How Was Compliance Gained?

[Anne Bonney]

All of you were at "Straight" then?

I know Frod and I were at the same time, but different states.  I think Shaggys was in the same state as me, but possibly a different time.  

I have also heard many stories of the exact same methods being used at newer programs as well.

That's what keeps me coming back here after all this time.

Do we have anyone from newer programs that can share with us about how compliance was gained/maintained at those facilities?

Yes, but quite frankly.....a lot of them have been run off by a few pro-program people here who are far more adept at discussion boards.  Kids who are recently out of a program are usually pretty skiddish and run from any argument/confrontation.  They're also kids trying to 'debate' (for lack of a better term) adults who are experienced at marketing.  One of the reasons I was skeptical of you is because of the way that many of us and the recent kids have been either fooled by program employees posing as parents or 'students' or journalists, or parents that have been so brainwashed by programs that they still support them even after it's been pretty evident that the program did their child no good and most probably exacerbated any problems there may have been.

[DKincaidCFS]

I understand the skepticism and I have been told that before from other groups of people who were in programs, too.  Thank you for relating your experiences.

Hopefully we can widen the sample to other programs over time.

That's an interesting comment about people posting here that work for programs.  In a sense, they never allow these children to "leave the program" by stifling their dialogue here.  Fascinating, really.

[thomasC]

I was in a WWASP program a few years ago.  I haven't read the others posts here yet.

Soon after you first arrive you are shown a "Commitment letter" that your parents have signed stating they pledge to keep you in the program for 12 months to however long the staff deem necessary to complete the program.  Communication was restricted to letters.  The program told parents to write letters of encouragement to "work the program" and not even respond to anything negative as it was just "manipulation".  Of course the first thing kids do when they realize what the program is really like is try to inform their parents of what a terrible place it is so convincing kids their parents don't care and will keep them there no matter what is the most important step in gaining compliance.

Students entered at "level 2" with something like 100 points.  It was easy to keep those points if you decided to be compliant, and very easy to lose them if you decided to show any level of resistance.  You could only talk to someone else if your points added up to 4 so level 1s could not talk to other level 1s or to level 2s without a level 3 or above present.  This had the effect of completely isolating someone who had decided to resist from everyone except upper level students who had either decided to fake it or had bought into the program ( these kind could be really sadistic).  Staying on level 1 for an extended period was asking to be harassed by upper levels & your family rep. So, you would have to become compliant to have any social contact at all. Your level and the number of consequences you got each week were what the family rep reported to your parents each week to show your "progress" so staying in a state of resistance was bad for them.  

The official "consequence" at the time I was in the program usually meant going to "worksheets" and spending hours writing essays about what you did wrong and why, etc. before you could leave the building.  I never had to do this so I can't tell you what that was like but it was time-consuming and even the most resistant kids never spent more than a few days at a time in that building.

Points and levels were tied in with program completion so dropping a few levels could mean several months added to your stay.  "Consequences" could be really arbitrary and upper level students were allowed to give them out.  Some times kids were dropped really obviously just to make them stay longer. This was probably the most effective "stick", though it only worked on kids who wouldn't turn 18 or whose parents promised to leave them with a bus ticket and $5 if they did not remain in the program after they reached the age of majority.

Lots of other stuff.  Basically, not complying was asking for the world to close in on you.  It just wasn't a viable option in the long term and I didn't know anyone who kept it up for more than a week.

[thomasC]

Oh, probably the most important: GROUP.

Every day we did group.  Group was similar to the Synanon game.  I'm pretty sure this is done in every program.

We would sit in a circle and the facilitator would pick a few people to put on the spot each day.  They would then have to stand in the center of the circle in the "feedback position" (arms/shoulders open, palms outward) to receive "feedback" from other lower level students in the "family", upper level students who "worked" our "family" each day, and the family rep/facilitator.  We were told the point of feedback was not to insult or hurt us but.. that's exactly what it was.  Feedback had to begin with "My experience of you is.." because everyone's experience is valid and cannot be argued with.  Of course "My experience of you is you're a little bitch who lies all the time." is perfectly acceptable during group.  This is essentially what every group session turned into.  Students the family rep decided were underperforming for any reason were put on the spot regularly in this way.  Not giving good enough feedback was grounds for being put on the spot yourself so whenever someone was chosen kids would line up to be first to tear him up.

[Anne Bonney]

I understand the skepticism and I have been told that before from other groups of people who were in programs, too.  Thank you for relating your experiences.

Hopefully we can widen the sample to other programs over time.

I really hope so.  I'd like you to have as much information as possible.

That's an interesting comment about people posting here that work for programs.  In a sense, they never allow these children to "leave the program" by stifling their dialogue here.  Fascinating, really.

OMG, you have no idea!

[Anne Bonney]

I was in a WWASP program a few years ago.  I haven't read the others posts here yet.

Soon after you first arrive you are shown a "Commitment letter" that your parents have signed stating they pledge to keep you in the program for 12 months to however long the staff deem necessary to complete the program.  Communication was restricted to letters.  The program told parents to write letters of encouragement to "work the program" and not even respond to anything negative as it was just "manipulation".  Of course the first thing kids do when they realize what the program is really like is try to inform their parents of what a terrible place it is so convincing kids their parents don't care and will keep them there no matter what is the most important step in gaining compliance.

Same with Straight except it was achieved thru our intake (parents had been coached edited to add: weeks before[/b] on what to say when they dropped us off) and thru "open meetings", which were twice weekly meetings when parents came to "the building" (warehouse we were kept in for 12 - 18 hours a day) and sat in their own group directly across from the kids.  We (newcomers on 1st phase) could not look at our parents and were required to give an "introduction" to both groups (if the introduction wasn't up to what staff thought was good enough, we got it horribly at "open meeting review", which was the kids' "rap" after the parents had been dismissed.).  Then the microphone was passed from 1st phase parent to 1st phase parent.  They would stand up, then their child would (all this in front of 350-400 kids, along with their parents) and the parent would tell the child how scared they were and how 'committed' they were to the program (again, more coaching from staff on what parents were to say to us) and that we weren't getting out no matter what.

Students entered at "level 2" with something like 100 points.  It was easy to keep those points if you decided to be compliant, and very easy to lose them if you decided to show any level of resistance.  You could only talk to someone else if your points added up to 4 so level 1s could not talk to other level 1s or to level 2s without a level 3 or above present.  This had the effect of completely isolating someone who had decided to resist from everyone except upper level students who had either decided to fake it or had bought into the program ( these kind could be really sadistic).  Staying on level 1 for an extended period was asking to be harassed by upper levels & your family rep. So, you would have to become compliant to have any social contact at all. Your level and the number of consequences you got each week were what the family rep reported to your parents each week to show your "progress" so staying in a state of resistance was bad for them.

The official "consequence" at the time I was in the program usually meant going to "worksheets" and spending hours writing essays about what you did wrong and why, etc. before you could leave the building.  I never had to do this so I can't tell you what that was like but it was time-consuming and even the most resistant kids never spent more than a few days at a time in that building.

Points and levels were tied in with program completion so dropping a few levels could mean several months added to your stay.  "Consequences" could be really arbitrary and upper level students were allowed to give them out.  Some times kids were dropped really obviously just to make them stay longer. This was probably the most effective "stick", though it only worked on kids who wouldn't turn 18 or whose parents promised to leave them with a bus ticket and $5 if they did not remain in the program after they reached the age of majority.

Yup.....just like our 7 phases.  First phase had 3 phases of its own.  If our introductions jerked enough tears out of the parents, we ended up being able to have a 5 minute "talk" with our parents, but with either a staff member or higher phaser sitting with us.  If we said anything contrary to what we were supposed to, we got it in "open meeting review", directly following "open meeting".  Any slight infraction of even the most insane rule was grounds for dropping us a phase, or worse, starting us over. I finally "worked" my way up to 4th phase after something like 11 or 12 months and was started completely over.

Lots of other stuff.  Basically, not complying was asking for the world to close in on you.  It just wasn't a viable option in the long term and I didn't know anyone who kept it up for more than a week.

God, I can still hear the sounds of the chairs sliding across the floor as some poor kid was being 'taken down' and sat on as 'restraints' for not sitting up straight enough in their fucking chair.  I can still see the beaten faces of the kids being taken to and from the time out rooms.

[Anne Bonney]

Oh, probably the most important: GROUP.

Every day we did group.  Group was similar to the Synanon game.  I'm pretty sure this is done in every program.

We would sit in a circle and the facilitator would pick a few people to put on the spot each day.  They would then have to stand in the center of the circle in the "feedback position" (arms/shoulders open, palms outward) to receive "feedback" from other lower level students in the "family", upper level students who "worked" our "family" each day, and the family rep/facilitator.  We were told the point of feedback was not to insult or hurt us but.. that's exactly what it was.  Feedback had to begin with "My experience of you is.." because everyone's experience is valid and cannot be argued with.  Of course "My experience of you is you're a little bitch who lies all the time." is perfectly acceptable during group.  This is essentially what every group session turned into.  Students the family rep decided were underperforming for any reason were put on the spot regularly in this way.  Not giving good enough feedback was grounds for being put on the spot yourself so whenever someone was chosen kids would line up to be first to tear him up.

Same as our "raps", almost exactly.

[lifeboat]

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=31368

[Shadyacres]

Oh, probably the most important: GROUP.

Every day we did group.  Group was similar to the Synanon game.  I'm pretty sure this is done in every program.

We would sit in a circle and the facilitator would pick a few people to put on the spot each day.  They would then have to stand in the center of the circle in the "feedback position" (arms/shoulders open, palms outward) to receive "feedback" from other lower level students in the "family", upper level students who "worked" our "family" each day, and the family rep/facilitator.  We were told the point of feedback was not to insult or hurt us but.. that's exactly what it was.  Feedback had to begin with "My experience of you is.." because everyone's experience is valid and cannot be argued with.  Of course "My experience of you is you're a little bitch who lies all the time." is perfectly acceptable during group.  This is essentially what every group session turned into.  Students the family rep decided were underperforming for any reason were put on the spot regularly in this way.  Not giving good enough feedback was grounds for being put on the spot yourself so whenever someone was chosen kids would line up to be first to tear him up.

Same as our "raps", almost exactly.

Yup, ditto to everything Anne just said.  I was not in Straight Inc. though.  When Straight Inc. began to implode under widespread allegations of abuse, some of their staff left to found LIFE, the program I was in.  They fed my mom a bunch of crap that amounted to; "We're just like Straight Inc., but without the abuse!"  More lies from professional liars.

[Anne Bonney]

Oh, probably the most important: GROUP.

Every day we did group.  Group was similar to the Synanon game.  I'm pretty sure this is done in every program.

We would sit in a circle and the facilitator would pick a few people to put on the spot each day.  They would then have to stand in the center of the circle in the "feedback position" (arms/shoulders open, palms outward) to receive "feedback" from other lower level students in the "family", upper level students who "worked" our "family" each day, and the family rep/facilitator.  We were told the point of feedback was not to insult or hurt us but.. that's exactly what it was.  Feedback had to begin with "My experience of you is.." because everyone's experience is valid and cannot be argued with.  Of course "My experience of you is you're a little bitch who lies all the time." is perfectly acceptable during group.  This is essentially what every group session turned into.  Students the family rep decided were underperforming for any reason were put on the spot regularly in this way.  Not giving good enough feedback was grounds for being put on the spot yourself so whenever someone was chosen kids would line up to be first to tear him up.

Same as our "raps", almost exactly.

Yup, ditto to everything Anne just said.  I was not in Straight Inc. though.  When Straight Inc. began to implode under widespread allegations of abuse, some of their staff left to found LIFE, the program I was in.  They fed my mom a bunch of crap that amounted to; "We're just like Straight Inc., but without the abuse!"  More lies from professional liars.

And Straight said.."We're just like The Seed, but without the abuse!"  Round and round it goes.

I gotta get outta here.

DKincaidCFS, welcome and stick around....you'll get a much wider sample, but damn....this sure is stirring up shit.

[Che Gookin]

Not abandon the child.  Turn on the child.  Whip the group up against them and then let the group rip into them.  This is now the only family the child has and the staff has the ability to turn that family into a hatefest focused on the child.
I will never understand how anyone can think this is not abusive.

Fucking sadistic old creeps, they wanted to have a platform from which they could crucify "druggies," no holds barred...

This is the "program" they sold to the nazi straightling youth, the ones who became staff and perpetuated this agenda.  

You had to stand there, motionless, and listen to them rip you a new one...

And if you even blinked in a way that they thought was 'rebelling', you'd be plastered on the ground with 5 people sitting on top of you, allthewhile telling you that they "love you" and that it's "for your own good".  

Just reading this makes me get chills down my spine and laugh at the same time. You know what I mean, I'm not laughing at you, but the idea of five people pile driving someone into the floor while saying they love you is a bit of dark comedy.

I wrote an article about my time at 3 springs and it is posted up in the three springs catergory. That more or less explains how compliance was gained by myself and others when I worked there.

[psy]

In your experience, how did the program staff achieve compliance from the kids?  Please keep responses limited to those of you who attended a "troubled teen program."

Two Words: Thought Reform

If you want a more complete explanation, read some Robert J Lifton or Margaret Thaler Singer.

It's not just one thing.  It's a barrage of simultaneous tactics designed to change a person without their knowledge or consent.

[thomasC]

The idea is to limit the range of potential actions to those which are acceptable to the program.  Do that long enough and it becomes hard to remember it being any other way.  I had a hard time adjusting to freedom ( and still do ). Remember, these people are mostly in the business of scamming parents out of money and NOT in it to actually help teens.  They only need to create the superficial compliance required to graduate from the program and fool parents into thinking they have performed some kind of miracle.  What this does to the child is of absolutely no concern to them.

Their methods are good at gaining compliance within the structure of the program (and the pseudo-program they teach parents to implement once the child returns) and not much else.  My program even had a warranty.  If you were unsatisfied with your teen up to a year after they returned home you could send them back and get 3 more months free of charge.  They approach teen behavior modification as if they were baking a pizza.  You wouldn't want to take it out before it's done, would you?  After 18 months of being conditioned to do nothing but follow orders and do what is expected kids come out as the perfect, obedient children their parents always dreamed of.

[thomasC]

Or, as Psy stated: This exactly.

[Shadyacres]

I'm putting this up for posterity.  LIFE fit this whole list, EXACTLY, with brutality and neglect thrown in for good measure;


 Lifton outlines the "Eight Criteria for Thought Reform":

Milieu Control. This involves the control of information and communication both within the environment and, ultimately, within the individual, resulting in a significant degree of isolation from society at large.
Mystical Manipulation. The manipulation of experiences that appears spontaneous but is, in fact, planned and orchestrated by the group or its leaders in order to demonstrate divine authority, spiritual advancement, or some exceptional talent or insight that sets the leader and/or group apart from humanity, and that allows reinterpretation of historical events, scripture, and other experiences.
Demand for Purity. The world is viewed as black and white and the members are constantly exhorted to conform to the ideology of the group and strive for perfection. The induction of guilt and/or shame is a powerful control device used here.
Confession. Sins, as defined by the group, are to be confessed either to a personal monitor or publicly to the group. There is no confidentiality; members' "sins," "attitudes," and "faults" are discussed and exploited by the leaders.
Sacred Science. The group's doctrine or ideology is considered to be the ultimate Truth, beyond all questioning or dispute. Truth is not to be found outside the group. The leader, as the spokesperson for God or for all humanity, is likewise above criticism.
Loading the Language. The group interprets or uses words and phrases in new ways so that often the outside world does not understand. This jargon consists of thought-terminating clichés, which serve to alter members' thought processes to conform to the group's way of thinking.
Doctrine over person. Member's personal experiences are subordinated to the sacred science and any contrary experiences must be denied or reinterpreted to fit the ideology of the group.
Dispensing of existence. The group has the prerogative to decide who has the right to exist and who does not. This is usually not literal but means that those in the outside world are not saved, unenlightened, unconscious and they must be converted to the group's ideology. If they do not join the group or are critical of the group, then they must be rejected by the members. Thus, the outside world loses all credibility. In conjunction, should any member leave the group, he or she must be rejected also.