Definition of "Straight-like". Between 1976 and 1993 Straight, Inc. operated, at various times during this period, 12 rehabilitation programs for drug abusing teenagers around the nation. The idea for Straight�s use of peer counselors was originally conceived in California at Synanon Foundation (later known as Synanon Church). The Seed of Fort Lauderdale, Florida was one of the first Synanon-based therapeutic communities for kids only. Straight was formed by Melvin and Betty Sembler and some other former parents who had had kids in the Saint Petersburg Seed. Straight adopted the Synanon therapeutic concept of brutal verbal confrontations by one�s peers and The Seed�s 7 Steps and host homes. Straight adopted and perfected upon these and other concepts from Synanon Church and from The Seed and introduced some concepts of its own such as "motivating". Therapeutic technologies perfected at Straight include kids helping kids and parents helping parents, peer pressure, peer Group, belt looping, Mic Talk, Talk, no talking behind backs, removing all privileges and gaining back the right for privileges, 5 phases, Moral Inventories, Rules Raps, Six New Parent Raps, motivating, Open Meetings, Parent Weekends, the Three Signs, dime therapy, sitting in straight back chairs for long periods, host homes, honesty, often employing rational emotive therapy with the 12 Steps of AA, and so forth. There are many juvenile drug rehabilitation programs which copied many aspects of the Straight therapeutic technology. In many cases some of the programs which copied aspects of the old Straight program were founded by people who were either former parents, clients or officers of Straight. In this paper I arbitrarily call those programs which adopted many aspects of the old Straight program "Straight-like."
Besides the therapeutic technologies perfected by Straight and which Straight made known publicly, Straight was frequently accused of abusing children. In fact there has never been a Straight treatment facility, not one, that has not been accused of child abuse. Straight was then a therapeutic community or synanon for teenagers which employed technologies perfected at Straight. But also Straight was an abusive synanon. In other words in this report "Straight-like" means employing Straight perfected treatment technology. It does mean "abusive". There are many programs which have mimicked or copied many aspects of the old Straight therapeutic program and in this report they are referred to as "Straight-like" or "Straight-follow-on" programs or "Straight descendants". That does not mean that any of these programs are abusive. However, some of the "Straight-like" programs have been accused of abusing teenagers.
The Straight and Straight-like chart shows the Straights, its predecessor and descendent programs. Connecting entities by lines and arrows does not mean that any of these organizations are financially tied to one another, it only goes to show how one entity is logically derived from or associated with another. For example Delancy Street Gang, The Seed and Phoenix House are not financially connected to Synanon Church, they are just among the first generation Synanon imitator programs or those programs independent of Synanon Church which adopted Synanon�s concept of brutal verbal confrontation by one�s peers along with perhaps other Synanon-perfected concepts. In like manner, SAFE, Inc., for example, was formed by the former executive director of Straight-Orlando. The arrow connecting the two organizations does not mean that the two organizations are one in the same or that they are financially connected in any way, only that Straight-Orlando closed down and its executive director opened his own Straight-like program and called it LIFE.