Synanon: CharlesDederich, Sr.

The influence and culture of the Synanon organization, which was founded by Charles Dederich Sr., started as a drug rehabilitation program in the late 1950’s. Through their progression into the early 1990’s, this organization transformed from what started as Alcoholic and Narcotics Anonymous meetings in Dederich’s apartment to a group with religious purpose, belief and influence to what many refer to as the most dangerous and violent cult in America.

Its’ founder Dederich (1913-1997) was a reformed alcoholic who later became an active AA member, “giving evangelistic speeches at numerous meetings” (The Rise and Fall of Synanon). Dederich also participated in experimental LSD tests, which upset members of his AA group. However, while subject to these experiments, Dederich came to the conclusion that drug addicts should be in programs, “To develop self-reliance rather than dependence on a higher being” (The Rise and Fall of Synanon). Dederich started a group, named TLC for Tender Loving Care, which operated out of a storefront in Santa Monica. They facilitated a massive change in the rehabilitation scene by getting themselves clean without the use of psychotherapists or experts. Using this system, they monitored one another and created a community of support and resources where addicts could go to get cleaned. Dederich being credited for the recovery and sobriety of many individuations, continued to develop the methods of the organization on a more permanent basis.

While his philosophy seemed admirable Tender Loving Care, later named Synanon, pushed their methods to the extremes when deciding that ex-addicts weren’t fit to return back to a normal functioning society and eliminated the option of graduating out of the program. While Synanon was founded on the principle of treating addicts of all substances, Dederich’s mission of creating a society that would unify into a social movement and alternate society began to rise. During this time, the organization expanded and the businesses associated with Synanon flourished in Oakland, San Francisco and Badger, California. Synanon became the home to many schools, businesses, residential living areas and later a religion.

It was in the early 1970’s, Synanon amended their Articles of Incorporation to establish religious purpose amongst the organization. Once established as a religion, Dederich created a stricter environment for the organization. This change was due to the group’s practices, which began to come into question from the local community as they became more world denying than world affirming. As paranoia grew, Synanon installed their own armed security, and stories began to circulate of their use of violence within their organization and the outside community. Their armed security was known as the Imperial Marines.

After several inquiries into their practices and financial holdings, Board of Directors passed declaration which made Synanon a religious affiliation in 1974. Synanon eventually progressed to an organization of crime and violence which lead to the arrest of Dederich whom was later released on probation on the terms of not returning back to Synanon. This later was the cause of the group falling apart without its’ leader.

Blog #3

Reflecting on this past semester, I have learned a lot about so many different religions. The three religions that caught my attention the most were the Branch Davidians, The Peoples Temple and Synanon. I used to think of religion as a belief in a God, but I’ve learned that a religion does not need to have a God figure. Religion is way more than that. Synanon was considered a religion, but Synanon was different than any other form of religion out there. In the beginning Synanon had so many good qualities. It was a rehabilitation program that was very successful. Unfortunately many things changed and Synanon became violent.

I loved listening to the story of our guest speaker. To me it was interesting to hear how she thought her way of life when she was in Synanon was normal. What interested me was that she said that people could come and go from Synanon more freely then what I thought about in the beginning. She said that she tried to escape once from Synanon, but was brought back. She also mentioned how all the kids were left in a facility to be raised by a community. She said that at 6 months children were left in the facility full time without their parents. She also mentioned that parents would barely visit their children. This sadden me because how can a parent not have a bond with its child? When I heard her talk about her relationship with her mother I thought it was a bit odd because she and her mother remember their relationship in Synanon very differently. Her mother thinks that she was more involved in their life, while the guest speaker though she was not involved at all. Another thing she said that caught my attention was how all of her friends from back then, including her, are now entrepreneurs. What does that mean? To me it means that Synanon trained their kids to not settle and be the best they can be. When it comes to schooling, the guest speaker said that Synanon would not have school like we now have. She said that Synanon would bring in guest speakers. They would also have full weeks of full lecture for long hours and some days they just didn’t have any school activities. The activities would be hands on. The children would have guest speakers, videos and readings. She mentioned that the people who were teaching were teachers who came from the outside with Ph.Ds. she said that they received the best of education. When it came to the game, the guest speaker said how the children in Synanon had to also play the game. The children were expected to play the game, but most of the time the instructions of the game were not followed. The guest speaker mentioned that kids would bring the game outside of their sessions and that there would be no supervision on the games for them. Bringing the game to their regular life, I think, would affect the children because they would hold grudges and would affect relationships.

California has so much history in religion. California was home to the Peoples Temple as well as Synanon. One of the things that I really appreciated about Synanon is that it happened in Santa Monica, California. Most of the people who I have talked about Synanon have never even heard of Synanon. I personally enjoyed researching a religion that happened here in California. Is something that if I pass by Santa Monica I would like to stop and see how their facilities look like now. Another thing I can appreciate about Synanon is that it has helped me grow as a researcher. There is not a lot of information about Synanon so people have to research for a lot more information than they would for Mormons or Catholics. 

Synanon vs. Shakers

In the New York Times magazine talks in depth about the history and the founder of Synanon Charles Dederich. Dederich is a reformed alcoholic. His organization which was a drug rehabilitation program won widespread acclaim and amassed great wealth before it became associated with violence. This commune lasted for several years even due to the violent acts and the unwillingness of people wanting to be their. Which was polar opposites then the Shakers with we learned in the first semester.  Throughout the year, I only recall one commune with a founder who was a female. The shakers; the shakers were the united society of Believers in  Christ’s second appearing. They were a religious group that fled to the American colonies in 1774 to escape persecution in England. Shaker life is centered on a number of core beliefs and values, including a belief in the second coming of Christ, communal living, celibacy, humility, simplicity, efficiency, hard work, and equality between the sexes. Behaving in accordance with these values is seen as the route to salvation. The leader of this group was Ann Lee.

Ann lee was a blacksmith daughter and a mill hand in Manchester. She wanted to create and look for a more emotional religion than the official church of England. Although Lee was the leader the religion she was not as active in the beginning as Dederich was with the Synanon community. Ann lee did not become part of it until a series of unfortunate events occurred. After the different unhappy events, Lee had a bigger vision and decided to lead her religion to America. They settled in New York City in 1774. The first years were difficult, the group persevered everything, they had little and sometimes no bread, butter or cheese during the spring and summer. There main food was food and rice and ,milk sometimes they went to the river to get fish. Which was very different from the start of Synanon. Although Synanon started of small they did not struggle as much as the shakers did in the beginning. Like Synanon the shakers lived in one communal settlement, “The first communal dwelling house at Watervliet, probably of logs, was built in 1779. It was soon replaced by a good-sized dwelling built in 1783; this was used until a larger one was built in 1816, when the original became the “second house” and was used as a kind of infirmary.” Although Shakers lived in their own communities in the form of large farms with multiple buildings and considerable acreage, did not vote, and were pacifists, they did not live totally outside mainstream society. In fact, Shakers were often the first in their region to use electricity and telephones, often owned cars, trucks, and tractors for community use, and today use televisions, computers, and other modern conveniences. Which was very different from the Synanon commune, Dederich would not allow people to socialize with the outside community unless it was necessary.

When it comes to the actual way people pray and worship, Synanon and The Shakers were very different. The shakers constantly prayed and worshiped god in a communal setting Synanon did not. Synanon was more of just a drug and alcohol rehab center, turned into a commune. They did not pray, it was more of just people there to get healthy. The only type of community engagement was The Game. Although The shakers, had no violence or “brainwashing” they did not last nearly as long as the synanon commune. “Although the Shakers have largely disappeared, the Shaker way of life remains part of the American scene, primarily through Shaker museums, restored Shaker communities open to tourists, Shaker manufactures such as chairs and oval boxes which command prices of over $100,000 in the antiquities market, and Shaker songs such as "The Gift to Be Simple."’ Although the shakers did not last nearly as long as Synanon, they had a lot of good values and beliefs that they brought to the religion.

Synanon

Before this class I had never even heard about Synanon. At first I was not really interested in the history of it because I thought that it was just like any other religious movement. What I really like about Synanon is how they came to be. Synanon was not started as a religion, but I was turned to a religion for tax exempt purposes later on in their history. Charles Dederich founded Synanon in 1958 in Santa Monica, California. Synanon was first created as a drug rehabilitation. And it became a very effective way for drug rehabilitation. According to the book, The Rise and Fall of Synanon, Synanon was among the most successful and most innovative communal socities in the United Sates. They also had membership peaked at 2,000 and was the home at one time to more than 25,000 people.

When people joined Synanon, they had a ninety day ban from the whole world. Once the ninety day ban was up, the decision to become a resident was dependent on an initial interview. Synanon did not believe in pharmacological treatments. They believed in suffering through the process to rehabilitate. Once a person was accepted in Synanon they began to do the worst jobs and slowly move up. Residents were required to play the game and on top of the game they were required to participate in deep discussions. Topics were selected at Random. This was done so the residents could understand social issues. Punishments for members varied, members who refused to follow Synanon rules were punished by: pull-ups, haircuts or their heads were shaved. Other punishments required residents to wear oversized diapers.

One unique characteristic of Synanon was the Game. Around July 1959, a large number of residents admitted to secretly using drugs. This is when Dederich developed “The game.” The game encouraged all the players to be honest with one another and it also encouraged other players to attack the person being attacked. Even though the attacks were not necessarily true. According to Dederich, Drug addicts could not afford not hold anything in, so they had to let it out. Anything that happened in the game was supposed to stay in the game. When the game first started, it was nonviolent. Although as we have learned in class, as Synanon progressed, the game became more violent. In 1966 the game open its doors to the public. In the late 1960s game clubs were established across the country, from Santa Monica to Chicago, Detroit, New York City, Oakland, San Diego and even San Juan Puerto Rico. The game was introduced to newcomers. The games started as, “the most boring person in this circle is’ or what really pissed you off most this week?’” According to the book, The Rise and Fall of Synanon, the Game became very unsafe mid-1970s, because members were disciplined outside of the game for comments made inside the game. The book said that by late 1975 Betty gamed Chuck about his weight and Chuck responded, “What about the pint of ice-cream that you eat every…dammed night?”

I feel like the game was a dual edge sword. I can see how the game became a successful part of Synanon. Up to an extent I can agree with what Dederich said about people not being able to hold anything in if they wanted to be successful. I can see how the game was successful in challenging someone’s beliefs and practices. I agree with the initial set up of the game, a safe environment to express your feelings and expect to get constructive criticism in return. However, if the environment you express your feelings is not safe, you can be bullied and that’s exactly what happened towards the end of the game. When my team decided to act out the game for the podcast, it was very uncomfortable because I was the one being attacked on for five minutes. If I felt uncomfortable when we were acting it out, could you imagine how the game actually felt like in real life? The game was known to be intense for several hours long about 3 times a week.  

In 1968 Synanon established a category called “lifestylers.” These group of people worked outside but were involved in Synanon’s activities. Some lived in the commune and some didn’t. These people donated about $1,000 to Synanon. By 1969 synanon encouraged lifestylers to establish permanent residence in the commune. Synanon was successful in many different ways. They were successful with the game, with their daily discussion on political views and the lifestylers. However, the downcline of Synanon was the founder Charles Dederich. Everything in Synanon started changing when Charles Dederich started to force males to get vasectomies and when he started forcing women to have abortions. He made it seem like this would do good to the world, so people would not be uptight about it. Dederich also started separating children from their parents. He also started encouraging partner switches. Synanon became very violent towards the end. Paul Morantz represented a youn lady who had been held against her will in Synanon. When Paul won the case he found in his mailbox a rattlesnake. He was bitten, but was able to survive. The two men who were sent by Dederich were sent to jail. Dederich was given probation. Also Dederich was forced to step down as the head of Synanon. 

Synanon; a Brief History

The aspect of Synanon in which I have found most fascinating is how it evolved and adapted throughout its history. From a junkie rehab center in Santa Monica to fighting a legal battle in order to list their group as a bona fide religion, Synanon has been an agent of change within its own circumstances. Ultimately, the entire entity began with a man named Charles Dederich. After the loss of both his brother and father at an early age, Dederich became rebellious and found salvation at the bottom of a bottle, spiraling into an on and off alcohol binge. Dederich began attending AA meetings and became one of the top speakers. He would take a religious perspective with a heavily evangelical tone, damning the immoral actions of such an addiction. A significant shift occurred in his philosophy towards rehabilitation when he partook in a clinical trials regarding LSD. After these tests, Dederich parted from his previous approach in AA meetings, leaning away from a religious prerogative, and towards a philosophy of self-development and a commitment to community. He also began to promote the idea that addicts are equal in terms of what they are using. In other words, he wanted to incorporate dope fiends with alcoholics, and AA did not agree with this. This ultimately pushed Dederich to create his own therapeutic society, called the Tender Loving Care Club, which would soon become the grassroots of Synanon.

The TLC Club began in 1958 in Santa Monica as Dederich’s initial attempt to create an environment whose primary purpose was rehabilitate addicts across the board. Dederich’s message for those joining was, “today is the first day of the rest of your life,” promoting the ideology of a new start and an opportunity to cultivate one’s sense of independent self.  The TLC Club had their members go cold turkey, meaning members could have absolutely no access to the substance they were addicted to or any other substance, other than cigarettes and coffee. This was the basis of a ladder of self responsibility. As each member continued to improve, the more freedoms they were given. The interesting about this phase of Synanon is the government support it garnered. The U.S. Senate even called it a “man made miracle on the beach of Santa monica.” As it grew in popularity, non-addicts, also called “squares,” began to garner interest, and in 1966, it opened its doors to said squares to join in game-clubs. This was a way for the squares to experience “the game,” which was a session of complete and brutal honesty, saying what is on one’s mind to address the behaviors of another member in order to promote humility and personal accountability in terms of how one’s actions affects a group or personal dynamic. As the group grew in popularity, Dederich saw an opportunity to expand and he took it, changing Synanon from a therapeutic organization targeting rehabilitation to an alternative society, or a commune.

This switch derived from two drastic decisions that would change Synanon forever. The first is to close “graduation” ceremonies, meaning once you join the community, you are expected to stay within the community. The second of which was to allow the squares who were in game-clubs to integrate into the community for a hefty fee. These folks were called “lifestylers.” This was only the began of what some would soon call a “hustling operation,” where Dederich and members would campaign and lobby for donations from individuals to corporations. Once the capital was arranged, Synanon began investing in real estate in Oakland, San Francisco, and Badger, California. The group relocated in 1968 from Santa Monica to Marshall, moving to Northern California. The group’s practices began to come into question from the local community as they became more world denying than world affirming. As paranoia grew, Synanon installed their own armed security, and stories began to circulate of their use of violence within their organization and the outside community. Now, during this time period as an alternate society, an odd occurrence transpired that seemed to have been an oversight. Since Synanon was keeping its reformed addicts and no longer were accepting new addicts, their effectiveness turned to be their downfall. Seeing as rehabilitation took the back seat to the society they were creating, they ultimately began to face the issue of losing their tax-exempt status as a rehabilitation clinic. The next step? The formation of a state-recognized religion.

Beginning in the mid 70’s, Synanon only increased their radical ideas, adding mandatory partner swapping, communal child-care, and vasectomies for long-time male members, in an attempt to create a more organized and doctrinal society. In 1975, Synanon stated that as an update to its society, one of the primary purposes would be to operate a church, and in 1979, Synanon amended this statement by clarifying the main reason for the group was a religious one. Ultimately, despite their newfound religious convictions, Synanon could not fight off the poor press they had been receiving due to some of the member’s public antics, assumptions made by the general public, or a combination of the two. After facing legal trouble and health issues, Charles Dederich was forced to step down from his involvement in the organization. Combine the loss of their leader, a more than poor public image, and the IRS rejecting their tax exempt status, it is amazing to see the slow climb of an alternative community, and the factors that lead to its quick demise.

Synanon

After the synanon speaker came to my classroom, it made me even more interested in the “cult”. It was very surreal listening to someone who grew up in the synanon religion. To her that was a normal childhood, she did not know any thing else. All the different aspects that I had while growing up that seemed like an everyday lifestyle was so foreign. For example, playing sports, going to school everyday and not living in a home with siblings and parents. The speaker mentions that at about six months they were taken from both parents and place in a communal raising. Where other people on certain days took care of you and you lived with all the other children away from your parents. “Children inside the Synanon cult were raised communally. This was a common practice romanticized by utopian communities of the 19th and 20th century (including in Upton Sinclair's failed Helicon Home Colony), though Synanon took it a step further than most. Parents had highly restricted access to their children after they reached the age of about 6-9 months. By the end of the 1960s, adult members might only see their kids once a week, even if they wanted to see them more often. The policies dictating how often a given member could see their children became more and more restrictive throughout the 1960s, and by 1972 Dederich had proposed that the children from every California branch be moved to a single site in Marin County.” Many members did not like the rules of communal raiding and between 200 to 300 people left the organization once these policies got more and more strict. Along with being apart of a communally upbringing they did not attend school often but were very knowledgeable. The speaker in class mentioned that school was something that she enjoyed and “craved”. They were not like normal children who went to school seven hours a day five days a week. They would have 14 hour days and then go months without a single day in the classroom. One year they were able to go to a public school outside of synanon but after one year they were not allowed that privilege anymore.

Another major thing that stood out to me in while she was speaking was the fact that children had to play the game. In an article, it mentions the game and how it was a worthy opponent in a brutal form of therapy created by the leader himself. “The Game was the most important method of treatment at Synanon. When it came to getting addicts clean, the program rejected any form of pharmaceuticals or tapering of drugs. Everyone went cold turkey, and junkies were left on a couch to writhe and vomit for a few days while they went through withdrawal. The Game was the medicine administered later, a kind of group therapy invented by Dederich where people sat in a circle to express (and often shout) their frustrations at each other. The confrontational approach was a way to hash out everything that bothered you about others in your group. It was supposed to help you learn about yourself as well.” Although, I understood the point of the game for recovering drug addicts. I was shocked when the children had to play, especially since they did not have a choice of being there, they were stuck. She mentioned that the game for children “was horrible, awful”. Since they were so young, the point of the game did not work well. Anything that was said during the game was not forgotten outside of the game. Children were not able to forget about it, which caused more and more issues throughout the community.  After the speaker came, it gave me a lot more insight about synanon then I would have ever found in books and research.

Synanon

So many different communes we have learned about this semester have failed due to similar reasons. Would these communes succeeded if they did not have as strict lifestyles. Both The Peoples Temple and Synanon did not make it due to founders going insane and certain lifestyles not working for all members. In the two articles I found, the Paul Morantz and the Jonestown. I compared the major differences/similarities in both The Peoples Temple and Synanon and the differences/similarities in the founders, Jim Jones and Charles Dederich.

Some of the main differences between Jones and Dederich is their educational background. Jim Jones went to college and Dederich dropped out. They also had very different family backgrounds. Dederich lost both his father and brother and his mother re-married, were her began to turn to alcohol. Although they both ended up founding a religion they did not both intend for that. Jones always had the idea of starting a religion but Dederich started of with an AA program, but became greedy, he wanted more money so he invested and started the Synanon religion.

In both articles it mentions how both Jones and Dederich has an overall idea that worked well for a religion but shortly after drugs and power corrupted them making both their religions crash. Major similarities between the founder is they both has a huge amount of founders, both has physiological issues that basically made them go crazy and social media! Social media was the turning point for both Jones and Dederich. On November 18, 1978, the day of the mass suicide, the congressman and  view reporters were there to come and view what Jim Jones, The People's Temple was all about. Shortly after being there both the reporters and congressmen noticed people were being forced to stay. The congressmen and reporters left with a handful of people asking to leave and that is when Jones ordered his people to report to the airport to kill anyone trying to leave including the congressmen. When social media got involved in The People's Temple, Jones got paranoid. Which made him conduct a mass murder/suicide. More than 900 members of an American cult called the Peoples Temple died in a mass suicide-murder under the direction of their leader Jim Jones. As for Synanon, when social media got involved Dederich like Jones got paranoid. Diedrich started threatening people. He killed and hung people because they were not following the lifestyle her created. Along with threatening and killing people abused animals. “Don’t mess with us-- you can get killed dead, physically dead.” Another huge similarity between the two is they both had a huge issue with drugs and alcohol making them incapable to run a religion.

As for the actually religion overall, both The Peoples Temple and Synanon had some ideas in common and some differences. They both became very greedy, wanted more members and more income. The main “way of life” that stood out to me was the sexual life between the two religions, which were very different. Jim jones basically slept with everyone in the commune both male and females and Dederich forced members to get abortions and vasectomies.

As for the similarity that stood out the most to me was the idea of personal integrity. Both Jones and Dederich had a way with dealing with this idea. Jim jones, when he felt threatened by someone he developed a need to compromise the sexually or humiliate them in public or sometimes would do both. Which is similar to Dederich idea of “The Game” where it is suppose to make people feel better about himself after being humiliated. “The Game” encouraged all the players to be honest with one another, it was suppose to led towards the delay of impulsive actions, excellence in work and a sense of social responsibilities. “The Game” focused on interpersonal issues, work patterns and individual emotions and idiosyncrasies.

Both these articles were very interesting, it was amazing comparing both and see how similar two founders/communes can be.