Fornits
Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform => Synanon => Topic started by: 80's Guy on June 21, 2005, 12:01:00 AM
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I have read several of the books on Synanon, and they have not totally satisfied my curiosity on the way of life at Synanon. I am especially interested in the connection between Synanon and The Seed. I was a part of The Seed for many years and am interested in anyone who attended Synanonn to tell his or her story here, so we can start comparing notes on these two programs.
As a result of this forum, I have grown tremendously. Please post your Synanon stories,so all of us here can benefit from what many consider to be "The Grand Daddy of Therapeutic Communities." Tell us what life was like for you at Synanon. . .Thanks for your contributions.
[ This Message was edited by: 80's Guy on 2005-06-20 21:05 ]
SYNANON Charles Dederich Synanon
The People Business The Game Trip
Santa Monica beach Synanon rattlesnake Paradise, Inc.
experience stories splitees[ This Message was edited by: 80's Guy on 2005-06-21 22:06 ]
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Yeah, i am a survivor of Str8 inc and would love to hear from any survivors of Synanon for the same reasons stated by 80s' guy. i am dissappointed to come to this forum and find only 1 lonely post. Synanon was a long time ago maybe all the survivors have already left this world. i don' know. If there are any Synanon survivors out there i encourage you to please share your experience with us here. We are all searchin' for a better understandin'.
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It would be nice to get some imput from the synanon contingent.I'm pretty sure cedu was the first synanon offshoot.
When I first discovered this site about a year ago,I didn't know what to expect.Fact is,I was kind of hoping to gain some insight into my own experience.I believe that perhaps I have.It is an added bonus that this site is dedicated to discontinuing the practice of systematic teen abuse.I'm pleased to participate in any small way I can.
Former Synanon member contributions would be greatly appreciated.
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Your post was such a long time ago I doubt that you will see my reply, but here goes.
I met a young man in 1972 who had just escaped from Synanon and come home to Washington State. He was 19 and I was 17. Within a year we were married. Within two years we were divorced. He left Washington and I never saw him again. I kept up with his life somewhat through his adoptive family. He had lived in 13 foster homes and was adopted at seven years old. Life did not treat him kindly. He died at age 38 in 1991 of a cocaine overdose. He didn't talk much about Synanon and what he did say didn't make much sense to me because it was so foreign to anything I had ever experienced... but I do remember that his hair was just growing out from being shaved and that he had escaped.
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Great Post. Did your ex ever introduce you to other Synanon survivors? What is it that he told you about his experience that seemed so foreign to you? Thanks for the insight. I wold love to spend time talking to ex Synanon members who could really share what went on inside (beyond the 2 books that have been written).
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That was many many years ago and my memories are faded. I was an over-protected 17-year old girl living at home with mom and dad and so the whole concept of some sort of commune where a person had to escape to get free just didn't make sense to me. I really don't have much information, sorry. I just wanted to let you know how it ended for one person who had been there. He had a rough beginning in life and his adopted parents weren't the kind who could help him - very critical people. He was getting into trouble with the law so they put him in the Navy. From what I understand, drugs were easily available in the Navy then and he a user. The laws had changed so that an addict could get an honorable discharge and that's what he did and then went straightway to Synanon. He wasn't using when I met him and married him. But it wasn't long before he was into it again. When I was 19 and pregnant he was going out on a Friday night and I wouldn't see him until Monday. Then one weekend in August he didn't come home for over a week. Later I learned that he was dealing.
He never introduced me to anyone from Synanon... he had been in Synanon in CA and we were in Washington state. I'm sorry I can't be of more help.
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Cascade School
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Cascade School?
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danielle allgood , michael,
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At sixteen years of age I was closer to death than life . For reasons that have substance but which will for purposes of this ommuniucation enain private, I had quixkly progressed in an addictive abuse of drugs to fully quakify as a candidare 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 teengers 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 fron which residents graduated . The recicivisim 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 trhen left would fall into a status of persona non gratis and would be subject to a series of humiliating expewriences 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 enviornment was centered at a Monolithic beach club called the Club Del Mar (before Synanon took over) It was a grand old Hoyel /;club omplete with Ballroom , several lounge areas and a large living room Their was an iindoor olympic sized pool and a complete health club
My jpob (everyne had a job ) was to teach the children of the older residednts to surf .
I was , for the first time in my life , in the presence of extremely chatismatic people who had risen inb this quirxky placew to positions of lradership . One such figure I came to respewst and admore wasa Jack Hurst. Jack was a natural born leader . He was smart , egocebtric , and zenophobic . Once he believed in sopmething it was diffucult 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 mannerisims 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 enviornment to mature in..
After I left , Synanon shifted into the more radical behaviour that got it in trouble . Several years after leaving I was inviited 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 nostqaligia , 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 incalcua;able help I received fron having lived that lifestyle for six very important years .
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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 .
That's too bad. Since all the reports I have read thus far are second hand and not first, like yours.
He was smart , egocebtric , and zenophobic... He was and remains one of the most decent men I have ever known .
Okay, um. Confusing. Jack was egocentric and xenophobic, yet decent. Not sure what you are trying to say here.
Listen, for what it's worth, it's good to hear from you, regardless on whether I agree with you or not on synanon's effecacy, I always like to hear from people who went there. You guys turn up so rarely.
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I just got Yar -whatever's book about Synanon. It came out in the late sixties. are you in it?
Also, having been at CEDU, I'm trying to fill in a few blanks that only visitors from Synanon might jbe able to answer.
Welcome!
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where are the synanon gang that became cedu that became cascade.
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See if any of these links are still working. Might find some good leads there:
http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia. ... html#links (http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/synanon.html#links)
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Thanks Ginger. I've checked out George's page before, and of course, I can't get in to the members only area since I never belonged, and could probably not play it off well enough to pass. It would be interesting though. I can't seem to get the museum site to work. Some of the links take me back to the original spread. It might be my zonealarm being difficult, though. But I do have scripts enabled in FF.
But that is indeed, the main site I have interest in.
The secrecy is interesting. Have you found any other survivors' forums which are like that?
I'd also never heard about the "Escape from Utopia" book. I'll have to check that out.
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Yeah, the Elan site is like that. The just go about effecting the bum's rush a little differently. Ok, very differently! But it's about the same game at the root of it.
There's another good book, the Tunnel Back, that I just passed along. Can't remember too much of the content as it's been years since I read it, but it did give me some affirmation about the commonalities I thought I might be just imagining.
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What books have been written on Synanon
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Book? Magazine? DVD?
Amazon Synanon links
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Oh, my goodness!
From the Synanon website, History section, 1963:
# San Diego house opens
# IRS audit upholds tax exempt status
# First dissipation - hosted by Chuck & Betty in San Diego
# Milt Cooper donates hot stamping machinge (start of ADGAP).
# Betty and CED marry
And here is what I found, when I googled "Adgap":
http://www.adgap.com/particulars/history.html (http://www.adgap.com/particulars/history.html)
The gift of a rickety pencil hot-stamping machine sparked the birth of AdGap in 1964.
We got our start in 1958 selling imprinted pencils to small business in order to support the works of a nonprofit community. From these unlikely roots, we evolved into a leading provider of integrated marketing solutions to Fortune 100 firms.
In 2002, we merged with Newton Manufacturing Company, one of the largest, oldest, and most respected promotional products distributors in the Nation. This has enabled AdGap to serve it's clients with even more resources.
Located in central Iowa, Newton Manufacturing Company was established in 1909 as a manufacturer of promotional products. We employ over 150 people who provide innovative marketing support, state-of-the-art technologies and premier service programs for nearly 800 sales representatives located in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Newton Manufacturing Company is an employee-owned organization where each employee-owner has a vested interest in building our success by achieving your goals. www.newtonmfg.com (http://www.newtonmfg.com)
AdGap's principal offices are in the San Diego, California area.
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there's method to it, though. I was looking around for a place to bury a copy of this where it won't be very deeply buried, if ya know what I mean. It's just the best telling of such a common story that I don't want it to get lost.
Anyway, I came across this question and thought Anne's condensed life story offers one answer to the op's question. Where are they now? Taking over the world 10 - 50 thousand families at a time.
Thanks for the kind words, it's a little embarrassing to talk about my pain to someone who's lost a child. I cannot fathom that.
Yes, I was forced into Straight in the early 80's. They told me that if I signed myself in (this was after an 6 hour 'intake' in a small room surrounded by and being berated, shamed and belittled by other kids in program and staffers) I would only have to stay for a 2 week evaluation, but if I didn't my parents would have me court ordered for 2 years (a lie, they couldn't). I ended up there 2 years. The first 8 months were spent on "1st phase", shuffling from 'host home' to host home because I had to earn the "privilege" of returning to my home and my parents. I made it up to 2nd phase and was set back to 1st phase shortly after for some insignificant rule infraction, real or manifested by them. I eventually made it up to 4th phase and someone decided I wasn't "shining" anymore, so therefor I must be dishonest and hiding something. I wasn't and said so. I was tired. I got virtually no sleep day after day after day. Well, that means I'm in denial so the whole group confronted me for a few hours, spitting in my face, calling me a slut, loser, whore, bitch, cunt and whatever else they could hurl in my direction. They started me over and that means started over. I eventually began to 'progress' again and just did whatever I had to to get out.
After I got out it, I was required to go to 'aftercare'. That lasted for about 2 months, and I did something wrong (again, some minor infraction of meaningless rules) and was 'terminated' from the 7th Step Society (the aftercare group). No one was allowed to speak to me from then on. Taht would have been great, but I started dating another 'termination', got pregnant (within 4 months of 'graduating'). I was pressured to either have an abortion or get married. Pressure meaning that Dad followed Straight's advice adn pulled the 'tough love' crap. I got married, had a baby, had another and decided to get a divorce. I ddin't like being slapped around by a cokehead. But....I was (((GASP))) drinking and smoking the occasional joint. My dad and my ex's parents hired lawyers (Dad got one on the board of Straight) and took my kids. Remember, I was trying to get out of an abusive situation, clear my head up, get my life together and when I asked for help I was given the 'tough love' speech. The grandparents couldn't decide who would make the better temp parents, so they split up my girls.
I got them back 3 long years later (it was really difficult being on my own w/ no resources being up against my "dx" from Straight and THEIR lawyers), the grandparents continued to occasionally either take the kids again for some small infraction (like drinking) or threaten to do so. during this time my ex husband had gotten a DUI manslaughter charge, went to prison, got out and joined AA. He, off and on when he wasn't coked out, would clean himself up, go to AA, become the golden boy in the judges eyes (for the simple fact that he was in AA, even though eh was in and out and constantly 'relapsing'). I had a therapist tell me once that I lived in a constant and acute state of fear for almost 20 years. It wasn't until my kids were old enough taht the grandparents and my ex lost power that I really began to heal.
Whew. Sorry if that was long and repetitive for those who already know what happened to me.
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I am a Synanon survivor. I was inducted in late 1976 at the age of 14. I was taken there by my mother. I had been getting into minor trouble, nothing serious and ditching school frequently. She caught me smoking weed one day and freaked. Her friend, who was from Santa Monica, had heard that Synanon was a fantastic and successful organization.
The interview was brutal, with a half dozen or so people insulting and threatening me. They told me that right then I was a dope fiend and there was only one salvation-stay there for six months. They told me that if I ran away my mom would have me put into juvy. They proceeded to shave my head and made plans to ship me north to the Tomales Bay area. I was to enter what was called the "punk squad". I stayed there for several months.
The schedule was grueling. Up at 5 am to run five miles. Then we ate breakfast-usually a dry unsweetened whole grain mix. Then it was off to work. I usually had landscaping duty, which meant clearing brush at the bay facility, some 15 miles from where I lived. I worked until it was too dark to see. Then it was 20 minutes of fast paced step aerobics and then dinner. We often had to go to a game following dinner, which is an excellent recipe for a belly ache. I did not see a day of school while I was there, and neither did any of the other "punks". NOT ONE DAY. I have read some posts about Synanon kids going to school and was intrigued. Some of the kids from the school were occasionally sent to the "punk squad" for disciplinary reasons. These kids were usually more screwed up than the kids that came straight from the streets.
Friendships that formed between us dissolved quickly due to the "cop-out" games. They would wake us in the middle of the night, put us in the usual game circle, and tell us that we to confess our sins and and tell the group the sins that you know others had committed. These games typically lasted 36 to 72 or so hours, during which time we were not permitted to eat or sleep. This was pretty effective at breaking the will of most people there. I was not easy to break and led them to believe that I had bought into their scheme. I had committed some punishable offenses there, in fact many. During my first "cop-out" game, which took place about a month after I had arrived, my friend and confidante ratted me out for smoking. We could not get any cigarettes, so we smoked the dried tops of dock plants. Dock is harmless and does not get you high. We both had to wear a large sandwich sign for a week that read "I am so stupid I smoked weeds". I never trusted anyone there after that. During the following "cop-out" games I would keep my secrets to myself and invent small infractions that I knew would not get me into much trouble just to appease my tormentors.
I personally was never beaten at Synanon, but I had witnessed many beatings. Heaven help you if you were caught trying to escape. At about two months into my stay I saw a 14 YEAR OLD GIRL savagely beaten by adults. Two grown men took turns punching her in the face and gut. One of my friends was mercilessly beaten for 15 minutes for attempting suicide. These beatings were always public and the recipients were often stripped nude before the beating. We were always forced to witness these. We were always terrified but if it showed we were punished. Smaller scale violence was an everyday occurrance with us.
I was transferred to Badger, California. This is where most of the real trouble started. There were two facilities there. On one of those facilities the founder, Chuck Deterich, lived. I lived at the other. I was rewarded for being such a good boy. I learned quickly how to disguise my true feelings. At the six month mark I was looking forward to going home and getting the hell out of there. They informed me that my treatment was not complete and they convinced my mother to keep me there another 6 months. I cried in secret for a couple of weeks. I figured that if I could somehow contact my mom and enlighten her as to what really goes on here I had a chance of getting out. I stole a stamp and sneaked a letter out. My mom told them about it. From that point on they pretty much knew how I felt about that place and those people. There were some stories in the LA times about child abuse. I went home nearly exactly a year after I went in.
After having read some of the books here that claim that these "punks" were dealt with appropriately, I started thinking that maybe the main community was somehow sheilded from these crimes against children. We had games with the some of the elders and voiced our fear and disgust. Many were just as brutal as the sadistic bastards that were in charge of us. Most of those people in charge of us should have had criminal charges pressed against them. I specifically remember a man named Chauncey Davis. He forced one of the boys to give him oral sex and told him he would kill him if he said anything. This all came out when he split and was no longer a threat to the boy. The police were never contacted, of course, and that pervert walked scot free.
I have read some accounts by former members that tell tales of great happiness and togetherness. I knew some of these people and I believe that they are telling the truth. It was very different for the "punks" and I'm pretty sure that most of the addicts that were sentenced there at that time had a very bad experience. I could go on for many more paragraphs about the horrors I experienced there, but I won't right now.
I am doing well these days. I have a degree in environmental science and am gainfully employed. By the way, I still smoke weed. I never quit except for my stint at Synanon.
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Wow, thanks for posting that. A lot of us that were in descendant programs of Synanon have been aching for someone to post about some of the inner workings. It all sounds so familiar. Straight took its 'raps' and 'confrontations' directly from "The Game". The 'therapeutic community' approach was borne there and has trickled down through to the mainstream.
Sad. So sad. So many lost souls.
I'll be vaping tonight in honor of victims of all programs.
:smokin: ::bandit::
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I have no idea how the fuck I missed this post, (I think it was close to finals for me in school) but thank you so much for writing about this. Synanon is still a bit of a mystery to some of us, because survivor testimony is so rare to come across.
Jesus, what hell. I'm glad to know you transcended all of that bullshit.
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I am the moderator of a synanon kids list on yahoo that has been around since 2001. We invite those who lived in Synanon under the age of 18 for any reason i.e. they came in for drug and alcohol reasons, court ordered, or like me, they came in because their parents were looking for a communal life style and :) got waylaid into Synanon and in the process often ruined the children's lives in the process. Som children lived there into adult hood or until the lights were shut out as we jokingly refer to the people that literally left only when the kitchen closed its doors and the electricity was turned off to the Badger facility where many of them resided to the end.
Many of the children committed suicide in later life. Some died early of cancer and heart attacks in their 40s; at ages much younger than they should have. Others became involved with drugs and are still facing their drug nightmares or died or drug overdoses. Others are in jail. Many many others are fine upstanding citizens and you would never suspect they were a former Synanon member.
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I heard stories about Synanon being the most hardcore rehab of them all. From what I understand they shaved all women's and mens heads. They made you scrab walls in some courtyard or something for endless hours while someone was talking about their feelings over a PA. I never heard of anyone going out surfing there. The accounts given to me more described another Auschwitz.
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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 .
I, actually understand fully. Not hard to trade one family for another, especially if the first was painful.
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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 (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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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..
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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 (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, I think RAP, Inc. deserves its own thread and I have started one here (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=31216#p379697).