|
Crimes
against humanity?
confession and re-acculturation:
using
shame and guilt, and separation
to induce body
carvings and suicide attempts
by
Wesley Fager
(c)
2000
| You
don't
mind
a
bit
of
a
stink,
do
you,
Karras?
|
|
I
need
treatment.
I
do
also
believe
at
some
point
I
need
the
forgiveness
of
these
men.
| Former
Straight
counselor
Arthur
Nicol
(who
is
a
former
judge)
speaking
to
Pinellas-Pasco
Circuit
Judge
Brandt
C.
Downey
III
after
receiving
a
seven
year
sentence
for
sexually
abusing
a
15
year-old
Straight
student
and
his
14
year-old
friend. |
|
|
Introduction.
Any serious student of thought
reform, including the
Straight planners, knows
that there will likely come a
point when a person undergoing
the deprivations and humiliation
of "brainwashing",
shamed and made to feel
overwhelming guilt
from his extorted confession,
will come to fear total
annihilation of self and might
become preoccupied with thoughts
of suicide. At the height
of brainwashing of the general
populace in Red
China people would
not walk down the sidewalks for
fear of someone jumping from a
building and landing on
them. Public parks were
fenced-off to keep citizens from
hanging themselves from public
trees. Chinese thought
reform students are
watched continuously, 24
hours a day, even when
they used the bathroom to make
sure they do not slice their
wrists on a loose nail or
screw. In
this chapter we will see how
Straight students,
suffering from physical
hardships and mental
tortures, undergoing a perverted
sexual therapy to treat a drug
problem that most did not have,
resorted to carving on their
bodies or attempted suicide to
escape from their tormentors.
Coinciding with the many
suicides and suicide attempts by
Straight thought reform students
or former students, was a study
conducted by a Straight research
doctor named Richard
Schwartz to determine why
so many teenage girls carve on
their bodies. His results are
published in the 1989 report
"Self-Harm Behavior
(Carving) in Female Adolescent
Drug Abusers." (1)
Straight's position is that its
clients are druggie kids and
druggie kids are violent and
have to be restrained, and that
druggie kids commit suicide.
There are major flaws with
Straight's reasoning.
For example, many Straight
clients are entered for non-drug
related reasons like eating
disorders and emotional
problems. Many
being treated for drug abuse
have no drug problem at
all--they have been shanghaied
in at intake interviews
fraudulently disguised as
sibling interviews.
Often when a Straight sibling
turns 12 program officials
convince his parents that he
also needs treatment.
Further, of those who have
indeed used drugs, many are not
really drug addicts; rather they
have experimented with alcohol
or marijuana. One just need look
at the restraint rate of the
Sembler-based synanon SAFE, Inc.
with a reported restraint rate
of
compared to a restraint rate of
at all other juvenile
residential drug treatment
programs combined in the same
state health district in which
it operated!
The previous
chapter points out case
after case of outright child
abuse and human misery inflicted
on American teenagers at
Straight-based synanons.
That chapter and this one
are building towards
the next chapter which
discusses known suicides and murders
(known to this author) committed
by former students in
Straight-based synanons.
But before
addressing the specific suicides
and murders, we will need
to look at a few more depraved
aspects of Straight-like
synanons in order to better
determine whether Straight
itself caused any of these
deaths. We need to look at
sexual abuse issues at Straight
and we need to determine whether
there is any historical basis
for suicide related to so-called
"brainwashing."
With that data in hand we will
try to profile the attributes of
a young suicidal candidate in
America as established by expert
opinion. We will then show
that Straight creates an
environment and establishes a
mindset among its young clients
that completely replicates the
mental state of a typical young
suicidal person--if there is
such a mindset--and to that pot
Straight adds another
suicide-inducing agent, namely,
brainwashing itself. In other
words it will be shown that
Straight creates a situation
that is bound to lead to
suicidal ideations--in many
instances. And that is
what this current page is about.
It will show that Straight,
by its depraved methods,
creates an environment for
suicide and
concludes by discussing many
known suicide attempts and body
carvings by Straight students
while in Straight . We
will read statements by many
Straight officers admitting that
Straight has a terrible problem
with suicide attempts, but
writing off the problem to
"druggie" kids,
deprived of their drugs want to
kill themselves. I think
the evidences are going to
show otherwise. That it
was Straight itself causing the
suicide attempts. And if
Straight was the cause
then what was Straight's plan
should the parents withdraw the
child after he's been
broken-down but not yet rebuilt;
or if a child escapes at the
same stage of his
"treatment";
or if the child makes
phase and can be left alone at
his own own but now secretly
harbors suicidal notions;
or if she graduates but is
depressed because of her
treatment.
| "The only time in my entire life I ever considered suicide was while I was actually in Straight. I was 15, and at the time I did not realize that all I had to do was ride it out, my parents
didn't have the money to keep me there. So I was SURE I was stuck until I played the phase game, which I figured was probably gonna' take at LEAST 16 months, or, even worse, wait until I turned eighteen. Mind you, I was considering these options about one hour into my stay at Straight! As the next few weeks went on, I decided I would much rather be dead than to deal with the madness of that place for the next 3 years. I actually made a few weak attempts while I was there. Although I never did have a period during the time I was there (I guess from stress) I told my oldcomer I had started and asked for a tampon. I had decided (rather creatively I thought) to try and give myself toxic shock syndrome. My plan was, either I would luck out and die, or at the very worst maybe merit a trip to the hospital, and hopefully a chance to run. After a couple of days, this option became uncomfortable, not to mention it did not seem to be working, so I gave that one up! I managed to sneak a mirror into the bathroom with me once (of course what did it matter, I was still watched all the time). The plan was, I would smash it really quick, and boom, slit my wrists. Well, that whole thing kinda' makes me
squeamish--needless to say I never bothered even trying that one. Sadly, some days, just knowing that mirror was with me helped. I guess I figured if it ever got so bad I didn't think I could stand it, I HAD THE POWER to off myself, and in some warped way it made me feel better to know I had SOME sort of option,
never mind
how bizarre
or detrimental."
|
|
Case
history:
a
boy
named
Donald
Donald
(not
his
real
name)
was
15
years
old
in
1985
when
he
was
admitted
to
Father
Newton’s
KIDS
of
Bergen
County
(a
Straight
spin-off).
He
says
that
at
that
time
he
had
used
alcohol
and
smoked
marijuana
five
times
but
if
you
were
to
read
his
admission
report
he
admitted
to
using
much
more
than
that.
Why?
He
says
in
his
December
16,
1999
deposition
for
the
Rebecca
Erlich
case
that
he
gave
in
out
of
"sheer
terror"
from
having
his
two
intake
counselors
(two
kids
further
along
in
their
own
treatment)
scream
at
him
and
spit
on
him.
".
.
.by
the
time
my
intake
was
done,"
he
stated
in
deposition,
"I
came
up
with
a
list
of
drugs
by
most
of
which
I
never
seen
or
couldn’t
describe
to
you
what
they
looked
like
or
what
they
tasted
like
or
anything
else.
I
didn’t
even
know
what
they
were
.
.
."
KIDS'
attorneys
must
have
been
impressed
with
stories
like
Donald's
which
I'm
about
to
tell.
They
must
have
been
because
in
April
2000
they
just
gave
up.
They
settled
out
of
court
with
Ms.
Erlich
for
$4.5
million.
|
| Donald
says
that
he
refused
to
write
a
daily
confessional
called
a
MI
because
he
felt
he
didn’t
have
a
real
drug
problem.
To
get
him
to
comply
he
says
they
stood
him
in
a
corner
all
night
and
denied
him
food
until,
after
about
two
days
of
this,
he
decided
to
comply.
One
day
as
he
sat
in
his
chair,
he
states
in
sworn
deposition,
he
didn't
have
his
hands
in
his
knees
and
KIDS’
officials
felt
they
should
be
on
his
knees
so
he
was
restrained
by
five
people.
The
back
of
his
head
was
cracked
open
when
they
got
him
to
the
floor
and
he
was
sent
to
Holy
Name
Hospital.
He
estimates
that
he
was
restrained
300
-
400
times
at
KIDS
but
has
trouble
placing
dates
because
he
was
not
allowed
to
look
at
a
watch
or
a
calendar
during
most
of
this
period.
Donald
states,
"There
were
an
immense
number
of
times
where
I
was
forced
to
urinate
and
defecate
on
myself
because
they
basically
took
my
bathroom
privilege
away.
I
wasn’t
allowed
to
go
to
the
bathroom.
And
I
witnessed
a
lot
of
other
people
in
there
ending
up
urinating
and
defecating
on
themselves
because
being
in
a
restraint.
They
told
you
were
too
dangerous
to
get
up
and
go
to
the
bathroom,
those
who
asked.
If
you
asked
to
go
to
the
bathroom,
you
were
afraid
because
if
you
did
ask,
then
you’d
be
afraid
to
end
up
getting
your
tooth
through
your
lip
and
I
had
it
done
many
times."
When
Donald
made
second
phase
he
was
allowed
to
see
his
childhood
pediatrician.
Donald
testified
that
this
doctor
prescribed
Inderal
to
treat
an
irregular
heartbeat
but,
according
to
Donald,
Dr.
Newton
blasted
him
for
"using
drugs
to
deal
with
my
feelings
and
I
had
to
use
the
program
to
deal
with
my
feelings
.
.
."
He
was
not
allowed
to
take
the
medication.
Dr.
Panjwani,
a
KIDS
affiliated
psychiatrist,
at
one
point
put
Donald
on
Ritalin,
but
after
about
3
-
4
weeks
Donald
states
that
Mrs.
Newton
(Ruth
Ann
Newton,
the
founder's
wife)
decided
to
take
him
off
it.
According
to
Donald’s
deposition,
one
day
Bergen
County
prosecutors
came
in
and
told
him
that
he
was
a
legal
adult
and
did
not
have
to
stay
in
treatment.
Donald
left
along
with
a
group
of
other
adult
students
but
after
a
few
hours
of
freedom
he
says
he
began
to
feel
he
could
not
make
it
on
the
outside
world
so
he
called
Mrs.
Newton
asking
to
come
back.
A
few
weeks
later
Donald
left
for
good.
After
4
and
a
half
years
of
"treatment"
he
had
attended
2
weeks
of
high
school!
He
was
not
allowed
to
associate
with
the
only
kids
he
had
known
for
the
last
five
years
of
his
life
because
he
left
in
"bad
standing"
and
could
have
no
contact
with
anyone
from
KIDS.
He
declared
that,
"Mrs.
Newton
said
I
had
30
days
to
live
and,
you
know,
in
her
professional
opinion,
I
had
to
go
to
Bergen
Pines
after
I
left
the
program
| |