1980 they started an "Afro-centric" curriculum since most of the clients by that time were African American. In '95 I was the only white guy there, I was a D.C. resident and that is where the court sent me. When I graduated, they gave me an African name, can't remember it now. One of my counselors was from Synanon, one of the funniest guys I ever met, Richard Haynesworth. Unfortunately he was run down and killed on his motorcycle on his way home after leading a marathon rap, by two inebriated teenagers in a drag race in stolen cars. Irony.
Shadyacres:
Also, Daytop Village opened in '66 and Phoenix House in '67, both in NY, but I'm not sure if any of their original staff was from Synanon. Ron Clark (founder of RAP) may have been in Synanon, can't remember. Second Genesis, started in 1970 in Alexandria VA, might also be a logical place to look for ex-Synanon people, who would all be pretty old now in any case..
Ursus:
--- Quote from: "Shadyacres" ---I graduated from what I think was the first Synanon offshoot, in '95, it was called RAP and opened in D.C. in 1970. ( http://www.rapinc.org/index.html ) Around 1980 they started an "Afro-centric" curriculum since most of the clients by that time were African American. In '95 I was the only white guy there, I was a D.C. resident and that is where the court sent me. When I graduated, they gave me an African name, can't remember it now. One of my counselors was from Synanon, one of the funniest guys I ever met, Richard Haynesworth. Unfortunately he was run down and killed on his motorcycle on his way home after leading a marathon rap, by two inebriated teenagers in a drag race in stolen cars. Irony.
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Shadyacres, I think RAP, Inc. deserves its own thread and I have started one here.
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