Editing Synanon

{{short description|1958 California drug rehab program that turned into a 1970s cult}}
{{About|the organization|the film|Synanon (film)}}
{{more citations needed|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Synanon
| image = Casa del Mar Santa Monica.jpg
| image_caption = [[Hotel Casa del Mar|Club Casa del Mar]] (seen here in 2005), at one time a Synanon facility
| vector_logo = 
| type = [[For-profit]]
| genre = [[New Religious Movement]]<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Goethals | first1=Ilse | last2=Yates | first2=Rowdy | last3=Vandevelde | first3=Stijn | last4=Broekaert | first4=Eric | last5=Soyez | first5=Veerle | title=A religion too far: a historical and qualitative study on how ex-Synanon members value critical incidents that might have led to the downfall of their Utopia | journal=Mental Health and Substance Use | publisher=Informa UK Limited | volume=4 | issue=3 | year=2011 | issn=1752-3281 | doi=10.1080/17523281.2011.578582 | pages=177–194}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last1=Stark | first1=R. | last2=Bainbridge | first2=W.S. | title=The Future of Religion: Secularization, Revival and Cult Formation | publisher=University of California Press | year=1985 | isbn=978-0-520-05731-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a6IwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PP7 | access-date=2020-09-30 | page=7}}</ref><ref name=":2"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/a-violent-deadly-cult-with-forced-abortions-and-shades-of-scientology |title=A Violent, Deadly Cult With Forced Abortions and Shades of Scientology |last=Schager |first= Nick|date=April 24, 2020 |website=www.thedailybeast.com|access-date=2020-09-30}}</ref>
| foundation = 1958
| founder = Charles Dederich Sr.
| location_city = 
| location_country = 
| location = [[Santa Monica, California|Santa Monica]], [[California]], U.S.
| origins = 
| key_people =  Charles Dederich Sr.
| industry = 
| products = [[Drug rehabilitation]] 
| revenue = 
| operating_income = 
| net_income = 
| num_employees = 
| parent = 
| divisions =
| subsid =
| owner = 
| slogan = 
| homepage =
| dissolved = 1991 (US)
| footnotes = 
}}
'''Synanon''', originally known as '''Tender Loving Care''', was a [[new religious movement]] founded in 1958 by Charles E. "Chuck" Dederich Sr. in [[Santa Monica, California|Santa Monica]], [[California]], United States. Originally established as a [[drug rehabilitation]] program, Synanon developed into an alternative community centered on group truth-telling sessions that came to be known as the "Synanon Game", a form of [[attack therapy]].<ref name="HelpingPeopleChange">''Helping People Change: A Textbook of Methods'', Page 508., Frederick H. Kanfer, Arnold P. Goldstein, {{ISBN|0-08-025097-1}}, 1980, Pergamon Press</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/2023/12/15/born-in-synanon-documentary/71924537007/ | title=How to watch 'Born in Synanon,' the docuseries about a cult led by Charles 'Chuck' Dederich | website=[[USA Today]] }}</ref>

Described as one of the "most dangerous and violent cults America had ever seen",<ref name="longform.org" /><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/synanons-sober-utopia-how-a-drug-rehab-program-became-1562665776 |title=Synanon's Sober Utopia: How a Drug Rehab Program Became a Violent Cult |date=15 April 2014 |access-date=2017-12-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171207085521/https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/synanons-sober-utopi-how-a-drug-rehab-program-became-1562665776 |archive-date=2017-12-07 |url-status=live }}</ref> Synanon disbanded in 1991 after several members were convicted of offenses including financial misdeeds, [[evidence tampering]], [[terrorism]], and [[attempted murder]].<ref>[https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2007/08/cult-spawned-tough-love-teen-industry The Cult That Spawned the Tough-Love Teen Industry]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612210742/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2007/08/cult-spawned-tough-love-teen-industry/ |date=2018-06-12 }}, ''[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]'', September/October 2007.</ref><ref name="longform.org" />

== Beginnings ==
Synanon was founded in 1958 by Charles Dederich Sr., a member of [[Alcoholics Anonymous]] (AA) from [[Santa Monica, California|Santa Monica]], [[California]].<ref name=":2">{{cite web | title=The Story of This Drug Rehab-Turned-Violent Cult Is Wild, Wild Country-Caliber Bizarre | website=Los Angeles Magazine | date=2018-04-23 | url=https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/synanon-cult/ | access-date=2020-09-30}}</ref> At the time of Synanon's founding, those suffering from [[drug addiction]] were not always welcomed into AA because their issues were considered significantly different from those of [[alcoholism|alcoholics]]. Dederich, after taking [[LSD]],<ref name="longform.org">{{cite web |url=http://longform.org/posts/the-man-who-fought-the-synanon-cult-and-won |title=The Man Who Fought the Synanon Cult and Won |author= Matt Novak |work=Longform |date=29 September 2014 |access-date=2015-01-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150128132506/http://longform.org/posts/the-man-who-fought-the-synanon-cult-and-won |archive-date=2015-01-28 |url-status=live }}</ref> decided to create his own program to respond to their needs. He was said to have coined the phrase "today is the first day of the rest of your life."<ref>Her life with "One Big Brother", ''[[San Jose Mercury News]]'', March 19, 1999, Michael D. Clark</ref><ref name="morgan1999">{{Cite web |author=Morgan, Fiona | work = Salon | url=https://www.salon.com/1999/03/29/feature_398/ |title=One big dysfunctional family | date = 30 March 1999 |access-date=September 9, 2023 }}</ref> After his small group, called "Tender Loving Care", gained a significant following, Dederich [[incorporation (business)|incorporated]] the organization into the Synanon Foundation in 1958.<ref name="ofshe">Ofshe, Richard. "The Social Development of the Synanon Cult". ''Sociological Analysis'' 41.2 (1980): 109–127. Web.</ref>

The origins of the name "Synanon" are not entirely clear, with some claiming it to be the result of a group member slurring the words "symposium" and "seminar"<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last=Kobler |first=John |date=February 8, 1969 |title=The second coming of Synanon |url=https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/flipbooks/issues/19690208/ |work=The Saturday Evening Post |pages=32–35, 62–63}}</ref> and others simply describing it as a portmanteau of "symposium" and "anonymous". The word syndicate also means "an association of people or firms formed to promote a common interest or carry out a business enterprise".<ref>{{Cite web |title=The History of Synanon and Charles Dederich |url=http://www.paulmorantz.com/cult/the-history-of-synanon-and-charles-dederich/ |access-date=2023-04-18 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":2" />

Synanon began as a two-year residential program, but Dederich soon concluded that its members could never graduate, because a full recovery was impossible.<ref name=":3" /> The program was based on testimony of fellow group members about their tribulations and urges of relapsing, and their journeys to recovery.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

The Synanon organization also developed a business that sold promotional items. This became a successful enterprise that for a time generated roughly $10 million per year.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Magill |first=Jenny |date=2022-04-04 |title=Playing the Game: The Origins and Impact of Synanon |url=https://www.breakingcodesilence.org/playing-the-game/ |access-date=2022-08-26 |website=BREAKING CODE SILENCE |language=en-US}}</ref>

[[File:Synanon (Flowers of Darkness) 1.jpg|thumb|The Synanon facility during the 1960s]]
In 1959, Synanon moved from their small storefront to an abandoned [[arsenal|armory]] on the beach. In 1967, Synanon purchased the ''Club Casa del Mar'', a large beachside hotel in [[Santa Monica, CA|Santa Monica]], as its headquarters and a dormitory for those undergoing treatment for drug addiction. Later on, Synanon acquired a large building that had been the home of the Athens Athletic Club, in [[Oakland, California]], and then transformed it into a residential facility for Synanon's members.<ref name="janzen">Janzen, Rod A. ''The Rise and Fall of Synanon: A California Utopia''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 2001. Print. {{ISBN|978-1-4214-4810-7}}</ref>

Professionals, even those without drug addictions, were invited to join Synanon. The New York psychiatrist [[Daniel Harold Casriel|Daniel Casriel M.D.]] visited in 1962, lived there in 1963, and wrote a book about his experiences. He later founded AREBA, the oldest surviving private addiction treatment center in the United States, as well as [[Daytop| Daytop Village]], one of the world's largest therapeutic communities.<ref>''So Fair A House: The story of Synanon'', New York: Prentice-Hall. 1963.{{ISBN?}}</ref>

Control over members occurred through the "Game". The "Game" was presented as a therapeutic tool, and likened to a form of [[group therapy]]; but it has been criticized as a form of a "[[social control]]", in which members humiliated one another and encouraged the exposure of one another's innermost weaknesses.<ref>[https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20100701135057/http://www.thestraights.com/theprogram/synanon-story2.htm "Where did it come from?"], ''Synanon Church and the medical basis for the $traights, or Hoopla in Lake Havasu'', by Wes Fager, 2000.</ref>
Beginning in the mid-1970s, women in Synanon were required to shave their heads, and married couples were made to break up and take new partners. Men were given forced [[Vasectomy|vasectomies]], and a few pregnant women were forced to have [[abortion]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/~skent/Linkedfiles/Cults%20and%20Families.pdf |title=Stephen A. Kent |work=ualberta.ca}}</ref><ref>
[http://www.kidsofelpaso.com/about/kidstimeline.html Kids of El Paso]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080210165004/http://www.kidsofelpaso.com/about/kidstimeline.html |date=2008-02-10 }}.  Timeline 1958–2003 and present-day litigation information.
</ref>

[[Leonard Nimoy]] taught drama classes to members of Synanon partly as a result of the role he played in the production of ''[[Deathwatch (1965 film)|Deathwatch]]'', a 1965 English-language film version of [[Jean Genet]]'s play [[Deathwatch (play)|''Haute Surveillance'']] (the story deals with three prison inmates). Nimoy is quoted as saying "Give a little here and it always comes back".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://arcadiapublishing.com/products/9780738585451|isbn=978-0-738-58545-1|last=Branham|first=Stacy L.|title=Nevada State Prison|publisher=Arcadia Publishing |publication-date=2012|page=50}}</ref>

The film director [[George Lucas]] needed a large group of people with shaved heads for the filming of his movie ''[[THX 1138]]'' and hired some of his extras from Synanon.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pollock |first=Dale |title=Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas |page=100|year=1999 |publisher=Da Capo |isbn=0-306-80904-4 }}</ref> [[Robert Altman]] hired members of Synanon to be extras for the gambling scenes in his movie ''[[California Split]]''.<ref name=reid>
{{cite news 
  | last = Reid
  | first = Max
  | title = The Making of ''California Split'': An Interview with Robert Altman
  | pages = 26
  | publisher = Filmmakers Newsletter
  | date = October 1974
}}
</ref>

== Practices ==

Entrance into the Synanon community required a strong initial commitment. Newcomers were first interviewed by Synanon leadership to gain entrance into the community.<ref name="janzen" /> Upon their arrival, those newcomers were forced to quit using drugs [[cold turkey]], going through [[Drug withdrawal|withdrawal]] for the first few days in the program.<ref name="sternberg">Sternberg, David. "Synanon House – A Consideration for Its Implications on American Correction". ''Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science'' 54.4 (1963): n.p. Print.</ref> Furthermore, for their first ninety days in the community, members were expected to cease contact with outside friends and family.<ref name="janzen" />

During its first decade, Synanon members entered into a 1–2-year program in three stages aimed at preparing members to reenter greater society. During the first stage, members did community and housekeeping labor. During the second stage, members worked outside of the community but still resided within the community. Finally, during the third stage, members both worked and lived outside of the community, but still attended regular meetings.<ref name="sternberg" /> After Synanon's transition into an alternate society in 1968, this program changed to a "lifetime rehabilitation" program, with the premise that drug addicts would never truly be well enough to return to society.<ref name="ofshe" />

One of the most distinguishing practices of the Synanon community was a therapeutic practice commonly referred to as "The Game". The Game was a session during which one member would talk about themselves and then endure intense criticism by their peers.<ref name="simon">"Synanon: Toward Building a Humanistic Organization". Journal of Humanistic Psychology 18.3 (1978): 3–20. Web.</ref> During this practice, members were encouraged to be critical of everything, using harsh and profane language.<ref name="janzen" /> The practice has been charactized as a form of [[attack therapy]].<ref name="HelpingPeopleChange"/> Outside of The Game, members were required to act civilly to each other. While in The Game, members criticized each other, but left as friends and supportive community members.<ref name=simon/> The Game served not only as Synanon's most prominent form of therapy and personal change, but also worked as a way for leaders to collect the opinions of community members.  Because there was no hierarchy in The Game, members could freely criticize Synanon's highest leadership, who would then take member concerns into consideration when deciding policy.<ref name=janzen/><ref name=simon/>

The Game turned into a 72-hour version and was admitted by Dederich to be brainwashing. The Game was eventually used to pressure people to submit to Dederich's will, abort pregnancies, undergo vasectomies, and commit violence.<ref name="longform.org"/>

Over time, Dederich's vision of Synanon evolved, and he began to envision the group's potential to promote social progress. Synanon moved to create schooling for members, and Dederich wanted members to mentally change in order to improve society on the outside. The school was headed by Al Bauman, who believed in an innovative philosophy and aimed to teach children in the same manner to think differently. The school attracted lawyers, screenwriters, and business executives, all wanting to educate their children in a progressive environment.<ref name=":0" />

==Lifetime rehabilitation concept==
Beginning in 1964,<ref name="FBI file">
[https://www.governmentattic.org/10docs/FBIfileSYNANON_1963-1985.pdf PDF of FBI file] governmentattic.org {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304061957/http://www.governmentattic.org/10docs/FBIfileSYNANON_1963-1985.pdf|date=2016-03-04}}
</ref> the legal authorities began to investigate Synanon's practices. The concept of "lifetime rehabilitation" did not agree with therapeutic norms, and it was alleged in 1961 by the City of Santa Monica that Synanon was "operating a hospital in a residential zone".<ref>"Synanon Fight Seen At Council", ''Evening Outlook'', May 8, 1961</ref> Synanon expanded an old Trans-Pacific Marconi [[RCA]] radio station in [[Tomales Bay]] now [[Marconi Conference Center State Historic Park]] in Marshall, California. It was alleged{{by whom|date=December 2020}} that on remote properties in California such as at [[Marshall, California|Marshall]] in [[Marin County, California|Marin County]] and in [[Badger, Tulare County, California|Badger, Tulare County]], Synanon had erected buildings without the legally-required permits, had created a trash dump, and built an airstrip. Taxation issues also arose. In response to these accusations, Dederich declared that Synanon was a [[tax exemption|tax exempt]] religious organization, the "Church of Synanon".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/01/business/media/david-mitchell-dead.html|title= David Mitchell, Weekly Editor Who Exposed a Corrupt Cult, Dies at 79|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date= November 1, 2023|last1= Roberts|first1= Sam|access-date = November 4, 2023}}</ref>

Legal problems continued, despite this change. Children who had been assigned to Synanon began running away, and an "underground railroad" had been created in the area that sought to help them return to their parents. Beatings of Synanon's opponents and its ex-members, "splittees", occurred across California. Beatings occurred in Synanon basements.<ref name="longform.org"/> A state [[Grand Jury]] in Marin County issued a scathing report in 1978 that attacked Synanon for the very strong evidence of its [[child abuse]], and also for the monetary profits that flowed to Dederich. The Grand Jury report also rebuked the governmental authorities involved for their lack of oversight, although it stopped short of directly interceding in the Synanon situation.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

== Criminal activity and collapse ==
While Synanon initially did not tolerate violence, Dederich came to allow for violence as he sought greater control over the group. Much of the violence by Synanon was carried out by an internal group called the "Imperial Marines"<ref>
{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,922075,00.html |title=Synanon Sequel |date=1980-07-28 |work=Time Magazine |access-date=2011-05-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110921122408/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,922075,00.html |archive-date=2011-09-21 |url-status=dead }}
</ref> Over 80 violent acts were committed, including mass beatings that hospitalized teenagers, and ranchers who were beaten in front of their families.<ref name="paulmorantz.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.paulmorantz.com/the_synanon_story/the-true-history-of-synanon-violence |title=The True History of Synanon Violence and How it Started |work=paulmorantz.com}}</ref> People who left Synanon risked physical violence for being a "splittee"; one ex-member, Phil Ritter, was beaten so severely that his skull was fractured and he subsequently fell into a [[coma]] with a near-fatal case of [[bacterial meningitis]].<ref name="Light25th" /><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5jjcIVYSZx0C&q=synanon+beating+splittee&pg=PA24 |title=Developing a Christian Worldview of the Problem of Evil |last1=Colson |first1=Charles W. |last2=Pearcey |first2=Nancy |date=2001 |publisher=Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. |isbn=9780842355841 |pages=25 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.paulmorantz.com/cult/the-history-of-synanon-and-charles-dederich/ |title=The History of Synanon and Charles Dederich |website=www.paulmorantz.com |language=en-US |access-date=2017-12-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171218155852/http://www.paulmorantz.com/cult/the-history-of-synanon-and-charles-dederich/ |archive-date=2017-12-18 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In mid-1978, ''[[NBC Nightly News]]'' produced a segment on the controversies surrounding Synanon. Following the broadcast, several [[NBC]] executives, including the network's chairman, allegedly received hundreds of threats from Synanon supporters.<ref>[[Jack Anderson (columnist)|Jack Anderson]], "NBC Cancelled Jonestown Story", March 20, 1981.</ref> On October 10, 1978, two Synanon members placed a de-rattled [[rattlesnake]] in the mailbox of [[Paul Morantz]], an attorney who had successfully brought a suit against the group on behalf of Synanon detainees.<ref name=":0">Janzen, Rod A. ''The Rise and Fall of Synanon, A California Utopia'', Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001, p. 214.{{ISBN?}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> The snake bit Morantz, and he was hospitalized for six days.<ref name="longform.org" /><ref name=":1">
{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/04/us/charles-dederich-83-synanon-founder-dies.html |title=Charles Dederich, 83, Synanon Founder, Dies |last=Gelder |first=Lawrence Van |date=1997-03-04 |work=The New York Times |access-date=2017-12-18 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216115419/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/04/us/charles-dederich-83-synanon-founder-dies.html |archive-date=2017-12-16 |url-status=live }}
</ref><ref>
{{Cite web |url=https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/the-man-who-fought-cults-and-won-1634267961 |title=The Man Who Fought the Synanon Cult and Won |date=27 September 2014 |access-date=2017-12-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171207084549/https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/the-man-who-fought-cults-and-won-1634267961 |archive-date=2017-12-07 |url-status=live }}</ref> This incident, along with the press coverage, prompted a law enforcement investigation into Synanon.

Six weeks after the snake attack, the [[Los Angeles Police Department]] (LAPD) performed a search of the ranch in Badger that found a recorded speech by Dederich in which he said, "We're not going to mess with the old-time, turn-the-other-cheek religious postures... Our religious posture is: Don't mess with us. You can get killed dead, literally dead... These are real threats", he stated. "They are draining life's blood from us, and expecting us to play by their silly rules. We will make the rules. I see nothing frightening about it... I am quite willing to break some lawyer's legs, and next break his wife's legs, and threaten to cut their child's arm off. That is the end of that lawyer. That is a very satisfactory, humane way of transmitting information. I really do want an ear in a glass of alcohol on my desk."<ref name="Light25th">"Light to celebrate 25th anniversary of its Pulitzer", ''The [[Point Reyes Light (newspaper)|Point Reyes Light]]'', April 15, 2004, by Dave Mitchell.</ref>

Though many San Francisco area newspapers and broadcasters covered the Synanon case, they were largely silenced by legal action from Synanon's lawyers, who made claims of libel. These lawsuits ultimately turned out to be a large part of Synanon's undoing, by giving journalists access to Synanon's own internal documents. The main thorn in the cult's side was the ''[[Point Reyes Light (newspaper)|Point Reyes Light]]'', a weekly newspaper published by David V. Mitchell. The newspaper was domiciled in a tiny town ten miles south of Marshall, where Synanon's main facility was located. The paper prevailed on press freedom and protection issues and its reporting was consummately professional. It won a $100,000 judgement against the cult and in 1979, for its efforts, became the smallest paper ever to win a [[Pulitzer Prize]].<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/11/03/david-mitchell-point-reyes-light-synanon-obit/ David Mitchell, Pulitzer-winning editor who exposed a cult, dies at 79], ''[[Washington Post]]'', William Branigin, November 3, 2023. Retrieved November 4, 2023.</ref>

As a result of the snake attack, Dederich and two Synanon residents, Joe Musico and Lance Kenton (son of the musician [[Stan Kenton]]) were arrested and pleaded "[[Nolo contendere|no contest]]" to charges of assault and conspiracy to commit murder. Lance Kenton was sentenced to a year in prison. While his associates went to jail, Dederich received probation because his doctors claimed that due to ill health he would most likely die in prison. As a condition of probation, he was disallowed from taking part in managing Synanon.<ref>
{{cite news| title = Snake Plot: Dederich Sentenced| url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19800903&id=EltOAAAAIBAJ&pg=7212,1019836&hl=en.| work = [[The Spokesman-Review]]| date = 1980-09-03| access-date = 2015-11-21| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160512191250/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19800903&id=EltOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wu4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=7212,1019836&hl=en.| archive-date = 2016-05-12| url-status = live}}
</ref><ref>
{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/03/09/us/synanon-founder-advocated-violence-against-opponents.html |title=Synanon Founder Advocated Violence Against Opponents |date=1982-03-09 |work=The New York Times |access-date=2017-12-18 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171207091337/http://www.nytimes.com/1982/03/09/us/synanon-founder-advocated-violence-against-opponents.html |archive-date=2017-12-07 |url-status=live }}
</ref> Dederich died on February 28, 1997 at age 83, after a series of strokes; the cause of death was cardiorespiratory failure.<ref>New York Times, 4 March 1997.</ref>

Synanon struggled to survive without its leader, and also with a severely tarnished reputation. The [[Internal Revenue Service]] revoked the organization's tax-exempt status and ordered them to pay $17 million in back taxes. This bankrupted Synanon, which formally dissolved in 1991.<ref>Szalavitz, Maia, ''Help at Any Cost:  How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids'', Riverhead Books, 2006, p. 33.{{ISBN?}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RnrBO-O_HvcC&q=synanon+%2417+million+in+back+taxes&pg=PA363 |title=Utopias in American History |last=Sreenivasan |first=Jyotsna |date=2008 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=9781598840520 |pages=363 |language=en}}</ref><ref>
{{Cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-10-02-mn-16054-story.html |title=U.S. Indicts Nine From Synanon in Tax-Exemption Effort |last=Ostrow|first=Ronald J. |date=1985-10-02 |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=2017-12-18 |language=en-US |issn=0458-3035 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160712121607/http://articles.latimes.com/1985-10-02/news/mn-16054_1_tax-exempt-status |archive-date=2016-07-12 |url-status=live }}
</ref>

==Subsequent treatment approaches==
[[Mel Wasserman]], influenced by his Synanon experience, founded [[CEDU|CEDU Educational Services]], a company in the [[troubled teen industry]] that owned and operated several schools. CEDU's schools used the confrontational model of Synanon.<ref>
[http://www.bendbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091115/NEWS0107/911150428/1001/NEWS01&nav_category=NEWS01 "Ever unconventional, long controversial"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313064038/http://www.bendbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20091115%2FNEWS0107%2F911150428%2F1001%2FNEWS01&nav_category=NEWS01 |date=2012-03-13 }}, by Keith Chu, ''The Bend Bulletin'', November 15, 2009
</ref> The CEDU model was widely influential on the development of parent-choice, private-pay residential programs. People originally inspired by their CEDU experience developed or strongly influenced a significant number of the schools in the [[therapeutic boarding school]] industry.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}} The company's schools have faced numerous allegations of abuse. CEDU went out of business in 2005, amid lawsuits and state regulatory crackdowns.

Father William B. O'Brien, the founder of New York's [[Daytop|Daytop Village]], included Synanon's group encounters and confrontational approach in his research into addiction treatment methods.<ref>
[http://www.daytop.org/history.html Daytop History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222234947/http://www.daytop.org/history.html |date=2015-12-22 }} , Daytop Homepage, retrieved 3/25/2010
</ref>

The author, journalist, and activist [[Maia Szalavitz]] claims to chart the influence of Synanon in other programs including [[Phoenix House]], [[Straight, Incorporated]], and [[Boot camp (correctional)|Boot Camps]] in addition to those mentioned above.<ref>
{{cite web| first = Maia| last = Szalavitz| title = The Cult That Spawned the Tough-Love Teen Industry| url = https://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/09/how_a_cult_spawned_the_tough_love_teen_industry.html| publisher = [[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]| date = 2007-08-20| access-date = 2007-09-19| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070823091226/http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/09/how_a_cult_spawned_the_tough_love_teen_industry.html| archive-date = 2007-08-23| url-status = live}}
</ref>

==Popular depictions==
*''[[Straight Life (book)|Straight Life: The Story of Art Pepper]]'' includes several chapters (21–23) about living at Synanon from 1969 to 1971.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pepper |first1=Art |last2=Pepper |first2=Laurie |title=Straight Life: The Story of Art Pepper |date=1979 |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=0-306-80558-8|edition=Updated }}</ref>
*The 1965 [[Columbia Pictures]] movie ''[[Synanon (film)|Synanon]]'', directed by [[Richard Quine]], was set at (and filmed in) Synanon; it starred [[Edmond O'Brien]] as Chuck Dederich, as well as [[Chuck Connors]], [[Stella Stevens]], [[Richard Conte]], and [[Eartha Kitt]].
*The 1984 TV movie ''[[Attack on Fear]]'', written by [[T.S. Cook]] and directed by [[Mel Damski]], is an account of the journalists who exposed the abuses; it starred [[Paul Michael Glaser]], [[Linda Kelsey]], and [[Barbara Babcock]].
*Episode 22 of ''[[Mannix (season 1)|Mannix]]'' depicts Synanon members involved with a fictitious 1945 Daily Clarion bombing that killed 14 men.
*Synanon is referred to in [[Bob Dylan]]'s song "Lenny Bruce", from his album ''[[Shot of Love]]'' (Bruce "never made it to Synanon").
*Synanon is referred to in the song "Opening Doors" from [[Stephen Sondheim]]'s musical ''[[Merrily We Roll Along (musical)|Merrily We Roll Along]]'', which mentions it as a hypothetical song title in a satirical revue of the 1960s.
*Synanon is mentioned in [[Joan Didion]]'s 1979 essay ''[[The White Album (book)|The White Album]]''.
*[[Philip K. Dick]] makes several references to Synanon in his 1977 novel ''[[A Scanner Darkly]]'' and 1981 novel ''[[VALIS]]''.
*''Hollywood Park: A Memoir'' by [[Mikel Jollett]] (founder of [[The Airborne Toxic Event]]) was published in May 2020 and describes Jollett's life in and escape from Synanon.
*The group is featured in the 2021 book ''Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism'' by American linguist [[Amanda Montell]]. Montell's father was a member as a child and spoke freely to Amanda about his experience in Synanon.
*On September 26, 2022, the [[TrueAnon]] podcast also released a 5-part series on the history of Synanon called ''The Game''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/TrueAnonPod/status/1571884677191077889 |title=TrueAnon Presents: The Game -- First Episode drops September 26 on patreon.com/trueanonpod |via=Twitter}}</ref> Throughout the series, one of the show's hosts, [[Brace Belden]], talks about his childhood experience in a correctional, co-ed private facility called the [[Monarch School, Montana|Monarch School]], which has been closed due to allegations of widespread abuse under the watch of its founder, Patrick McKenna, a Synanon disciple.
*On January 13, 2023, ''[[The Last Podcast on the Left]]'' released an episode on Synanon as part of their series on the [[troubled teen industry]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=13 January 2023 |title=Episode 518: The Troubled Teen Industry Part II: Synanon - The Dirty Double Dozen by Last Podcast On The Left {{!}} Podchaser |url=https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/last-podcast-on-the-left-33097/episodes/episode-518-the-troubled-teen-160733592 |website=Podchaser}}</ref>
*A four-part [[Paramount+]] docuseries titled ''[[Born in Synanon]]'' directed by [[Geeta Gandbhir]] was released in December 2023.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/paramount-plus/releases/?view=108804-td|title=Born in Synanon to Premiere on Tuesday, December 12|website=[[Paramount Global|Paramount Press Express]]|date=November 16, 2023|access-date=April 11, 2024}}</ref> The series follows Cassidy Arkin as she seeks for the truth surrounding Synanon, which she grew up in, as it descended into a cult.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.themarysue.com/born-in-synanon-cassidy-arkin-and-sandra-rogers-hare-interview/|title=Ex-Synanon Members Break Down Cult's Mixed Legacy and What America Can Learn From It|website=The Mary Sue|first=Rachel|last=Ulatowski|date=January 29, 2024|access-date=April 11, 2024}}</ref>
*Synanon is discussed as the source of the "tough love" approach used at the [[troubled teen industry]] facilities like [[Academy at Ivy Ridge]] in the 2024 Netflix documentary ''[[The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping]]''.
*A four-part [[HBO]] documentary series titled ''[[The Synanon Fix]]'' directed by [[Rory Kennedy]] premiered at the [[2024 Sundance Film Festival]] in January 2024, and premiered in April 2024.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/synanon-documentary-hbo-rory-kennedy-1235343629/|title=Synanon Documentary Set at HBO From Director Rory Kennedy (EXCLUSIVE)|website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|first=Joe|last=Otterson|date=August 17, 2022|access-date=January 21, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2023/12/2024-sundance-film-festival-lineup-movies-1235652869/|title=Sundance Unveils Packed 2024 Lineup That Includes A.I., Pedro Pascal, Kristen Stewart, Satan, Devo & Steven Yeun|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|first1=Anthony|last1=D'Alessandro|first2=Dominic|last2=Patten|date=December 6, 2023|access-date=January 21, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://press.wbd.com/us/media-release/hbo-original-documentary-series-synanon-fix-debuts-april-1|title=HBO Original Documentary Series THE SYNANON FIX Debuts April 1|website=[[Warner Bros. Discovery]]|date=March 20, 2024|access-date=March 24, 2024}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Attack therapy]]
*[[Human potential movement]]
*[[Prop 36]]
*[[Élan School]]
*[[Cenikor Foundation]]
*[[CEDU]]
*''[[Circle of Power]]'' (1981 film)
*[[The Seed (organisation)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.synanon-aktuell.de/ A German offshoot of Synanon] {{in lang|de}}

[[Category:Addiction organizations in the United States]]
[[Category:Therapeutic community]]
[[Category:Social history of California]]
[[Category:Mental health organizations based in California]]
[[Category:Addiction and substance abuse organizations]]
[[Category:Religious belief systems founded in the United States]]
[[Category:New religious movements established in the 1950s]]