On 2004-12-26 18:58:00, Anonymous wrote:
"Maybe your questions aren't being answered to your liking, or because you are ripping everything to shreads what is answered.
What do you want to hear?
What did they do to the kid? Doing something TO a person is not a good question.
What do they provide for the kid is a better one. In your rudeness, is that what you are really asking?
As for the seminars - sorry, you're question was answered as good as it will get. You'll just have to go yourself to get your own answers. No one can answer that for you - not avoiding, it's the way it is.
"
This reply is so vague as to be worthless, and the other replies missed vital detail that should *not* be violative of patient confidentiality.
What you *should* be able to say is:
What happens at a typical intake, what sort of physical situation the kid is in (what's the room like in terms of temperature, furniture, appearance, comfort level), what sort of physical contact the staff have with the kids at this level, what sort of procedures are done to deal with the kid's clothing/personal effects--and if there are such procedures, what's provided in exchange, in what circumstances and how much the kid sleeps, in what circumstances and how much and what the kid eats, what hygienic facilities are available and when and under what conditions of use/privacy they're accessible by the kid, when the kid first meets a member of the therapeutic staff and whether the atmosphere/technique is confrontational or supportive, the training of the various therapeutic staff a kid will encounter, who evaluates the kid to determine what problems he/she comes in with and what training that person has and what effect it has on the child's living conditions and treatment plan.
Then when you get past intake, we need to know all that same information about physical conditions, sleep, specific rules and punishments, how frequently the kid has contact with the therapeutic staff and how those staff are trained, the training of any staff who carry out restraints, the various treatment modalities the therapists are trained in and the average proportion of each therapy strategy that is used. What proportion of therapy is supportive in tone and what proportion is confrontational at each stage of the program. Whether group therapy is used, whether the kid has a choice about whether or not to do group therapy, whether group sessions are geared to be supportive and confrontational in tone and what limits, if any, are placed on confrontational encounters in group.
What amount of unpaid work the kids do, and the nature of the work, in detail. How long they spend doing it and whether it is ever allowed to interfere with regular food and sleep periods or conditions. How much time and in what temperatures and weather the kids are outdoors, and what steps are taken to protect the kids from the elements. What reading material or recreational equipment is available to the kids, in what stages, and how much time the kids have available for reading, art, music, and PE.
What amount of time is spent on academic subjects and the details of what the student/teacher ratio is, whether the teachers are certified or what their credentials are, what the facilities and materials and resources are for the schooling portion of the program.
These are kinds of detail that former program kids who are critics of the program routinely provide, and former program kids or parents who approve of the programs skim over.
For the seminars, a general description of the room and its comfort level (temperature, seating, etc.), duration of sessions, frequency and duration of any breaks, whether the nature of the presentation of material is informational or emotional---or what proportion of each. Access to food and drink---is water available or sugary drinks, or both. Are snacks sugary or heavy carb, or a balanced mix of carb and other. Are drinks and snacks controlled, or are there vending machines with a fairly normal range of selections? Is there background music to any part of the program? What's the lighting like and does it change at any point? Are there any slideshows or anything like that? If there are visual aids, what do you remember about content and colors? Are participants encouraged to discuss personal experiences and personal life details in front of the group (perhaps by a few people starting off as examples, or by one of the presenters sharing personal experiences or details). How would you rate the peak intensity of emotion you experienced at the seminar on a scale of 1 to 10? How much do you feel you learned that changed the way you looked at something, on a scale of 1 to 10? How difficult is it for you (or perhaps anyone) to put what you learned into words, on a scale of 1 to 10? Was it clear that most people in the room approved of or supported or congratulated some statements made (or experiences recounted, or accounts of choices made) by seminar attendees, and lamented, disapproved of, or commiserated with others? Did you develop a strong feeling of empathy with the presenters or any of the other attendees? On a scale of 1 to 10, how strongly did you feel a desire to stay in contact with the presenters or some of the attendees in the following days and weeks? Did you stay in contact with any attendees or presenters that you met at the seminars? Out of all the time you spent talking to people socially or about personal things in the weeks and days following the seminar, other than your spouse or children, what percentage did you spend talking to presenters or attendees from the seminar? What percentage of that time did you spend talking *about* either the seminar or the ideas covered during the seminar? On a scale of 1 to 10, if you feel the seminars changed your life, how *much* do you feel they changed your life? Did you cease contact with anyone with whom you were personally, professionally, or socially in contact with *before* the seminars because of their attitude towards the seminars themselves, what you learned there, or any changes you made in your life related in any way to the seminars? If you ceased contact with someone, how many people did you cease contacting or reduce contact with. How important were each of those people in your life before the seminar, on a scale of 1 to 10. Did you ever recommend the seminars to anyone? If so, how many people, roughly, did you recommend them to? Did anyone attend the seminars on your recommendation? Did the seminars, singly or collectively, cost more than one month's salary for you or your spouse? If so, how many months' salary did you spend on the seminars? Have you attended another seminar in the past six months? In the past twelve months?
We don't necessarily need detailed answers to *all* of that, but I listed as many relevant questions as I could think of off the top of my head to give you examples of the *kinds* of detail that would be very relevant to me at least, and I think to others, in forming some kind of mental impression of what these seminars are like.
Timoclea
