is cedu a cult

[Anonymous]

i want to know if cedu is classified as a cult. If so can people post articles. i googled cedu and cult tactics and found nothing. I see people on this site saying cedu is a cult. Did people prove it. i know cedu is a abusive program includeing the brown schools. But is it a cult.

[try another castle]

http://www.isaccorp.org/cults.html

My personal opinion: I don't know.

I used to maintain that it was cult-like, but lacked certain attributes that would classify it as a full-blown cult, but I have since reversed that opinion to one of "I really just don't know."

Speaking for myself: I'm just not enough of an expert on cults to be able to determine that. Dr. Richard Ofshe and Rick Ross would probably be able to provide a more informed answer.

[never]

last one was from me i forgot to sighn in.thank you. cedu used cult tactics i am sure. i beileve i talked to you about this but i am still confused. i guess it does not matter. But i think i was brianwashed. so i would like to have some profe. the brown schools was a money maker  they did not care abot the pateints. they used cult tactics on parents to keep them there longer.example if the kid was unhappy he was manipulating,they would tell the parents to leave,tell parents that the kid is playing a poor me and you would stay there longer.

[Son Of Serbia]

The methods and tactics used by cedu in practicing their alledged "emotional growth therapy" were taken from SYNANON, a confirmed cult, in which Mel
Waserman belonged, prior to starting up cedu.
In fact, Cedu originally stood for CHARLES E. DEDRIECH UNIVERSITY (Deidriech was the founder and leader of Synanon).  The whole "see your self for who you are, and do something about it" line is bullshit.  It was thought up by Mel in order to distance Cedu from Synanon, after several of Dedreich's followers were jailed for attempted murder (they tried to kill a lawyer who had successfully sued Synanon).

I agree with never that Cedu has been a money scam since it's inception. Cedu (no matter who owned it) always cared about profits, and not the kids themselves.  

Is Cedu a cult? I'd say that it definately was during Mel's days(he was the sole owner, and welded all  the power).  Ever since going corporate (first Brown, & now Universal) the line between cult and business has blurred (now stock holders make all the decisions).  I'm with castle, I don't know for sure either.

Even if cedu isn't a cult now, it is still very much cult-like.  The cult inspired methods practiced by cedu have changed very little since Mel learned them at Synanon 40 years ago.  Cedu may not be an cult by strict definition, but they definately act like one.  Perhaps therein lies the key to answering to never's question. Does anyone here remember this saying from Cedu? :  

"You are what you do, not what you say you do."  

Because I sure do.  Cedu staff repeated this
to us over and over again on a daily basis. According to Cedu staff, this saying was the cornerstone of the program...so my suggestion is that maybe we all should view cedu in this same context.

Cedu SAYS they help kids learn and grow, but what they actually DO is isolate, terrorize, brainwash, and exploit them... all activities consistant with cults. Cedu claims to be a school, but in reality they behave like a cult.  Obviously CEDU IS A CULT by their own definition.

That's how I like to look at it.  I find that viewing Cedu by their own criteria is a fun and effective way of mocking them.    

. [ This Message was edited by: Son Of Serbia on 2006-03-10 06:12 ]

[Anonymous]

As a BCA grad from just a few years ago, I have to agree with Serb that the line has been blurred very much since CEDU joined up with the Brown Schools. I have no doubt in my mind that CEDU was the closest thing to a cult back when Mel was running the whole show. I myself would not have called it a cult when I was there, but the tactics and day to day life sure smelled like they had their roots in a cult.

Now that the Brown Schools are out and UHS is the new financial mind behind CEDU, I feel like the line has been blurred even more. But the system that they urge you to buy into can still be traced directly back to Synanon. The raps, as watered down as they are, are still a descendant of Synanon's "game". Even more so with the propheets, or workshops, or whatever UHS administration has decided to call them.

Seems impossible to me that someone could pull off such a mainstream cult in this day and age, but they're did a good job keeping those cult tactics entact under the business mask of Brown Schools...if the same staff were re-hired, I have to assume the same is going on under the UHS name.