the$traights dot com
rehabilitation, thought reform, and the destruction of young egos

  

briging families apart since 1976

.page updated 6-18-02

Tell me your deepest, darkest secret.  Trust me.

You are the   visitor since 12-08-2000.

INTRODUCTION  Tell me your deepest, darkest secret.
They run very close to really performing psychic murder.
Marge Robertson,  executive director of the Cincinnati Chapter of the ACLU,  speaking of Straight, Inc., from Cincinnati Post
Everything I see smacks of child abuse.
West Palm Beach, Florida Circuit Judge Michael Gersten commenting on Growing Together,  a Straight - descendent program in Lake Worth, Florida [The Palm Beach Post, 3-9-90, p. 8a] 
Straight is not the only major cult whose ultimate control mechanism is in knowing potentially blackmailable material about a person.  In one human potential cult you are encouraged to tell your secret in order to gain your special powers.  In Straight the excuse is  Step 5 to Alcoholics Anonymous, Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.  And that's Straight, Inc. Sucking dick; eating pussy--be prepared for that kind of talk. Food and sleep deprivations; gang tackles, spit therapy; isolation, body carvings, sitting in your own feces, PTSD, suicides.  Older clients had to watch newcomers 24 hours a day even when they used the bathroom for fear they would kill themselves to escape the torture of treatment. James at Straight-Atlanta says he had to ask permission for each wipe of his anus as he defecated. Straight, Inc. was the biggest,  and one of the most destructive, juvenile rehabilitation programs the world has ever seen.  But it was not the physical abuses that caused the suicides of young males after Straight--or even the deprivations.  They were tough kids.  They could endure that.   It was the extorted sexual confessions that has caused them their long-term suffering.  What  really sets Straight apart is its endorsement by prominent Republicans.  Continued. 

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Discussion forums
Articles 
Dr. Barry Beyerstein is a leading Canadian researcher on opiates. In 1989 he was invited by Straight to vist them. Read his startling findings.
Dr. Trebach's article titled MORAL INTEGRITY AND PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTEES: The Straight Skinny
An article on Straight by freelance writer Maia Szalavitz titled Why Jesus is Not a Regulator.
Author Richard Lawrence mentions the horrors of Straight in his book Drug Warriors and their Prey. In the linked paper he looks at the experimental method of a Straight doctor.
Send an eMail and ask for Wes Fager's 2000 article on the Straight rehab cult.
Pete Brady's excellent article about Straight's methods of child abuse in the name of the War on Drugs.
On-line videos courtesy of Scot t(Straight-Boston).
Ginger's newspaper search on the Straights.
Conferences & Events
Second International Conference on Treatment Abuse, chaired by Professor Arnold Trebach of the Trebach Institute and American University in cooperation with with survivors of Straight, Inc. and other juvenile rehab programs. Mike Sherman is this year's host. Wes Fager will be a speaker.
Straight Foundation, Inc., now operating under the name DFAF, in partnership with IDEAS will hold the 2002 International Drug Education & Awareness Symposium on May 1-3, 2002 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Calvina Fay of DFAF will be a speaker.
Straight-Detroit closed in Plymouth, Michigan in 1993, but on June 18, 1993 former Straight official Helen Gowanny helped open a Straight-like program called Pathway Family Center in Southfield, MI just 15 miles from the old Straight facility. Click on this link to see Tim Youngblood of Pathways Family Center in attendence at the 16th Annual Great Lakes Conference on Addictions.
First ever International Conference on Treatment Abuse sponsored by Trebach Institute. Straight survivors were well represented.
Editorials about legal issues concerning controversial treatment programs and a referral service to attorneys and expert witnesses. Also a resource on attorneys and witnesses who have defended controversial programs.
Send an affidavit of your experience to The Trebach Institute.
LINKS

Arnold Trebach speaking at Second International Conference on Juvenile Rehabilitation Abuse
On June 8 - 9, 2002 Dr. Arnold Trebach, Professor Emeritus at American University in Washington, D.C.,  chaired the Second International Conference on Juvenile Rehabilitation Abuse in Saint Petersburg, Florida.  By all accounts this conference was a huge success.  A new organization was formed to investigate and publicize abuses in certain destructive teen rehabilitation programs.  Story. [Photo:  Kelly Mathews, www.webdiva.org]

In the Middle of a Nightmare by Jeanne Malgren,   St Petersburg Times, June 7, 2002.  From left, Straight survivors Richard Bradbury, Samantha Monroe, and Chris Tyler being interviewed by the St Pete Times on its front page coverage of the Second International Conference on Juvenile Rehab Abuse.  Story.  [Times photo: Patty Yablonski]

FOX News and Radley Balko blasts Mel Sembler and his Straight gulag.  On May 26, 2002 FOX News published a hard hitting article by Radley Balko  which tells the story of Mel Sembler and his Straight program.  The story ran fro two weeks before being pulled for reasons still not completely understood.  Article.
Was Balko set up? Radley  Balko, the FOX News reporter who exposed the Great American Holocaust, was on Talk Radio 1310 in Albuquerque with Bob Schwartz  when Schwartz gave a  strong argument to discount the Straight Holocaust.  Was Radley setup?  Read Wes Fager's reply. 
 
Straight's former national clinical director and team to pay $4.5 million as KIDS of North Jersey closes
Boot Camp Director charged with second degree murder.  Fourteen year old Tony Haynes died after being made to stand for hours in blazing 111 degree Arizona heat.
Alleged gang rape attempt at Growing Together foster home
August 8 is Betty Sembler Day in Florida
Ex-students call Elan experience "horrific"  Like Straight, Elan has its roots from methods developed at Synanon.  Listen to what former Elan students are saying these days.  Story
Florida state senator linked to Straight.  Story
Straight gets $300,000 federal grant
The case to introduce a claims bill to the Florida Legislature for state collusion with Straight.  Straight, Inc. was  founded in Pinellas County, Florida and operated for 17 years in spite of its reputation for abuse among state health inspectors, law enforcement officials, judges, newspapers and television news rooms all around the country.   Story 
Cannabis Culture on the Straights.  Pete Brady's excellent article about Straight's methods of child abuse in the name of the War on Drugs. story
Straight and troubles with the ACLU
Church of England Attack's Scientology's Narconon Drug Rehab Program
President-elect Bush to exempt churches from licensing requirements for social programs 

Who controls the news you read?
You probably knew that the Unification Church owns The Washington Times,  but did you know it now owns UPI too? Click here for that story.
Sweden: George Bush is mooned but Betty Sembler, his benefactor, talks international drug policy 
First International Conference on Treatment Abuse huge success
Osama bin Laden and the "al Qaeda" cult
Should Straight Training be compared to Marine Corps Boot Camp?

What professionals are saying about the Straights
Several children attempted suicide while staying with host families, but the attempts were not reported and the children were not treated . . .
Jacqueline M. Ennis, formerly head of licensing for Virginia's Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services
I believe that Straight's treatment can be fairly compared with 'brainwashing' in prisoner-of-war camps as documented by Brown. . .
Dr. Bruce K. Alexander of Simon Fraser University after his visit to Straight
She seemed quite fearful and seemed to project an image of a child whose spirit and sense of confidence had been totally crushed.
Coral Springs, Florida  psychiatrist Stephen Moskowitz commenting on a 15 year old girl named Dana who had gotten out of a Straight - descendent program called Growing Together

and a lot more here.

Jeb Bush joins Straight's Advisory Board
First he writes a letter of endorsement for SAFE, Inc., the Straight descendent program in Orlando, Florida knowing that TV station WAMI of Miami, Florida is doing a segment which they tell him will be controversial, and now he joins Straight's advisory board!  Story.
Scientology finally pays up.  After 22 years of litigation the Church of Scientology has finally paid former parishioner Lawrence Wollershein $8,674,843 for his claims of abuse.   Story.
Dr. Trebach's Italian article. Professor Arnold Trebach of the Trebach Institute and of American University University in Washington, D.C. publishes full English text of article he wrote for the Italian magazine Carta about the influence on American drug policy of  Straight founder Melvin Sembler who is our Ambassador to Italy.  Article.
Straight founder buys second ambassadorship!  In 1989 George H. W. Bush selected Straight's founder Mel Sembler to be the US  ambassador to Australia.  Now his son George W. Bush has given the much sought after Italian assignment to Melvin. Click here for that story.
Skakel's alleged admission challenged.  Elan School in Maine is a specialty school for wayward  kids. Like Straight, Inc., Elan's methods have  roots in Synanon Church. Robert Kennedy's  nephew Michael Skakel is on trial for murder but his defense attorneys are trying to dismiss his alleged admission to the murder of Martha Moxley claiming the admission was made under duress at Elan which, they say,  created an atmosphere where  people would confess to anything.  Sound like Straight?   Story. 
The Seed closes and goes to the dogs.  When Mel and Betty Sembler founded Straight in 1976 they didn't exactly start from scratch.  They picked up the pieces from a man many knew as Florida's Pied Piper.  The man from the 70s who devoted his life to rehabilitating kids from drug addiction.  But some say his program was abusive.  In the least it was controversial.  Click here for the story.
Florida's Office of Children and Families makes a another major blunder.  Florida's Office of Children and Families (formerly HRS) has cow-towed to political pressure from the Republican party for over 20 years,  but sometimes it just screws up form within as when it recently sold  50 boxes of confidential client files for $5.   Story.
President Bush and faith-based treatment.   George Bush has created an Office of Faith - based Affairs because no man  of God needs government oversight when it comes to treating our kids.  We think he ought to think about it some  more.  Read on.
Judge orders Desisto School to hire consultant to develop restraint policy Click here.
Sembler's gulags blasted by The American Prospect.  The American Prospect with author  Maia Szalavitz blasts Mel Sembler and his Straight gulags.   Story.

Church of Scientology Accused of Preying on 911 Tragedy
Imagine Tony Soprano going to his psychiatrist only to have her hook him up to a lie detector.  If that sounds bizarre, click here.
Wesley Fager was named in Marquis Who's Who in America 2002 for writing and publishing, on-line,  his book A Clockwork Straight which describes the horrors of the of the world's largest chain of juvenile treatment programs.  Read the book here.
Straight and the Republicans.     The US Senate likened the methods of Straight's predecessor program, The Seed,  to brainwashing used by North Koreans against American servicemen during the Korean War. Within the first 16 months a half dozen Straight directors left one of them publicly inferring that Straight was worse than The Seed!  In spite of 30 years of allegations and losing court cases for child abuse members of the Republican Party seem to be unwilling to wean themselves away from Mel Sembler's pocket book. Of course George W. Bush has a history of popularizing cults. Here's George H. W. Bush masking a plug for Straight right out of the oval office.  And here's the whole disgusting story.  Story.

AUDIO
Coming soon. Rob Lorei of WMNF Tampa interviews Richard Bradbury, Chris Tyler and Wes Fager on June 6, 2002.
Listen to Rob Lorei of  radio WMNF Tampa on April 25, 2002 interview Wes, Chris and Mike on the upcoming Conference.  A surprise caller was Richard Bradbury

VIDEO
Richard Bradbury at SAFE. Here's the man who closed them down at work once again in 2000 this time protesting the  Straight - descendent program SAFE, Inc. in Orlando.  video clip 
Video of SAFE, Inc.  Check out this 2000  video of SAFE by by reporter Alan Cohn of WAMI TV in Miami, Florida and you'll see why Richard was so upset.  Video.
President Bush making a TV plug for Straight. Mel Sembler and other Straight officials gave George H. W. Bush a lot of money and he returned the favor by making this TV plug for Straight right out of the Oval Office. Video
Nancy Reagan promoting Miller Newton and Robert DuPont.  Miller Newton, Straight's former national clinical director cost Straight $720,000 for assaulting Karen Norton, and he settled with Rebecca Erlich in 2000 for $4.5 million.  Check this segment of Mrs. Reagan recommending books by Dr. Newton and by Straight consultant Dr. Robert DuPont. Video
Is George Bush a Moonie?
Did Scientology Processing Kill Lisa McPherson?
sound control   (If you're not getting music,  click here.)
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This web paged was designed and developed by Wesley Fager with technical assistance from Ginger Warbis of Fornits.com.  Ms. Warbis converted the page from frame-based to table-based format in 2001.  Wes Fager converted it to table-based, newspaper format in 2002.
Click here for history of page counter adjustments and corrections.
This web page is offered as a public service and as an educational resource to those interested in learning about the potential dangers of abusive, Straight-based synanons*.   The page is the on-line publishing arm of the Oakton Institute for Cultic Studies. [*A synanon  is a therapeutic community approach to drug abstinence  where one's peers attempt to control one's addiction by shouting indictments at the addict.  A Straight-based synanon is a synanon designed for teenagers which was perfected at Straight, Inc. in Saint Petersburg, Florida between 1976 and 1993. ].   Theme from Exorcist is from members.tripod.co.uk/TTribe/excorcist.mid .

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