Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > Daytop Village

Is there any relationship between Synanon and Daytop ??

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starry-eyed pirate:
i was in str8 85-87 and i am wonderin' if Daytop is/was an offshoot of Synanon.  Does anyone have an answer ??  Any information anyone can provide on this subject is greatly appreciated.

i am also wonderin' if any Daytop staff or former clients were ever on staff at the Seed in FLA.  Does anyone know ??

Anonymous:
Daytop proudly acknowledges that its roots are in Synanon. Daytop's founder--Monsignor O'Brien modeled his program after the Synanon  "treatment"(gag) modality. Things like encounter groups and the Daytop lingo are taken from Synanon. If you look on Daytop's website, you will see Daytop giving credit to Synanon. Daytop staff, during "therapeutic community training" watch videos that detail Daytop's history, including odes to Synanon.

Magnificent:
As a former staff from Daytop I can tell you that they did share the history and connection to Synanon.  The conection was simply that the model was utiltized to develope what Daytop would be but it wasn't a deal where they walked around talking about Synanon in fact it was stressed that Synanon broke a lot of rules and became a cult.  The Florida program did have some NY staff who went to help get it started but I'm not sure what all happened with those people I've been gone for some time.

psy:

--- Quote from: "Magnificent" ---Synanon broke a lot of rules and became a cult.
--- End quote ---

You speak of this as if it was some accident.  Dedirich knew full well what he was doing and designed the components of his program to break people down and build them up in his image and ideology.  The same thing happens at other programs that use their methods, regardless of whether or not that was the intent to begin with.  Study after study has revealed that the confrontational therapy methods used by Synanon and it's derivatives produce lasting harm.  Even Hazelden has long since abandoned such methods.  Do you really think "haircuts" were good for anything other than to produce lasting trauma in a significant portion of participants?

Ursus:

--- Quote from: "Magnificent" ---As a former staff from Daytop I can tell you that they did share the history and connection to Synanon.  The conection was simply that the model was utiltized to develope what Daytop would be but it wasn't a deal where they walked around talking about Synanon in fact it was stressed that Synanon broke a lot of rules and became a cult.  The Florida program did have some NY staff who went to help get it started but I'm not sure what all happened with those people I've been gone for some time.
--- End quote ---

If I remember correctly, wasn't it David Deitch that came over from Synanon to help light a fire, so to speak, under operations at Daytop? I don't think Synanon was yet recognized as a cult (back then); it was still receiving government funding and in fact, had a branch in the New York City area and, for a time, also in Connecticut.

There were a few TCs started in the metropolitan New York area in the early 60s; I might be off by a few years, but I seem to recall that Daytop was one, and Phoenix House was another. I also seem to recall that Art Barker (later of The Seed) was allegedly living in Brooklyn or the Bronx during that same time period.

Early on, either Daytop or Phoenix House, or both, worked out a deal with the city whereby men convicted of non-lethal crimes involving alcohol or drugs were given the option of doing their time at the TC instead of jail. I was wondering, do you know whether Barker was in such a situation and availed himself of TC time instead of jail-time? He was reputed to be somewhat of a rabble-rouser back then.

One last question:

"The Florida program did have some NY staff who went to help get it started but I'm not sure what all happened with those people I've been gone for some time."[/list]
Are you saying that Daytop specifically did send people down to The Seed program in Florida to help them get started? Do you know whether any other TC, e.g., Phoenix House or Synanon or Gaudenzia (Philly), or any other government programs also did so?

thnx

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