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See Yourself and Do Something About It: The Impacts of Synanon’s Therapeutic Philosophy on Contemporary Practices in the Troubled-Teen Industry
Monday, John (Van)
Monday, John (Van)
Abstract
This thesis seeks to understand the multiplicitous and insidious connections between the drug rehabilitation facility of Synanon and the contemporary troubled-teen industry. Synanon was founded in 1958 by Charles E. Dederich, a recovered alcoholic living in Santa Monica, California. Between 1958 and the late 1970s, Synanon was a major player in drug rehabilitation in the United States, despite its unorthodox methodology. Therapeutic strategies pioneered by Synanon form the basis for the contemporary treatment of troubled youth at residential programs, a connection that stretches back to as early as the mid-1960s. By analyzing Synanon's therapeutic philosophy and constant reformulation, conducted in order to avoid regulatory oversight, the paper addresses key concerns with the use of 'attack therapy,' or 'encounter group therapy,' as a supposedly valid form of therapy for drug addiction and mental health issues. The lens of 'high weirdness,' as coined by Erik Davis, is used to bolster the understanding of changes within and outside of Synanon that allowed Synanon's therapeutic philosophy to enter mainstream therapeutic though. It also focuses primarily on CEDU, an 'emotional growth boarding school' founded in 1967 by former Synanon member Mel Wasserman in San Bernardino. To this point, no fully-developed chronicling of CEDU's history exists -- this paper uses newspaper archives and recently uncovered documents to understand how and why CEDU developed as a major drug rehabilitation facility for children and teens. I argue that the connections between Synanon and the TTI are not only in their methodologies in terms of therapeutic methods, but also bound up in the consistent and systematic reincorporation to avoid legal and regulatory authority.
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2024-05-01
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American Studies