Synanon?s early success can be attributed to the fact that it was voluntary.
Then, comes CEDU.
No longer voluntary. Teens are incarcerated against their will. They?re required to share everything about themselves. If they don?t share they are punished for withholding. If the counselor thinks their ?sharing? is dishonest they are punished.
Ironically, the information shared is used for punishment.
You see, there is no way to avoid punishment.
Bait and punish, is the fundamental MO.
As was stated in the article, ?But, other former residents later accused Synanon of diligently convincing them that personal humiliation was needed in order to take in the well-meaning feedback from one's peers.?
This is the fundamental piece that needs to be done away with. Humiliation doesn?t heal anything. Never has, never will.
If you admit to having ?tried? pot, you are labeled an addict and sentenced to AA meetings for the duration of your stay.
If you?d had sex with your boy/girlfriend, you?re promiscuous.
If you violate the ?sex? agreement, which includes holding hands with the opposite sex, you?re punished and/or can be placed on ?bans? from the opposite sex, technically for your entire stay. Some programs go so far as to forbid any physical contact with either sex, or any show of compassion when someone is sad and crying. (Don?t want to reinforce their ?manipulation?). Who can be mentally healthy with NO physical contact? We are humans.
It?s a cold-hearted fucking approach to scare kids shitless. Some yield, some don?t. But most do well in spite of the program, not because of any miraculous ?therapy? they receive there.
I think it?s impossible for kids to ?work on their issues? in programs because they are consumed with frustration-to-rage about being isolated from their families and the world.
They do learn well eventually how to play the game so as to appear to be making ?progress?. It?s easy to imagine, particularly in the early days, a kid crying in group about the ?pain? they caused their pathetic parents, when indeed the tears are about the abysmal realities of program life.
As for how many parents understand what they?re signing their kid up for. I would say less than 5%, tops, know the roots of the methods used in the industry. Probably about that many have any inkling about what behavior modification is and how the programs use it. 100% of parents do not know what happens on a day-to-day basis in the program. They only care about ?results?- a kid who will be seen and not heard, who will not confront or scare them. They know not enough to even ask if the means justify the ends. They have no clue what has been done to their kid to cause the results.
If programs are so proud of their roots and the methods employed, why don't they post them on their websites? No, the overwhelming majority of parents do not know what they're signing their kid up for.
In the ?Apologia - Serious debate only, please!? thread the est/Lifespring topic came up. I asked the WWASPS parents to talk about what they knew about est/Lifespring and it's role in the program and seminars.
http://wwf.fornits.com/viewtopic.php?p= ... ring#31955They avoided the discussion. I don?t know if it was due to ignorance or secrecy. It appears that one of the tricks to getting people to participate in est/Lifespring seminars is that you don?t tell them anything about it, just ?invite? (read pressure/hound) them to go. It?s all very secretive.
