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.