Wellspring, the cult recovery center in Albany Illinois, has treated former clients from the SAFE.  William Goldberg, M.S.W., A.C.S.W., a licensed therapist in Tenafly New Jersey and a cult expert has treated several former clients from the second generation Straight named KIDS of North Jersey. He has written a study on KIDS in which he likens its methods to those of cult mind control. Rick Ross, like Steve Hassan another internationally known cult expert,  tracks the Straights on his web page.   The fall 2000 issue of CULTinfo, the journal of the Leo J. Ryan Foundation, published a three-page article on the$traights. FACTnet.org is the world's most widely read cult information page on the internet. It too has covered the Straight story.  The old Cult Awareness Network (CAN) tracked Straight and its offshoot Kids of Bergen County. Carol Giambalvo, Director of Recovery Programs & Project Outreach for American Family Foundation (the major organization of professionals devoted to the study of destructive mind control cults) spoke on "Recovery from Cults" at The Second International Conference on Adolescent Treatment Abuse and Straight / Kids Reunion in 2002.
 

The Seed.  In 1974 the US Senate published a report that likened the methods of a juvenile drug rehab program in Florida to the brainwashing methods employed by North Koreans on captured American servicemen during the Korean War. After that publicity The Seed abandoned its expansion program effort. One of the Seed's expansion programs had been in Saint Petersburg, Florida. Melvin Sembler, US ambassador to Italy, and his wife Betty had a son in that Seed. They, along with some other Seed parents, incorporated Straight in the image of The Seed. Here now what professionals have said about the rock upon which Straight is built.

Brainwashing in Communist China. Brainwashing is about humiliation, self criticism and confession. It is an educational process whereby a student spends 2 - 6 years in a prison inventing and perfecting upon a trumped-up confession with an interim goal that he actually comes to believe his invented confession and is filled with an overpowering sense of guilt and shame. In the early part of the 20th century a Russian physiologist named Ivan Petrovich Pavlov discovered that dogs, in a weakened physical and psychological state--whether through naturally occurring disease or by laboratory design--could be conditioned to give new responses to stimuli at a quicker rate than healthy dogs. Almost any college sophomore knows of Pavlov's famous experiment where a dog can be conditioned to salivate just by ringing a bell. Less known  is a Soviet medical film of the late 1920s showing a young man strapped to a table with a tube in his mouth connected to a test tube. When a bell is rung you can see saliva dripping uncontrollably from the man's mouth into the test tube! Pavlov's research, combined with early Catholic torture mechanisms for eliciting forced confessions during the Spanish Inquisition, are the basis for what Soviet Communists developed into the science of "thought reform", more commonly known today as "brainwashing."    Brainwashing was developed in Soviet Russia in order to get people to self incriminate themselves so that Joseph Stalin could have any possible opposition to his power liquidated.  The Communist Chinese take it a step further.  They actually intend to get masses of people to change their thoughts.  The Chinese added the concept of the Peer Group where a "thought reform" student shares his prison cell with seven other inmates--his Peer Group. Surprisingly, it is his fellow inmates, and not his captors, who  brutally confront him verbally, constantly yelling and screaming indictments at him,  impeaching him to  "confess all", exhorting him on, depriving him of sleep. The Chinese call the process struggling. The idea of the Peer Group is that no one gets released from "thought reform school" until everyone does what is required. And 'what is required' is that the student actually comes to believe his trumped-up confession. If the newcomer student is to ever get out, he must join the Peer Group himself and help other newcomers in their recovery. In other words the students themselves participate in their own recovery or "thought reform."   Synanon Church extended the peer group to a twelve man confrontational session and called their struggling The Game or a synanon with a small "s".    Synanons are based on Chinese-style struggles  and  drug rehabilitation programs which employ struggles or synanons are commonly known today as therapeutic communities.

Brainwashing employed at Straight.    If you pay them well,  professional cult apologists will argue in court for you that you can't really brainwash a person.  You can't actually take a person's brain out and wash it.  Ha!  Ha!   That the United States Marine Corps has been rebuilding men for years and we are impressed with that.  Put your self  in the shoes of a newage church guru.  You have followers and you want something from them.  Sex,  money, control--whatever.   Most everyone,  especially those without training in psychology or psychiatry,  has some belief that the Communist Chinese have been able to "brainwash" people into obeying their commands--whatever that means.  It really doesn't matter if you can force a person to do something against his will,  but it does matter that you think you might be able to.  That it might be dangerous to employ thought control.   That thought control is demoralizing,  cruel and inhumane.   You don't have to understand why or how,  only that the Chinese have seriously tried it.    Brainwashing employed at Straight is well documented at [b].   Some person or persons read published accounts from the 1950s and 1960s of former inmates of Communist Chinese "thought reform" schools. Since the Communist thought they  could refit people into believing that capitalism and democracy are bad, and Communism is good, so Straight's planners wondered whether they could capitalize the process using it to convince drug abusing kids that using drugs is bad, while not using drugs and  keeping one's hair short is good. Now actually this sounds like a pretty good thing to do. Straight's businessmen use synanons and struggles in an attempt break kids of drug usage, eating disorders, disciplinary problems and emotional problems (or if they don't have these problems, then to convince them they do so they  can be cured).   Since no medical degree is required to run a synanon-based rehabilitation program, Straight's planners simply read accounts from former Chinese "thought reform students" and applied what was done to them to Straight's own young clients. Thus Straight developed the concept of the large Peer Group which yells at, criticizes, mocks, and teases newcomers, constantly exhorting them to "get honest" to "tell all". If the newcomer ever hopes to leave Straight he must learn to criticize himself before Group, confess everything, and eventually join Group consciousness and help others in their own struggle. Straight's planners learned that these Chinese "thought reform" students had been beaten and painfully restrained, so Straight beats and painfully restrains its young clients, sometimes restraining them in their own urine. (Note that Straight and beauty parlors have clients and not patients who are persons treated in medical facilities.) The planners learned that the Communist spit in a student's face, so Straight personnel spit into the faces of its clients who are not allowed to wipe the spit off.[c] From the Chinese they learned that the kids must be made to urinate and defecate in their pants, and that girls on their periods should not be allowed to wear protective padding so that they sit in pools of their own blood. They learned that thought reform students are denied proper medical treatment, so Straight kids are often denied proper medical treatment. They learned that thought reform students are deprived of sleep, so Straight kids are deprived of sleep.[d] They learned that thought reform students are starved, so Straight limited food that its clients were served. One ingenious method Straight implemented to starve its clients is by using peanut butter choker sandwiches. The kid is served nothing but a thick peanut butter sandwich with water for breakfast, diner and supper for 30 days. Ultimately he will gag at the thought of another peanut butter sandwich and refuse to eat. In this manner Straight starves children in such a way that if his parents later sue (or if criminal charges are later filed) program officials will claim the child has was never denied a nutritious meal--he just refused to eat![e] So the situation created is one of kids sitting in Straight-back chairs 12 hours a day, 5 � days a week, tired, hungry, sleepy, squirming to go to the bathroom, perhaps physically sick, being beaten or restrained without cause, and all the while the Peer Group of 200 kids yelling and screaming at them, exhorting them to "get honest". The treatment lasts at least two years.

Massachusetts officials cited Straight for requiring kids with fevers of less than 102 degrees and other flu-like symptoms, including vomiting, to participate in regular daily activities. Laura Faehner of Olney, Md. reports a time when a bug was going around Straight-DC and she and four other girls were given a common bucket to vomit in. [Howard County Sun (Maryland), 8-7-91. p2.] In 1989 there was a severe outbreak of impetigo, a horrible looking skin disease, at Straight-DC due to kids spitting on other kids and not letting them wipe the spit off. Client 90012 says a Straight nurse gave him Vaseline to put on his open sores, but did not let him see a doctor. In Nov 1982 there was an outbreak of Chicken Pox at Straight-St Pete. Chicken Pox can lead to pneumonia, encephalitis, and perhaps, to the lethal disease Reye's Syndrome. Dr. Avery Stiglitz, Straight's pediatrician, recommended that Straight keep kids who had not had the pox away from the program until the epidemic was over, but he told reporters he did not know if this had been done. [SPT 12-4-82, p. 3B]   Mark Tolbert testified in court that on or about 3-26-90, after his arm had been broken during a restraint at Straight-DC, the Straight nurse applied a pillow sprint, ace bandage and ice, advised him to keep his arm elevated, and sent him back to Group. Straight's peanut butter diets can tear down one's immune system. Straight's practice of sharing razor blades can lead to blood diseases such as hepatitis and Aids. The sharing of toothbrushes and 30 second showers are unhealthy, as is the Straight practice of 2 sheets of toilet paper to wipe one's self. A lack of sunshine can cause disease, yet some kids in these programs have been denied a walk out in the sun for 2 - 3 years!

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Notes
[b]  Straight brainwashing and deprivations are well documented in many sources including: The Great Drug War by Arnold Trebach, Ph.D., pp. 19, 25-63, 71, 122, 143, 145, 146, 183, 184, 228. Professor Trebach, 202-537-5005, is well acquainted with Straight's abuses. Thought Reform Tactics: The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions, in Strategies for Change, 1992, by Drug Policy Fdn, p. 249 by Professor Barry Beyerstein. Peaceful Measures: Canada's Way Out of the 'War on Drugs', pp. 74-75 by Bruce K. Alexander. Professor Alexander visited Straight and has written that Straight brainwashes children. Smoke and Mirrors, pp. 157-160, 198, 232, 283-284, by Dan Baum. Drug Warriors and their Prey, 1996, pp. 178-181, by Richard L. Miller. Former Straight clinical staff member Richard Bradbury has firsthand knowledge of Straight's excesses. Janet Kennedy, Ph.D. has data on Straight's abuses. Noted cult experts sociologist Richard Ofshe, Ph.D. and psychologist Margaret Thayer Singer, Ph.D., both at the U. of California at Berkeley, are knowledgeable of Straight's excesses, both having been called by the state of Ohio as expert witnesses in the closing of Straight-Cincinnati. Former client Terrae L. of Maryland reported to the author claims about forcing young girls to sit in their menstrual blood.

[c] Straight calls it close proximity therapy, the kids call it spit therapy. Old comers practice using words beginning with "S" or "F" and intentionally spit big globs of mucus into another's face.

[d] Recall that Pavlov found that dogs weakened by disease were more susceptible to conditioning than healthy dogs. Then anthropologist and Straight's national clinical director Dr. Miller Newton, today a neuropsychologist and director of KIDS, testified during deposition at the Fred Collins' trial that "it's not medically harmful" to deprive people of sleep. He spoke of Marathon sessions where kids might get 10 hours sleep in a 48 hour period--though it is known he  sentenced Leigh Bright to 80 hours without any sleep whatsoever. In 1996 Stanley Coren, a neuropsychologist at the University of British Columbia, published  the book Sleep Thieves, in which he writes, "the effects of long periods with too little sleep show up in a myriad of ways, ranging from harming a person's ability to function well at everyday tasks to making a person susceptible to disease because of harm to a person's immune system." In an article by UCLA  psychiatrist Dr. Louis J. West in the Cult Awareness Network News (2/94), Dr. West stated that "sleep deprivation can cause severe physical and psychological problems."

[e] Straight-Atlanta paid former client Susan White $37,000 in an out-of-court settlement. Ms. White claimed she was put on a diet of peanut butter and water for 29 days because she would not admit to having a drug problem she did not have.

In Phase II, the re-education phase, the Communist student is instructed in dialectic materialism, struggles of the masses, and other Communist doctrines. That is, once old alliances, old attitudes, old thoughts have been "washed out" of one's brain, new attitudes and ideas are implanted. In Straight, once the body and mind have been worn down, the child attends Stash Raps where he is shown druggie paraphernalia like marijuana pipes, black tee shirts with Led Zeppelin on it, jeans with holes in them, and pictures of boys with long hair. Straight newcomers shake and shudder at the sight of these images from the past. The Chinese call the process re-education; Straight's Newtonians call it re-acculturation.

Straight parents are often led to believe that the treatment will last a couple of months, but find their child, and often their other children, in treatment two years later! While the parent is denied any private contact with their child, he attends weekly synanon forums where he sings childish songs like Row Row Row Your Boat, where he is hugged by fellow parents, where he is asked for more money, and where he is alternately ridiculed and praised by his fellows and where he publicly engages in self criticism. Quarterly, parents attend a weekend-long synanon called Parents Weekend where they are submitted to tremendous psychological pressures, including group hypnosis, to conform and made to feel they are part of an exclusive group set out to save America's children from addiction. The parent is constantly reminded that her child has a life threatening disease and will die without the program, and so a parent is easily convinced that is perfectly normal not to communicate with her child. She also learns that addiction is a family disease and she learns what is wrong with her--the parent. The child loses all contact with people from her previous life. For those few who go on to graduate, many of them become program counselors. In effect, they never leave the program, and that, by definition, is a cult.��

Parents must ask for permission to travel out-of-town for work or even to attend a funeral. Since parents have program kids in their homes in the evening, any guests including preachers, must be approved by the program. Since all of the parent's free time is completely consumed by the program from housing kids, to taking them to the doctor, attending synanons on Monday and Friday nights, participating in program fund raising events, and attending recruitment events for the program such as PTA meetings, the program becomes a cult for the entire family. The parents have program kids called phasors in their homes who report on the parents activities to the program officials. However, except for Parent Weekend when parents are forbidden from having carnal knowledge of each other, parents can be alone in their own bedroom. Sometimes one parent comes to realize that he or she is in a cult. When the other does not, this can lead to divorce. When a parent realizes he is in a cult, but the child (who has undergone much more intense indoctrination) has turned 18 while in the program, the parent may find it impossible to extract the child who is now a legal adult and is now convinced he is a drug addict and will die without the program.

Straight parents hear kids screaming at other kids across the partition and they smile for they know their unruly, disobedient kid is being taught respect for authority. That their former long-haired, Led Zeppelin T-shirt wearing, druggie kid is being broken down to be rebuilt as a drug-free, respected member of society. They compare this to Marine Corps style character building. Cult apologists and paid court experts who defend cults in suits for outrageous behavior have two favorite arguments in their arsenal.

1. They point to the Mormon Church. A hundred years ago, they say, everyone looked at it as being a cult, but now, they say, Mormons are accepted as one of the fastest growing, most respected of modern religions.
2. They point to the United States Marine Corps. They point out that Marine boots suffer harsh living conditions. They are deprived and insulted, and are brutally confronted by drill instructors. Marines tear a person down, they say, and builds him back up in the Marine image.

The Marine Corps Analogy It is true that like Marines, Straight kids go in with long hair, wearing black Led Zeppelin T-shirts, and come out with short-cropped hairdos, wearing collared sport shirts or dress shirts. But the difference stops there. In their book Cults in Our Midst Dr. Margaret Thaler Singer and Janja Lalich address the Marine Corps argument. They give a table on pages 100 - 101 listing 19 differences between the United States Marine Corps and cults. Follows is Wesley Fager's own table comparing Marine recruits (boots) to Straight students:�