Fascinating story about coercive drug abuse therapy by a former victim

I stumbled across this the other day and it immediately caught my eye because I'd known kids who had been through this program, called The Seed. We referred to kids who had been through The Seed as 'Seedlings', even though they were supposedly forbidden from ever admitting they'd been to it. It was usually pretty easy to tell who was a Seedling though, since they'd disappear from school for a few months and when they came back they always had a strange air of detachment, almost like they were in a trance. They never talked to anyone except other Seedlings. After reading this story of a former Seedling I feel bad for how we treated them, though I suppose it's normal teenage behavior (but definitely not right) to pick on other kids who don't fit in.

I also found myself glued to this article as I read it because I've had a family member go through a legitimate drug rehab program, one which had licensed doctors, nurses, and counselors on staff (as opposed to The Seed and many other behavior modification programs). There are far too many programs out there, even today, which don't have properly trained staff and end up doing real harm to their victims.

Here's a short excerpt, followed by the link:





THE SEED: Behavior Modification for Adolescents in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

by Marc Polonsky

INTRODUCTION

The Seed was a controversial behavior modification program, euphemistically called a "drug rehabilitation center," that flourished in South Florida in the early 1970s. Founded by recovering alcoholic Art Barker, the Seed's methodologies were apparently modeled after Chuck Dederich's Synanon, though Barker himself was from Alcoholics Anonymous.

The Seed may have been the first of its kind, a "treatment program" for teens and adolescents, administered by unlicensed staff, that utilized coercive thought reform techniques: aggressive confrontation, intimidation, continual verbal abuse, systematic sleep deprivation, highly restricted access to the bathroom, the disallowing of even a moment's private thought (even the bathroom was not private), and so on. The objective was to tear down a teen's sense of self and replace it with the corporate identity of a "Seedling."

Today, dozens or even hundreds of Seed spin-off programs are in operation throughout the United States and abroad. (Some Seed spin-offs, like the Seed itself, are now defunct.) By most accounts, these programs are even much harsher than the Seed was.

For me, the Seed was harsh enough. My personal story follows, along with a detailed description of the Seed program.

MY STORY

I was 14 and a half years old. It was October, 1972, and I had just begun the ninth grade. My experience with drugs consisted of having tried marijuana about ten times and drinking wine perhaps five. My parents were concerned about the company I was keeping and my disrespectful attitude towards them. My sister too, a year and a half my senior, was a source of worry to them for her use of drugs and her rebellious attitude.

I was in my science class one afternoon when a note arrived, summoning me to the dean's office. When I got to the dean's office my sister was there also. "Mommy needs us," she said, and I could tell by her eyes that this was the message she'd received, that she knew no more about it than I, and that she too felt vague apprehension, perhaps of some family tragedy. I certainly sensed something ominous. I imagined my grandmother might be very sick, or perhaps even dying.

My sister and I sat outside in front of the school for a few minutes until my parents pulled up. There were two other adults with them, a couple who were introduced to us as Mr. and Mrs. J. I knew immediately, from my parents' pleasant, jovial air, that my grandmother had not died nor had any other terrible thing occurred. I was relieved.

My sister and I got in the back seat, and I don't think either of us noticed anything unusual about Mrs. J taking the window seat next to my sister and Mr. J getting in on the other side next to me. This was of course a precautionary measure by the four adults in case one of us should try to escape out of the car before we reached the Seed. I later learned that Mr. and Mrs. J already had two sons in the Seed who had previously met with and impressed my parents with their politeness and their good-natured, clean-cut appearance. The type of assistance the J's were giving my parents in this instance was standard for fellow Seed parents.............


(continue reading at:
http://www.insidersview.info/theseed.htm )