This is so full of shit. Base what on objective reality? Yes "motivating" was not only abusive, but degrading as hell. Let's all flop about like some epileptic during a gran mal seizure. The way the rules were, most parents had no idea what exactly went on in group.
All your arguments are circular and self fulfilling prophecies. They are also fallacious. Just because some one, lets says a teenager, experiments with pot does not give them a drug or behavioral disorder. During my time on staff I saw numerous children subjected to drug treatment for things I would call normal now. I also think straight, SAFE and the like have a fiduciary predisposition to find drug problems in children. I would tend to believe the problems fall more into the parenting arena than onto the kids. Most kids wound up in there because their parents were sold what proves to be a lie more often than not, "Your kid will be in jail, an institution, not as good as this one, or dead if you don't get them help now." I ask you to prove me wrong. What are the cases? Do they out-weigh the kids that turned out okay. I know dang near all my friends that didn't wind up in straight now have post graduate degrees and I am the one playing catch-up. Anecdotally, this goes for most if not all of my straight brethren. Kind of makes me just want to jump up and say, "THANKS FOR THE FUCKING HELP!"
Further, you stated that clients chose to make their programs longer and to miss out on the things you call privileges. Lets look at my case then. From the first day I complied with the program. Not once did I misbehave. I spent 30 months in there. Why, because I didn't get along with some of the Sr.s. Funny thing is, I was over 18 and I did choose to be there. Hmmm, some of the people some of the time....
I do think that parents have the right to raise their children as they see fit. I also believe they have the right to place their children into treatment facilities if the child's problems can be handled best in this manner. I do not believe that contact with ones family is a privilege or should ever be considered such. I think one should be encouraged to talk about everything that happens to them during the day, in group, with whomever is willing to listen. Especially family! None of that crap would have ever been allowed if the parents knew about it. Treatment should not be secretive, it should be open.
As far as physical abuse at SAFE I cannot say. I wasn't there. Straight was abusive as hell and drove kids to be hurtful of themselves and others. This wasn't some manifestation of their drug problem. That's BS and you should know that.
Here's the upshot of the whole thing. I spent years believing that I was a dope fiend because of the corrupt diagnosis of the staff at straight, inc. Straight had a financial reason to find this diagnosis. Only later in life did I find that I was ADHD. Once this was treated, low and behold, ALL the issue that I had been struggling with throughout my life just up and vanished. I suspect that there are thousands of people that went through straight and its descendants that have similar if not the same experience. It is this that causes such distrust and name calling of the off shoots. Straight lied to us, often. Sold us a bunch of hooey that most of us tried to live. Only after struggling for 15-20 years, trying to apply the straight propaganda to our lives, did we begin to suspect that the real issue was straight. I'm just not sure that SAFE has been around long enough for your head to come out of your ass. Yet.
Clay
Jr 2 - Straight ATL
Correcting the spelling errors....
[ This Message was edited by: ClayL on 2003-11-04 09:51 ]